Abstract:
An exemplary embodiment involves receiving, by a processor, a selection of a contact from a requestor. The exemplary embodiment further involves identifying, by the processor, multiple services to which the contact subscribes and to which the requestor subscribes. Subscribing to each service comprises creating a profile comprising authentication information and associating with the profile one or more content items provided by the service. Identifying the multiple services comprises identifying, for each service that a first profile of the contact is associated with a second profile of the requestor. The exemplary embodiment further involves communicating, by the processor, with the multiple services to identify content to identify content that is provided by one or more of the multiples services and that is associated with the contact. The exemplary embodiment further involves generating, by the processor, a preview indicating the content associated with the contact.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/038,480 entitled “CONTACT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT,” filed on the same day as the present application, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The web has developed dramatically over the past several years. It is now easier than ever for persons all around the world to communicate with each other and exchange personal information. 
     For example, social networking websites are popular ways of enabling persons having similar interests or activities to easily communicate with each other over the world wide web. Social networking services are primarily web-based and provide numerous ways for users to interact with each other. Modes of communicating as supported by a social networking service can include chatting, messaging, emailing, video playback, voice chatting, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on. 
     Certain social networking services enable a user to maintain a directory of contacts so that, upon visiting the social networking website, the user can keep track of his or her friends. Depending on the service, a directory can include identities of persons such as a group of former classmates, persons that are part of a club, chat room friends, etc. Thus, at least one service provided by a social networking website is the ability to manage a directory of friends or relations that also subscribe to the service. A respective service typically maintains a directory of “friends” for a corresponding subscriber as a private collection of contact information accessible only by the subscriber. 
     Although the directory of friends may be private, the personal information associated with the persons listed in a directory may be publicly available. 
     In certain cases, a user of a respective service needs a user name and password to log onto a social networking service. After authentication of the user by the service, the user can have access to his or her directory of friends. Thus, social networking services may provide at least some level of protection for private information even though subscribers&#39; profiles are typically publicly available. 
     In addition to providing access to and use of a directory of friends, a social networking service can be configured to enable each of the users of the service to create a corresponding user profile (e.g., a web page of information) that is accessible by other users of the social networking service. Each subscriber can modify his or her profile to include personal or favorite information associated with the corresponding subscriber. As mentioned above, the profile information for each of the subscribers of the service may be publicly available to other users of the social networking service. In certain cases, a user profile can include contact information such as telephone, e-mail address, etc. for contacting the user. Special privileges may be required to access the contact information. 
     A user profile can also include accessible content or content links which the user has chosen to include as a part of his or her profile. For example, a profile can include text such as blogs, personal information, links to other web pages, etc. The content may also include various media, or links thereto, such as audio, video, FLASH® media files, and so on. 
     Upon visiting a social networking service, a user can access his or her directory of friends. If desired, the user can view profile information associated with the persons listed in the user&#39;s directory of friends by retrieving an information page associated with the selected friend or friends. 
     SUMMARY 
     Conventional management of content and content links suffer from a variety of deficiencies. For example, currently there is no efficient way for a user to manage and view content associated with multiple contacts that subscribe to multiple different networking services other than to manually and separately visit each site and, if desired, manually retrieve the content and/or links associated with a given contact for playback. Manually accessing content such as web pages, audio clips, video clips, links, etc., associated with multiple contacts from multiple different services can be very tedious and time-consuming. 
     Techniques discussed herein deviate with respect to conventional applications. For example, as will be discussed further, certain specific embodiments herein are directed to a computer and/or network environment in which a user has access to content information associated with different contacts via use of a content information aggregator having access to multiple remote services. As will be discussed, the content information aggregator simplifies a user&#39;s online experience by enabling the user to more easily view, analyze, interact with, etc., content information associated with his or her contacts. 
     In a general example embodiment, a content information aggregator receives selection of a contact. In response to selection of the contact, the content information aggregator identifies multiple services to which the contact subscribes. The content information aggregator communicates with the multiple services to retrieve content information associated with the contact. By way of a non-limiting example, the content information can include content and content references available from the contact&#39;s profile information residing at the multiple different services. The content information can specify content stored at locations other than the multiple services as well. The content information aggregator retrieves the content information from such services and potentially content and/or reference to content from the sources other than the multiple services. 
     After identifying different content information associated with the contact, the content information aggregator generates a preview based on the content information associated with the contact. The preview can include a display of the content information associated with the contact such as the contact&#39;s favorite URL (Uniform Resource Locator) links, selectable thumbnails representing retrievable content associated with contact, content associated with the contact, etc. 
