Patent Publication Number: US-2023142569-A1

Title: Embedded meeting extensions

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/473,404, filed Sep. 13, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/430,369, filed Jun. 3, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,120,202, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/455,816, filed Mar. 10, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,346,530, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. To the extend appropriate a claim of priority is made to each application. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Email and calendaring applications provide users with the ability to schedule meetings and share communications, including attached documents, with one another. As users may employ several different applications to schedule meetings and stay on task, developers need to be mindful of the various standards used by the applications so that communications between users with different calendar and email applications are mutually interpretable. 
     SUMMARY 
     This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description section. This summary is not intended to identify all key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     Systems, methods, and computer readable memory storage devices embodying processor executable instructions that provide for embeddable extensions of the functionality of email and calendaring applications are described herein. According to aspects, email and calendaring applications format meeting items to include extensible content within the body field of the meeting item. Recipient email and calendaring applications receive the meeting items and, depending on whether they are configured to provide an extended functionality, will either deploy the extensible content item according to the extended functionality or present the extensible content item according to a standardized functionality. The body field includes the extensible content item according to the standardized functionality as a hyperlink that is interpretable by configured clients to provide the extended functionality. 
     Examples are implemented as a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a device, computer program product, or computer readable medium. According to an aspect, the computer program product is a computer storage medium readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program comprising instructions for executing a computer process. 
     The details of one or more aspects are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that the following detailed description is explanatory only and is not restrictive of the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various aspects. In the drawings: 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram illustrating an example operating environment in which the present disclosure may be practiced; 
         FIGS.  2 A- 2 C  are example user interfaces illustrating aspects of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an example method for interchangeably providing access to extended functionalities for meeting items in enabled clients; 
         FIG.  4    is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an example method for hosting a note object by a note server for provision to enabled clients; 
         FIG.  5    is a block diagram illustrating example physical components of a computing device; 
         FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  are block diagrams of a mobile computing device; and 
         FIG.  7    is a block diagram of a distributed computing system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description refers to the same or similar elements. While examples may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description is not limiting, but instead, the proper scope is defined by the appended claims. Examples may take the form of a hardware implementation, or an entirely software implementation, or an implementation combining software and hardware aspects. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an example operating environment  100  in which the present disclosure may be practiced. As illustrated, a sender uses a meeting originator  110  to transmit a meeting request  120  to various recipients, for example, as a meeting item via an email and calendaring application. The meeting request  120  includes a note object for access by the recipients, which behaves differently depending on the functionality of the client used to access the meeting request  120 . For example, a first recipient who uses a legacy client  130  to access the meeting request  120  will see instructions for how to access the note object, e.g., a hyperlink, whereas a second recipient who uses an enabled client  140  to access the meeting request  120  and is enabled to access and edit the note object from within the enabled client  140  via a note extension  150 . The note object of the meeting request  120  is hosted on a note server  160  that is accessed by the recipients via a note application  170 , enabling the participants in a meeting to collaborate via the meeting request  120 . 
     The meeting originator  110 , legacy client  130 , enabled client  140 , note server  160 , and note application  170  are provided by computing systems including, without limitation, desktop computer systems, wired and wireless computing systems, mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile telephones, netbooks, tablet or slate type computers, notebook computers, and laptop computers), hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, printers, and mainframe computers. The hardware of these computing systems is discussed in greater detail in regard to  FIGS.  5 - 7   . Various servers and intermediaries familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art may lie between the component systems illustrated in  FIG.  1    to route the communications between those systems, which are not illustrated so as not to distract from the novel aspects of the present disclosure. 
     The note application  170  includes one or more authoring applications, such as, for example, word processors, spreadsheet applications, presentation applications, note taking applications, drawing applications, sound recording applications, video recording applications, etc. Additionally, the note application  170  includes locally executed “thick client” applications as well as remotely executed “thin client” applications provided as a cloud-based software service. 
