MMS based photo album publishing system

Abstract

An MMS publishing system comprises a management tool, an authoring tool, a storage facility, a message router, and a rendering server. The management tool authenticates a first user by using a telephone number of the first user as a user ID. The authoring tool allows the first user to associate rich media content with his telephone number. The content is then stored in the storage facility in association with his telephone number. Subsequently, the message router intercepts an MMS message sent from a mobile device over a wireless network when the MMS message includes a predetermined indicator and indicates the telephone number of the first user as a destination. The rendering server then accesses the stored content associated with the telephone number and sends the content to the mobile device, for output to a user of the mobile device.

1. A method comprising:
 enabling a first user to store a photo in a centrally stored photo archive associated with the first user, by the first user sending the photo in a first message that conforms to an asynchronous messaging protocol for sending person-to-person messages from mobile devices, the first message including the photo and a predetermined indicator and having a telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number; and 
 enabling a second user operating a mobile device on a wireless network to view the photo, by the second user sending from the mobile device a second message conforming to said protocol, the second message including the same or different predetermined indicator and having the telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number, in response to which the photo is sent to the mobile device in a third message conforming to said protocol, for output to the second user. 
 
     
     
       2. A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said protocol is a multimedia messaging system (MMS) protocol, such that the first message, the second message, and the third message are MMS messages. 
     
     
       3. An apparatus comprising:
 means for responding to a first multimedia messaging system (MMS) message sent by a first user, the first MMS message including a photo and a predetermined indicator and having a telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number, by adding the photo to a photo archive associated with the first user; and 
 means for responding to a second MMS message sent by a second user from a mobile device on a wireless network, the second MMS message including the same or different predetermined indicator and having said telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number, by sending the photo in a third MMS message to the mobile device, for display to the second user. 
 
     
     
       4. A method comprising:
 receiving a first multimedia messaging system (MMS) message sent by a first user from a first mobile device on a wireless network, the first MMS message including a photo, the first MMS message including a predetermined indicator, the first MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the first user as both a source telephone number and a destination telephone number; 
 in response to detecting the predetermined indicator in the first MMS message, and based on the source telephone number and the destination telephone number of the first MMS message, adding the photo to a centrally stored photo archive associated with the first user, the photo archive containing zero or more photos associated with the first user; 
 receiving a second MMS message sent by a second user from a second mobile device on a wireless network, the second MMS message for requesting at least the photo, the second MMS message including the same or different predetermined indicator, the second MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the second user as a source telephone number and having the telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number; and 
 in response to the second MMS message, and based on the destination telephone number of the second MMS message and detection of the same or different predetermined indicator in the second MMS message, retrieving the photo from the photo archive associated with the first user and sending the photo to the second mobile device in a third MMS message. 
 
     
     
       5. A method as recited in  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining whether the second MMS message includes a specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive; and 
 if the second MMS message does not include any specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive, retrieving each photo in the photo archive and sending each said photo to the second mobile device in response to the second MMS message. 
 
     
     
       6. A method as recited in  claim 5 , wherein, if the second MMS message includes an identifier of a photo in the photo archive, said sending the photo to the second mobile device comprises sending to the second mobile device only each photo in the photo archive for which there is an identifier in the second MMS message. 
     
     
       7. A processing system comprising:
 a processor; 
 a network interface through which to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices; and 
 a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processing system to perform a process comprising: 
 receiving a first multimedia messaging system (MMS) message sent by a first user from a mobile device on a wireless network, the first MMS message for requesting a photo associated with a second user, the first MMS message including a predetermined indicator, the first MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the first user as a source telephone number and having a telephone number assigned to the second user as a destination telephone number; and 
 in response to the first MMS message, and based on the destination telephone number of the first MMS message and detection of the predetermined indicator in the first MMS message, retrieving the photo from a photo archive associated with the second user and sending the photo to the mobile device in a second MMS message; 
 wherein the photo is stored in the photo archive associated with the second user upon the processing system receiving a third MMS message sent by the second user, the third MMS message including the photo, the third MMS message including the same or different predetermined indicator, the third MMS message having the telephone number assigned to the second user as both a source telephone number and a destination telephone number. 
 
     
     
       8. The processing system of  claim 7 , wherein the process further comprises: determining whether the first MMS message includes a specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive; and if the first MMS message does not include any specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive, retrieving each photo in the photo archive and sending each said photo to the mobile device in response to the first MMS message. 
     