     In one embodiment, the aggregator enables a viewer to initiate play back of content associated with the contact based on input commands with respect to the preview. For example, a viewer can select different display regions of the preview to initiate retrieval and playback of corresponding content associated with the contact. Such an embodiment is useful because, rather than having to manually visit each of multiple different websites (e.g., MySpace™, Facebook™, etc.) to identify content information associated with a contact, a user can use the content information aggregator as described herein to visit one or more services to obtain content information associated with a selected contact and thereafter play back or view content associated with the selected contact. 
     Thus, based on these and other embodiments as further described herein, a user can more efficiently manage content information associated with one or more contacts having content information stored at multiple disparate locations over a network. As will be discussed, the content aggregator can support additional functions other than just content information aggregation and generation of a preview. Accordingly, the content aggregator also can be considered a content information manager. 
     Embodiments herein provide useful ways for managing information. For example, according to embodiments herein, a subscriber can quickly view which content his or her friends have also been viewing or content in which his or her friends have indicated as being of interest Inherently, a user is likely to have similar tastes and preferences as his or her friends. Based on this premise, certain embodiments herein enable a user to conveniently view a preview of content that has been identified as preferred or enjoyable content by one or more of the user&#39;s contacts. Thus, embodiments herein can provide a more efficient online experience by mitigating the need to blindly peruse the Internet in an attempt to find enjoyable content. 
     Note that embodiments herein can include a configuration of one or more computerized devices, websites, hosted services, workstations, handheld or laptop computers, or the like to carry out and/or support any or all of the method operations disclosed herein. In other words, one or more computerized devices or processors can be programmed and/or configured to include a content information aggregator and/or related functions as explained herein to carry out different embodiments of the invention. 
     Another embodiment of the present disclosure is directed to a computer program product that includes one or more tangible computer readable media having instructions stored thereon for supporting operations such as retrieval and display of content information associated with a subscriber&#39;s contacts. The instructions, and thus method as described herein, when carried out by a processor of a respective computer device, cause the processor to: i) receive a selection of a contact; ii) identify multiple services to which the contact subscribes; iii) communicate with the multiple services to identify content associated with the contact; and iv) generate a preview to indicate the content associated with the contact. 
     Of course, the numbering of the above steps has been added for clarity sake, these steps may not need to be performed in any particular order. 
     Also, it is to be understood that each of the systems, methods, etc., herein can be embodied strictly as a software program, as a hybrid of software and hardware, or as hardware alone such as within a processor, or within an operating system or within a software application, or via a non-software application such a person performing all or part of the operations. Example embodiments of the invention may be implemented in products and/or software applications such as those manufactured by Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif., USA. 
     As discussed above, techniques herein are well suited for use in software applications supporting aggregation and playback of content associated with multiple contacts and multiple services. However, it should be noted that embodiments herein are not limited to use in such applications and that the techniques discussed herein are well suited for other applications as well. 
     Additionally, although each of the different features, techniques, configurations, etc., herein may be discussed in different places of this disclosure, it is intended that each of the concepts can be executed independently of each other or in combination with each other. Accordingly, the present invention can be embodied and viewed in many different ways. 
     Note also that this summary section herein does not specify every embodiment and/or incrementally novel aspect of the present disclosure or claimed invention. Instead, this summary only provides a preliminary discussion of different embodiments and corresponding points of novelty over conventional techniques. For additional details and/or possible perspectives of the invention and embodiments, the reader is directed to the Detailed Description section and corresponding figures of the present disclosure as further discussed below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments herein as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the embodiments, principles and concepts. 
         FIG. 1  is an example diagram of a network environment and aggregator for managing content information according to embodiments herein. 
         FIG. 2  is an example diagram of a screenshot illustrating multiple contacts that subscribe to one or more services according to embodiments herein. 
         FIG. 3  is an example diagram of an aggregator and retrieving contact information associated with one or more contacts according to embodiments herein. 
         FIG. 4  is an example diagram illustrating different configurations for displaying contact information associated with one or more contacts according to embodiments herein. 
         FIG. 5  is an example screenshot illustrating display of a preview identifying content associated with multiple contacts according to embodiments herein. 
         FIG. 6  is an example block diagram of a computer system configured with a processor and memory to execute methods and store instructions according to embodiments herein. 
         FIGS. 7-9  are flowcharts illustrating example methods for aggregation and management of content information according to embodiments herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     According to embodiments herein, via a graphical user interface, a user can select a contact from a listing of multiple contacts. The listing of multiple contacts can be derived as a result of collecting contact information from multiple different services to which the user subscribes. 
     The contact selected from the listing can have content information available from one or more different services such as multiple social networking websites to which the selected contact subscribes. In response to selection of the contact from the listing, a content aggregator communicates with the multiple different services over a network to retrieve content information associated with the contact. By way of a non-limiting example, the retrieved content information from the multiple services can specify content, links, content references, etc., associated with the contact. 
