Methods and systems for transmitting video messages to mobile communication devices

1. A method of transmitting video messages to a mobile phone, the method comprising:

receiving over a network from a user terminal an identification of a message recipient, wherein the message recipient is associated with a mobile phone, text to be included in a message, and selection of video content to be included in the message;

creating a message object corresponding to the message and storing the message object in computer readable memory;

accessing a data store to determine what campaign the message is entitled to, wherein the campaign indicates if the user is to be charged on a per message basis;

identifying a telecommunications carrier associated a user telephonic device;

determining whether the user is to be charged on a per message basis for the message:

at least partly in response to a determination that the user is to be charged on a per message basis for the message, causing, at least in part, an authorization notification to be transmitted to the user's telephonic device, wherein the authorization notification indicates that the user needs to provide authorization for the message to be sent;

at least partly in response to receiving an indication within a first period of time that the user has provided authorization for the message to be sent:

initiating the transmission of the message to the recipient's mobile phone; and

determining if a transmission confirmation is received within a second period of time, and at least partly in response to receiving the transmission confirmation within the second period of time, storing a successful delivery indication in memory, and at least partly in response to not receiving the transmission confirmation within the second period of time, storing a delivery failure indication in memory.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

determining whether the recipient mobile phone is capable of receiving an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) message;

if the recipient mobile phone is capable of receiving an MMS message, having the message, including the selected video content, delivered to the recipient mobile phone via an MMS message; and

if the recipient mobile phone is not capable of receiving an MMS message, having access to the message provided to the recipient mobile phone via a SMS (Short Message Service) WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) push message.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein the SMS WAP push message includes an option of connecting to a specified URL (Uniform Resource Locator) via a recipient mobile phone browser to access the message, including the selected video content.

4. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein if the SMS WAP push message is to be used, creating a corresponding WAP push object and transmitting the WAP push object to a gateway for forwarding to the recipient mobile phone carrier.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the message, including the selected video content, is delivered using deferred MMS delivery.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising:

receiving from the user a request that a second message be sent;

determining whether the user had previously provided authorization for at least one message to be sent in response to at least one authorization notification; and

at least partly in response to determining the user had previously provided authorization for at least one message to be sent in response to at least one authorization notification, initiating transmission of the second message without sending another authorization notification to the user's telephonic device.

7. The method as defined in claim 6 , the method further comprising sending another authorization notification requesting authorization of transmission of the second message to the user's telephonic device at least partly in response to determining the user had not, within a specified period of preceding time, provided authorization for at least one message to be sent in response to at least one authorization notification.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the campaign indicates that the transmission of the message is covered by a subscription subscribed to by the user, wherein the user is entitled to transmit an unlimited number of messages or a predetermined number of messages within a specified period of time without an incremental cost per message.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the campaign indicates that the transmission of the message is paid for or to be paid for by a third party.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second period of time is at least one day.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising at least partly causing the user to be charged for the message by the user's telecommunications carrier.

12. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising providing over the network for display on the user terminal a user interface via which a user can search for video content by entering a search query and an menu of video content form via which a user can view a plurality of available videos from the content database, view an amount associated with sending the video, select a video to be sent as a message, specify a recipient for the message, enter text to be sent to the recipient in association with the selected video, and instruct that the selected video and the text be sent as a message to the specified recipient.

13. A system, including a processing device, configured to perform operations comprising:

receive over a network from a user terminal an identification of a message recipient text to be included in a message, and selection of video content to be included in the message;

create a message object corresponding to the message and store the message object in computer readable memory;

access a data store to determine what campaign the message is entitled to, wherein the campaign indicates if the user is to be charged on a per message basis;

identify a telecommunications carrier associated a user telephonic device;

determining whether the user is to be charged on a per message basis for the message:

at least partly in response to a determination that the user is to be charged on a per message basis for the message, cause, at least in part, an authorization notification to be transmitted to the user's telephonic device, wherein the authorization notification indicates that the user needs to provide authorization for the message to be sent;

at least partly in response to receiving an indication within a first period of time that the user has provided authorization for the message to be sent:

initiate the transmission of the message to a mobile phone of the recipient; and

determine if a transmission confirmation is received within a second period of time, and at least partly in response to receiving the transmission confirmation with the second period of time, store a successful delivery indication in memory, and at least partly in response to not receiving the transmission confirmation within the second period of time, store a delivery failure indication in memory.

14. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the system is further configured to:

determine whether the recipient mobile phone is capable of receiving an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) message;

if the recipient mobile phone is capable of receiving an MMS message, cause the message, including the selected video content, to be delivered to the recipient mobile phone via an MMS message; and

if the recipient mobile phone is not capable of receiving an MMS message, cause access to the message to be provided to the recipient mobile phone via a SMS (Short Message Service) WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) push message.

15. The system as defined in claim 14 , wherein the SMS WAP push message includes an option of connecting to a specified URL (Uniform Resource Locator) via a recipient mobile phone browser to access the message, including the selected video content.

16. The system as defined in claim 14 , wherein the system is configured to create a corresponding WAP push object and transmit the WAP push object to a gateway for forwarding to the recipient mobile phone carrier if the SMS WAP push message is to be used.

17. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the system is configured to deliver the message, including the selected video content, via deferred MMS delivery.

18. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the system is further configured to:

receive from the user a request that a second message be sent;

determine whether the user had previously provided authorization for at least one message to be sent in response to at least one authorization notification; and

at least partly in response to a determination that the user had previously provided authorization for at least one message to be sent in response to at least one authorization notification, initiate transmission of the second message without sending another authorization notification to the user's telephonic device.

19. The system as defined in claim 18 , wherein the system is further configured to send another authorization notification requesting authorization of transmission of the second message to the user's telephonic device at least partly in response to a determination that the user had not, within a specified period of preceding time, provided authorization for at least one message to be sent in response to at least one authorization notification.

20. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the campaign indicates that the transmission of the message is covered by a subscription subscribed to by the user, wherein the user is entitled to transmit an unlimited number of messages or a predetermined number of messages within a specified period of time without an incremental cost per message.

21. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the campaign indicates that the transmission of the message is paid for or to be paid for by a third party.

22. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the second period of time is at least one day.

23. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the system is further configured to at least partly cause the user to be charged for the message by the user's telecommunications carrier.

24. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the system is further configured to provide over the network for display on the user terminal a user interface via which a user can search for video content by entering a search query and an menu of video content form via which a user can view a plurality of available videos from the content database, view an amount associated with send the video, select a video to be sent as a message, specify a recipient for the message, enter text to be sent to the recipient in association with the selected video, and instruct that the selected video and the text be sent as a message to the specified recipient.