System for and method of backing up content for use on a mobile device

Abstract

In accordance with the invention, mobile phones and other electronic devices access content through links, rather than storing the content on the mobile phone or at a location under the control of a mobile phone operator. A user retrieves the content by accessing a link on the mobile phone, which results in transferring the content from a content-provider location directly to the mobile phone. In this way, the mobile phone operator does not have to reserve storage for the content, and the content provider, alerted that the user is restoring or otherwise requesting content, is able to offer the user upgrades, replacement content, and related content. To better offer a user relevant content, a history of purchases for the mobile phone, the user, or both is maintained.

1 . A method of providing content to a mobile device comprising:
 determining a source of the content; and   transmitting the content from the source to a storage location accessible to the mobile device.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the storage location is on the mobile device. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the content is transmitted directly from the source to the mobile device. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the storage location is remote from the mobile device. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising storing on the mobile device a selectable link for accessing the content on the storage location. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing data associating the source with the content, the mobile device, or both. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the data is stored at a location different from the mobile device and the storage location. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising parsing the data to thereby determine the source. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the data comprises a pathname to the source. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the pathname comprises a Uniform Resource Locator. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the source comprises querying one or more locations for the content. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the locations are third-party content providers. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying an icon corresponding to the content on the mobile device; and   selecting the icon to thereby automatically transmit the content from the source to the storage location.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically retrieving the content from multiple sources through a single aggregation interface. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the multiple sources comprise third-party content providers. 
   
   
       16 . A method of accessing content from a device comprising:
 selecting on the device a link to content stored on a storage system; and   automatically accessing the content on the device in response to selecting the link.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the storage system is remote to the device. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein selecting the link comprises transmitting a copy of the content from the storage system to the device. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein accessing the content comprises:
 determining that the content is not stored on the storage system; and   receiving the content on the storage system.   
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the location corresponds to a third-party content provider. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein determining that the content is not stored on the storage system comprises determining that no content on the storage system has a hash that matches a hash of the content. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the device comprises a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a personal computer. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the content comprises a mobile application program, a mobile ring tone, a mobile wallpaper, video data, audio data, a digital image, a ring back tone, or a combination of these. 
   
   
       24 . A method of offering content for a first device comprising:
 storing a history of acquisitions associated with one or more entities; and   displaying on the first device offers for content based on the history.   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the one or more entities correspond to a user. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the one or more entities correspond to a mobile device. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the offers are for purchasing, subscribing to, licensing, upgrading, or replacing content, or any combination of these. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein updated content comprises content that is transcoded or resized from content corresponding to the history. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising automatically receiving replacement or updated content on the first device. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the history is stored at a content provider location. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising polling the content provider location for an acquisition associated with the one or more entities. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising automatically receiving notification from the content provider location of an acquisition for the one or more entities. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising storing metadata about content acquired by the one or more entities. 
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the metadata comprises a name for content, a description of content, a size of content, a format of content, an encoding of content, an author of content, or any combination of these. 
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the history comprises a count of license usages. 
   
   
       36 . A method of offering content for a device comprising:
 displaying a first list of content acquired for one or more entities; and   transmitting one or more items in the first list to a first mobile device.   
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the one or more items are transmitted in response to selecting the one or more items. 
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising transmitting the first list to the first mobile device and selecting on the first mobile device the one or more items. 
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein displaying the first list, selecting the one or more items, and transmitting the one or more items are all performed at a location remote from the first mobile device. 
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising selecting a second list of mobile devices and transmitting the one or more items to the mobile devices in the second list. 
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the one or more items are transmitted to the first mobile device automatically. 
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the first list is generated from a history of acquisitions associated with the first mobile device, a second mobile device, or both. 
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the first and second mobile devices are different. 
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the first and second mobile devices are the same. 
   
   
       45 . A method of configuring a device comprising:
 constructing from a first device a link to content on a storage system; and   storing the link on a second device.   
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein storing the link comprises storing the content and data for selecting the content. 
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the link, the content, or both are stored on the second device during an initial configuration of the second device. 
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the link, the content, or both are stored on the second device at predetermined time intervals. 
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the link, the content, or both are wirelessly transmitted from the storage system to the second device. 
   
   
       50 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the second device comprises a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a personal computer. 
   