     The content aggregator processes the content information from the multiple services and initiates display of the content information associated with the contact. 
     As further discussed below, aggregation and display of content information associated with a selected contact in this way enables a user to more easily view content associated with a contact than conventional methods which require the user to manually and individually visit each of multiple different social networking services to view such information. 
     More specifically,  FIG. 1  is an example diagram illustrating a network environment  100  supporting aggregation of content information and generation of preview information according to embodiments herein. 
     As shown, network environment  100  includes network  101 , subscriber  105 , subscriber system  110 , graphical user interface  118 , content information aggregator  150 , repository  190 , and services  130 . Services  130  include service  130 - 1 , service  130 - 2 , and so on. 
     In the example configuration in  FIG. 1 , the content information aggregator  150  includes a contact handler  160 , content information retriever  170 , and preview generator  180 . The repository  190  includes a listing of identified contacts  120  (e.g., contact  120 - 1 , contact  120 - 2 , . . . , contact  120 -N) and associated services  130  to which the contacts subscribe. Additionally, each of the services  130  maintains at least one contact profile  122  associated with a corresponding contact  120 . For example, contact profile  122 - 1  is associated with contact  120 - 1 , contact profile  122 - 2  is associated with contact  120 - 2 , . . . , contact profile  122 -N is associated with contact  120 -N. By way of a non-limiting example, each of the contact profiles  122  can represent personal information managed by a respective contact for rendering of a corresponding web page associated with a contact. 
     More specifically, each contact profile  122  can include content and corresponding display rules associated with its associated contact  120 . As shown, contact  122 - 1  in service  130 - 1  can include content A11 and content B11. By way of a non-limiting example, the content as specified by a corresponding contact profile can include or provide a link to information such as video data, audio data, images, etc. Additionally, each contact profile  122  can include corresponding display rules indicating how to display the corresponding content associated with a profile when the profile and related information is displayed to a viewer. 
     Note that for the example configuration of  FIG. 1 , the content nomenclature is defined as follows: {Content ID, Service ID, Contact ID}. That is, for example, at least a portion of content associated with contact profile  122 - 1  in service  130 - 2  is denoted as content A21. The letter “A” in “A21” indicates a content ID of A. The number “2” in “A21” indicates a service ID of 2. The number “1” in “A21” indicates a contact ID of 1. 
     The display rules nomenclature is defined as follows: {Service ID, Contact ID}. Thus, as an example, the display rules for contact profile  122 - 2  in service  130 - 1  are denoted as display rules 12. The number “1” in “12” indicates a service ID of 1. The number “2” in “12” indicates a contact ID of 2. Details and use of the display rules are discussed further below with respect to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
     In a similar manner as discussed in related application Ser. No. 12/038,480 entitled “CONTACT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT”, filed on a same day as the present application), the content information aggregator  150  of the current disclosure of  FIG. 1  communicates with the services  130  to identify contacts associated with the subscriber  105 . The content information aggregator  150  initiates display of a listing of the multiple contacts to the subscriber  105 . The listing of contacts can be displayed in graphical user interface  118 . Accordingly, the subscriber  105  can view identities of different contacts. 
     The subscriber  105  selects a contact from the listing of contacts. In this example, the selected contact  120 - 1  is denoted by selection  115 . In turn, the subscriber system  110  transmits the selection  115  to the content information aggregator  150  over network  101 . Logical path  116  represents transmission of the selection  115  to the content information aggregator  150 . 
     Assume for this example embodiment that the selection  115  indicates that the subscriber  105  selected contact  120 - 1  for viewing of content information associated with selected contact  120 - 1 . 
     The contact handler  160  of content information aggregator  150  receives and processes the selection  115  transmitted from subscriber system  110 . In order to determine the services  130  associated with the selection  115 , the contact handler  160  queries repository  190 . The repository  190  in the example configuration of  FIG. 1  maintains contact data that cross-references contacts  120  with his or her respective service  130  subscriptions. In other words, the repository  190  stores contact information indicating which different services to which the corresponding contacts subscribe. Based on this information, the content information aggregator  150  can identify which services  130  to initiate communications for retrieval of content information associated with a selected contact  120 - 1 . 
     In the present example, the data entry for contact  120 - 1  in repository  190  indicates that contact  120 - 1  subscribes to service  130 - 1  and  130 - 2 . Each of these identified services therefore should have corresponding content information associated with the contact  120 - 1 . 
     To retrieve content information from a respective service for the selection  115 , the content information aggregator  150  may need password and username information. In one embodiment, the repository  190  includes appropriate authentication information such as, without limitation, a username, password, etc., for each service  130  so that the content information aggregator  150  can gain access to content information at the different services  130  for the selection  115 . In such an embodiment, the authentication information can be the same information that a the subscriber  105  would manually log onto a respective service and view, via a web browser, profile information associated with the selected contact. 
