Patent ID: 8046494

Claim:
A method for enabling a transcoding proxy server to utilize an annotation rule set in order to transcode a web page for a portable computing device, said method comprising the steps of: (a) a transcoding proxy server receiving a web page request from a portable computing device; (b) said transcoding proxy server transmitting said web page request to a server computer coupled to said transcoding proxy server; (c) said transcoding proxy server receiving from said server computer a web page element corresponding to said web page request; (d) said transcoding proxy server locating, in a database coupled to said transcoding proxy server, a first annotation rule set that corresponds to said web page request by (i) checking for a specific rule set associated with the web page, and if the specific rule set exists then using the specific rule set as the first annotation rule set, and (ii) if the specific rule set does not exist, checking for a layout rule set pertaining to the web page, and if the layout rule set exists then using the layout rule set as the first annotation rule set, and (iii) if the specific rule set and the layout rule set do not exist, then using a default rule set associated with the portable computing device as the first annotation rule set, wherein said first annotation rule set is distinct from a transcoding functionality utilized by said transcoding proxy server; and (e) said transcoding proxy server transcoding said web page element for said portable computing device by following said first annotation rule set and utilizing said transcoding functionality.