     The meeting originator  110 , legacy client  130 , and enabled client  140  are illustrative of a multitude of calendaring applications, which may include email functionality. A given recipient may use one or more calendaring applications, some of which may be legacy clients  130  (e.g., on a personal device) and some of which may be enabled clients  140  (e.g., on a work device), and a sender does not need to know which calendaring application the recipient will use to access the meeting invitation  120 . To enable both legacy clients  130  and enabled clients  140  to access the same note object to the fullest extent that either client can, the meeting originator  110  uses the body field of the meeting invitation  120  to include a reference to the note object that is separately interpretable by legacy clients  130  and enabled clients  140 . Legacy clients  130  will interpret the body field as providing a hyperlink to the note object, by which the recipient may access the note object. Enabled clients  140  will interpret the body field as providing an embedded extension to access the note object within the enabled clients  140 . 
     As will be appreciated, an enabled client  140  may be configured to act as a legacy client  130  (i.e., providing a hyperlink instead of or in addition to the embedded extension) due to security features (e.g., lacking a valid login or security context to access the note object), personal preferences of the recipient, or the given enabled client  140  lacking functionality to manipulate a given file type of the note object (e.g., a given client may be a legacy client  130  for some file types and an enabled client  140  for others). 
     The meeting request  120  is formatted with various fields that are interpretable by calendaring applications to share meeting invitations among various persons according to a known format. In various aspects, the meeting request  120  is formatted according to the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), and the various fields are parsed out by the calendaring clients via tags defining the various fields and their values. Such fields include invitee names, meeting titles, locations, start/end times, classifiers for recurrence, a body, etc. The body field accepts freeform text entry, often to provide a description of the meeting associated with the meeting request  120 , as well as other objects (e.g., images) that are embedded into meeting request  120  and interpretable via its format (e.g., as HTML anchors to referenced objects). According to other aspects, the calendaring servers may communicate with clients over a variety of other protocols (e.g., JSON, ICS, etc.). 
     By including a key value in the body section, the meeting originator  110  alerts enabled clients  140  to additional functionalities included in the meeting request  120  for collaborating on the note object, while legacy clients  130  (which are incapable of providing the additional functionalities) are enabled to provide a link to access the note object. For example, as is shown below in CODE  1 , a division name may include a key value and contents for a link to a note object on the note server  160 . The contents of the division enable legacy clients  130  to provide a hyperlink to the note object, whereas the division name alerts an enabled client  140  to provide additional functionalities instead of or in addition to the hyperlink to the note object. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 CODE 1: 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 &lt;body&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;div id = “Message”&gt; 
               
               
                   &lt;p&gt;Hey Team,&lt;/p&gt; 
               
               
                   &lt;p&gt;Attached are the meeting notes for our planning meeting.&lt;/p&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;/div&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;div id = “KeyValue”&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;a href=NoteServer.com/redir.aspx?cid=NoteObject&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;img src=”NoteServer.com/NoteImage.gif” alt=”Notes” /&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;p&gt;Notes&lt;/p&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;/a&gt; 
               
               
                  &lt;/div&gt; 
               
               
                 &lt;/body&gt; 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     When parsing the body section, the enabled client  140  is triggered by the key value in the division identifier (shown in CODE  1  as “KeyValue”) to provide additional functionalities, such as, for example, calling the note extension  150 , to provide the additional functionalities of the note application  170  within the enabled client  140  to access the note object. Conversely, the legacy client  130  will parse the key value as the identifier for the division (i.e., div id) and interpret the rest of the division as HTML instructions. Although shown as a key value of “KeyValue” in a division name, and with plaintext references to the note object and image from the note server  160 , these values are given as non-limiting examples, and various values for the KeyValue and references may be used, including encrypted versions of the values. To decrypt encrypted values, the recipient may use an access token (e.g., received from a directory server to log in the recipient) to locally decrypt a candidate key value or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or initiate a handshake procedure with the note server  160  to request access for the recipient to the note object. For example, candidates for key values (e.g., division names) are decrypted, and the result is compared to a known list of key values to determine whether to call a note extension  150 . 