     Assume in this example that the contact handler  160  of the content information aggregator  150  accesses repository  190  and identifies that the selected contact  120 - 1  has corresponding content information available from service  130 - 1  and service  130 - 2  as mentioned above. The contact handler saves this information as contact information  165 . 
     The contact handler  160  makes the contact information  165  available to the content information retriever  170 . By way of a non-limiting example, the contact information  165  can include an identity of the selection  115 , the identity of any associated services  130  associated with the contact, pointer or location address for each service  130 , authentication information for each service  130 , etc. 
     As its name suggests, the content information retriever  170  retrieves content information associated with the selection  115 . Thus, based on use of the contact information  165 , the content information retriever  170  is able to identify, locate, and log on to the specific services associated with the selection  115 . 
     Typically, each service  130  has an Application Programming Interface (API) that enables the content information aggregator  150  to communicate with and access content from each service. 
     Recall in this example that contact profile  122 - 1  represents content information associated with contact  120 - 1 . Content information associated with the selection  115  is therefore available from both service  130 - 1  and service  130 - 2 . 
     Based on the contact information  165 , the content information retriever  170  communicates with each of services  130 - 1  and  130 - 2  to retrieve content information associated with the selection  115 . For example, the content information retriever  170  requests service  130 - 1  to provide content information associated with the selection  115 . The content information retriever  170  also requests service  130 - 2  to provide content information associated with the selection  115 . By way of a non-limiting example, the content information can include any content information associated with the selection  115  such as links to information associated with the contact  120 - 1  such as the contact&#39;s favorite web pages, links to retrievable content, playable content, metadata, audio files, video files, display rules indicating how to present content information to a viewer, etc. 
     In this example, the content information retriever  170  can retrieve any or all of the content information associated with the selection  115  such as content A11, content B11, display rules 11, content D21, content A21, display rules 21, etc., from the services as specified by contact information  165 . 
     In response to retrieving the content information from the services  130 , the content information retriever  170  stores the retrieved content information as content information  185 . The preview generator  180  utilizes the content information  185  as retrieved from services  130  to create a preview  187  for viewing by the subscriber  105 . Logical path  117  in  FIG. 1  indicates transmission of any data required to initiate display of preview  187  on graphical user interface  118 . 
     Upon receiving the preview  187 , the subscriber system  110  renders preview information such as preview A11, preview B11, preview D21, and preview A21, etc., in graphical user interface  118 . 
     Preview A11 displayed in graphical user interface  118  represents a preview of content A11 associated with the selected contact  120 - 1  as retrieved from service  130 - 1 , preview B11 represents a preview of content B11 associated with the selected contact  120 - 1  as retrieved from service  130 - 1 , preview D21 represents a preview of content D21 associated with the selected contact  120 - 1  as retrieved from service  130 - 2 , preview A21 represents a preview of content A21 associated with the selected contact  120 - 1  as retrieved from service  130 - 2 , and so on. 
     Thus, in response to selection  115  of a particular contact such as contact  120 - 1 , the content information aggregator  150  can initiate retrieval of content information associated with the selected contact  120 - 1  from multiple services. The content information aggregator  150  initiates, via preview generator  180 , display of one or more previews of the content information associated with the selected contact  120 - 1  in graphical user interface  118 . 
     Note that display rules for indicating how to display the content information in the previews can be obtained from a number of different sources such as the subscriber and/or contact. For example, the subscriber  105  can provide display rules indicating how to display content information associated with a selected contact. 
     As another example, the content information retriever  170  can retrieve, in addition to content information such as content and/or content links associated with the selection  115  as stored at services  130 , the content information retriever  170  can retrieve display rules 11 and/or display rules 21 that have been pre-defined by the contact to be used for generating the preview of the contact&#39;s content in graphical user interface  118 . Thus, the contact can have some control as to how to present the contact&#39;s content information to a viewer. 
     It should be appreciated that retrieval of content information associated with one or more contacts from multiple services, the content information aggregator  150  alleviates the need for the subscriber  105  to perform a piecemeal login to each of multiple different services  130  to manually retrieve content associated with a given contact for viewing. 
     As will be discussed further with respect to  FIGS. 3-6 , each preview can include selectable references that enable the subscriber  105  to choose which, if any, content associated with the contact the subscriber wishes to retrieve and view in their entirety. Thus, in one embodiment, the preview information displayed in graphical user interface  118  may only be a summary view specifying different content associated with a respective contact. 
       FIG. 2  is an example screenshot  200  generated by the content information aggregator  150  in a graphical user interface  118  according to embodiments herein. Screenshot  200  includes a service list  210 , a contact list  220 , and a display region  225 - 5  having detailed information related to a contact selected from contact list  220 . 
