Portable electronic devices generally allow users to perform a number of functions in an electronic medium. These devices may include programs or applications for personal information management, voice memo recording, wireless telephony and e-mail, and word processing. Database, spreadsheet, graphics, presentation, and other electronic applications may also be provided. One example of a portable electronic devices is a handheld computing device, sometimes referred to as a personal digital assistant (PDA), “palmtop,” “palmheld,” or “handheld computer.” Other examples that may include the above functions include laptop computers, pagers, and mobile telephones.
Portable electronic devices may include programs or applications which allow a user to receive electronic information or data from remote locations, such as other handheld computers, personal computers, pagers, and World Wide Web sites. Thus, users of handheld computers may view the contents of a World Wide Web page or download electronic files or programs over a wireless network capable of transmitting the information to their particular location.
Conventionally, a difficulty with transmitting electronic information to a portable electronic device is that the bandwidth associated with wireless connections may be limited. Wireless connections do not conventionally allow transmission of data at rates comparable to those associated with hardware connections. For instance, a personal computer having a modem and connected to a computer network using phone lines may send and receive electronic information at 56 kilobits per second (kbps). With cable modem, digital subscriber line, T1, and T3 technology among others, data transfer rates many times that may be achieved. In contrast, wireless connections typically allow a maximum data transfer rate on the order of 8-9 kbps, and generally not exceeding 19 kbps. This slower wireless data transfer rate results in design challenges for manufacturers of wireless portable electronic devices.
One such challenge involves developing a method to efficiently transfer useful information in a bandwidth-constrained environment. For information or data to be useful, the device must include an application or program capable of interpreting or reading the information. When such an application is loaded on the electronic device, the information is said to have a supported format. In the context of using a web browser to view a web page, the web page may include information such as Java programming language components that may only be viewed if a particular plug-in application is installed. In another example, information may include a sound or video file that may only be listened to or viewed if a particular application is present in the electronic device.
For personal computers and other devices utilizing high-bandwidth connections, information may be transferred to the device and later analyzed to determine whether it has a supported format. Using such a method is problematic in the case of a portable device having a limited-bandwidth wireless connection. If unsupported information is sent to the device, the user must wait while the electronic data or file is transferred, only to discover that the information is unusable as the device is presently configured. This is inefficient and frustrating, since the user has wasted time and, if fees are paid for using a wireless network or the like, money.
One solution involves manually disabling receipt of a particular type of information. For instance, a user could select an option that would automatically prevent a particular type of information from being transmitted. In the case of a web browser, the user could select an option to prevent transmission of web pages having embedded Java program language.
One disadvantage of this solution is that that the number and type of applications installed on the device, and thus the data formats supported by those applications, may be in constant flux. Users of electronic devices may add or remove applications at any time. System malfunctions, including file compatibility errors resulting from missing or corrupt application components, may also prevent an application from recognizing information that is otherwise supported, in effect rendering the information unusable. Significant effort is required on behalf of the user, who must regularly determine which applications are functioning and which data formats are supported. Users may be unwilling or unable to survey the entire contents of the device on a regular basis, which may result in transmission of unusable information or improper exclusion of usable information.
Regardless of whether desired information is supported by applications on the electronic device, a user may wish to prevent information from certain source locations from being transmitted to the device. For example, electronic text files transmitted from a particular web site may regularly include viruses or result in device system crashes. In another example, particular source locations may include objectionable subject matter. Thus, while preventing unusable information from being transmitted to the device may be desirable, it may also be desirable to prevent particular usable information from being transmitted.
Thus, there is a need to provide a method for transmitting electronic information over a wireless connection to a portable electronic device while excluding unsupported data and information. There is a further need to provide a method for automatically determining the number and types of information that are supported by applications included in an electronic device. There is still a further need to provide a method for preventing the transmission of information from certain source locations, regardless of whether the information is supported by applications included in the device. There is still yet a further need for automatically preventing unsupported or undesired information from being transmitted over a wireless connection to an electronic device.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned needs.