US20160140615A1

US20160140615A1 - Systems, Devices and Methods for Displaying Digital Content on a Display

Info

Publication number: US20160140615A1
Application number: US14/780,438
Authority: US
Inventors: Christopher Kerrisk; Craig Watt; Ajmer Singh; Akhilesh Matura
Original assignee: Unlockd Media Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Unlockd Media Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2013-08-07
Filing date: 2014-08-07
Publication date: 2016-05-19
Also published as: US20160140616A1; US20160247202A1; MX2016001569A; EP3031027A4; MX2016001566A; BR112016002740A2; CA2920400A1; EP3031025A1; AU2013101551A4; US10354283B2; BR112016002741A2; EP3031025A4; CN105612545A; CA2920362A1; AU2014305650A1; AU2014305649A1; EP3031027A1; AU2013101551B4; CN105637548A; BR112016002740A8

Abstract

The present disclosure is related to systems, methods, and/or processor readable media for presenting advertisements and/or other digital content. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to systems and/or methods for presenting advertisement and/or other digital content on devices where advertisements and/or other digital content are displayed on the device on unlocking of the device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2013902962, entitled “System and Method for Advertising,” filed on Aug. 7, 2013 and Australian Innovation Patent No. 2013101551, entitled “System and Method for Advertising,” filed on Aug. Nov. 26, 2013. Each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety is International PCT Application No. ______, entitled “Systems and Methods for Advertising” and filed on or before 7 Aug. 2014.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to systems, devices and/or methods for displaying digital content on a display. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to systems, devices and/or methods for displaying digital content such as advertising on displays of devices where the advertisements are displayed on the device upon unlocking of the device and, prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device. The device may be a mobile device or a stationary (i.e., non-mobile) device.

BACKGROUND

The display of advertising material on devices is, of course, known. For example, many companies advertise merchandise and special offers on sites available through devices, e.g. mobile devices. Some retailers and service providers also provide applications that advertise goods and services and facilitate purchase of those goods and services.
Other on-line retailers advertise special deals via email on mobile devices, providing links through to the deals and the opportunity to purchase the relevant goods or services.
In some markets, mobile advertising is most commonly seen as a Mobile Web Banner (top of page) or Mobile Web Poster (bottom of page banner), while in others, it is dominated by SMS advertising. Other forms of mobile advertising include MMS advertising, advertising within mobile games and mobile videos, during mobile TV receipt, full-screen interstitials, which appear while a requested item of mobile content or mobile web page is loading up, and audio advertisements that can take the form of a jingle before a voicemail recording, or an audio recording played while interacting with a telephone-based service such as movie ticketing or directory assistance.
The effectiveness of a mobile media ad campaign can be measured in a variety of ways. The main measurements are impressions (views) and click-through rates. They are also sold to advertisers by views (Cost Per Impression) or by click-through (Cost Per Click). Additional measurements include conversion rates, such as click-to-call rates and other degrees of interactive measurement.
Mobile media can run on a mobile web page or within a mobile application, often referred to as in-App.
One of the models in mobile advertising is Cost Per Install (CPI) where the pricing model is based on the user installing an App on their mobile phone. CPI Mobile Advertising Networks work either as an incentive model or a non-incentive model. In the incentive model, the user is given virtual points or rewards to install a game or App.
It would be advantage if an alternative incentive-based advertising model could be devised that provides mobile device users with advertisement displays of high quality. More particularly, it would be advantageous if an advertising model could be devised that provides mobile device users options relating to advertisements received on their mobile device, for example in terms of category of goods or services, or in more specific terms of vendor, and so on.
Accordingly, systems, devices and/or methods for solving these and other problems disclosed herein are desirable. Certain embodiments described in the present disclosure may be directed to overcome and/or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art as will become apparent from the discussion herein.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve one or more disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

