Providing a local device with computing services from a remote host

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a local device with computing services are disclosed. One embodiment includes, identifying one or more file types of files stored on the local device which is not associated with a local application that is installed on the local device and detecting a request to access a file stored on the local device having one of the one or more file types. The remote host can generate an offer to provide access to a remote application which is able to open the file for a fee such that the file is accessible via the local device. A selected service model can determine the fee and whether the remote application is provided for use by the local device when offline.

1 . A method of providing a targeted advertisement to a user using a virtual machine hosted by a remote server, the method, comprising:
 providing the user with access to the virtual machine hosted by the remote server, the virtual machine monitoring the user's activities on the virtual machine to gather user data;   identifying the targeted advertisement for the user according to at least one subset of the user data;   transmitting the targeted advertisement for displaying to the user on a user device when the user launches a remote application on the virtual machine, and   displaying the targeted advertisement over a splash screen of the application on the user device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user data includes information related to gender, age, profession, city, and/or time of use. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user data is gathered and stored within a storage associated with a virtual computing system. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: providing a remote application, from the remote server, to the user device upon an authorized payment for a fee or an authorized subscription, the remote application configured to access one or more local data on the user device; wherein the one or more local data is not accessible by applications installed on the user device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the targeted advertisement is at least related to the functionalities of the remote application, the remote application accessible to the user on the virtual machine. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising, waiving the fee in response to determining that the user has viewed at least a predetermined number of advertisements from the virtual machine. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising, streaming portions of the remote application to the user device for offline usage by the user device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising: transmitting the one or more local data to the remote server, the remote application configured to access the one or more local data on the remote server and transmit the accessing results on the remote server to the user device for displaying to the user. 
     
     
         9 . A system for providing one or more targeted advertisement(s) to a user device of a user, comprising:
 one or more remote virtual machine host(s), comprising individualized hardware units to execute instructions for supporting one or more virtual machine(s), the one or more virtual machine(s) configured to monitor the user's activities on the virtual machine when the user is using the one or more virtual machine(s);   a user identification engine, configured to authenticate the user and allow the user device to access the one or more virtual machine(s) of the one or more remote host(s);   an authentication/VM data repository, configured to store data including user data from the user device and the one or more virtual machine(s), the virtual machine(s)'s data, data files, and/or data/system files for instantiating virtual machine(s);   a load balancing engine, configured to balance the resources demands among the one or more virtual machine(s) of the one or more remote host(s);   an account management engineer, configured to manage billing, transactions, and advertisements; and   an advertisement repository, configured to store the one or more targeted advertisement(s), advertisement account information, and/or information related to the one or more targeted advertisement(s).   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the user data includes information related to gender, age, profession, city, and/or time of use. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the user data is gathered and stored within the authentication/VM data repository. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a remote application, the remote application accessible to the user device upon an authorized payment for a fee or an authorized subscription, the remote application configured to access one or more local data on the user device; wherein the one or more local data is not accessible by applications installed on the user device. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more targeted advertisement(s) is at least related to the functionalities of the remote application; and the remote application on the virtual machine is accessible to the user device. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the fee is waived in response to determining that the user has viewed at least a predetermined number of the targeted advertisements from the one or more virtual machine(s). 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein at least portions of the remote application is streamed to the user device for offline usage by the user device. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more local data is transmitted to the one or more remote host(s), the remote application configured to access the one or more local data on the one or more remote host(s) and transmit the accessing results on the one or more remote host(s) to the user device for displaying to the user. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus providing a targeted advertisement to a user using a virtual machine hosted by a remote server, comprising:
 means for providing the user with access to the virtual machine hosted by the remote server, the virtual machine monitoring the user's activities on the virtual machine to gather user data;   means for identifying the targeted advertisement for the user according to at least one subset of the user data;   means for transmitting the targeted advertisement for displaying to the user on a user device when the user launches a remote application on the virtual machine, and   means for displaying the targeted advertisement over a splash screen of the application on the user device.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the user data includes information related to gender, age, profession, city, and/or time of use. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising: means for providing a remote application, from the remote server, to the user device upon an authorized payment for a fee or an authorized subscription, the remote application configured to access one or more local data on the user device; wherein the one or more local data is not accessible by applications installed on the user device. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the targeted advertisement is at least related to the functionalities of the remote application; and the remote application on the virtual machine is accessible to the user device. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , further comprising, means for waiving the fee in response to determining that the user has viewed at least a predetermined number of targeted advertisements from the virtual machine. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , further comprising, means for streaming portions of the remote application to the user device for offline usage by the user device.