METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING SUGGESTIONS TO A USER OF A SOFTWARE APPLICATION

1 . A method for displaying information to a user of a software application, the method comprising:

receiving, from a user, a non-navigational input event evidencing an intention to change what the software application displays; and

displaying, prior to receiving from the user a second input event, a suggestion to the user responsive to content already displayed by the software application.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of creating, in response to receiving the non-navigational input event from the user, a rich abstract of the displayed content.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a non-navigational input event from a user comprises receiving, from a user, one of a mouse click in the address bar of the software application, a touch event in the address bar of the software application, a double-click of a home button provided by a device, a mouse hovering over a minimized desk icon, search bar, or a touch event in a search bar.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the suggestion to the user comprises displaying to the user or via a pop-up window or layer.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a suggestion to display to the user using an entity associated with displayed content.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein determining occurs prior to receiving a second input event from the user.

7 . An apparatus for displaying information to a user of a software application, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, from a user, a non-navigational input event evidencing an intention to change what the browser displays; and

means for displaying, prior to receiving from the user a second input event, information to the user responsive to content already displayed by the software application.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising means for creating, in response to receiving the non-navigational input event from the user, a rich abstract of the displayed content.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said means for receiving a non-navigational input event from a user comprises means for receiving, from a user, one of a mouse click in the address bar of the software application, a touch event in the address bar of the software application, a double-click of a home button provided by a device, a mouse click on a minimized desk icon, search bar, or a touch event in a search bar.

10 . The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said means for displaying the suggestion to the user comprises means for displaying to the user or via one of a pop-up window a layer.

11 . The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising means for determining a suggestion to display to the user using an entity associated with displayed content.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising said means for determining operates prior to receipt of a second input event from the user by the means for receiving.

13 . A method for determining a suggestion to present to a user of a software application, the method comprising:

receiving a rich abstract of content displayed to a user by a software application;

identifying a prominent entity contained in the received rich abstract;

determining a suggestion based on the identified prominent entity; and

transmitting the determined suggestion.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the prominent entity includes determining the local context to determine the boundary of the entity.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the prominent entity includes determining that the frequency with which a combination of words is searched exceeds a pre-determined threshold.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the prominent entity includes determining that a frequency with which a first word and a second word are searched exceeds a frequency with which the second word and a third word are searched.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the prominent entity includes determining evaluating capitalization of words in the page.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying the prominent entity includes determining the existence of an HTML tag in the page.

19 . An apparatus for determining a suggestion to present to a user of a software application, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a rich abstract of content displayed to a user by a software application;

means for identifying a prominent entity contained in the received rich abstract;

means for determining a suggestion based on the identified prominent entity; and

means for transmitting the determined suggestion.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for identifying a prominent entity includes determining the local context to determine the boundary of the entity.

21 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for identifying a prominent entity includes determining that the frequency with which a combination of words is searched exceeds a pre-determined threshold.

22 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for identifying a prominent entity includes determining that a frequency with which a first word and a second word are searched exceeds a frequency with which the second word and a third word are searched.

23 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for identifying a prominent entity includes determining evaluating capitalization of words in the page.

24 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for identifying a prominent entity includes determining the existence of an HTML tag in the page.