     The organizing user, at the time of meeting creation or an update, may request a new document (of a particular type) to be provided, or a new division of an existing document to be provided. For example, many note taking and spreadsheet applications allow for new “canvases” or “workbooks” to be included as divisions in a document, and many presentation, word processing, an audio/video recording applications allow for breaks (e.g., new slides, pages, chapter markers) to be placed into their documents. An originating user is therefore enabled to choose whether a new document is to be instantiated, a new division is to be instantiated for the meeting for an existing document, or an existing division of an existing document is to be used. For example, a first recurring meeting (e.g., a monthly human resources meeting) may use new divisions for each recurrence (e.g., a January division, a February division, etc.) of a document shared across the recurrences, while a second recurring meeting (e.g., a daily production goals meeting) may access the same document for every recurrence of that meeting (e.g., a shift planning document). 
     In some aspects, where a new document or division is requested, the meeting request  120  is transmitted to the note server  160  from the meeting originator  110  to instantiate the note object for access by the meeting participants. In other aspects, where a new document or division is requested, the note object is not instantiated until a participant attempts to access the note object. In some aspects, the properties of the note object (e.g., file type, file name, template/layout, retention period, security context) to be instantiated are transmitted to the note server via query values in the URL. 
     The note object may be retained for a set period of time or indefinitely depending on the retention properties set by the originating user. For example, a document may be retained on the note server  160  until it is manually deleted by a user, or may be deleted (or archived) in response to a storage space limit being reached or a period of time elapsing since the meeting associated with the note object (e.g., m months after the meeting). In various aspects, users may access the note server  160  independently of an email and calendaring application to view or manipulate the note object (e.g., to review meeting notes, delete the note object, move the note object to a new location) or may access the note object via an email and calendaring application and may manipulate the note object in concert with the associated meeting object (e.g., deleting the meeting object deletes the note object). 
     The note extension  150  may be one of several APIs (Application Program Interfaces) or modules used to access different document types and incorporate functionalities of various note applications  170  into the enabled client  140 . The note extension  150  may be provided by a developer of the note application  170  or a third party, and a given user may opt into (or out of) extending the functionality of an email and calendaring application via a plurality of note extensions  150  that are installed to operate with the enabled client  140 . The note extension  150  is referenced by the enabled client  140 , not duplicated in its code, which allows for changes in functionality via the note extension  150  to not affect the synchronization, data storage, and other components of the enabled client  150 , thereby removing those components as security concerns for sharing/granting unauthorized access to the note object. Additionally, the note extension  150  may require additional security contexts (e.g., trusted senders/participants, disabled macros) to access the note object in the enabled client  140 . The separately provided note extension  150  decouples the feature implementation from the mail and calendaring application, and allows existing clients to surface additional functionalities without exposing data to an extension. For example, a collaborative note-taking experience can be added to a meeting item without requiring the email and calendaring application to be concerned or even have access to, the note object contained within a separate note-taking application. 
     The note application  170 , which may be a locally run on a computing device accessing the meeting item or accessed as a remotely provided “cloud” service, is used to access the note object when the participant used a legacy client  130  to access the meeting item. In some aspects, the note extension  150  communicates with a note application  170  to provide extended functionalities within the enabled client  140 , while in other aspects, the note extension  150  provides the functionalities of a note application  170  within the enabled client  140  without requiring access a note application  170 . 
       FIGS.  2 A- 2 C  are example user interfaces (UI).  FIG.  2 A  shows an example UI  201  of an email and calendaring application (e.g., an enabled client  140 ) displaying a meeting item and an associated note object via the email and calendaring application.  FIG.  2 B  shows an example UI  202  of an email and calendaring application (e.g., a legacy client  130  or enabled client  140  with disabled functionalities) displaying a meeting item and a hyperlink to the associated note object.  FIG.  2 C  shows an example UI  203  of an authoring application (e.g., note application  170 ) for note taking displaying the note object accessible via the hyperlink. As will be appreciated, the example UI  201  and the example UI  202  display the same body information (as is described in the Message division of CODE  1 ), but example UI  201  also displays the note object shown in  FIG.  2 C  and provides the functionality of example UI  203  of the authoring application within the email and calendaring application to enable meeting participants to collaborate within their respective email and calendaring applications when they are enabled clients  140 . The embedded functionalities of the authoring application shown in example UI  201  may include all or a portion of the functionalities available in example UI  203 , and may incorporate additional functionalities of the email and calendaring application. 