   
       51 . A mobile device comprising:
 a client module containing a link configured to access content and programmed to access the content using the link.   
   
   
       52 . The mobile device of  claim 51 , wherein the content comprises a mobile application program, a mobile ring tone, a mobile wallpaper, video data, audio data, a digital image, a ring back tone, or any combination of these. 
   
   
       53 . The mobile device of  claim 51 , wherein the client module is programmed to access the content by requesting a copy of the content. 
   
   
       54 . The mobile device of  claim 53 , wherein the client module is also programmed to display icons for selecting replacement content for replacing content acquired for the mobile device. 
   
   
       55 . The mobile device of  claim 54 , wherein the replacement content comprise an upgrade to content acquired for the mobile device or a different version of the content acquired for the mobile device. 
   
   
       56 . The mobile device of  claim 51 , wherein the client module is programmed to wirelessly retrieve the content using the link. 
   
   
       57 . The mobile device of  claim 51 , wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a personal computer. 
   
   
       58 . A content management system for a mobile device comprising:
 a first content module containing content; and   a delivery interface programmed to transfer content from the content module to a mobile device.   
   
   
       59 . The system of  claim 58 , wherein the delivery interface is programmed to transfer content from the content module to a mobile device using a link to the content accessible to the mobile device. 
   
   
       60 . The system of  claim 58 , wherein the content comprises a mobile application program, a mobile ring tone, a mobile wallpaper, video data, audio data, digital images, a ring back tone, or a combination of these. 
   
   
       61 . The system of  claim 58 , further comprising a data store of acquired content. 
   
   
       62 . The system of  claim 61 , further comprising a replacement module for mapping acquired content to replacement content. 
   
   
       63 . The system of  claim 58 , further comprising an interface programmed to receive content from one or more sources. 
   
   
       64 . The system of  claim 63 , wherein the interface is also programmed to poll the one or more sources to determine content acquired for the mobile device from the one or more sources. 
   
   
       65 . The system of  claim 63 , further comprising a parser for parsing the content to thereby determine the one or more sources. 
   
   
       66 . The system of  claim 63 , wherein the one or more sources are third-party content providers. 
   
   
       67 . The system of  claim 63 , wherein the interface comprises a connection module for connecting to sources using Uniform Resource Indicators to the one or more sources. 
   
   
       68 . The system of  claim 63 , further comprising an offer module for generating offers for replacement content on the mobile device. 
   
   
       69 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the offer module is programmed to transmit data associated with the offers to the mobile device and the mobile device is programmed to display and select the offers. 
   
   
       70 . The system of  claim 69 , wherein the offer module is also programmed to generate the offers from a history of acquisitions for one or more entities. 
   
   
       71 . The system of  claim 70 , wherein the one or more entities comprise a user. 
   
   
       72 . The system of  claim 70 , wherein the one or more entities comprise a mobile phone. 
   
   
       73 . The system of  claim 63 , further comprising a metadata store containing metadata about content. 
   
   
       74 . The system of  claim 73 , wherein the metadata comprises information indicating a manufacturer of a mobile device, a version of a mobile device, operating capabilities of the mobile device, or any combination of these. 
   
   
       75 . The system of  claim 74 , wherein the operating capabilities comprise a screen size, a number of pixels, or both. 
   
   
       76 . The system of  claim 63 , further comprising a Web-based interface coupled to the content manager and programmed to manage the content. 
   
   
       77 . The system of  claim 63 , further comprising:
 a multimedia content data store;   a user-generated content data store; and   an application data store.   
   
   
       78 . The system of  claim 63 , wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a personal computer. 
   
   
       79 . A method of storing content for use on a device comprising:
 storing content on a storage system accessible to the device; and   storing a link on the device for automatically accessing the content.   
   
   
       80 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the link comprises metadata about the content and a locator to the content on the storage system. 
   
   
       81 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein the storage system is on the device. 
   
   
       82 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein the storage system is remote to the device. 
   
   
       83 . The method of  claim 82 , wherein the locator to the content comprises a Uniform Resource Indicator. 
   
   
       84 . The method of  claim 79 , further comprising displaying on the device a digital image for selecting the link. 
   
   
       85 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the content comprises a mobile application program, a mobile ring tone, a mobile wallpaper, video data, audio data, a digital image, a ring back tone selected on a module different from the device, or any combination of these. 
   
   
       86 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the device comprises a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a personal computer.