Patent ID: 8753209

Claim:
A method comprising: registering an application with a virtual machine operated by a processor of a first handheld device, the application having a universally assigned dedicated port, the universally assigned dedicated port being used to communicate data associated with the application with a plurality of handheld devices operating the application, the universally assigned dedicated port being different than ports assigned to other applications; launching, by the processor, a first application instance of the application on the first handheld device; assigning, by the processor, a first application instance identifier to the first application instance of the application; sending, by the processor, the first application instance identifier to a second handheld device over the universally assigned dedicated port to identify the first application instance to a second application instance of the application on the second handheld device, without sending a port assignment of the universally dedicated port of the application to the second handheld device; sending, by the processor, the first application instance identifier to a third handheld device over the universally assigned dedicated port to identify the first application instance to a third application instance of the application on the third handheld device, without sending the port assignment of the universally dedicated port of the application to the third handheld device.