     As shown, service list  210  includes services  215 . By way of a non-limiting example, service  215 - 1  can represent a service such as “FACEBOOK®”; service  215 - 2  can represent a service such as “MYSPACE®”; service  215 - 3  can represent a service such as “LINKEDIN®”, and so on. 
     For those services  130  to which the subscriber  105  subscribes, the content information aggregator  150  communicates with each service to identify the subscriber&#39;s contacts at those services  130 . This is described in related United States patent Application entitled “CONTACT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT,” as incorporated by reference above. 
     In the context of the present example, contact list  220  includes contacts  225  such as contact  225 - 1  “Katerina Darling”, contact  225 - 2  “Sawyer Griffin”, contact  225 - 3  “Jonah Hill”, contact  225 - 4  “Jolie Hu”, contact  225 - 5  “Vegas Lory”, and so on. These entries in contact list  220  represent different contacts that can be selected by the subscriber  105  for viewing corresponding content information. Each of the contacts in contact listing  220  can have corresponding content information stored at one or more of the same or different services as discussed above. 
     In the context of the example embodiment of  FIG. 2 , assume that the user has made selection  115  such as by clicking on contact  225 - 5  “Vegas Lory” in contact listing  220  in order to view the more detailed information regarding this contact. 
     In response to the selection  115  of contact  225 - 5  Vegas Lory from contact list  220 , the subscriber system  110  sends the selection  115  to content information aggregator  150  as mentioned above in  FIG. 1 . Based on the selection  115 , the content information aggregator  150  retrieves content information from services  130  subscribed to by Vegas Lory and then populates the corresponding display region  225 - 5  (in the screenshot  200  of  FIG. 2 ) with content information associated with the selection  115 , namely contact Vegas Lory in this example. 
     By way of a non-limiting example, display region  225 - 5  includes a first preview region  235 - 2  illustrating a preview of example photo content associated with Vegas Lory. Display region  225 - 5  includes a second preview region  235 - 3  including video content associated with Vegas Lory. To view content information associated with another contact, the subscriber makes another selection  115  such as by clicking on another contact in contact listing  220 . Accordingly, the subscriber can view content information associated with any selected contact. 
       FIG. 3  is an example diagram further illustrating a network environment  300  supporting retrieval of content information for a selected contact according to embodiments herein. 
     As shown, network environment  300  includes network  301 , contacts  305  (e.g., contact  305 - 1 , . . . , contact  305 -N) and associated contact systems  310 . Contact systems  310  include contact system  310 - 1 , . . . , contact system  310 -N, such as a computer, laptop, workstation, etc., providing access to network  301  and services  330 . Network environment  300  further includes content information aggregator  350  with associated content information retriever  370  and preview generator  380 . 
     Services  330  include service  330 - 1 , service  330 - 2 , . . . , service  330 -M. By way of a non-limiting example, the services  330  can represent social networking services, repositories, web pages, etc., through which the contacts manage and/or store his or her content information. 
     In the context of the present example, a contact  305  represents an entity that has a corresponding contact profile stored with a corresponding service. In other words, each of the contacts  305  subscribes to one or more services  330  that store content information associated with the respective contact. Such services  330  can be configured to enable the contacts users to manage his or her corresponding content information. 
     Via communications over network  301 , a contact user  305  can upload and/or create content information for inclusion in his or her corresponding contact profile. For example, assume that a contact user uploads his or her favorite songs or movies (or links to his or her favorite songs or movies) to a corresponding MYSPACE® profile. By doing so, other users of the MYSPACE® service having access to the contact user&#39;s profile can identify which songs or movies are preferred by the contact user. 
     Thus, in the context of  FIG. 3 , contact user  305 - 1  provides, over network  301 , content information including content A11, content B11, and display rules 11 to the contact user&#39;s corresponding contact profile  322 - 1  on service  330 - 1 . Contact profile  322 - 2  includes content information associated with another contact in network environment  300 . 
     In this particular embodiment, service  330 - 1  has a service interface  340  enabling the contacts  305  and subscriber  105  to access contact profiles  322  associated with different entities such as contacts  305 . Logical path  303  represents a communications path enabling contact  305 - 1  to manage his or her content information in his or her respective contact profile  322 - 1  at service  330 - 1 . 
     In a similar manner as discussed above for contact  305 - 1 , each of the contacts  305  in network environment  300  can manage his or her profile information at the different services  330 . 
     In accordance with the previous example embodiments, the content information retriever  370  of content information aggregator  350  communicates with the appropriate services associated with a given contact to retrieve content information associated with the contact. For example, the content information retriever  370  communicates with service  330 - 1  to access contact profile  322 - 1  to retrieve content information  385  such as content A11, content B11, display rules 11, etc. Logical path  304  represents such an access. 