     
       9. The processing system of  claim 8 , wherein, if the first MMS message includes an identifier of a photo archive, said sending the photo to the mobile device comprises sending to the mobole mobile device only each photo in the photo archive for which there is an identifier in the first MMS message. 
     
     
       10. A non-transitory computer readable medium having sequences of instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the processor to perform a process comprising:
 receiving a first multimedia messaging system (MMS) message sent by a first user from a first mobile device on a wireless network, the first MMS message including a photo, the first MMS message including a predetermined indicator, the first MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the first user as both a source telephone number and a destination telephone number; 
 in response to detecting the predetermined indicator in the first MMS message, and based on the source telephone number and the destination telephone number of the first MMS message, adding the photo to a centrally stored photo archive associated with the first user, the photo archive containing zero or more photos associated with the first user; 
 receiving a second MMS message sent by a second user from a second mobile device on a wireless network, the second MMS message including the same or different predetermined indicator, the second MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the second user as a source telephone number and having the telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number; 
 determining whether the second MMS message includes a specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive; 
 if the second MMS message includes a specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive, in response to the second MMS message, and based on the destination telephone number of the second MMS message and detection of the same or different predetermined indicator in the second MMS message, retrieving a photo from the photo archive associated with the first user and sending the photo to the second mobile device in a third MMS message, wherein the photo is associated with a specific identifier included in the second MMS message; and 
 if the second MMS message does not include any specific identifier of a photo in the photo archive, retrieving each photo in the photo archive and sending each said photo to the second mobile device in response to the second MMS message. 
 
     
     
       11. A method comprising:
 enabling a first user to store a digital content article in a centrally stored digital content article archive associated with the first user, by the first user sending the digital content article in a first message that conforms to an asynchronous messaging protocol for sending person-to-person messages from mobile devices, the first message including the digital content article and a predetermined indicator and having a telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number; and   enabling a second user operating a mobile device on a wireless network to view the digital content article, by the second user sending from the mobile device a second message conforming to said protocol, the second message including the same or different predetermined indicator and having the telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number, in response to which the digital content article is sent to the mobile device in a third message conforming to said protocol, for output to the second user.   
     
     
       12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the digital content article is a video. 
     
     
       13. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the digital content article includes a hyperlink. 
     
     
       14. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the third message is a message indicating that access to the digital content article is denied to the second user. 
     
     
       15. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the first message is sent over the internet. 
     
     
       16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having sequences of instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the processor to perform a process comprising:
 receiving a first multimedia messaging system (MMS) message sent by a first user, the first MMS message including a digital content article, the first MMS message including a predetermined indicator, the first MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the first user as both a telephone number and a destination telephone number;   in response to detecting the predetermined indicator in the first MMS message, and based on the source telephone number and the destination telephone number of the first MMS message, adding the digital content article to a centrally stored digital content article archive associated with the first user, the digital content article archive containing zero or more digital content articles associated with the first user;   receiving a second MMS message sent by a second user from a mobile device on a wireless network, the second MMS message including the same or different predetermined indicator, the second MMS message having a telephone number assigned to the second user as a source telephone number and having the telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number;   determining whether the second MMS message includes a specific identifier of a digital content article in the digital content article archive; and   if the second MMS message includes a specific identifier of a digital content article in the digital content article archive, in response to the second MMS message, and based on the destination telephone number of the second MMS message and detection of the same or different predetermined indicator in the second MMS message, retrieving a digital content article from the digital content article archive associated with the first user and sending the digital content article to the mobile device in a third MMS message.   
     
     
       17. The process of claim 16, further comprising determining whether the telephone number assigned to the second user is on an access control list,
 if the telephone number is not on the access control list, sending a third message to the mobile device indicating that access to the digital content article is denied; and   if the telephone number is on the access control list, sending the digital content article to the mobile device in the third MMS message.   
     
     
       18. A processing system comprising:
 a processor;   a network interface through which to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices; and   a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processing system to perform a process comprising:   enabling a first user to store a digital content article in a centrally stored digital content article archive associated with the first user, by the first user sending the digital content article in a first message that conforms to an asynchronous messaging protocol for sending person-to-person messages from mobile devices, the first message including the digital content article and a predetermined indicator and having a telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number; and   enabling a second user operating a mobile device on a wireless network to view the digital content article, by the second user sending from the mobile device a second message conforming to said protocol, the second message including the same or different predetermined indicator and having the telephone number assigned to the first user as a destination telephone number, in response to which the digital content article is sent to the mobile device in a third message conforming to said protocol, for output to the second user.