     In various aspects, if the meeting originator  110  did not embed the note object into the meeting request  120 , for example, merely attaching a note document or a hyperlink to access a note document, an enabled client  140  may display the meeting request  120  as is shown in example UI  202  or automatically provide access to the attached/linked note document as is shown in example UI  201 . 
       FIG.  3    is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an example method  300  for interchangeably providing access to extended functionalities for meeting items in enabled clients  140  without interfering with interpretation of the meeting items in legacy clients  130 . Method  300  begins with OPERATION  310 , where a meeting item is opened by a client, wherein the meeting request  120  for the meeting item includes an embedded note object. The meeting originator  110 , when sending the meeting request  120 , embeds the note object into the body field of the meeting request  120 , which may include other text describing the meeting item in the body field as well as other fields describing other aspects of the meeting item. In another example, the note object may be included within its own property in accordance with another standard. The meeting item is opened in response to a participant accessing the meeting request  120  in an email and calendaring application, syncing a device with an email and calendaring service, or accepting a meeting invitation. 
     Method  300  proceeds to DECISION  320  to determine whether in-calendar functionality is enabled for the client. The body field, in which the note object is embedded, is parsed to identify whether recognizable key values are present to thereby trigger provision of additional functionalities. In response to detecting a recognizable key value, method  300  proceeds to OPERATIONS  330  and  340  to display the meeting request  120  with additional functionality enabled. If no recognizable key value is identified (and in some aspects where a key value is identified), method  300  proceeds to OPERATIONS  350  and  360 , where the contents of the body field, as well as the contents of other fields of the meeting request  120  (e.g., title, start/end times, participants, recurrence) are displayed according to the layout of the email and calendaring application client. 
     At OPERATION  330  the note extension  150  is called in response to detecting the key value in the body section of the meeting request  120 . The note extension  150  parses the information needed to access (or instantiate) the note object from the note server  160  and provides the functionality of an authoring application within the client to access the note object therein in OPERATION  340 . The note extension  150  enables the recipient to establish an authoring session with the note server  160 , receive content within the note object, add content (via the UI of the enabled client  140 ) to the note object, and receive updates to the content from coauthors. Method  300  optionally proceeds to OPERATION  350  in addition to OPERATIONS  330  and  340 . 
     At OPERATION  350  a hyperlink to the note object is displayed in the UI of the mail and calendaring application within a field or window associated with the body field of a meeting request  120 . The hyperlink is displayed according to the formatting of the body field (e.g., as HTML described text, images, and hypertext) such that legacy clients  130  and enabled clients  140  may both display the hyperlink to the note object. In various aspects, actuating the hyperlink (e.g., by clicking on the hyperlink in the UI of the mail and calendaring application) will enable the mail and calendaring application to download the note object to the user&#39;s device and/or proceed to OPERATION  360  to call a note application  170  to access the note object. 
       FIG.  4    is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an example method  400  for hosting a note object by a note server  160  for provision to enabled clients  140 . Method  400  begins with OPERATION  410 , where a note object request is received by the note server  160 . In some aspects, the note object request is received from a meeting originator  110  in response to transmitting a meeting request  120  to one or more recipients. In other aspects, the note object request is received from a recipient (or originator) of the meeting request  120  in response to a first attempt to access the note object. 
     Proceeding to OPERATION  420 , the note server  160  creates the note object. The note object is created according to instructions passed to the note server  160  in the note object request. A URL for the note object is embedded in a body field of the meeting request  120  and the URL includes the instructions regarding how the meeting object is to be created, for example as values to query fields in the URL. Depending on the instructions present in the URL, the note server  160  will create a new note document with a given title, file format, and characteristics or will create a new section (e.g., page, sheet, chapter division) of an existing note document as specified in the URL. In various aspects, the note server  160  will apply security features to the note document so that, for example, only users associated with the meeting request  120  (e.g., those specified as participants) may access the note object or a given security clearance is required of users to access the note document, which may be correlated with a directory server or access token to satisfy the required security contexts. 