SUMMARY

According to certain embodiments there may be provided a system for displaying digital content (e.g., advertising) on the display of a mobile device comprising: a user interface facilitating entry of registration details of a user of the system and thereby registration of the user; and an application software adapted to retrieve digital content (e.g., an advertisement) from a library stored on a database and display the digital content on a display of the mobile device, wherein the application software is adapted to display the advertisement on the screen of the mobile device upon receiving an input from a user of the mobile device indicating that the display has been unlocked and prior to (or immediately following or at a preset time after) the mobile device causes the display of a homepage on the mobile device.
According to certain embodiments there may be provided a system for displaying digital content (e.g., advertising) on the display of a device comprising: a user interface facilitating entry of registration details of a user of the system and thereby registration of the user; and an application software adapted to retrieve digital content (e.g., an advertisement) from a library stored on a database and display the digital content on a display of the device, wherein the application software is adapted to display the advertisement on the screen of the device upon receiving an input from a user of the device indicating that the display has been unlocked and prior to (or immediately following or at a preset time after) the device causes the display of a homepage on the device.
As used herein, the terms “upon unlocking of the screen” or “upon receiving an input from a user of the device indicating that the display has been unlocked” includes within its scope immediate display of the advertisement, or other digital content, when the screen of the device is unlocked and display of the advertisement, or other digital content, within a period of time after the screen is unlocked. That is, the term “upon” should not be taken to limit the embodiments described herein to instantaneous display of the advertisement. Usual delays in processing, time taken to serve content from a local or remote server and the like are also considered to fall within the ambit of these terms.
As used herein, the term “homescreen” or “home page” refers not only to the homescreen or home page of a device but may also refer to other default screens that may be shown when the device is unlocked. For example, device behavior may be if you close your device when checking your emails, then the next time you open your device the email may be displayed. For certain embodiments, showing the email screen or another screen when the device is unlocked may be considered the homescreen or home page. In certain embodiments, the homescreen or home page may be the screen that is shown for a particular device upon unlocking, for example, first or home screen, email screen, social media page, news website, instant messaging service or any other recently used application
In certain embodiments, the digital content and/or advertisement may provide an incentive to the user of the device or system. For example in return for having the advertisement, or other digital content, displayed on unlocking of the screen of the mobile or stationary device (or more generally, a user device). That is, users of the system may be incentivized to have the digital content and/or advertisements displayed on their devices on unlocking of their screens (for example with a mobile device such as a phone).
As used herein, the term “incentive” refers to any suitable type of incentive, including, but not limited, to one or more of the following: payments, discounts, coupons, offers, news content, loyalty rewards and giveaways. That is, any suitable form of incentive that may incentivize the user to register on the system and opt in to receiving the digital content and/or advertisements. The incentives may or may not be available only to users who register on the system (i.e., system user only incentives).
As used herein, the term device or user device may include one or more of the following: mobile devices (e.g., telephones, smartphones, tables, laptops, etc.) and stationary devices (for example, desktop computers, kiosks, appliances with displays, vehicles with displays, wristwatches, glasses, televisions, etc.).
Certain embodiments may facilitate retrieval of an advertisement from the advertisement library and display of that advertisement upon unlocking of the mobile device (or more generally, a user device) by the user. Certain embodiments may facilitate retrieval of a digital content display from the digital content library and display of that digital content upon unlocking of the user device by the user.
As discussed herein, the application software may facilitate turning this function off. That is, a user may be able to opt out of receiving advertisements (or digital content) on unlocking their device. As such, an advertisement (or digital content) may also be retrieved from the advertisement (or digital content) library and displayed on the screen on launching the application software. In certain embodiments, the advertisement (or digital content) library may be located at a location remote to the mobile device. In certain embodiments, a portion the advertisement (or digital content) library may be stored in whole or in part on the device, remote to the user device or combinations thereof. The device may be a mobile device or a stationary device depending on the particular application.
In certain embodiments, when a user opts in to receiving digital content and/or advertisements upon unlocking of the screen of their mobile device (or more generally, a user device), equating to a premium user of the system, a plurality of advertisements may be sent (e.g., pulled from or pushed to) the mobile device (or more generally, a user device) at a predetermined time, for example overnight or at a time determined by the user. In certain embodiments, the advertisements that are sent to the mobile device (or more generally, a user device), may be stored within the internal memory of the mobile device (or more generally, a user device). The advertisements stored on the mobile device (or more generally, a user device) may be accessed when the user unlocks the screen of the device on the following day or some other time period. In certain embodiments, the advertisements, or digital content, may be available for display only once or may be available for display multiple times. In certain embodiments, an advertisement, or digital content, may be randomly or pseudorandomly selected from a plurality of advertisements or the plurality of digital contents. Certain embodiment in which the digital content and/or advertisements are stored in the local memory of the mobile device (or more generally, a user device) may improve the speed of display of the advertisements, or digital content, on unlocking of the screen, potentially dramatically improved, and internet connectivity is not needed to display the advertisements (i.e. as the advertisements are queued on the mobile device). The same may be true for other digital content as well. According to these embodiments, if desired, a user may opt to view the plurality of advertisements, or digital content, sent to the mobile device at one time, in which case advertisements, or digital content, will not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the mobile device (i.e. the sent advertisements will have been viewed). In certain embodiments, the plurality of advertisements (or digital content) uploaded onto the mobile device may be removed from the mobile device after a predetermined time frame and replaced with a new plurality of advertisements. For example, one set of digital content advertisements may be sent to the mobile device overnight, some, a substantial portion or all of that content displayed on the mobile device during the course of the following day and the set of content removed from the mobile device on the following night and replaced by a new set of content. Certain user opt in may be directed to one of more of the following: mobile device, stationary device and a user device.
