Computer device for reading e-book and server for being connected with the same

A device, server, method, and computer program product for reading an e-book are provided. The e-book may include at least a content identifier corresponding to a content in the e-book. The device may include a content navigator configured to present the content according to a command from a user and a processing unit configured to acquire the content identifier corresponding to the content presented by the content navigator, send the content identifier to a server, and receive from the server a message associated with the content. An output unit configured to output the message to the user may be provided.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Taiwanese Patent Application Number 99133468 filed on 30 Sep. 2010, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a computer device for reading an e-book and servers connected with the computer device.

Formats of e-books may include, but are not limited to, what may be described in the Webpage <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats> and thus may not be described herein in detail for the sake of brevity.

Conventional e-book reading devices, such as KINDLE (device) of AMAZON or NOOK of BARNES and NOBLE, may work by downloading e-books through a network or a 3G mobile phone network, such that users may read the e-books.

Furthermore, ordinary personal computers, handheld electronic devices, and mobile phones (such as IPHONE or IPOD TOUCH of APPLE) may also function as e-book reading devices when installed with an e-book reading program. Examples of e-book reading programs may be ACROBAT READER of ADOBE, KINDLE (software) of AMAZON, and MICROSOFT READER of MICROSOFT.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment, a computer device for reading an e-book may comprise a content navigator configured to present content to a user according to a command from the user. The computer device may further comprise a processing unit in communication with the content navigator configured to execute an application, communicate with a server, acquire a content identifier corresponding to the content presented by the content navigator, send the content identifier to the server, and receive from the server a message associated with the content. The computer device may additionally comprise an output unit in communication with the processing unit configured to output the message to the user. The e-book may include at least the content identifier corresponding to the content and may include the content.

In an embodiment a network service server may comprise a database configured to store a plurality of service data. The network service server may further comprise a searching module configured for searching the database according to a content identifier sent from a computer device, and further configured to select a corresponding service data from the plurality of service data. The server may be configured to generate a message according to the corresponding service data and return the message to the computer device. The server may be configured to be in communication with the computer device via a network. The server may be configured to receive the content identifier from the computer device and to return the message to the computer device.

In an embodiment, a method may comprise presenting e-book content to a user according to a command from the user via a content navigator included in a computer device. The method may further comprise acquiring a content identifier corresponding to the e-book content presented by the content navigator included in the computer device. The method may additionally comprise sending the content identifier to a server via the computer device. The method may also comprise receiving from the server a message associated with the e-book content via the computer device. Moreover, the method may comprise outputting the message to the user via the computer device. The e-book may include the e-book content and at least the content identifier corresponding to the e-book content.

In an embodiment, a computer program product may reside on a computer readable storage medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, may cause the processor to perform operations comprising presenting e-book content to a user according to a command from the user via a content navigator. The operations may further comprise acquiring a content identifier corresponding to the e-book content presented by the content navigator. The operations may additionally comprise sending the content identifier to a server. The operations may also comprise receiving from the server a message associated with the e-book content. The operations may additionally comprise outputting the message to the user. An e-book may include the e-book content and at least the content identifier corresponding to the e-book content.

Reference throughout this specification to features or similar language does not imply that all of the features that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features is understood to mean that a specific feature or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussion of the features and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features and characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific features of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment, one or more features described in the present disclosure may include detecting by an e-book reading device a content of an e-book being read by the user and sending a content identifier to a server, feeding by the server a message related to the content back to the e-book reading device, such that the user may be provided with additional reference information while reading the e-book.