     At OPERATION  430  the note server  160  confirms creation of the note object. In aspects where the note object is created in response to a meeting originator  110  creating a meeting item, the confirmation may include the note server  160  responding to the meeting request  120  (e.g., “accepting” the meeting request  120 ) or generating a confirmation message, which is sent to the meeting originator  110  (e.g., as an email message). In further aspects, an authoring session for the meeting originator  110  (in a calendaring client or a note application  170 ) is established to enable the originating user to input content to initialize the note object. In aspects where the note object is created in response to a participant of the meeting item attempting to access the note object, the confirmation may include initiating an authoring session with the participant. 
     An authoring session includes authenticating the participant and providing an enabled client  140  or note application  170  the content of the note object and receiving authored content from the participant for incorporation into the note object. As will be appreciated, several participants may establish authoring sessions contemporaneously (i.e., a coauthoring session) using different enabled clients  140  and/or authoring applications  170 . For example, a first participant using calendar client X may be a coauthor with a second participant using calendar client Y and a third participant using word processor Z. 
     While implementations have been described in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an application program that runs on an operating system on a computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that aspects may also be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. 
     The aspects and functionalities described herein may operate via a multitude of computing systems including, without limitation, desktop computer systems, wired and wireless computing systems, mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile telephones, netbooks, tablet or slate type computers, notebook computers, and laptop computers), hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, and mainframe computers. 
     In addition, according to an aspect, the aspects and functionalities described herein operate over distributed systems (e.g., cloud-based computing systems), where application functionality, memory, data storage and retrieval and various processing functions are operated remotely from each other over a distributed computing network, such as the Internet or an intranet. According to an aspect, user interfaces and information of various types are displayed via on-board computing device displays or via remote display units associated with one or more computing devices. For example, user interfaces and information of various types are displayed and interacted with on a wall surface onto which user interfaces and information of various types are projected. Interaction with the multitude of computing systems with which implementations are practiced include, keystroke entry, touch screen entry, voice or other audio entry, gesture entry where an associated computing device is equipped with detection (e.g., camera) functionality for capturing and interpreting user gestures for controlling the functionality of the computing device, and the like. 
       FIGS.  5 - 7    and the associated descriptions provide a discussion of a variety of operating environments in which examples are practiced. However, the devices and systems illustrated and discussed with respect to  FIGS.  5 - 7    are for purposes of example and illustration and are not limiting of a vast number of computing device configurations that are used for practicing aspects, described herein. 
       FIG.  5    is a block diagram illustrating physical components (i.e., hardware) of a computing device  500  with which examples of the present disclosure may be practiced. In a basic configuration, the computing device  500  includes at least one processing unit  502  and a system memory  504 . According to an aspect, depending on the configuration and type of computing device, the system memory  504  comprises, but is not limited to, volatile storage (e.g., random access memory), non-volatile storage (e.g., read-only memory), flash memory, or any combination of such memories. According to an aspect, the system memory  504  includes an operating system  505  and one or more program modules  506  suitable for running software applications  550 . According to an aspect, the system memory  504  includes note extension  150 . The operating system  505 , for example, is suitable for controlling the operation of the computing device  500 . Furthermore, aspects are practiced in conjunction with a graphics library, other operating systems, or any other application program, and are not limited to any particular application or system. This basic configuration is illustrated in  FIG.  5    by those components within a dashed line  508 . According to an aspect, the computing device  500  has additional features or functionality. For example, according to an aspect, the computing device  500  includes additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG.  5    by a removable storage device  509  and a non-removable storage device  510 . 
