Granted Patent B2

US 8,635,109 · App. 13/960,585 · Granted Jan 21, 2014

Abstract

Claims (59)

1. A method comprising:

storing in a data store accessible to a server system, profile information associated with a mobile communications device belonging to a user;

determining, at the server system, that the mobile communications device belonging to the user needs to be replaced;

accessing the profile information by the server system;

based on the accessed profile information, at the server system, generating an offer to replace the mobile communications device with a replacement mobile communications device; and

providing the offer to the user by the server system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of generating an offer to replace the mobile communications device includes:

obtaining information for the offer through an application programming interface (API) exposed to the server system by a vendor of the replacement mobile communications device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile information specifies a model of the mobile communications device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile information specifies an operating system of the mobile communications device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile information specifies a hardware configuration of the mobile communications device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile information specifies a mobile network operator of the mobile communications device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining that the mobile communications device belonging to the user needs to be replaced includes:

at the server system, receiving from the user a message indicating that the mobile communications device has been lost or stolen.

8. A system comprising:

a data store for storing a profile associated with a mobile communications device belonging to a user; and

a server, coupled to the data store, wherein the server determines that the mobile communications device belonging to the user needs to be replaced, the server accesses the profile information and, based on the accessed profile information, generates an offer to replace the mobile communications device with a replacement mobile communications device.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the offer further includes information obtained by the server through an application programming interface (API) provided by a vendor of a potential replacement mobile communications device.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the profile information specifies a model of the mobile communications device.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the profile information specifies an operating system of the mobile communications device.

12. The system of claim 8 wherein the profile information specifies a hardware configuration of the mobile communications device.

13. A method comprising:

storing in a data store accessible to a server system, a user profile associated with a mobile communications device belonging to a user;

determining, at the server system, that the mobile communications device belonging to the user needs to be replaced;

accessing the user profile by the server system;

based on the accessed user profile, obtaining information by the server system about a replacement mobile communications device from a vendor; and

at the server system, providing the user with an offer to replace the mobile communications device, wherein the offer includes the information about the replacement mobile communications device obtained from the vendor.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

based on the accessed user profile, obtaining second information by the server system about a second replacement mobile communications device from a second vendor,

and further wherein the offer provided to the user includes the second information about the second replacement mobile communications device obtained from the second vendor.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

based on the accessed user profile, determining by the server system that a second replacement mobile communications device from a second vendor would not be relevant to the user; and

not obtaining second information about the second replacement mobile communications device from the second vendor.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of obtaining information about the replacement mobile communications device includes:

obtaining the information through an application programming interface (API) exposed to the server system by the vendor.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the information obtained about the replacement mobile communications device includes a price of the replacement mobile communications device.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the information obtained about the replacement mobile communications device includes a specification of the replacement mobile communications device.

19. A method comprising:

storing in a memory store accessible to a server system, profile information associated with a mobile communications device and its user;

determining by the server system that the user's mobile communication device needs to be replaced;

accessing by the server system, the profile information associated with the mobile communications device that has been determined to need replacement;

accessing by the server system, at least one mobile communications device vendor to obtain information about at least one potential replacement mobile communications device;

at the server system, using the accessed profile information and using the accessed vendor information, generating an offer to replace the mobile communications device with a replacement mobile communications device; and

at the server system, communicating the generated offer to the user.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of determining that the mobile communications device needs to be replaced includes receiving from the user a message that the mobile communications device has been lost or stolen.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the communicating step includes the creation of an email to be sent to the user.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the communicating step includes the generation of a device replacement web page accessible to the user.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the communicating step includes transmitting a link to the mobile communications device vendor.

24. A method comprising:

storing in a memory store accessible to a server system, profile information associated with a mobile communications device and its user;

determining by the server system that the user's mobile communication device needs to be replaced;

accessing by the server system, the profile information associated with the mobile communications device that has been indicated to need replacement;

accessing by the server system, at least one mobile communications device network operator to obtain information about at least one potential replacement mobile communications device;

at the server system, using the accessed profile information and using the accessed network operator information, generating an offer to replace the mobile communications device with a replacement mobile communications device; and

at the server system, communicating the generated offer to the user.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the step of determining that the mobile communications device needs to be replaced includes receiving from the user a message that the mobile communications device has been lost or stolen.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the communicating step includes the creation of an email to be sent to the user.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein the communicating step includes the generation of a device replacement web page accessible to the user.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the communicating step includes transmitting a link to the mobile communications device network operator.

Assignments (9)