     In a manner as discussed above, the content information retriever  370  retrieves the content information associated with the given contact from multiple services having a contact profile associated with the given contact. Based on the retrieved content information associated with the given contact, the preview generator  380  of content information aggregator  350  creates a corresponding view by communicating over network  101  with the subscriber system  110  as discussed above in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating examples of different preview configurations  400  and  405  that can be rendered by a content information aggregator according to embodiments herein. In general, the preview configuration  400  represents a view as generated by the content information aggregator enabling a subscriber  105  to view groupings of content information by service. As an alternative, the preview configuration  405  as generated by the content information aggregator enables a subscriber  105  to view groupings of the content information by content type. Thus, content information can be displayed on a per-contact basis or a per-content type basis. 
     More specifically, the first example preview configuration  400  includes a first column for indicating content information associated with contact  410 - 1  and a second column for indicating content information associated with contact  410 - 2 . Each contact column is further delineated by the services subscribed to by each respective contact. For example, contact  410 - 1  includes corresponding regions for displaying content information retrieved from service  420 - 1  and service  420 - 2 . Similarly, contact  410 - 2  includes corresponding regions for indicating content information retrieved from service  420 - 1  and content information retrieved from service  420 - 3 . 
     In this non-limiting example, preview information  440 -A,  440 -B,  440 -E and  440 -F are of a content type  430 - 1  such as music; preview  440 -C,  440 -D,  440 -G and  440 -H are of a content type  430 - 2  such as photos; and, preview  440 -J and  440 -K are of a content type  430 - 3  such as videos. As shown, when content information associated with multiple contacts is shown in accordance with preview configuration  400 , the content information is first categorized by service. Then for each service, the preview information is sorted and displayed by type. 
     Preview configuration  405  is similar to preview configuration  400  except that the content previews are not initially delineated by service. Instead, the content preview information is first assorted by type regardless of the service from which the corresponding content information is retrieved. This configuration may provide a more unified representation since the previews are grouped irrespective of the services from where they originated. It should be noted, however, that the associated service identity may still be indicated for respective preview information so that a view can identify from which service the preview information pertains. 
       FIG. 5  is an example screenshot  500  generated by a content information aggregator according to embodiments herein. The screenshot  500  includes three preview columns of contact related information associated with three corresponding contacts. Each preview includes content type regions containing content aggregations for that particular content type. 
     More specifically, screenshot  500  includes first preview  510 , second preview  520  and third preview  530 . Preview  510  indicates content information associated with a first selected contact, preview  520  indicates content information associated with a second selected contact, preview  530  indicates content information associated with a third selected contact, and so on. 
     In one example embodiment, a subscriber  105  can select the three contacts such as Katerina, Sawyer, and Jonah, from the contact list  220  in order to invoke the corresponding previews for each contact in screenshot  500 . Each of the previews  510 ,  520  and  530  can correspond to a different contact. For example, profile  510  can include information associated with Katerina Darling, profile  520  can include information associated with Sawyer Griffin, and profile  530  can include information associated with Jonah Hill. 
     Preview  510  displays content information associated with a first contact. By way of a non-limiting example, preview  510  includes first content type region  512  to display weather information, second content type region  514  to display PHOTOSHOP® content information, third content type region  516  to display ADOBE MEDIA PLAYER® content information, and fourth content type region  518  to display thumbnails of movie trailers. 
     Preview  520  displays content information associated with a second contact. By way of a non-limiting example, second preview  520  includes first content type region  522  to display weather information, second content type region  524  to display ADOBE DIGITAL EDITIONS® content, third content type region  526  to display music content, and fourth content type region  528  to display concert content. 
     Preview  530  displays content information associated with a third contact. By way of a non-limiting example, third preview  530  further includes first content type region to display financial information, second content type region  534  to display PHOTOSHOP® content, third content type region  536  to display ADOBE DIGITAL EDITIONS® content, and fourth content type region  538  to display proximity content. 
     As shown, each of profiles  510 ,  520  and  530  for different respective contacts in can include different types of content information in accordance with content information associated with the contacts at the different services. 
     Also note again that the content information in screenshot  500  is shown as a non-limiting example and that previews can vary depending on the information retrieved from the different services for the contacts. Thus, embodiments herein are not limited to the example configuration provided by screenshot  500  in  FIG. 5 . 
     In the present example, the display region  514  of preview  510  includes content preview  514 - 1 , content preview  514 - 2 , and content preview  514 - 3 . Similarly, display region  518  of profile  510  includes content preview  518 - 1 , content preview  518 - 2 , and content preview  518 - 3 . 
