Patent ID: 8275359

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for notifying a plurality of wireless devices of an event, the method comprising: at a server system having one or more processors and memory: receiving a notification message delivery request, the request including a description of a geographic area and a piece of content associated with the event to be delivered to wireless devices within the geographic area; providing a respective set of location update instructions to each of the plurality of wireless devices, wherein a wireless device is configured to determine and report its current location in accordance with a corresponding set of location update instructions; receiving current location information from the plurality of wireless devices and storing the current location information of the plurality of wireless devices in a database; querying the current location information in the database to identify one or more wireless devices within the geographic area based on their current location; and issuing a notification message to each of the one or more identified wireless devices via a wireless communication network for display of the piece of content associated with the event to a respective user of the wireless device.