In an embodiment, one or more features described in the present disclosure may include returning a message to a computer device. Servers may provide information other than the e-book being read by the user, which may be annotations related to the content of the e-book, background data about the e-book, a translation of the e-book, and comparison of versions of the e-book. Furthermore, the servers may also provide a social networking service such that, after logging in the social networking service, the user may publish or read annotations or comments with respect to a specific content. The servers may also allow two social networking service members to conduct real-time communication or instant messaging with each other while they may be reading the same or related content.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the e-book may include at least a content identifier corresponding to a content of the e-book. The computer device may include a content navigator configured to present the content according to a command from the user, a processing unit configured to acquire the content identifier corresponding to the content presented by the content navigator, send the content identifier to a server, and receive a message returned by the server and related to the content. The computer device may also include an output unit configured to output the message to the user.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the server may include a database configured to store a plurality of service data, and a searching module configured for searching the database according to the content identifier sent from the computer device, so as to select a corresponding service data from the plurality of service data. The server may generate the message according to the corresponding service data and may return the message to the computer device.

It should be noted that the features or operations described in the present disclosure may be performed entirely by a client device, a computer device, or a server, or may be performed partially by the client device, the computer device or the server, or may be performed by a combination of two or more of the client device, the computer device, or the server. In an embodiment, the computer device may be a client device.

The “content identifier” disclosed herein may be adapted to identify the position of a specific content of an e-book. Hence, the design of the structure of the e-book of the present invention may embody the concept of the “position” of the content, such that a computer device of the present invention or software may position a specific content of the e-book. Accordingly, the “content identifier” described herein may pertain to the design of the content structure of the e-book but may have nothing to do with the content per se. For example, an empty content may also be set to a content identifier.

The EPUB format of an e-book may be used as an example to further illustrate the “content identifier” of the present invention. However, persons skilled in the art may understand that other e-book formats may be applicable to the present invention, too.

For the EPUB formats of e-books, one may refer to a lecture (http://www.daisy.org/epub/) delivered on EPUB at DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) Consortium. In the EPUB format, an e-book may comprise the following metadata: title, language, and book identifier (such as ISBN). The book identifier described herein may be intended to identify the e-book (as opposed to other e-books) and thus may be different from the content identifier described herein.

In the EPUB format, the contents of the e-book in its entirety may comprise multiple files (XHTML documents). In a “manifest” tag of an OPF file or in a “navmap” tag of an NCX file, each content file (XHTML document) may have an item ID, such as “title,” “abstract,” “Part 1,” “Chapter 1,” or “Appendix”. The item ID may be unique to each of the files (items) which together may form the e-book and thus does not vary with the layout (such as page size and font size) of the e-book displayed on a reading device; hence, item ID may function as a content identifier of the e-book configured for identifying a specific content (such as the content of a specific chapter or paragraph).

The above-mentioned example is illustrative, rather than restrictive, of the present invention. For example, an e-book with the EPUB format may be basically free of “page number,” though it may be feasible to set an identifier for a content of the e-book by means of a “pagetarget” tag that may be additionally extended and defined in an NCX file, such that the identifier of the “pagetarget” tag may function as the content identifier for identifying a specific content (corresponding to a content of a specific page in a physical book, for example). Nonetheless, a “page number” defined with the “pagetarget” tag may be different from a “page number” that may be dynamically created by a reading device for the purpose of the layout of the e-book. The latter may be likely to vary with a user's setting (such as font size). Hence, the former may be the content identifier of the present invention, but the latter may not. ADOBE may employ a page-map tag developed by EPUB to embed page numbers of a physical book in e-books, such that it may be used as the content identifier of the present invention.

FIG. 1is a block diagram of a computer device10according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer device10may be capable of network connection and thus may be connected to or in communication with one or more servers20via a network. In particular, the computer device10may comprise a display screen102, an output unit104, an input unit106, a content navigator108, and a processing unit110.

It should be noted that the computer device10may be implemented with an ordinary personal computer or notebook computer. Computer device10may be an e-book reading device, that is, it may be a dedicated device such as the KINDLE (device) of AMAZON or NOOK of BARNES and NOBLE. The display screen102may be an electronic paper display screen for presenting the e-book to the user. The output unit104may output a prompt message other than the e-book to the user; hence, the output unit104may be another display screen independent of the display screen102(please refer to NOOK of BARNES and NOBLE) or may be integrated with the display screen102to not only enable the display screen102to display the e-book but also allow the display screen102to function as the output unit104for displaying the prompt message. However, the output unit104may not be limited to a display screen, the output unit104may also be an audio output unit for outputting an audio message.

