Java store

A computer readable medium including computer readable code for causing a computer system to perform a method. The method includes receiving an application, receiving application information for the application, and determining an access privilege for the application based, in part, on the application information. The method also includes generating a deployment package for the application using the application and the access privilege, and publishing the application.

BACKGROUND

Software developers are constantly creating new applications around the country, and even around the world. Software development may be accomplished using a variety of platforms, including, but by no means limited to, Java™ and JavaFX™ (Java® and JavaFX® are registered trademarks owned by Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, Calif.). When a new application is developed, the developer must find a way to make the application available to those users interested in the application. This may be accomplished, for example, by soliciting users who may be interested in such an application. The developer may, for example, distribute copies of the application via removable storage device, such as a CD-ROM.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a computer readable medium comprising computer readable code for causing a computer system to perform a method. The method includes receiving an application, receiving application information for the application, and determining an access privilege for the application based, in part, on the application information. The method also includes generating a deployment package for the application using the application and the access privilege, and publishing the application.

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a system for publishing an application. The system includes a processor and a memory comprising computer readable code, executable by the processor, configured to receive an application and application information for the application. The computer readable code is further configured to determine an access privilege for the application based, in part, on the application information, and generate a deployment package for the application using the application and the access privilege. The computer readable code is further configured to publish the application to make the deployment package available for at least one selected from a group consisting of installation on a client device and previewing on a client device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. Like elements in the various figures (also referred to as FIGS.) are denoted by like reference numerals for consistency.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to publishing and distributing applications. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to publishing and reviewing of the applications (e.g., Java or JavaFX applications) capable of executing in the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) regardless of the computing platform upon which the JRE is executing and distributing the applications. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, this involves determining that the application is a proper application, and determining access privileges for the application.

In one embodiment of the invention, the applications, once complied, are in a byte-code format. The compiled applications are configured to execute on a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). More specifically, the JVM includes functionality to launch the execution of the JRE and allow the application to execute within the JRE. The execution of the applications include reading and verifying byte-code, determining the corresponding native-platform machine code, and issuing the corresponding native-platform machine code to the client device OS and/or hardware. In one embodiment of the invention, the JVM may implement one or more “sandboxes”, where each sandbox is an isolated execution environment within the JRE. Applications executing within a sandbox may only interact with the JVM and other applications within the sandbox; however, the applications may interact with applications executing outside the sandbox. Further, the JVM may place further restrictions on how applications may execute within a given sandbox.

FIG. 1shows a system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The system includes one or more application developers (110), a warehouse (120), and one or more client devices (140). Each of these components is discussed below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the developers (110) generate, create, or otherwise obtain applications (150). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the applications may be, but are not limited to, Java (any edition, version) and JavaFX applications. The developers then provide these applications (150) to the warehouse (120) for distribution. In addition, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developers (110) provide the warehouse (120) with application information (155) (i.e., data related to the application). More detail about application information will be provided inFIGS. 8-11.

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developers (110) also receive data from the warehouse (120) regarding applications that have been submitted (i.e., Application (150)). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, this data may include client usage data (170), and application metrics (175). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, client usage data (170) may correspond to data (e.g., without any personal identification information) detailing how a given application was/is used on one or more client devices (140). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the client usage data (170) may include such information as how often users started and/or stopped an application (150), what pages are accessed by a user, the order in which the user navigated through the various pages in the application, how the pages were accessed, how the user interacted with the user interface (e.g., which buttons where clicked by the user, etc.) and time spent on accessing pages. In addition, the developers (110) may receive application metrics (175).

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, application metrics (175) may include the number of times an application has been installed or reinstalled, the number of times the application has been viewed, the number of times the application has been removed by a user, and the number of times the application has resulted in a catastrophic error (i.e., the application “crashed”). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, application metrics (175) are generated by the warehouse (120), as described below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the warehouse corresponds to one or more computer systems (e.g., servers) configured to interface with the developers and the client devices. Generally, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the warehouse (120) receives applications from the developer (110) and provides them to users by providing them to a client device (140). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the application (150) is provided to the warehouse (120) packaged in a standard Java Archive (JAR) file. The warehouse is configured to store one or more applications. Further, the warehouse may store different versions (e.g., version 1, version 1.1, version 2, etc.) of the same application, where each version includes different features and/or content. For example, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, different versions of the application may be stored for various screen sizes and input capabilities (e.g., touch-screen, physical keyboard input, track ball input, etc.). In addition, the warehouse may store multiple instances of a given version of an application, where each instance of the application is configured to be deployed on a different type of client device (e.g., one instance for a desktop deployment, one instance for deployment on a mobile device, etc.). Further, in one embodiment of the invention, the warehouse includes functionality to support the embodiments described in one or more ofFIGS. 3-6. An embodiment of the warehouse is described inFIG. 2.

