Limited-bandwidth electronic data communication system field of the invention

1. A method of recursively reformatting electronic data for a network terminal comprising the steps of:

receiving a first request, at a server from the network terminal for transmission of electronic data over a communications network to the network terminal, the first request specifying a first data resolution level of a display of the network terminal by a data filtration parameter included in the first request, the first data resolution level being different from a stored data resolution capability of the display as accessible by the server;

selecting by the server the first data resolution level instead of the stored data resolution capability;

reformatting the electronic data into a less memory-intensive data format in response to the first request by reducing the resolution of the electronic data in accordance with the first data resolution level to provide a first formatted electronic data;

transmitting the first formatted electronic data to the network terminal over the communications network;

receiving a second request by the server from the network terminal requesting retransmission of the electronic data over the communications network to the network terminal, the second request being a recursive specification of an alternate data resolution level by an alternate data filtration parameter included in the second request, the alternate data resolution level being different from the first data resolution level;

reformatting by the server the electronic data in accordance with the alternate data resolution level to provide a second reformatted data in response to the second request; and

transmitting the second reformatted data to the network terminal over the communications network.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first data resolution level specifies an image resolution and the first reformatted data is an image converted to the first data resolution level.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first data resolution level specifies text and the first reformatted electronic data is text from the electronic data.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic data is an e-mail message.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a list of items over a communications network to a network terminal, the list containing a plurality of data identifiers, at least one of the data identifiers associated with the electronic data.

6. An electronic data transmission server for transmitting recursively reformatted electronic data comprising:

a storage device for storing data resolution capabilities of the display of a network terminal;

a data receiver for receiving a first request from the network terminal for transmission of electronic data over a communications network to the network terminal, the first request specifying a first data resolution level of a display of the network terminal by a data filtration parameter included in the first request, the first data resolution level being different from the stored data resolution capability of the display by the server, and for receiving a second request from the network terminal requesting retransmission of electronic data over a communications network to the network terminal, the second request being a recursive specification of an alternate data resolution level by an alternate data filtration parameter included in the second request, the alternate data resolution level being different from the first data resolution level;

a data processing system in communication with the data receiver, the data processing system for reformatting the electronic data into a less memory-intensive data format in response to the first request by reducing resolution of the electronic data in accordance with the first data resolution level to provide a first formatted electronic data, and for reformatting the electronic data according to the alternate data resolution level to provide a second formatted electronic data in response to the second request; and

a data transmitter in communication with the data processing system, the data transmitter for transmitting the first formatted electronic data to the network terminal over the communications network, and for transmitting the second formatted electronic data to the network terminal over the communications network.

7. The electronic data transmission server according to claim 6 , wherein the first data resolution level specifies an image resolution and the first reformatted data is an image converted to the first data resolution level.

8. The electronic data transmission server according to claim 6 , wherein the first data resolution level specifies text and the first reformatted electronic data is text from the electronic data.

9. The electronic data transmission server according to claim 6 , wherein the electronic data is an e-mail message.

10. The electronic data transmission server according to claim 6 , wherein the data transmitter further transmits a list of items over a communications network to the network terminal, the list containing a plurality of data identifiers, at least one of the data identifiers associated with the electronic data.

11. A network terminal for receiving recursively requested reformatted electronic data from a data transmission server, the network terminal comprising:

a wireless network interface for communicating with the data transmission server by requesting transmission of electronic data, receiving first formatted electronic data formatted to reduce resolution of the electronic data in accordance with a first data resolution level in response to the request for transmission, requesting, retransmission of the electronic data according to an alternate data resolution level instead of the data resolution capabilities of the display of the network terminal, and receive second formatted electronic data formatted in accordance with the alternate data resolution level in response to the request for retransmission;

a user interface having a display and a data entry device; and

a data processing system having a processor and memory coupled to the wireless network interface and the user interface, the processor configured to process the received first formatted electronic data to display on the user interface, provide the request for retransmission as a recursive specification of the alternate data resolution level according to input received from the data entry device, and display the second formatted data on the user interface.

12. The network terminal according to claim 11 , wherein the first data resolution level specifies an image resolution and the first reformatted data is an image converted to the first data resolution level.

13. The network terminal according to claim 11 , wherein the first data resolution level specifies text and the first reformatted electronic data is text from the electronic data.

14. The network terminal according to claim 11 , wherein the electronic data is an e-mail message.

15. The network terminal according to claim 11 , wherein the wireless network interface is configured to receive a list containing a plurality of data identifiers, at least one of the data identifiers associated with, and wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indication of the data identifier associated with the electronic data from the list from the data entry device.