The registration details collected from the user are not particularly limited. These may generally include fields such as name, email address and password. Registration details may also include loyalty program details of the user. For example, these details may include details from loyalty programs such as Frequent Flyer, Flybuys, Everyday Rewards, MyerOne and so on.
The registration details may also include user preferences for subject matter of advertisements (or digital content) to be retrieved from the advertisement (or digital content) library or other source. For example, a user may wish to receive a portion of the advertisements, a substantial portion of the advertisement or all of the advertisement including, for example, incentives, for food and beverages, holidays and travel, sporting events, concerts and theatre, automotive and so on. In another exemplary embodiment, a user may receive a portion of the digital content, a substantial portion of the digital content or all of the digital content including one or more of the following: advertisements, news content, social media content, weather content, sports content, loyalty offerings, membership deals, audio content, visual content, audio-visual content, radio content, television content, games, financial market information and other forms of information.
To facilitate navigation past the digital content and/or advertisement displayed on the screen of the mobile device on unlocking of the mobile device, in certain embodiments on display of the advertisement the application software may provide an interface configured to enable a tap through to the homepage of the mobile device. Similar approaches may be used with stationary devices in certain embodiments.
In order to provide additional functionality, on display of the digital content and/or advertisement the application software may provide a tap through to user options including one or more of the following: save, share, favorites, stop advertiser or block, loyalty programs and on/off.
The save option may facilitate saving of the digital content and/or advertisement. As such, the user can retrieve saved digital content and/or advertisements at a later time or date and consider them in more detail. The digital content and/or advertisements may also include codes, such as barcodes or QR codes that can be scanned to receive an incentive, for example a discount at a store of the advertiser and so on.
The share option may facilitate sharing of the advertisement (or digital content) with contacts of the user, for example via one or more of the following: email, SMS, MMS, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Generally, links may be provided to each form of delivery, or a substantial portion of the forms of delivery.
Saved digital content and/or advertisement may be retrieved for consideration and action at a later time or date. The favorites option may facilitate searching for a previously saved advertisement, or digital content. Once located, the advertisement, or other digital content, can be retrieved and considered and, for example, advantage taken of an incentive provided by the advertisement, or action taken to share the advertisement with a contact.
In some instances a user of the system may want to prevent future advertisements from a particular advertiser and so on. The stop advertiser or block option advantageously facilitates blocking of an advertisement retrieved from the advertisement library and/or blocking of advertisements from an advertiser and/or relating to a particular subject matter. In some instances a user of the system may want to prevent future digital content from a particular provider and so on. The stop digital content or block option advantageously facilitates blocking of the digital content retrieved from the library (or other source) and/or blocking of the digital content from a provider and/or relating to a particular subject matter.
In certain embodiments, the loyalty programs option may facilitate entry of loyalty programs of the user. In that case, the user can receive loyalty program advertising on the mobile device through the application software. Advertising by loyalty programs may provide incentives such as bonus loyalty points or special loyalty promotions to the user.
In certain embodiments, the loyalty programs option may facilitate entry of loyalty programs of the user. In that case, the user can receive loyalty program digital content on the device through the application software. Providing digital content by loyalty programs may provide incentives such as bonus loyalty points or special loyalty promotions to the user.
In some instances, a user may wish to stop digital content and/or advertisements from being automatically retrieved and displayed on their mobile device on unlocking of the screen to the mobile device. As such, an on/off option may facilitate adding or removing digital content and/or advertisements being retrieved and displayed on the mobile device on unlocking the screen. Similar approaches may be used with stationary devices.
The digital content and/or advertisements displayed on the user's mobile device may be selected at random, or following a predetermined sequence. In certain embodiments, digital content and/or advertisements to be displayed on the mobile device may be selected on the basis of one or more of the following: preloaded user preferences, user demographic and user data collected from the mobile device, such as geo-location and geo-targeting data. Similar approaches may be used with stationary devices.
Certain embodiments may be directed to a method for displaying digital content (e.g. advertising) on a mobile device comprising: receiving registration details of a user of the mobile device and effecting registration of the user; and retrieving an advertisement from an advertisement library stored on a database and displaying the advertisement on a screen of the mobile device, wherein the advertisement is displayed on the screen of the mobile device upon unlocking of the screen, and prior to the display of a homepage of the mobile device. The digital content and/or advertisement may provide an incentive to the user, for example in return for having the advertisement displayed on unlocking of the screen of the mobile device.