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the warehouse (120) is configured to use the client usage data to generate trends on how an application (150) is used—and subsequently send the generated trends to the developer. Alternatively, or in addition to the above, the warehouse (120) may be configured to send the client usage data to the developer. In one embodiment of the invention, the client usage data is an aggregation of the client usage data obtained from a number of individual client devices executing the application. In one embodiment of the invention, application metrics include other information tracked by the warehouse other than client usage data. For example, the application metrics may indicate the number of times a given application was previewed (described below inFIG. 5), the number of times a given application was installed on a client device, the types of client devices on which the application is currently stored, etc.

The warehouse is configured to communicate with the developers (110) and the client device (140) over a wired network, a wireless network, or any combination thereof. Further, the warehouse (120) and the client devices (140) may communicate over a wired network, a wireless network, or any combination thereof. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, upon receiving the application (150) and the application information (155), the warehouse (120) may package the application in a deployment package (160) that is made available to users. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, a developer (110) and a user on a client device (140) may interact with the warehouse (110) using an interface.

In one embodiment of the invention, the client devices (140) are configured to receive the application as a deployment package (160) from the warehouse (120). In one embodiment of the invention, the deployment package conforms to the Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) such that the application may be executed using the Web Start feature of JNLP. In one embodiment of the invention, the client devices also support JavaFX, which is used to obtain client usage data associated with the execution of applications in the JRE on the client device.

In one embodiment of the invention, a client device (140) is any device upon which a JRE may execute. Said another way, each client device (140) includes a Java Runtime Environment (130). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, users access applications from the warehouse (120) using the client device (140). Examples of client devices include, but are not limited to, a computer connected to a wired network, a computer connected to a wireless network, a 2G mobile device, a 3G mobile device, a personal digital assistant, a smart phone (i.e., a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality, e.g., iPhone, Blackberry, mobile phone executing an Android mobile device platform), a set-top box (i.e., a device that connects to a television (or other display device) and an external signal source, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen (or screen of the display device)), etc.

FIG. 2shows the architecture of the warehouse (i.e., warehouse (120) ofFIG. 1) in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The warehouse includes an operating system (OS) (240), e.g., Solaris™, Linux™, Unix™, Windows™, or any other operating system (Solaris® is registered trademarks owned by Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, Calif.; Linux® is a registered trademark owned by Linus Tourvalds, Santa Clara, Calif.; Unix® is a registered trademark of The Open Group; and Window® is a registered trademark owned by the Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.). The OS executes an application server (230) (e.g., Glassfish) which is configured to host the application programming interfaces (APIs) to the services provided by the warehouse.

In one embodiment of the invention, the warehouse includes a management service (205), a developer service (210), an application reviewer service (215), a content delivery service (220), and a digital rights management service (225). Each of these services is described below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the management service (205) provides warehouse administration services (accessed via a universal resource locator (URL)) including configuration of the warehouse hardware and software. For example, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the management service is configured to track developers that are submitting content to the warehouse (i.e., warehouse120ofFIG. 1). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the management service (205) is configured to track the purchase transactions and/or deployment of applications. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the management service (205) is configured to manage the display of applications in the catalogue to the consumer. Finally, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the management service (205) manages the state of submitted content to the warehouse (e.g., submitted, approved, under review, published, or quarantined).

In one embodiment of the invention, the developer service (210) provides developers with a portal (accessed via a URL) to transmit/upload applications and corresponding application information to the warehouse. In addition, the developers may register with the developer service to receive application metrics and client usage data (described above) for applications submitted by the developer (or other third-party which submitted the application). Examples of such a portal are shown inFIGS. 8-11.

