Mobile content service

Abstract

Standard content created for use on non-mobile platforms, such as personal computers, is made available and useful to mobile devices. A request for content from a mobile device is sent to a mobile server using the DNS or a redirect from a standard content server. The mobile server obtains the standard content and normalizes it for use on the mobile device. The normalized content is sent to the requesting mobile device.

1 . A method for providing mobile and standard content, the method comprising:
 receiving, at first server, a plurality of requests for content, each request received from either a mobile device or a standard device;   determining that a first request of the plurality of requests is a mobile request that originated from a mobile device;   identifying a hosting web server that hosts the requested content;   requesting the requested content from the identified hosting web server;   receiving the requested content as standard content from the identified hosting web server;   converting the standard content to mobile content by replacing code in the requested content with code that provides at least partly equivalent functionality on the mobile device;   sending the mobile content to the mobile device;   determining that a second request of the plurality of requests is a non-mobile request that originates from a non-mobile standard device; and   responsive to the non-mobile request, serving the standard content to the non-mobile device unaltered.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a step of determining a mobile device profile based upon information about the requesting device derived from the mobile request for content, wherein the code that provides the at least partly equivalent functionality is identified based at least in part upon the determined profile. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a step of storing the requested content on the web server in a first format adapted to be rendered using a first type of media player, wherein the step of converting the standard content to mobile content further comprises convening the requested content to a second format that is adapted to be rendered by a second type of media player on the mobile device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising a step of determining a mobile device profile based upon information about the requesting device derived from the mobile request for content wherein the step of converting the requested content to the second format is performed based at least in part upon the determined profile. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of converting the standard content to mobile content comprises inserting at least one advertisement adapted to be rendered by the mobile device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of requesting the requested content is performed using a reverse proxy call to the hosting web server. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a step of sending, to the identified hosting web server, at least one credential to authenticate the requesting user; wherein the requested content received as standard content from the identified hosting web server includes content that is available only to an authenticated user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining that the mobile request originates from the mobile device comprises identifying a user agent string received with the request as being associated with a mobile device. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 a standard to mobile content server comprising a processor, the standard to mobile content server configured to:
 receive a first request from a mobile device, the request resulting from a redirect instruction sent to the mobile device by a first web server and specifying content to be delivered to the mobile device; 
 identify a hosting web server hosting the content; 
 receive the content as standard content from the hosting web server; 
 convert the standard content to mobile content by replacing code in the requested content with code that provides at least partly equivalent functionality on the mobile device; and 
 send the mobile content to the mobile device. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 the hosting web server, configured to;
 prior to said standard to mobile content server receiving the first request, receive a second request for the content from the mobile device; 
 determine that the second request of the plurality of requests is a mobile request; and 
 send the redirect instruction to the mobile device, the redirect instruction specifying the standard to mobile content server. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , said hosting web server further configured to:
 receive a third request from a non-mobile standard device;   determine that the third request is a non-mobile request that originates from a non-mobile standard device; and   responsive to the non-mobile request, serve the content to the non-mobile standard device unaltered.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , said standard to mobile content server further configured to determine a mobile device profile based upon information about the mobile device derived from the first request, wherein the code that provides the at least partly equivalent functionality is based at least in part upon the determined profile. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , said standard to mobile content server further configured to convert the content from a first format adapted to he rendered by a first type of media player to a second format that is adapted to be rendered by a second type of media player on the mobile device. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , said standard to mobile content server further configured to determine a mobile device profile based upon information, about the mobile device derived from the first request, wherein the code that provides the at least partly equivalent functionality is based at least in part upon the determined profile. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , said standard to mobile content server further configured to insert at least one advertisement adapted to be rendered by the mobile device into the mobile content. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , said standard to mobile content server further configured to obtain the content from the hosting web server via a reverse proxy call to the hosting web server. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9 , said standard to mobile content server further configured to send, to the hosting web server, at least one credential to authenticate the user; wherein the content includes content that is available only to an authenticated user. 
     
     
         18 . A method for providing mobile content based on standard content, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a first server, a plurality of requests for content, each request received from either a mobile device or a standard device;   determining that a first request of the plurality of requests is a mobile request that originated from a mobile device;   obtaining standard content requested by the first request;   determining a mobile device profile based upon information about the requesting device derived from the mobile request for content;   transforming the standard content in real-time to mobile-device-compatible content; and   sending the mobile content to the mobile device.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the step of transforming the web content in real-time to mobile-device-compatible content further comprises normalizing an HTML version of the requested content to an XHTML-MP version of the requested content to form the mobile content. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising converting the requested content from a first format adapted to be rendered using a first type of media player, to a second format that is adapted to be rendered by a second type of media player on the mobile device.