Living notifications

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and system relating to a notification system for merging a new message into a pending notification.

1 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process comprising:
 receiving a communication from another device, wherein the communication includes a first indicator and a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a message;   storing the communication in memory, wherein the at least one field is assigned to a first portion of the memory and at least one other field is assigned to a second portion of the memory;   developing a notification from the plurality of fields;   displaying the notification;   receiving a new communication from another device, wherein the new communication has a second indicator and a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a new message;   storing the new communication in memory;   reading the new communication from memory;   determining whether the second indicator matches the first indicator, and, if the second indicator matches the first indicator, merging the new message into the notification by overwriting the first portion of the memory with the new message to update the notification; and   displaying the updated notification comprising the new message.   
     
     
         2 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one other field corresponds to a time a communication was received and wherein the merging further comprises overwriting the second portion of the memory with the time the new communication was received. 
     
     
         3 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in an external communication device. 
     
     
         4 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with compute-executable instructions is contained in a network-connected device. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process comprising:
 receiving a communication from another device, wherein the communication has a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a message;   storing the communication in memory, wherein the at least one field is assigned to a first portion of the memory and at least one other field is assigned to a second portion of the memory;   developing a notification from the plurality of fields;   displaying the notification;   receiving a new communication from another device, wherein the new communication has a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a new message;   storing the new communication in memory;   reading the new communication from memory;   determining whether the new message is from a predetermined source designated by settings stored in memory, and if the new message is from the predetermined source, merging the new message into the notification by overwriting the first portion of the memory with the new message to update the notification; and   displaying the updated notification comprising the new message.   
     
     
         7 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the determining further comprises determining if the new message is a particular type of message designated by settings stored in memory, and if the new message is the particular type of message, merging the new message into the notification by overwriting the first portion of the memory with the new message to update the notification.   
     
     
         8 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one other field corresponds to a time a communication was received and wherein merging further comprises overwriting the second portion of the memory with the time the new communication was received. 
     
     
         9 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in an external communication device. 
     
     
         10 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in a network-connected device. 
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process comprising:
 receiving a communication from another device, wherein the communication has a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a message;   storing the communication in memory, wherein the at least one field is assigned to a first portion of the memory and at least one other field is assigned to a second portion of the memory;   developing a notification from the plurality of fields;   displaying the notification;   receiving a new communication from another device, wherein the new communication has a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a new message;   storing the new communication in memory;   reading the new communication from memory; and   determining whether the new message is a particular type of message designated by settings stored in memory, and if the new message is the particular type of message, merging the new message into the notification by overwriting the first portion of the memory with the new message to update the notification;   displaying the updated notification comprising the new message.   
     
     
         13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 12 ,
 wherein the determining further comprises determining if the new message is from a predetermined source designated by settings stored in memory, and if the new message is from the predetermined source, merging the new message into the notification by overwriting the first portion of the memory with the new message to update the notification.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one other field corresponds to a time a communication was received, and wherein the merging further comprises overwriting the second portion of the memory with the time the new communication was received. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in an external communication device. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in a network-connected device. 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process comprising:
 receiving a communication from another device, wherein the communication has a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a message;   storing the communication in memory, wherein the at least one field is assigned to a first portion of the memory and at least one other field is assigned to a second portion of the memory;   developing a notification from the plurality of fields;   displaying the notification;   receiving a new communication from another device, wherein the new communication has a plurality of fields and at least one field corresponds to a new message;   storing the new communication in memory;   reading the new communication from memory; and   determining whether to merge the new message into the notification based on instructions received from a remote device, and if the instructions direct the media to merge the new message into the notification, merging the new message into the notification by overwriting the first portion of the memory with the new message to update the notification; and   displaying the updated notification comprising the new message.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one other field corresponds to a time a communication was received and wherein merging the new message into the notification further comprises overwriting the second portion of the memory with the time the new communication was received. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in an external communication device. 
     
     
         21 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions is contained in a network-connected device. 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the memory remains unchanged during the merging. 
     
     
         24 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 6 , wherein the second portion of the memory remains unchanged during the merging. 
     
     
         25 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 12 , wherein the second portion of the memory remains unchanged during the merging. 
     
     
         26 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with computer-executable instructions of  claim 18 , wherein the second portion of the memory remains unchanged during the merging.