In one embodiment of the invention, the application reviewer service (215) provides application reviewers with a portal (accessed via a URL) to review and approve applications submitted by the developers (via the developer service) for publication to users. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, an application may be executed directly from the portal (i.e., without installing or purchasing the application). The application reviewer service (215) may also enable the reviewer to set access privileges for the application, according to one or more embodiments of the invention. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the review service provides the ability to verify that the content of the application is appropriate (e.g., if the application is for elementary school children, then the content of the application is reviewed to ensure that it is age appropriate), that the content of the application matches the description, and that there is no virus or rogue behavior (e.g., the application performs an unauthorized access of the user's personal files) when the application is running. Further, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the review service provides the ability to verify that the application has the proper set of permissions to access user folders or the network, and that the application is compatible with various operating systems upon which it will be deployed (e.g., Windows Mobile, Android, Linux, etc).

In one embodiment of the invention, the content delivery service (220) provides users with a portal (accessed via a URL) to (i) view applications (245) in the warehouse, (ii) package the applications for delivery to the client devices for install or preview using JNLP, (iii) manage application versions and instances, (iv) manage billing and invoicing (as necessary), (v) respond to requests to confirm that a given client device includes the latest version of a given application, (vi) to track which applications are installed by each user on their client devices (e.g., user A loaded application1on their mobile device), and (v) maintain user account information (e.g., username, password, etc.). Examples of the content delivery service portal are shown inFIGS. 15-20.

In one embodiment of the invention, the digital rights management service (225) includes functionality to set digital rights management (DRM) settings for a given application, a particular user, a particular client device type, or any combination thereof. For example, the DRM settings may specify, but are not limited to specifying: (i) where the application may execute (e.g., on what system the application may execute), (ii) whether a given instance of the application may be copied to multiple client devices, (iii) what features of the application the user may access, and (iv) the duration for which the application (or a given feature of the application) is available. Further, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the DRM settings may provide the ability to track the type of license that the consumer has purchased. For example, the consumer may purchase a perpetual license, a subscription license, or a per content access license. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the DRM service (225) prohibits users from copying an application and using it on a different system without purchasing a valid license. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the DRM management service also verifies the level of access available to a user on a particular application (e.g., if the application is a game that includes 5 levels but the user only has a license to access levels 1-3, then the DRM may enforce this restriction).

In one embodiment of the invention, the executable code for the applications (245), the application information (250), and the transaction logs (255) are stored in a data repository (235) in the warehouse. In one embodiment of the invention, the data in the data repository is managed by a file system, such as ZFS, Network File System (NTFS), Universal Disk Format (UDF), or any other file system (or combination thereof). In addition, as an alternative, one or more of the executable code for the applications (245), the application information (250), and the transaction logs (255) may be stored in a content delivery network (i.e., a geographically distributed storage network) to facilitate efficient transmission of applications, etc. to the consumers. In such embodiments, the warehouse includes functionality to access the content delivery network and manage the data stored in the content delivery network.

In one embodiment of the invention, the application information (250) is stored in the data repository as an Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) file. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the application information may be stored in a format other than (or in combination with) XML. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developers (110) also provide the warehouse (120) with application information (155) related to the submitted application (150). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the application information (155) may include, but is not limited to, an application name, a subtitle, a description, a category, license requirements (e.g., perpetual, subscription, or free), and a price. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the subtitle is a short description of the invention that accompanies the application name. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the description may be a popup description or a full description. Further, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the application information could include a popup description as well as a full description. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the popup description will appear when a user hovers over an icon associated with the application in a display. Regarding the full description, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the full description will be made available to users who request more information about an application. Regarding the category, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, a developer (110) will choose a descriptive term from a preexisting list that describes the application (i.e., “Social Networking,” “Sports,” “Finance,” etc.). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the application information may include other information, such as a help page uniform resource locator (“URL”), one or more icons associated with the application (150), and screenshots of the application (150).

FIG. 3shows a method in accordance with one or more embodiment of the invention. More specifically,FIG. 3shows a method for providing an application to the warehouse. While the various steps in the flowchart are presented and described sequentially, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that some or all of the steps may be executed in different orders, may be combined, or omitted, and some or all of the steps may be executed in parallel.

In Step100, one or more Java Archives (JARs) for the application are obtained (generated, or created, etc) by a developer (or other third-party providing applications to the warehouse). In Step102, the application information for the application is obtained. In one embodiment of the invention, the application information may be obtained (generated, or created) using any known mechanisms in the art including completing a web-based form, providing a text document, providing an XML document, etc. In Step104, the JAR(s) and the corresponding application information are provided to the warehouse. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the application and application information are provided to the warehouse by sending them across a network. In one embodiment of the invention, one or more steps inFIG. 3, may be performed using the developer service.

