Patent ID: 7660868
Filing Date: 2010-02-09
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer readable electronic storage medium, the electronic storage medium comprising machine readable instructions configured to operate on a first computing device to present Internet content to a user of said first computing device according to a computer-implemented method comprising: obtaining, on the first computing device, information identifying a user of the first computing device; accessing a user profile associated with the user based on the obtained information identifying the user, wherein the user profile is accessed by the first computing device from electronic storage media accessible to one or more processors of the first computing device; obtaining on electronic storage media accessible to one or more processors of the first computing device machine readable instructions associated with a first networked information monitor, wherein the machine readable instructions associated with the first networked information monitor include one or more initial uniform resource locators at which content for the first networked information monitor is accessible over the Internet; initiating the first networked information monitor on the first computing device by executing the machine readable instructions associated with the first networked information monitor, wherein initiating the first networked information monitor includes generating, via the first networked information monitor, a request over the Internet for content to the one or more initial uniform resource locators, and wherein initiation of the first networked information monitor on the first computing device is responsive to an indication in the accessed user profile that the first networked information monitor should be automatically initiated for the user of the first computing device; obtaining, via the first networked information monitor, first Internet content from the one or more initial uniform resource locators, said first Internet content programmed in a format readable by a dedicated Web browser program having native web navigation control features; rendering, via the first networked information monitor, a graphical user interface defined by the first Internet content to produce a visual manifestation of the first Internet content on an output apparatus of the first computing device, wherein the visual manifestation of the first Internet content is displayed independently from any window of a dedicated Web browser program including native web navigation control features, and wherein if the graphical user interface rendered via the first networked information monitor provides any control to a user of the first computing device over access, via the first home application, to content obtained over the Internet from any uniform resource locators other than the initial uniform resource locators, such control is provided by features of the graphical user interface that are defined by content received by the first networked information monitor over the Internet in a format readable by a dedicated Web browser program having native web navigation control features; receiving a share command on the first computing device, wherein the share command indicates that the first networked information monitor should be shared with another user; and issuing instructions by the first computing device that result in an electronic transmission of information to a second computing device that is associated with the other user, wherein the information transmitted to the second computing device shares with the other user the first networked information monitor, and wherein the issuing of the instructions by the first computing device is responsive to the reception of the share command.