The input unit106may be a keyboard, a touch pad, or a touchscreen which may be integrated with the display screen102. The user may enter an e-book navigation command (for scrolling or going to a specific chapter or paragraph) with the input unit106. The content navigator108may be configured to display the content anticipated by the user on the display screen102according to the navigation command.

The processing unit110may be configured to execute an application AP and to communicate with the servers20. For example, the processing unit110may be configured to download an e-book from the servers20and send the e-book to the computer device10. Or, alternatively, the processing unit110may be configured to upload to the servers20any data entered by the user with the input unit106or any data stored in the computer device10.

The processing unit110may be connected to or in communication with the content navigator108and may communicate therewith. Once the content navigator108displays the content anticipated by the user on the display screen102according to the navigation command, the application AP may be configured to and may fetch the content identifier ID corresponding to the content, send the content identifier ID to the servers20, receive a message MSG returned by the servers20and related to the content, and send it to the user by the output unit104such that it may function as a prompt for the user.

The application AP may be configured to send user data (such as nationality, phone number, email account, social network info, security preference etc) to the servers20as needed, such that the user data may enable the servers20to identify the user of the computer device10and thus may enable the servers20to return the message MSG suitable for the user.

In an embodiment, the application AP may comprise an extension framework EF configured for providing one or more communication interfaces whereby the application AP may communicate with one or more services which may be available on the servers20. For example, with the extension framework EF, the application AP may login a social networking service (to be described later) provided by the servers20. Alternatively, the application AP, may be coupled with the servers20, configured to perform data mining based on a record of the content identifier ID in conjunction with the user's reading status data sent to the server20when reading, such as user's reading date and time information, location information (if the computer device is equipped with a GPS), to analyze the user's reading characteristics (such as reading speed, content preference, reading hours, or reading frequency etc.) or, when the user data are available, to even further analyze the correlation between the user's characteristics (such as age, gender, marital status, and/or domicile etc.) and the user's reading characteristics. Alternatively, the application AP may work in conjunction with the servers20which may be applicable to the Reading Merit Badge of U.S. Scouting Service Project, for example, in carrying out a follow-up assessment of participants' reading achievements with the content identifier ID. The servers20also may be configured to provide a recommendation service whereby book references may be given to various users according to the result of data mining.

The processing unit110may be configured to send a metadata (such as title, language, or ISBN) of the aforesaid e-book to the servers20as needed, such that the metadata may enable the servers20to recognize an e-book currently being read by the computer device10. However, for the sake of brevity, some embodiments may presume that the computer device10is specially designed and may only read a preset e-book; hence, the processing unit110may not necessarily send a metadata of an e-book to the servers20.

FIG. 2may be a schematic view of networking service servers20according to an embodiment of the present invention. Each of the servers20may be in communication with one or more said computer devices10via the network30. For example, the servers20may be configured to allow the computer device10to download an e-book. Alternatively, the computer device10may be configured to upload data stored therein to the servers20. In particular, the servers20may be configured to receive from the computer device10the content identifiers ID of e-books, compare the content identifiers ID according to a predetermined rule, and return to the computer device10messages MSG related to specific contents of the e-books. The messages MSG may include text, pictures, sound, video, or a multimedia message resulting from a combination thereof.

The servers20may be implemented in the form of IBM Blade Center or System X server.