FIG. 4shows a method in accordance with one or more embodiment of the invention. More specifically,FIG. 4shows a method for reviewing an application provided inFIG. 3(or by another mechanism) to the warehouse. While the various steps in the flowchart are presented and described sequentially, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that some or all of the steps may be executed in different orders, may be combined, or omitted, and some or all of the steps may be executed in parallel.

In Step200, the JAR and corresponding application information are received. In Step202, the content (e.g., textual, graphical, and/or audio content) of the application is reviewed. In one embodiment of the invention, the content of the application may be reviewed by a reviewer via the application reviewer service. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the text of the content submission is reviewed manually, and the JAR is reviewed automatically to check for viruses and to verify the code. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the JAR and corresponding application information may be verified either manually or automatically (for example using emulators).

In Step204, the access privileges for the application are determined. The access privileges may be determined, in part, from the application information. Further, the access privileges may be determined, in part, using rules specified by (or accessible to) the application reviewer service. In one embodiment of the invention, the access privileges may specify any level of granularity. For example, the access privileges may be (i) sandbox-only execution (i.e., the application may only execute within the sandbox), (ii) limited access execution outside a sandbox on a client device (i.e., the application may access a specified subset of the resources/data/peripherals outside of the sandbox), and (iii) full access execution on the client device.

In Step206, the DRM settings for the application are set. The DRM settings may specify any type of DRM restrictions on the application. For example, according to one or more embodiments of the invention, DRM restrictions may be placed on the application that allow a user to merely access a preview of the application before the application is purchased. Another example is that DRM restrictions may be placed on an application that limit the number of times the application may be accessed, or set a time limit for how long an application is accessible. In one embodiment of the invention, the Step206may be performed by the DRM service.

In Step208, the JAR(s), access privileges, and DRM settings are packaged for deployment using JNLP. In one embodiment of the invention, the warehouse includes the functionality to perform all the necessary action required in Step208. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the packaging may include creating multiple instances of the deployment package, where each instance of the deployment package is created for a specific type of client device (e.g., one instance for a desktop deployment, one instance for deployment on a first type of mobile device, one instance for deployment on a second type of mobile device, etc.). In Step210, the application is published in the warehouse (i.e., the application may be installed or previewed by client devices). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, a published application is accessible through the content delivery service of the warehouse. In one embodiment of the invention, the Steps208-210may be performed by the content delivery service.

FIG. 5shows a method in accordance with one or more embodiment of the invention. More specifically,FIG. 5shows a method for previewing or installing an application on a client device. While the various steps in the flowchart are presented and described sequentially, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that some or all of the steps may be executed in different orders, may be combined, or omitted, and some or all of the steps may be executed in parallel.

In Step300, a user logs into the warehouse, for example, using the content delivery service. In one embodiment of the invention, the user may access the warehouse via a web-browser (e.g., Firefox™, Google Chrome™, Internet Explorer™, or any microbrowser, minibrowser, or wireless internet browser) and/or via another application installed on the client device (Firefox® is a registered trademark owned by Mozilla, Inc., Mountain View, Calif.; Google Chrome® is a trademark owned by Google, Inc., Mountain View, Calif.; and Internet Explorer® is a registered trademark owned by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.).

In Step302, an application is selected by the user via the client device. In Step304, a determination is made about whether the user wants to install the application or preview the application. If the application is to be installed, then method proceeds to Step306. If the application is to be previewed, then the method proceeds to Step318. In Step306, the icon representing the application in the user interface provided by the content delivery service (via web-browser or other application on the client device) is dragged to the client device desktop (or home screen) (or otherwise selected). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the deployment package may be transferred to the client device using other well know methods/mechanisms.

In Step308, the “dragging” of the icon corresponding to the application to the client device desktop (or otherwise selecting the application) initiates the transfer of the deployment package (which may be client device type specific) to the client device using JNLP. In Step310, the deployment package is stored in the persistent storage on the client device. In Step312, the application is executed in the JRE on the client in accordance with the access privileges and DRM settings specified inFIG. 4.

