Navigation Interface

Abstract

A method and apparatus of simplified navigation. A web page is provided having a link to a sister site. The sister site facilitates simplified navigation. Pages from the sister site are served responsive to actuation of the sister site link. In one embodiment, the sister site includes matrix pages to permit matrix navigation.

1 . A machine readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed cause a machine to perform a first set of operations comprising:
 displaying a page of a sister site, the sister site comprising
 a web site in a hypertext markup language (HTML) format reformatted into an extensible markup language (XML) format 
 a simplified subset of content of the web site reformatted to be displayed as a plurality of layers of cells arranged in a matrix, at least some of the cells individually selectable 
 navigation options which change between layers 
 for each layer, user inputs associated with at least one of the cells, the user inputs distinct amongst the cells of a given layer. 
   
     
     
         2 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1  wherein the instructions are embodied as a single computer file. 
     
     
         3 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1  wherein the computer file is a web document. 
     
     
         4 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1  included within a client computer system, the instructions further to perform a second set of operations comprising:
 receiving a user selection of one of the navigation options   forwarding the selected navigation option to a server   receiving from the server a next deeper navigation layer of the simplified navigation interface corresponding to the selected navigation option.   displaying the next deeper navigation layer.   
     
     
         5 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1  included within a client computer system, the instructions further to perform a second set of operations comprising:
 manipulating a region of the screen for viewing and zooming and/or scrolling of the displayed on-line content.   
     
     
         6 . The machine readable medium of  claim 5  wherein the instructions for the first set of operations are stored in a web document, and the instructions for the second set of operations comprise a web browser application. 
     
     
         7 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1  included within a server computer system. 
     
     
         8 . A process for generating a navigation interface comprising:
 receiving web based content via a network, the web based content received in a first format simplified from an original format of the web based content   generating a navigation interface to display the web based content, the navigation interface defining a matrix with each cell of the matrix mapped to a unique input   presenting the web based content through the navigation interface by tying each navigation option of the web based content to a separate cell of the matrix.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the first format is an extensible markup language (XML) format. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the original format is a hyper-text markup language (HTML) format. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising receiving a deeper matrix layer in response to a user selection of a navigation option of the web based content. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising receiving a user selection of a navigation option from a remote control, a pointer device, a keypad, a keyboard or a voice recognition system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising adapting display of the web content to focus on a navigation option in response to user interaction with the navigation interface. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising customizing the navigation interface based on a navigation path of a user. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising displaying the navigation interface as an overlay over the web based content. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8  wherein
 the web based content includes an advertisement   the advertisement is tied to a cell of the matrix.   
     
     
         17 . A method for providing a simplified navigation interface comprising:
 receiving a request for web based content from a remote device over a network;   transforming the web based content from an original format to a simplified format compatible with a navigation interface having a matrix format with each cell of the format corresponding with a unique input; and   sending the simplified format to the remote device.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the original format is a hyper-text markup language (HTML) format. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the simplified format is an extensible markup language (XML) format. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein transforming the web based content comprises segmenting the web based content to generate a matrix page. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising associating web based content with unique inputs for the matrix format. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising:
 receiving a selection of a navigation option from the remote device; and   providing a deeper matrix layer corresponding to the navigation option.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the web based content includes an advertisement. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising correlating a navigation option of the web based content with a cell of a matrix. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising generating an email form. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising generating a search form. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the web based content includes audio content or video content.