Browsing electronic messages displayed as tiles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9459752-B2
Application number	US-201213715431-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2012
Priority date	Dec 14, 2012
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

Electronic messages are displayed as tiles. A tile may include a background related to the electronic message. For example, the background of a tile may be a preview of an attachment to the message. When the message includes an attachment (e.g. document, picture, link . . . ), an overlay is displayed over the background. The overlay includes information relating to the electronic message (i.e. subject, sender, time, message preview . . . ). When the message does not include an attachment then the tile may include all/portion of the content of the electronic message. For example, the tile may include the subject, sender, time stamp, and message content. A user may switch between different browsing experiences (e.g. conversation view, list view, strip view, . . . ). When a tile represents a conversation each sender within the conversation may be displayed on a tile along with a preview of the messages of the conversation (i.e. the most recent message).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for displaying electronic messages as tiles, comprising:
accessing an electronic message;
determining a background for a tile that includes content obtained from the electronic message, wherein the background for the tile includes a preview of the electronic message;
creating the tile using the background;
creating an overlay that includes information relating to the electronic message and is displayed on top of the background;
displaying the tile on a display along with other tiles that represent other electronic messages; and
updating the display in response to a received interaction with at least one of the tiles.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the background for the tile comprises using an attachment of the electronic message to create an image for the background when the electronic message includes the attachment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the background for the tile comprises determining a number of messages in a conversation.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating an overlay that includes information relating to the message and is displayed on top of the background when the electronic message includes an attachment.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying electronic messages as a mail tile strip.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising displaying a second mail tile strip of electronic messages near a bottom of a display along with the mail tile strip.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying each of the tiles in columns and rows.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining when a tile is selected and in response to the selection displaying a larger view of the selected tile.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a touch based gesture to interact with the tiles comprising at least one of: a select gesture, a swipe gesture, a pinch gesture and a stretch gesture.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information relating to the electronic message that is displayed on top of the background includes one or more of a subject, a sender, and a time stamp.

11. A hardware computer-readable storage medium storing
computer-executable instructions for displaying electronic messages, comprising:
accessing an electronic message;
determining a background for a tile that includes content obtained from the electronic message, wherein the background for the tile includes a preview of the electronic message;
creating the tile using the background;
creating an overlay that includes information relating to the electronic message and is displayed on top of the background;
displaying the tile on a display along with other tiles that represent other electronic messages; and

updating the display in response to a received interaction with at least one of the tiles.

12. The hardware computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein determining the background for the tile comprises using an attachment of the electronic message to create an image for the background when the electronic message includes the attachment.

13. The hardware computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein determining the background for the tile comprises determining a number of messages in a conversation.

14. The hardware computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising creating an overlay that includes information relating to the message and is displayed on top of the background when the electronic message includes an attachment.

15. The hardware computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising displaying electronic messages as one of: a single mail tile strip; two mail tile strips; and displaying each of the tiles in columns and rows.

16. The hardware computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising determining when a tile is selected and in response to the selection displaying a larger view of the selected tile.

17. A system for displaying electronic messages, comprising:
a display that is configured to receive touch input;
a processor and memory;
an operating environment executing using the processor;
a display; and
a message manager that is configured to perform actions comprising:
accessing an electronic message;
determining a background for a tile that includes content obtained from the electronic message, wherein the background for the tile includes a preview of the electronic message;
creating an overlay that includes information relating to the message and is displayed on top of the background;
creating the tile using the background and the overlay when created;
displaying the tile on a display along with other tiles that represent other electronic messages; and
updating the display in response to a received interaction with at least one of the tiles.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein determining the background for the tile comprises using an attachment of the electronic message to create an image for the background when the electronic message includes the attachment.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein determining the background for the tile comprises determining a number of messages in a conversation.

20. The system of claim 17 , further comprising displaying electronic messages as one of: a single mail tile strip; two mail tile strips; and displaying each of the tiles in columns and rows.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Wang Yanling
• Wang Hui

Classifications

• G06F3/0488

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title

• G06Q10/107

  Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing] · CPC title

• G06F3/0482 Primary

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06F3/048 Primary

  Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] · CPC title

• G06F3/04883

  for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text · CPC title