In Step314, client usage data is obtained from the client device (using, for example, JavaFX) related to the application usage on the client device. The client usage data may include personal identification information (i.e., information which identifies the user of the client device or any other personal/confidential information of the user of the client device). The personal identification information (or portions thereof) may be removed from the client usage data prior to sending the data to the warehouse. Alternatively, the client usage data is sent to the warehouse with the personal identification information, at which point it is removed by the warehouse prior to sending the client usage data to the developer (or other third-party, which provided the application to the warehouse). In Step316, the client usage data is sent to the warehouse.

In Step318, if the application is to be previewed, the deployment package (which may be client device type specific) is transferred to the client device using JNLP. In Step320, the deployment package is stored in the temporary storage (or in a temporary manner) on the client device. For example, the deployment package is stored in volatile memory and is only available on the client device until the JRE is closed and/or as specified in the DRM settings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the DRM settings for an application which is being previewed may be more restrictive then the DRM settings on an installed application. The method then proceeds to Step312. In one embodiment of the invention, when an application is previewed, the full application may be sent for previewing or, alternatively, a version with less functionality than the full application (i.e., the “preview version”) may be sent to the client device. Further, once the previewing is complete—e.g., the user has used the application for a specified period of time, turns off the device, executes the JVM, then the application may rendered in accessible to the user of the device.

FIG. 6shows a method in accordance with one or more embodiment of the invention. More specifically,FIG. 6shows a method for executing an application previously installed on the client device. While the various steps in the flowchart are presented and described sequentially, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that some or all of the steps may be executed in different orders, may be combined, or omitted, and some or all of the steps may be executed in parallel.

In Step400, execution of the application is initiated on the client device using any known method of initiating an application (e.g., double-clicking an icon corresponding to the application, entering a command line instruction, etc.). In Step402, the current version of the application on the client device is determined (or otherwise obtained). In Step404, a determination is then made about whether the version of the application on the client device is the latest version, where the latest version is available in the warehouse. If the application on the client device is the latest version, then the method proceeds to Step410; otherwise, the method proceeds to Step406. In one embodiment of the invention, a checksum is calculated for each version of the application using a checksum function (e.g., SHA1, MD5, etc.). In such embodiments, the determination in Step404is performed by comparing the checksum of the version of the application on the device with the checksum of the latest version of the application.

In Step406, the deployment package (which may be client device type specific) that includes the latest version of the application is transferred to the client device using JNLP.

In Step408, the deployment package is stored in the persistent storage on the client device. In Step410, the application is executed in the JRE on the client in accordance with the access privileges and DRM settings specified inFIG. 4.

In Step412, client usage data is obtained from the client device (using, for example, JavaFX) related to the application usage on the client device. The client usage data may include personal identification information (i.e., information which identifies the user of the client device or any other personal/confidential information of the user of the client device). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the client usage data may be cached locally on the client device and only transferred periodically. The personal identification information (or portions thereof) may be removed from the client usage data prior to sending the data to the warehouse. Alternatively, the client usage data is sent to the warehouse with the personal identification information, at which point it is removed by the warehouse prior to sending the client usage data to the developer (or other third-party, which provided the application to the warehouse). In Step414, the client usage data is sent to the warehouse. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that two or more of the aforementioned methods shown inFIGS. 3-6may be performed in parallel.

In one embodiment of the invention, a user may access the warehouse using different client devices. In such cases, a user may have a common user account at the warehouse across all their client devices and, as such, have rights to install the same application on each of the their client devices. For example, if user A purchases and installs application1on their mobile phone and then subsequently accesses the warehouse from their laptop, user A may install application1on their desktop without purchasing an additional copy of application1.

The following discussion shows examples of various implementations of the invention. The examples are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

FIGS. 7-14show example screen shots of an implementation according to one or more embodiments of the invention. Specifically, according to one or more embodiments of the invention,FIGS. 7-14show example screenshots provided by the warehouse to the developer that facilitate in sending applications and application information from the developer to the warehouse.

FIG. 7shows one implementation of what a developer might first encounter in submitting an application to the warehouse. More specifically,FIG. 7shows a screenshot of what display the developer might first encounter when sending an application to the warehouse through a developer portal. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, a developer may need to be registered in order to access the portal. The interface shown inFIG. 7allows a developer to either register by selecting a registration icon (705), or login into the developer portal by selecting a login icon (710).

