Server managing the interactions between a source mobile device and a plurality of recipient television devices

Abstract

A mobile device or a sender's PC, notebook, PDA or laptop creates questionnaires and sends it to other recipient devices. The questionnaire is created by user of mobile device using audio inputs for a questionnaire preamble and for preambles for a question. A server in the network incorporates other generic portions of the questionnaire. It collates results received and send it to user who made/sent the questionnaire. Thus, a user can make adhoc questionnaires, send them to recipients and receive the results. This makes it easy for a user to create, disseminate, conduct questionnaires or surveys on mobile handsets and to collect results for processing and storage.

1 . A server comprising:
 the server managing the interactions between a source mobile device and a plurality of recipient television devices communicatively coupled to the server;   the server receiving a content from the source mobile device for distribution;   the server determining that at least a first television of the plurality of recipient television devices comprises a client component capable of processing the content and capable of facilitating response solicitation, and communicating the content to at least the first television;   the server receiving responses from the client component in the at least the first television, wherein the responses are solicited and collected from a user by the client component; and   the server collating the responses from the at least the first television and communicating the collated responses to the source mobile device.   
     
     
         2 . The server of  claim 1  wherein the server accepts responses from the at least the first television only after authenticating a one-time response token received from the corresponding users of the at least the first television. 
     
     
         3 . The server according to  claim 1  further comprising:
 the server receiving a list of recipients from the source mobile device to determine targets for delivery of the content; and 
 the server targeting those of the plurality of recipient television devices that are specified as recipients in the list of recipients for delivery of the content. 
 
     
     
         4 . The server according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the server provides the content as a plurality of interactive web pages tailored to the specific ones of the plurality of recipient television devices, or provides the content in an alternate form, based on the device capability of the corresponding ones of the plurality of recipient television devices.   
     
     
         5 . The server according to  claim 1 , wherein the server receives a first plurality of questions from one of the plurality of recipient television devices and sends it to at least one of the others of the plurality of recipient television devices, receives responses from them, and communicates the responses to the one of the plurality of recipient television devices. 
     
     
         6 . A server comprising:
 the server interacting with a plurality of televisions, wherein the server is communicatively coupled to the plurality of televisions;   the server receiving, optionally tailoring and distributing one of a plurality of questionnaires to at least one of the plurality of televisions based on a device capability associated with the one of the plurality of televisions and based on user selections made by associated users of the plurality of televisions; and   the server providing interactivity related to the one of the plurality of questionnaires, wherein the interactivity is associated with selecting supplementary information, providing responses to the one of the plurality of questionnaires, changing the currently displayed one of the plurality of questionnaires, purchasing a product or service based on the one of the plurality of questionnaires, providing feedback the one of the plurality of questionnaires or sharing the one of the plurality of questionnaires.   
     
     
         7 . The server of  claim 6  that sends an ad hoc query to at least one of the plurality of televisions to solicit user responses, collects user responses from the at least one of the plurality of televisions, and forwards it to an entity associated with the ad hoc query. 
     
     
         8 . The server of  claim 6  further comprising:
 the server facilitates creation of an ad-hoc question or questionnaire by a user of one of the plurality of televisions, and sends the adhoc question or questionnaire to recipients specified; 
 the server determines target televisions among the plurality of televisions based on the recipients specified; and 
 the server presents the ad hoc question or questionnaire to the target televisions, collects responses from them, and presents the responses to the user of the one of the plurality of televisions. 
 
     
     
         9 . A server that facilitates interaction by a first user employing a first device with a group of friends, each employing one of a plurality of devices, the server comprising:
 the server communicates a first content created by the first user on the first device and received by the server from the first device to the plurality of devices;   the server receives responses from the plurality of devices; and   the server collates the responses and sends it to the first device.   
     
     
         10 . The server of  claim 9  wherein the server waits till it receives responses from each of the plurality of devices, or waits for a predefined period of time, before sending responses to the first device. 
     
