System and method for providing low battery notifications on mobile devices

1. A method of operating a mobile device during a conservation of an instant messaging service, the method comprising:

after detecting a low battery state of a battery on the mobile device, sending a low battery update to a presence server for the instant messaging service, to enable the low battery update to be provided to one or more contacts associated with the mobile device and to enable a first low battery presence icon to be displayed by respective devices for the one or more contacts; wherein the first low battery presence icon comprises a contact presence icon associated with the mobile device augmented with a low battery icon associated with the low battery state of the mobile device; and

updating an instant messaging user interface at the mobile device with a second low battery presence icon to indicate that the low battery update has been sent to the presence server to update the low battery state of the mobile device to the one or more contacts, wherein the second low battery presence icon comprises the contact presence icon associated with the mobile device augmented with the low battery icon associated with the low battery state of the mobile device, wherein updating the instant messaging user interface at the mobile device comprises at least one of altering an existing presence icon of the mobile device to include the second low battery presence icon and replacing the existing presence icon with the second low battery presence icon.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second low battery presence icon comprises a description associated with the contact presence icon of the mobile device.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising upon detecting that the battery for the mobile device has been connected to a power source, altering the second low battery presence icon to indicate that a recharge of the battery is in progress.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising providing a low battery warning is displayed at the mobile device comprised of a selection for sending the low battery update to the presence server, and wherein the low battery update is sent upon detecting the selection associated with the low battery warning at the mobile device.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising after detecting that the low battery state no longer exists, sending a recharge update to the presence server to enable the recharge update to be provided to the one or more contacts associated with the mobile device.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising updating the instant messaging user interface for the mobile device to indicate that the low battery state of the mobile device no longer exists.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein updating the instant messaging user interface the mobile device comprises one of removing the low battery icon from the second low battery presence icon and replacing the second low battery presence icon with the existing presence icon.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the recharge update enables a battery recharge alert to be displayed to the one or more contacts associated with the mobile device.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for operating a mobile device during a conservation of an instant messaging service, the computer executable instructions comprising instructions for:

after detecting a low battery state of a battery on the mobile device, sending a low battery update to a presence server for the instant messaging service, to enable the low battery update to be provided to one or more contacts associated with the mobile device and to enable a first low battery presence icon to be displayed by respective devices for the one or more contacts; wherein the first low battery presence icon comprises a contact presence icon associated with the mobile device augmented with a low battery icon associated with the low battery state of the mobile device; and

updating an instant messaging user interface at the mobile device with a second low battery presence icon to indicate that the low battery update has been sent to the presence server to update the low battery state of the mobile device to the one or more contacts, wherein the second low battery presence icon comprises the contact presence icon associated with the mobile device augmented with the low battery icon associated with the low battery state of the mobile device, wherein updating the instant messaging user interface at the mobile device comprises at least one of altering an existing presence icon of the mobile device to include the second low battery presence icon and replacing the existing presence icon with the second low battery presence icon.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 9 , wherein the second low battery presence icon comprises a description associated with the contact presence icon of the mobile device.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 9 , further comprising instructions for: upon detecting that the battery for the mobile device has been connected to a power source, altering the second low battery presence icon to indicate that a recharge of the battery is in progress.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 9 , further comprising instructions for providing a low battery warning is displayed at the mobile device comprised of a selection for sending the low battery update to the presence server, and wherein the low battery update is sent upon detecting a selection associated with the low battery warning at the mobile device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 9 , further comprising instructions for: after detecting that the low battery state no longer exists, sending a recharge update to the presence server to enable the recharge update to be provided to the one or more contacts associated with the mobile device.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 13 , further comprising instructions for updating the instant messaging user interface for the mobile device to indicate that the low battery state of the mobile device no longer exists.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 14 , wherein updating the instant messaging user interface the mobile device comprises one of removing the second low battery presence icon from the second low battery presence icon and replacing the second low battery presence icon with the existing presence icon.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 13 , wherein the recharge update enables a battery recharge alert to be displayed to the one or more contacts associated with the mobile device.

17. A mobile device comprising a processor, a display, and memory, the memory comprising computer executable instructions for operating the mobile device during a conservation of an instant messaging service, the computer executable instructions comprising instructions for:

after detecting a low battery state of a battery on the mobile device, sending a low battery update to a presence server for the instant messaging service, to enable the low battery update to be provided to one or more contacts associated with the mobile device and to enable a first low battery presence icon to be displayed by respective devices for the one or more contacts; wherein the first low battery presence icon comprises a contact presence icon associated with the mobile device augmented with a low battery icon associated with the low battery state of the mobile device; and

updating an instant messaging user interface at the mobile device with a second low battery presence icon to indicate that the low battery update has been sent to the presence server to update the low battery state of the mobile device to the one or more contacts, wherein the second low battery presence icon comprises the contact presence icon associated with the mobile device augmented with the low battery icon associated with the low battery state of the mobile device, wherein updating the instant messaging user interface at the mobile device comprises at least one of altering an existing presence icon of the mobile device to include the second low battery presence icon and replacing the existing presence icon with the second low battery presence icon.