FIG. 8shows a screenshot of a display a developer encounters in submitting a new application, according to one or more embodiments of the invention. Specifically, the screenshot shows a page prompting the developer to enter application information. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developer has registered with the warehouse and has provided login information to the warehouse such that the warehouse may identify and authenticate the developer. In this example, the developer may provide application information including the Application Name (805), Short Description (810), and Full Description (815), as described above. In addition, the developer may provide Categories (820) (i.e., a list of categories to which the application belongs), a Help Page URL (825) (i.e., an address to a web page where a user may find support information for the application), and an Application Price (830) (i.e., the cost to purchase the application). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developer may choose to provide the application for free, or may select a price at which to provide the application. The developer may also choose an Auto-Publish option (835), which, when selected, allows the application to publish upon approval, rather than requiring consent by the developer, according to one or more embodiments of the invention. Though not shown inFIG. 8, the developer may be prompted to enter the country from which the application is being submitted. The country information along with the description of the application may be used to determine whether there are any import/export control issues that need to be addressed with respect to the application. In addition, the developer, via the GUI shown inFIG. 8, may also specify a location of a demo version of the application, where the demo version includes limited functionality. The demo version of the application may be published and subsequently used as a marketing tool for potential customers to determine whether they want to ultimately purchase the full version of the application.

FIG. 9shows another example of an interface a developer may use to submit a new application, according to one or more embodiments of the invention. In this example, the interface prompts the developer to enter application information include the application name (905), a short description of the application (910), a full description of the application (915), and one or more categories that describe the application (920). Further, in this example, the interface provides the developer with the ability to upload the JAR file that includes the application (925), as well as a file that includes the preview of the application (930). In this example, the developer is also able to submit a URL (935) at which a user may find a help page corresponding to the application. This example illustrates that according to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developer may be required to enter data into certain fields in order to submit the application for approval (i.e., Application Name (905), Short Description (910), Full Description (915), Category (920), Upload JAR from (925), and Help Page URL (935)), while other fields are optional (i.e., Upload Preview from (930)). Once the above information is entered, the application may be submitted for approval using the Submit For Approval button (955). Further, this figure illustrates that according to one or more embodiments of the invention, a developer may view the portal at which a user would access the application using a button labeled “Open Store View” (940). In addition, the developer may confirm that the JAR for the application (specified, for example, in Upload JAR from (925)) executes properly using the Run Now (955) button.

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, selecting this icon presents the developer with a display showing what the application will look like in the portal when it is published. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developer may choose the icon labeled “Save Draft” (945), which allows the user to suspend the submission process and return to complete it at a later time. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, when the required fields have been filled, the developer may select “Next” (950) to view the next interface in the submission process. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the interface includes an icon for “Submit for Approval,” which, as shown, is unable to be selected because more information about the application is required. Finally, at any time, the developer may choose the “Cancel” (960) the submission process. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, cancelling the submission process results in losing any information that has been entered regarding the application.

FIG. 10shows an interface followingFIG. 9, where a developer may upload images corresponding to the application. In this example, some of the items that were present in the interface shown inFIG. 9remain inFIG. 10, including the Open Store View (940), Save Draft (945), Next (950), Submit for Approval (955), and Cancel (960). In addition, the interface now includes a “Previous” button (1005), which, when selected, allows the developer to return to the interface shown inFIG. 9, according to one or more embodiments of the invention.

In this example, a developer is provided mechanisms to upload a number of images corresponding to the application. These include a catalog icon (1010), a showcase icon (1015), a detailed page image (1025), a desktop icon (1020), a splash image (1030), and a number of screen shots (1035A-1035N). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developer may submit the application at this point, or may continue to include more details about the application at another page of the user interface before the application is submitted.

FIG. 11shows an interface that followsFIG. 10that facilitates in sending an application to the warehouse. Again, as inFIGS. 9 and 10, this page of the interface also includes certain items from previous pages of the interface, including the Open Store View (940), Save Draft (945), Previous (1005), Next (950), Submit for Approval (955), and Cancel (960). In this page of the interface, the developer may enter an application ID (1110) (i.e., an alpha-only, numeric-only, or alpha-numeric sequence that identifies the application), a version number (1115) (i.e., an alpha-only, numeric-only, or alpha-numeric sequence that identifies the version of the application), and a version description (1120) (i.e., a description of the particular version of the application). The application that the developer is sending to the warehouse may be a newer version of a previously submitted application. This page of the interface allows the developer to include important information about the relationship of the current application to a previously submitted application so that the connection will be made in the warehouse. For example, the previously submitted application may be identified by the same application number (but with a different version number), and by providing this information to the warehouse, such a connection is made.FIG. 11also allows the developer to specify which JRE version is required (1125), and information regarding Java Sandbox (1130) (i.e., with what permission should the Java Sandbox be associated with when the application is executed within the Java Sandbox).