     Each of the content previews  514  and  518  correspond to content that is retrievable by the viewer clicking on the corresponding content preview. In other words, each preview can have a corresponding associated link in which to retrieve content as represented by the preview. Thus, underlying each selectable content preview can be a link to the content. Both the link and corresponding image displayed in a preview can be obtained from one of the multiple services. 
     Additionally, note that the services can provide content information specifying a remote location from which to retrieve content for display in screenshot  500 . For example, the information displayed in preview  512  can include information from a remote website as specified by the content information for a given contact. Accordingly, each of the previews for different contacts can be generated based on content received from the services as well as other sources in a network. 
     Note that a service from where the content preview originated is typically, but not necessarily, one in which both the subscriber  105  and the different contacts have subscribed. In other words, a contact can select a number of favorite links to websites and/or content available on the Internet. As mentioned, this information can be displayed in the contact&#39;s profile page. Embodiments herein enable retrieval of information from the different services so that a respective subscriber  105  can more easily keep track and/or maintain of favorite content associated with the different contacts. 
     Note that in certain embodiments, the “collection” or “aggregation” command to obtain content information associated with one or more contacts isn&#39;t necessarily a direct command input by subscriber  105 , but is rather more of a passive, pre-set “scheduled” setting whereby the content information aggregator performs aggregation of content information associated with one or more contacts on a regular or random basis such as once a day, once a week, etc. Thus, in such embodiments when aggregation occurs repeatedly over time as a result of scheduling, the subscriber  105  can be apprised of the most up-to-date contact information without having to repeatedly issue “collection” or “aggregation” commands to collect content information. 
     Such a scheduled setting can reside in the content information aggregator  150  or remotely with respect to the content  150 . The scheduled settings can indicate the times in which the contact information manager  140  is to initiate communications with the multiple services  130 . 
     By way of a non-limiting example, the user can configure the content information aggregator  150 , via schedule settings, to automatically collect or aggregate contact information from the services  130  on a scheduled basis. In other words, a user can create a schedule indicating when to perform collection of content information associated with one or more contacts. 
     As an alternative non-limiting example, a source other than the user, such as a network administrator, scheduling policy, etc., can configure the content information aggregator  150  to automatically perform a collection or aggregation of contact information from the services  130  on a scheduled basis. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an example architecture of a respective computer system  610  such as one or more computers, processes, etc., for implementing a content information aggregator  150  according to embodiments herein. By way of a non-limiting example, computer system  610  can include one or more computerized devices such as personal computers, servers that make up a website, workstations, portable computing devices, consoles, network terminals, networks, processing devices, etc. 
     Note that the following discussion provides a basic embodiment indicating how to carry out functionality associated with the content information aggregator  150  as discussed above and below. However, it should be noted that the actual configuration for carrying out the content information aggregator  150  can vary depending on a respective environment. For example, as previously discussed, computer system  610  can include one or multiple computers that carry out the processing as described herein. 
     Note also that each of subscriber system  110 , services  130 , etc., as previously discussed also can be configured as one or more computers including a processor and corresponding instructions to carry out the operations as described herein. 
     As shown, computer system  610  of the present example includes an interconnect  611  that couples a memory system  612 , a processor  613 , I/O interface  614 , and a communications interface  617 . 
     I/O interface  614  provides connectivity to peripheral devices (if such devices are present) such as a keyboard, mouse, display screen, etc. In one embodiment, the computer system  610  is a server that manages and aggregates contact information and content information as described herein. 
     Communications interface  615  enables the content information aggregator process  150 - 2  of computer system  610  to communicate over network  101  to receive input from a subscriber, access content information associated with one or more contacts, initiate display of a content preview, etc. 
     As shown, memory system  612  is encoded with content information aggregator application  150 - 1  that supports functionality as discussed above and as discussed further below. Content information aggregator application  150 - 1  (and/or other resources as described herein) can be embodied as software code such as data and/or logic instructions such as code stored on a tangible computer readable medium, media, etc. Execution of the code supports processing functionality according to different embodiments described herein. 
     During operation of one embodiment, processor  613  accesses memory system  612  via the use of interconnect  611  in order to launch, run, execute, interpret or otherwise perform the logic instructions of the content information aggregator application  150 - 1 . Execution of the content information aggregator application  150 - 1  produces processing functionality in content information aggregator process  150 - 2 . In other words, the content information aggregator process  150 - 2  represents one or more portions of the content information aggregator  150  performing within or upon the processor  613  in the computer system  110 . 