     As stated above, according to an aspect, a number of program modules and data files are stored in the system memory  504 . While executing on the processing unit  502 , the program modules  506  (e.g., note extension  150 ) perform processes including, but not limited to, one or more of the stages of the methods  300  and  400  illustrated in  FIGS.  3  and  4   , respectively. According to an aspect, other program modules are used in accordance with examples and include applications such as electronic mail and contacts applications, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications, slide presentation applications, drawing or computer-aided application programs, etc. 
     According to an aspect, the computing device  500  has one or more input device(s)  512  such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a sound input device, a touch input device, etc. The output device(s)  514  such as a display, speakers, a printer, etc. are also included according to an aspect. The aforementioned devices are examples and others may be used. According to an aspect, the computing device  500  includes one or more communication connections  516  allowing communications with other computing devices  518 . Examples of suitable communication connections  516  include, but are not limited to, radio frequency (RF) transmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver circuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or serial ports. 
     The term computer readable media, as used herein, includes computer storage media. Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, or program modules. The system memory  504 , the removable storage device  509 , and the non-removable storage device  510  are all computer storage media examples (i.e., memory storage.) According to an aspect, computer storage media include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other article of manufacture which can be used to store information and which can be accessed by the computing device  500 . According to an aspect, any such computer storage media are part of the computing device  500 . Computer storage media do not include a carrier wave or other propagated data signal. 
     According to an aspect, communication media are embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and include any information delivery media. According to an aspect, the term “modulated data signal” describes a signal that has one or more characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared, and other wireless media. 
       FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  illustrate a mobile computing device  600 , for example, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, and the like, with which aspects may be practiced. With reference to  FIG.  6 A , an example of a mobile computing device  600  for implementing the aspects is illustrated. In a basic configuration, the mobile computing device  600  is a handheld computer having both input elements and output elements. The mobile computing device  600  typically includes a display  605  and one or more input buttons  610  that allow the user to enter information into the mobile computing device  600 . According to an aspect, the display  605  of the mobile computing device  600  functions as an input device (e.g., a touch screen display). If included, an optional side input element  615  allows further user input. According to an aspect, the side input element  615  is a rotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual input element. In alternative examples, mobile computing device  600  incorporates more or fewer input elements. For example, the display  605  may not be a touch screen in some examples. In alternative examples, the mobile computing device  600  is a portable phone system, such as a cellular phone. According to an aspect, the mobile computing device  600  includes an optional keypad  635 . According to an aspect, the optional keypad  635  is a physical keypad. According to another aspect, the optional keypad  635  is a “soft” keypad generated on the touch screen display. In various aspects, the output elements include the display  605  for showing a graphical user interface (GUI), a visual indicator  620  (e.g., a light emitting diode), and/or an audio transducer  625  (e.g., a speaker). In some examples, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates a vibration transducer for providing the user with tactile feedback. In yet another example, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates input and/or output ports, such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending signals to or receiving signals from an external device. In yet another example, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates peripheral device port  640 , such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending signals to or receiving signals from an external device. 
       FIG.  6 B  is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of one example of a mobile computing device. That is, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates a system (i.e., an architecture)  602  to implement some examples. In one example, the system  602  is implemented as a “smart phone” capable of running one or more applications (e.g., browser, e-mail, calendaring, contact managers, messaging clients, games, and media clients/players). In some examples, the system  602  is integrated as a computing device, such as an integrated personal digital assistant (PDA) and wireless phone. 
     According to an aspect, one or more application programs  650  are loaded into the memory  662  and run on or in association with the operating system  664 . Examples of the application programs include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs, personal information management (PIM) programs, word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messaging programs, and so forth. According to an aspect, note extension  150  is loaded into memory  662 . The system  602  also includes a non-volatile storage area  668  within the memory  662 . The non-volatile storage area  668  is used to store persistent information that should not be lost if the system  602  is powered down. The application programs  650  may use and store information in the non-volatile storage area  668 , such as e-mail or other messages used by an e-mail application, and the like. A synchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system  602  and is programmed to interact with a corresponding synchronization application resident on a host computer to keep the information stored in the non-volatile storage area  668  synchronized with corresponding information stored at the host computer. As should be appreciated, other applications may be loaded into the memory  662  and run on the mobile computing device  600 . 