A server20may be in communication with a client device10via the network30. The network30may be any type of network such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a virtual private network (VPN), etc. In any event, communication between the server20and the client device10may occur via a direct hardwired connection (e.g., serial port), or via an addressable connection that may utilize any combination of wire line and/or wireless transmission methods. Moreover, conventional network connectivity, such as Token Ring, Ethernet, WiFi or other conventional communications standards may be used. Still yet, connectivity may be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-based protocol. In addition, it should be understood, however, that although not shown, other hardware and software components (e.g., additional computer systems, routers, firewalls, etc.) may be included in the network30.

In an embodiment, the servers20may comprise a database202and a searching module204. A plurality of service data may be stored in the database202. The searching module204may have the content identifier ID and a match table (not shown) of service data, and searches the database202according to the content identifier ID sent from the computer device10, and may be configured to select appropriate corresponding service data from the database202. The servers20may be configured to generate a message MSG according to the selected corresponding service data and return the message MSG to the computer device10. The corresponding service data may comprise any data related to an e-book content identified by the content identifier ID, that is, information which is not related to the e-book per se, including an annotation related to the content, background data, a translation, a version comparison, or even an advertisement which may be placed in an attempt to appeal to the user.

In an embodiment, the computer device10may be configured to provide the user data for the servers20, and the searching module204may comprise the content identifier ID, the user data, and a match table (not shown) of service data, and may be configured to search the database202according to the user data and the content identifier ID sent from the computer device10, so as to select corresponding service data from the database202.

Also, as shown inFIG. 2, it may be feasible that some of the servers20do not comprise the database202and the searching module204. For example, some of the servers20may be dedicated to taking charge of the fundamental operation (to be described later) of the social networking service. Alternatively, some of the servers20may be configured to analyze (i.e. the aforesaid data mining) the user's behavior pertaining to reading the e-book according to the content identifier ID sent from the computer device10, and may be configured to return the analysis result to the computer device10by the message MSG. For example, the servers20may be configured to analyze the user's reading speed by making reference to the time taken by the computer device10to convey the content identifier ID. This embodiment may apply to testing students' reading performance.

FIG. 3may be a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 3, a social networking service in an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated with reference to the computer device shown inFIG. 1, and the networking service servers shown inFIG. 2. A social networking service, may be, for example, FACEBOOK, PLURK, TWITTER, and ORKUT; hence, details of a social networking service may not be described herein in detail for the sake of brevity. The social networks disclosed herein may not necessarily be open social networking services otherwise described in the above examples. In an embodiment, for the sake of brevity, a social networking service may be implemented in the form of a private social networking service, wherein only readers (or buyers) of a preset e-book are eligible to become members of the social networking service, which is further described below. However, persons skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited thereto.

It should be noted that, in an embodiment, a social networking service may be provided by one or more said servers20. Multiple said servers20may be available as shown inFIG. 1andFIG. 2, and this embodiment is not restrictive of the positions of the servers20, wherein the servers20are connected to or in communication with each other via the network30. Furthermore, a social networking service provided by the servers20may not necessarily be operated by the servers20to the full; instead, the servers20may be constructed on another existing social networking service (such as FACEBOOK, PLURK, TWITTER, and ORKUT) to form a virtual group, wherein one of the servers20may be configured to take care of the administrative work performed on the virtual group.

In operation300, the computer device10may be configured to download an e-book from the servers20. The e-book may include the “content identifier” corresponding to a specific content of the e-book. The user of the computer device10may have to enter the user data into the servers20before downloading an e-book, such that the servers20may be configured to create a correlation between the user and the downloaded e-book.

In operation302, in response to the e-book downloading operation, the servers20may be configured to automatically make and may automatically make the user join the membership of a social networking service (or a virtual group on an existing social networking service), and may be configured to give and may give the user an authority that entitles the user to access the social networking service with the computer device10, such that the user may be enabled to login the servers20with the computer device10to access the social networking service. In an embodiment, if the servers20allow more than one said e-book to be downloaded, the user who is going to login the servers20may otherwise request that the title or the book identifier (such as ISBN) be included in the login data, so as to participate in a group in the social networking service, wherein the group corresponds to the e-book.