Upon publication of the application, the developer may wish to review and/or edit information about the application, and/or edit the application itself. For example, the developer may wish to provide a new version of the application with the original application information if the new version is simply to address problems with the JAR that arise during execution of a previous version of the application. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the warehouse may provide an interface similar to those shown inFIGS. 9-11, to allow a developer to review information about the applications they have submitted (or are to be submitted).FIG. 12shows an interface that allows a developer to see all applications that have been submitted to the warehouse (1205), as well as the status of the latest version of the application (1210), according to one or more embodiments of the invention. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, this includes applications that have been published, as well as those that have merely been submitted or approved. In addition, this interface may include applications that have not yet been submitted. Said another way, the interface allows a developer to view applications at all stages in the process. In addition, the interface allows the developer to choose to create a new application (1215), or show statistics of a published application (1220). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the developer may also view review content from the reviewers of the application. For example, the reviewers may ask the developer to fix various issues with the application including, but not limited to, icons used in the application, description of the application, coding issues in the application, etc. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the review content may be interactive (e.g., the developer may be asked to answer questions regarding the application being reviewed).

FIG. 13shows an interface allowing a developer to view statistics regarding a published application. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the statistics are presented in real time and updated as users use the application. Specifically, this page of the interface shown inFIG. 13illustrates a graph of user activity relating to the submitted application. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the interface allows the developer to Open Store View (1305) (i.e., view the application as it is found in the portal). The interface also allows the developer to withdraw an application (1310) so that it is no longer accessible by users, or to return to the list of applications (1315) (i.e., the list of applications as shown inFIG. 12).

As explained above, the warehouse collects information regarding usage of the applications and generates statistics and charts regarding that data. In this example, the interface allows the user to see information on a two-dimensional graph (1325) in terms of count ticks (i.e., the number of times an event occurred) and date ticks (i.e., the date that the count ticks were recorded). This example includes information regarding all events (1320) for all versions of the application. These include positive events such as detail views (i.e., the number of times a user has requested to view detailed information about the application), previews (i.e., the number of times a user has previewed an application), installs (i.e., the number of times a user has installed the application), and times run (i.e., the number of times a user has run the application). The interface also includes information regarding negative events, including failed installs (i.e., the number of times a user has tried, and failed, to install the application), reinstalls (i.e., the number of times a user has installed the application after the first time), crashes (i.e., the number of times the application has reached a non-recoverable error state), and removes (i.e., the number of times the application has been uninstalled by a user). In addition, the interface allows the developer to view statistics regarding the application based on the version of the application (1320).

FIG. 14shows another page of the interface where the developer may update an application. Specifically,FIG. 14shows an interface that allows the developer to submit a new version of the application for approval. The interface shown inFIG. 14includes similar options as those shown inFIGS. 12-13, including the option to Open Store View (1305), and the option to return back to the list of applications (1315). In this example, the interface allows the developer to enter a version number (1415) and version description (1420), as well as functionality to upload a JAR file for the new version of the application (1425), upload a preview of the new version of the application (1430), and enter a help page URL (1435). Although not shown, this interface may also include information about previously published versions of the application and allow the developer to withdraw those versions (1455) from being available to users (excluding the developer—which maintains access to the version) on the warehouse. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, this interface may show information regarding applications that have been quarantined due to consumer complaints.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, applications submitted by developers and published by the warehouse are made available to users. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, applications may be made available to users through the content delivery service (i.e., Java Store interface).FIGS. 15-20illustrate several interfaces made available to users in order to retrieve an application in the warehouse.

FIG. 15shows an overview of the java store interface. As shown, the interface allows a user to choose an application by department (1505). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the department that an application is located in is determined by the category that the developer has assigned. Further, the interface may include a list of applications (1515) that are popular within the Java Store (i.e., “Top Rated Apps”), and those applications that the user has recently viewed (1520). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, a user may have an account (1530), which tracks and stores information regarding the user's activity in the store. In addition, the interface allows the user to view his or her applications that the user has purchased (1525) (i.e., as shown inFIG. 12).

