Video in e-mail

Abstract

To allow a video clip to be rendered within an e-mail, the video stream is converted into an animated image object (e.g. a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) object) and stored on a server system. An HTML image element/tag (<img . . . >) is created that references the animated image object at the server, for embedding in a conventional HTML-encoded e-mail message. When the receiving e-mail application processes the HTML encoding, the processing of the HTML image element causes the referenced animated image object to be downloaded and displayed, thereby automatically presenting a recreation of the video stream. To facilitate efficient transmission to the receiving device, the size of the animated image object is preferably optimized before transmission, the optimization including general optimization techniques, as well as optimizations based on the particular characteristics associated with the receiving device and/or the communications link to the receiving device.

1 - 4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . A method for managing video content in an electronic mail (e-mail), the method comprising:
 providing, by one or more processors of a server, a reference to a plurality of video content files to cause embedding of the reference in the e-mail, the plurality of video content files associated with video content;   receiving a request for the video content from a user device that receives the e-mail;   determining a parameter associated with the user device using information associated with the request, the parameter comprising at least one of a device parameter associated with the use device, a receiving channel parameter associated with the user device, or an application parameter associated with the user device;   in response to the determination the parameter associated with the user device, selecting a certain video content file of the plurality of the video content files based on the parameter; and   causing transmission of the certain video content file to the user device.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the determining a parameter associated with the user device using the information associated with the request comprises determining the parameter associated with the user device using information of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header of the request. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 causing conversion of video content into the plurality of video content files based on a creation parameter; and   causing storage of the plurality of video content files.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the creation parameter comprises at least one of a frame rate, a resolution, a color-depth, or a file format 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the causing the embedding of the reference in the e-mail comprises causing the embedding of the reference in the e-mail in a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) format. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the receiving channel parameter associated with the user device comprises at least one of a location of a receiving channel associated with the use device, a connection speed of the receiving channel associated with the user device, or an available route of the receiving channel associated with the user device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the parameter associated with the user device comprises a network connection speed associated with the user device. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining the network connection speed using one or more redirects that cause an application of the user device to access a web address.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 causing access of an application of the user device to a web address using one or more redirects; and   determining the network connection speed based on a size of the one or more redirects and a time period between a time of transmission initialization of the one or more redirects and a time of the access of the application of the user device to the web address.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 causing presentation of the certain video content file on the user device; and   collecting statistics data comprising at least one of a duration of the presentation of the certain video content file, a number of requests associated with the user device, or a frequency of requests associated with the user device.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the causing transmission of the certain video content file to the user device comprises causing transmission of the certain video content file to the user device in a throttled manner such that a speed of transmission associated with the certain video content file is substantially same as a rate associated with the presentation of the certain video content file on the user device. 
     
     
         16 . A method comprising:
 providing, by one or more processors of a server, a reference to a plurality of video content files to cause inclusion of the reference in an electronic mail (e-mail), the plurality of video content files associated with video content;   receiving a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for the video content from a user device;   retrieving information associated with the user device based on the HTTP request, the information associated with the user device comprising at least one of a device parameter of the user device, a receiving channel parameter associated with the user device, or an application parameter associated with the user device;   determining a certain video content file of the plurality of video content files based on the information associated with the HTTP request; and   causing presentation of the certain video content file on the user device.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the retrieving information associated with the user device based on the HTTP request comprises determining a parameter associated with the user device based on information included in a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header of the HTTP request, and wherein the determining the certain video content file of the plurality of video content files based on the information associated with the HTTP request comprises determining the certain video content file of the plurality of video content files based on the parameter associated with the user device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 accessing the video content;   receiving a creation parameter associated with the video content;   causing convention of the video content into the plurality of video content files; and   causing storage of the plurality of video content files.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 collecting statistics data comprising at least one of a duration of the presentation of the certain video content file, a number of requests associated with the user device, or a frequency of requests associated with the user device.   
     
     
         20 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
 providing a reference to a plurality of video content files to cause inclusion of the reference in an e-mail in a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) format, the plurality of video content files associated with video content;   receiving a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for the video content from a user device that receives the e-mail;   retrieving information associated with the user device from a HTTP header of the HTTP request, the information comprising at least one of a device parameter associated with the use device, a receiving channel parameter associated with the user device, or an application parameter associated with the user device;   selecting a certain video content file of the plurality of the video content files based on the retrieved information; and   causing transmission of the certain video content file to the user device.   
     
     
         21 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 20 , wherein the acts further comprise:
 accessing the video content;   receiving a creation parameter associated with the video content;   causing convention of the video content into the plurality of video content files; and   causing storage of the plurality of video content files.   
     
     
         22 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 20 , wherein the acts further comprise:
 causing presentation of the certain video content file on the user device; and   collecting statistics data comprising at least one of a duration of the presentation of the certain video content file, a number of requests associated with the user device, or a frequency of requests associated with the user device.   
     
     
         23 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 20 , wherein the information associated with the user device comprises a network connection speed associated with the user device. 
     
     
         24 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 23 , wherein the acts further comprise:
 determining the network connection speed using one or more redirects that cause an application of the user device to access a web address.