In operation304, the user may be enabled to read the downloaded e-book on the computer device10and may enter a navigation command with the input unit106, such that the content navigator108may be configured to display and may display the content anticipated by the user on the display screen102according to the navigation command. In operation306, the application AP of the computer device10may be configured to fetch and may fetch the content identifier ID corresponding to the content displayed in operation304, and may be configured to send and may the content identifier ID to the servers20. If a connection between the servers20and the computer device10is not built before the content identifier ID is sent to the servers20, it may be that the application AP has to login the servers20and the social networking service with the user data.

In operation308, after the servers20may have received the content identifier ID of the computer device10, the searching module204of the servers20may be configured to and may search for and collect the content identifier ID provided by other members of the social networking service and related to the e-book (in operations300-306as well, for example), and may be configured to and may compare the content identifier ID provided by other members of the social networking service and related to the e-book with the content identifier ID of the computer device10, so as to make a member shortlist as a result of screening the membership and then select corresponding membership data from the database202according to the member shortlist. For example, the searching module204may make the member shortlist by setting the screening criterion to equality of content identifiers ID. Or, alternatively, it may be that the screening criterion may be based on content identifiers ID which may be different and yet corresponding to each other according to a predetermined rule (such as the content identifier ID related to consecutive chapters or paragraphs). Furthermore, the aforesaid corresponding membership data may comprise the members' contact information, the members' reading status with regard to the e-book, as well as annotations or comments made by the members, related to an e-book or even related to a content corresponding to the content identifier ID of the e-book, and published on the social networking service.

It should be noted that, in operation308, by comparing the content identifiers ID, the searching module204may be configured to and may substantially screen out members who are currently reading identical or relevant contents of the e-book. As mentioned earlier, the content identifier ID may correspond to the position of a content but may have nothing to do with the content per se; hence, the present disclosure may be applicable, provided that e-books have the same content identifier ID design (such as the same chapter/paragraph design) and encompass different revision versions, different language versions, and even different e-book formats.

In operation310, the servers20may be configured to and may return the corresponding membership data to the computer device10by a message MSG so as to respond to the content identifier ID sent in operation306from the computer device10. In operation312, the output unit104of the computer device10may be configured to and may output the message MSG shown inFIG. 4, so as to present a corresponding membership data to the user. It should be noted that, for example only, the message MSG inFIG. 4shows only a member name and a reading status (the same chapter or the same page). However, the message MSG may be further expanded to show more membership data, if the user clicks on (or touches) the triangular pointer at the lower right corner. For example, the additional membership data may include annotations or comments made by the members, related to a corresponding content, and published on the social networking service, or any data published on a social network by the members and permissibly shared by the users of the computer device10.

After operation312, optionally, the users of the computer device10may also enter annotations or comments on the content corresponding to their content identifiers ID, and then the annotations or comments may be sent to the servers20by the processing unit110and published on the social networking service. Or, alternatively, the users of the computer device10may click on the message MSG inFIG. 4to perform real-time communication with the members by means of the social networking service.

In operation308of the aforesaid embodiment, the searching module204may be configured to and may compare the content identifier ID provided by other members and related to the e-book with the content identifier ID of the computer device10. However, in an embodiment, the searching module204may be configured to and may compare other data related to other members with the content identifier ID of the computer device10. For example, the searching module204may record: member A is the author of chapter 1 of the e-book. Hence, if the content identifier ID of the computer device10matches chapter 1 of the e-book, the searching module204may select the membership data of member A from the database202and treat it as the corresponding membership data.

The foregoing embodiments are provided to illustrate and disclose the technical features of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be restrictive of the scope of the present disclosure. Hence, all equivalent variations or modifications made to the foregoing embodiments without departing from the spirit embodied in the present disclosure should fall within the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.

A number of embodiments and implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. Accordingly, other embodiments and implementations are within the scope of the following claims.