     According to an aspect, the system  602  has a power supply  670 , which is implemented as one or more batteries. According to an aspect, the power supply  670  further includes an external power source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle that supplements or recharges the batteries. 
     According to an aspect, the system  602  includes a radio  672  that performs the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequency communications. The radio  672  facilitates wireless connectivity between the system  602  and the “outside world,” via a communications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and from the radio  672  are conducted under control of the operating system  664 . In other words, communications received by the radio  672  may be disseminated to the application programs  650  via the operating system  664 , and vice versa. 
     According to an aspect, the visual indicator  620  is used to provide visual notifications and/or an audio interface  674  is used for producing audible notifications via the audio transducer  625 . In the illustrated example, the visual indicator  620  is a light emitting diode (LED) and the audio transducer  625  is a speaker. These devices may be directly coupled to the power supply  670  so that when activated, they remain on for a duration dictated by the notification mechanism even though the processor  660  and other components might shut down for conserving battery power. The LED may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takes action to indicate the powered-on status of the device. The audio interface  674  is used to provide audible signals to and receive audible signals from the user. For example, in addition to being coupled to the audio transducer  625 , the audio interface  674  may also be coupled to a microphone to receive audible input, such as to facilitate a telephone conversation. According to an aspect, the system  602  further includes a video interface  676  that enables an operation of an on-board camera  630  to record still images, video stream, and the like. 
     According to an aspect, a mobile computing device  600  implementing the system  602  has additional features or functionality. For example, the mobile computing device  600  includes additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG.  6 B  by the non-volatile storage area  668 . 
     According to an aspect, data/information generated or captured by the mobile computing device  600  and stored via the system  602  are stored locally on the mobile computing device  600 , as described above. According to another aspect, the data are stored on any number of storage media that are accessible by the device via the radio  672  or via a wired connection between the mobile computing device  600  and a separate computing device associated with the mobile computing device  600 , for example, a server computer in a distributed computing network, such as the Internet. As should be appreciated such data/information are accessible via the mobile computing device  600  via the radio  672  or via a distributed computing network. Similarly, according to an aspect, such data/information are readily transferred between computing devices for storage and use according to well-known data/information transfer and storage means, including electronic mail and collaborative data/information sharing systems. 
       FIG.  7    illustrates one example of the architecture of a system for interchangeably providing access to extended functionalities for meeting items as described above. Content developed, interacted with, or edited in association with the note extension  150  is enabled to be stored in different communication channels or other storage types. For example, various documents may be stored using a directory service  722 , a web portal  724 , a mailbox service  726 , an instant messaging store  728 , or a social networking site  730 . The note extension  150  is operative to use any of these types of systems or the like for interchangeably providing access to extended functionalities for meeting items, as described herein. According to an aspect, a server  720  provides the note extension  150  to clients  705   a,b,c . As one example, the server  720  is a web server providing the note extension  150  over the web. The server  720  provides the note extension  150  over the web to clients  705  through a network  740 . By way of example, the client computing device is implemented and embodied in a personal computer  705   a , a tablet computing device  705   b  or a mobile computing device  705   c  (e.g., a smart phone), or other computing device. Any of these examples of the client computing device are operable to obtain content from the store  716 . 
     Implementations, for example, are described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to aspects. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. 
     The description and illustration of one or more examples provided in this application are not intended to limit or restrict the scope as claimed in any way. The aspects, examples, and details provided in this application are considered sufficient to convey possession and enable others to make and use the best mode. Implementations should not be construed as being limited to any aspect, example, or detail provided in this application. Regardless of whether shown and described in combination or separately, the various features (both structural and methodological) are intended to be selectively included or omitted to produce an example with a particular set of features. Having been provided with the description and illustration of the present application, one skilled in the art may envision variations, modifications, and alternate examples falling within the spirit of the broader aspects of the general inventive concept embodied in this application that do not depart from the broader scope.