     
         11 . The server of  claim 9  further comprising:
 the server either allows the plurality of devices to download the first content for review by a corresponding one of the group of friends, employing a compatible client component in the respective ones of the plurality of devices; and 
 the server facilitates access of the first content, or a subset thereof, as a collection of web pages provided by the server. 
 
     
     
         12 . The server of  claim 9  further comprising:
 the server, communicatively coupled to a source mobile device, receives an ad hoc query from the source mobile device, wherein the ad hoc query is created by a user using the source mobile device; 
 the server sends the ad hoc query to at least one of the plurality of devices and receives responses from the at least one of the plurality of devices; and 
 the server communicates the ad hoc query and the received responses corresponding to the ad hoc query to the source mobile device. 
 
     
     
         13 . The server of  claim 12  wherein the ad hoc query comprises one or more of audio, text, graphics, and video, the server further comprising:
 the server adds boilerplate content and multiple choices to the ad hoc query before sending it to the at least one of the plurality of devices. 
 
     
     
         14 . A network infrastructure comprising:
 a source device that creates a first content requiring user interaction;   a first recipient device that comprises a first client capable of handling the first content;   a second recipient device wherein the second recipient device comprises a website browsing client capable of displaying webpages;   a server, communicatively coupled to the source device, the first recipient device and the second recipient device, that receives the first content from the source device;   the server sending the first content to the first recipient device for display by the first client; and   the server providing at least a portion of the first content, or a modified version of the first content, when requested via the website browsing client, to the second recipient device.   
     
     
         15 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  further comprising:
 the source device, the first recipient device and the second recipient device are each one of a mobile device, a tablet, a PDA, a television, a set-top-box, a laptop, and a personal computer; 
 the server tailors the first content to the capability of the first recipient device, and at least a portion of the first content, or a modified version of the first content to the capability of the second recipient device, respectively. 
 
     
     
         16 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  wherein the server receives the first content and a list of recipient devices from the source device and communicates the first content to the recipient devices associated with the list of recipient devices. 
     
     
         17 . The network infrastructure of  claim 16  wherein the server receives responses from at least one recipient devices associated with the list of recipient devices, collates it, and communicates it to the source device. 
     
     
         18 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14 , wherein the first recipient device and the second recipient device are each one of a personal computer, a laptop, a PDA, a mobile device, a cellular device, a music player, a set-top-box for a television, a television, and a tablet. 
     
     
         19 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  wherein the first content is a survey of multiple questions, wherein each question in the multiple question comprises are one or more of an audio component, video component, an image component, a text component and a multiple choice selection. 
     
     
         20 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  wherein the server converts the first content to a form compatible with the second recipient device and then provides at least a portion of the first content, or a compatible version of the first content, when requested via the website browsing client, to the second recipient device. 
     
     
         21 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  further comprising:
 the server adds boilerplate text and audio information to the first content provided by the source device to create a modified first content; and 
 the server sends the modified first content to the first recipient device for display to a first recipient user. 
 
     
     
         22 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  further comprising:
 the server determining that the first recipient device comprises the first client capable of capable of handling the first content and sending the first content to the first recipient device; and 
 the server determining that the second recipient device is not capable of handling the first content and providing web based access to the first content via webpages associated with the first content. 
 
     
     
         23 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  further comprising:
 the server providing a notification to the first and second recipient device regarding the availability of the first content, wherein the notification is an SMS message based notification, an email based notification, an IM based notification or a first client based notification. 
 
     
     
         24 . The network infrastructure of  claim 17  further comprising:
 the server communicating the received responses to the source device via email, via a website associated with the server, by SMS messages, or by instant messaging. 
 
     
     
         25 . The network infrastructure of  claim 14  further comprising:
 the server communicates a notification to the second recipient device comprising an URL associated with the first content, wherein the URL provides references to a webpage that presents the first content as a set of webpages.