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the Java Store may include other options for browsing through applications (1510). In the example shown, these include “What's New,” “Top Social Apps,” “Our Picks,” “Popular Today,” and “Top Brands.” According to one or more embodiments of the invention, selecting the icon entitled “What's New” provides a user with a page dedicated to recently published applications. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, a user may also choose from applications that are most often previewed. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, selecting “Top Social Apps,” provides the user with a page directed toward applications that have been characterized as “social networking” applications (i.e., the social networking category was chosen by the developer, or the applications are found in the social networking department). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, selecting “Our Picks” provides the user with a page dedicated to applications chosen by managers of the Java Store, or other members of the Java Store community. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, selecting “Popular Today” provides the user with a page dedicated to the applications most used that day. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, selecting “Top Brands” provides a user with a page dedicated to applications provided by popular developers (i.e., developers whose applications are the most used).

FIG. 16shows an interface provided to the user when the user has chosen “Popular Today” from the interface ofFIG. 15. Accordingly, the interface now shows a selection of applications from the category “Popular Today” (1610). Further, according to one or more embodiment of the invention, the specific screenshot inFIG. 16shows the interface where the user has placed the cursor over the icon for the “Blocko” application. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, when the user places the cursor over a specific application, details about that application (1615) may appear on the screen. As described above, these details may be entered by the developer when submitting the application.

FIG. 17shows an interface where the user has browsed through departments. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the user may place the cursor over the department the user is interested in browsing, which provides a hierarchical list (1705) of categories and subcategories. For example, when the user places the cursor over the word “Games,” a list of the types games appears in the user interface as subcategories of “Games.” When the user places the cursor over one of the subcategories (i.e., “Sports”), another list appears (i.e., subcategories of sports). Although not shown, the hierarchical list may include applications as well as categories. In this example, the user has chosen Baseball, which is a subcategory of Sports and Games.

FIG. 18shows one interface that may be presented to the user when Baseball is chosen. In this example, the user is presented with several methods for browsing baseball-related applications. These include “Featured Apps” (1805), “Most Popular” (1810), and “Top Picks” (1815). Additionally, the user may be presented with filters (1820) that allow the user to reduce the number of applications available.FIG. 19shows an interface presented to the user when he or she chooses to view “All Results” (1905). The interface provides the user with basic information about the application (i.e., not all the information about the application provided by the developer. In this example, the information shown includes an icon (1910), an application title (1915), a rating for the application (1920), and the price of the application (1925). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, what is displayed in this interface may vary depending on the user. For example, a premium user may be provided more information than a standard user.

FIG. 20shows an interface providing detailed information about a selected application. Specifically, in this example, the user has selected the “Baseball '09” application (2005). This time, the interface shows the company who published the application (2010), the release date of the application (2015), and the categories to which the application belongs (2020). Further, the interface includes an overview of the application (2025). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the text found in the overview of the application may include information entered by the developer as “detailed information.” Further, the interface shows images of the application (2030), and provides functionality for the user to either preview the application (2034), or purchase the application (2040). According to one or more embodiments of the invention, this interface may also include developer information. Specifically, this interface may include information regarding other applications by the same developer.

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented on virtually any type of computer regardless of the platform being used. For example, as shown inFIG. 21, a computer system (2100) includes one or more processor(s) (2102), associated memory (2104) (e.g., random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory, etc.), a storage device (2106) (e.g., a hard disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk drive or digital video disk (DVD) drive, a flash memory stick, etc.), and numerous other elements and functionalities typical of today's computers (not shown). The computer (2100) may also include input means, such as a keyboard (2108), a mouse (2110), or a microphone (not shown). Further, the computer (2100) may include output means, such as a monitor (2112) (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, or cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor). The computer system (2100) may be connected to a network (2114) (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or any other similar type of network) via a network interface connection (not shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many different types of computer systems exist, and the aforementioned input and output means may take other forms. For example, the computer system (2100) may be a server system having multiple blades. Generally speaking, the computer system (2100) includes at least the minimal processing, input, and/or output means necessary to practice embodiments of the invention.

Computer readable program code to perform embodiments of the invention may be stored on a computer readable medium such as a compact disc (CD), a diskette, a tape, physical memory, or any other physical computer readable storage medium that includes functionality to store computer readable program code to perform embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment of the invention the computer readable program code, when executed by a processor(s), is configured to perform embodiments of the invention.