     It should be noted that, in addition to the content information aggregator process  150 - 2  that carries out method operations as discussed herein, other embodiments herein include the content information aggregator application  150 - 1  itself. The content information aggregator application  150 - 1  may be stored on a computer readable medium such as a floppy disk, hard disk or in an optical medium. According to other embodiments, the content information aggregator application  150 - 1  can also be stored in a memory type system such as in firmware, read only memory (ROM), or, as in this example, as executable code within the memory system  612 . Memory system  612  can be configured as RAM (Random Access Memory). 
     In addition to these embodiments, it should also be noted that other embodiments herein include the execution of the content information aggregator application  150 - 1  in processor  613  as the content information aggregator process  150 - 2 . Thus, those skilled in the art will understand that the computer system  610  can include other processes and/or software and hardware components, such as an operating system that controls allocation and use of hardware resources. 
     Functionality supported by computer system  610  and, more particularly, functionality associated with content information aggregator  150  will now be discussed via flowcharts in  FIGS. 7 through 9 . For purposes of the following discussion, the content information aggregator  150  or other appropriate entity generally performs steps in the flowcharts. 
     More particularly,  FIG. 7  is an example flowchart  700  illustrating operations associated with a content information aggregator according to embodiments herein. Note that flowchart  700  of  FIG. 7  and corresponding text below may overlap with and refer to some of the matter previously discussed with respect to  FIGS. 1-6 . Also, note that the steps in the below flowcharts need not always be executed in the order shown. 
     In step  705 , the content information aggregator  150  receives a selection of a contact. For example, a user of the content aggreagator  150  can be presented with a list of from which to choose and, then, the user selects a specific contact from the contact list. 
     In step  710 , content information aggregator  150  identifies multiple services to which the selected contact subscribes. 
     In step  715 , the content information aggregator  150  communicates with the multiple services to identify content information associated with the contact. As previously mentioned, a services can include an Application Programming Interface (API) that enables the content information aggregator  150  to communicate with and access data from the services. As previously discussed, in one embodiment, the content information aggregator  150  logs onto a service using authentication information and accesses contact information as if the user had logged on themselves. 
     In step  720 , the content information aggregator  150  generates a preview  187  to indicate the content associated with a selected contact. 
       FIG. 8  is an example flowchart  800  illustrating operations associated with a content information aggregator  150  according to embodiments herein. Note that flowchart  800  of  FIG. 8  and corresponding text below may overlap with and refer to some of the matter as previously discussed. 
     In step  805 , the content information aggregator  150  communicates with the multiple services. 
     In step  810 , the content information aggregator  150  retrieves a set of content information such as content, content references, etc., from a first service of the multiple services to identify first content associated with a selected contact. 
     In step  815 , the content information aggregator  150  retrieves a set of content references such as content, content references, etc., from a second service of the multiple services to identify second content that has been associated with the selected contact. 
     In step  820 , the content information aggregator  150  initiates display of preview information associated with the first content and preview information associated with the second content in a graphical user interface. 
       FIG. 9  is an example flowchart  900  illustrating one or more operations associated with a content information aggregator according to embodiments herein. Note that flowchart  900  of  FIG. 9  and corresponding text below may overlap with and refer to some of the previous matter as discussed above. 
     In step  905 , the content information aggregator  150  communicates with multiple services to retrieve content information associated with a selected contact. 
     In step  910 , the content information aggregator  150  retrieves a first link from a first service of the multiple services. Assume that the first link points to a corresponding portion of content associated with the selected contact. By way of a non-limiting example, the first link can be a uniform resource locator. 
     In step  915 , the content information aggregator  150  generates the preview. 
     In sub-step  920 , the content information aggregator  150  renders the preview to include a first selectable display region. 
     In sub-step  925 , the content information aggregator  150  associates the first link with the first selectable display region such that subsequent selection of the first display region enables retrieval and playback of the content via use of the first link. In other words, if a user selects the first display region in the preview, the content information aggregator  150  initiates retrieval of the content as specified by the first link. The content information aggregator  150  initiates playback in a graphical user interface. 
     Note that the content information aggregator can retrieve additional links from the services. For example, in furtherance of the embodiment above, the content information aggregator  150  can communicate with the multiple services to retrieve a second link from a second service of the multiple services. Assume that the second link points to another corresponding portion of content associated with the selected contact. Based on the second link, the content information aggregator  150  then generates the preview to include: a rendition of the window that includes a second selectable display region; and an association between the second link and the second selectable display region such that the subsequent selection of the second display region enables retrieval and playback of content via use of the second link. In this way, a preview window as generated by the content information aggregator can include any number of content references for respective contacts. 
     Those skilled in the art will understand that there can be many variations made to the operations of the user interface explained above while still achieving the same objectives of the invention. Such variations are intended to be covered by the scope of this invention. As such, the foregoing description of embodiments of the invention are not intended to be limiting. Rather, any limitations to embodiments of the invention are presented in the following claims.