Certain embodiments described herein may be directed to a method for displaying digital content (e.g. advertising) on a device comprising: receiving registration details of a user of the device and effecting registration of the user; and retrieving an advertisement from an advertisement library stored on a database and displaying the advertisement on a screen of the device, wherein the advertisement is displayed on the screen of the device upon unlocking of the screen, and prior to the display of a homepage of the device. The digital content and/or advertisement may provide an incentive to the user, for example in return for having the advertisement displayed on unlocking of the screen of the device.
In certain embodiments, when a user opts in to receiving digital content and/or advertisements on unlocking of the screen of their mobile device (or more generally, a user device), the method may comprise sending a plurality of advertisements to the mobile device (or more generally, the user device) at a predetermined time, for example overnight. According to these embodiments, the method may comprise storing the plurality of advertisements, or digital content, in a memory on the mobile device (or more generally, a user device) and accessing the advertisements, or digital content, when the user unlocks the screen of the device. In certain embodiments, the user can opt to view all, a substantial portion or a portion of the plurality of advertisements (digital content) sent to the device at one time, in which case advertisements (or digital content) may not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the device (until the following day or content refresh by the system). Also, in certain embodiments, the method may comprise removing the plurality of advertisements from the device after a predetermined time frame and replacing them with a new plurality of advertisements. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise pushing a set of advertisements (or digital content) to the mobile device (or more generally, the user device) overnight, displaying some or all of the set of advertisements (or digital content) on the device during the course of the following day on unlocking of the screen of the device, removing the set of advertisements (or digital content) from the device on the following night and replacing them with a subsequent set of advertisements (or digital content). In certain embodiments, the removal of the set of advertisements (or digital content) from the mobile device may only remove a portion of the advertisements (or digital content) or a substantial of the advertisements (or digital content) from the mobile device after a period of time and then replacing or supplementing them with another set of advertisements (or digital content). In certain embodiments, the methods disclosed may be used with stationary devices and/or mobile devices.
As with certain systems disclosed herein, the registration details may include loyalty program details of the user, or user preferences for subject matter of advertisements to be retrieved from the advertisement library. Combinations of features of the user may also be included in the registration details.
As with certain systems disclosed herein, the registration details may include loyalty program details of the user, or user preferences for subject matter of the digital content to be retrieved from the library or source of digital. Combinations of features of the user may also be included in the registration details.
In certain embodiments, the methods may comprise: providing a tap through to the homepage of the mobile device on displaying the advertisement on the mobile device.
In certain embodiments, the methods may comprise: providing a tap through to the homepage of the device on displaying the digital content on the device.
Likewise, in certain embodiments the methods may further comprise: providing a tap through to user options including one or more of the following: save, share, favorites, stop advertiser or block, loyalty programs and on/off on displaying the advertisement on the mobile device. These options are as discussed herein, reference to which is incorporated herein with respect to the disclosed method embodiments. Similar approaches may be used with stationary devices.
In certain embodiments, the methods may also comprise selecting digital content and/or advertisements to be displayed on the mobile device on the basis of one or more of the following: preloaded user preferences, user demographic and user data collected from the mobile device, such as geo-location and geo-targeting data. Though, as discussed herein the digital content and/or advertisements may also be selected randomly or in accordance with a predetermined sequence. Similar approaches may be used with stationary devices.
Certain embodiments are directed to providing a computer readable medium containing programming instructions that cause a computer processor to perform the steps of: receiving registration details of a user of the mobile device and effecting registration of the user; and retrieving digital content (e.g., an advertisement) from a library stored on a database and displaying the advertisement on a screen of the mobile device, wherein the advertisement is displayed on the screen of the mobile device on unlocking of the screen, prior to the display of a homepage of the mobile device, and wherein the advertisement provides an incentive to the user.
Certain embodiments are directed to providing a computer readable medium containing programming instructions that cause a computer processor to perform the steps of: receiving registration details of a user of the device and effecting registration of the user; and retrieving digital content (e.g., an advertisement) from a library stored on a database and displaying the advertisement on a screen of the device, wherein the advertisement is displayed on the screen of the device on unlocking of the screen, prior to the display of a homepage of the device, and wherein the advertisement provides an incentive to the user.
Certain embodiments may be directed to a device configured to display digital content, the device comprising: a user interface configured to (a) receive an input from a user, (b) generate a first electrical signal corresponding to the input, and (c) transmit the electrical signal; a processor configured to (a) receive the first electrical signal from the user interface, (b) interpret the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the device, (c) generate a second electrical signal corresponding to a request for the digital content, and (d) determine whether the device is connected to the Internet; a transmitter configured to transmit the second electrical signal to a remote server comprising a first library of digital content, if the device is connected to the Internet; a memory configured to store a second library of digital content; a receiver configured to receive the digital content from the remote server or from the memory; a display configured to receive the digital content from the receiver and display the digital content; wherein the digital content is displayed on the display of the device after the device receives the request to unlock the device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.
Certain embodiments may be directed to a mobile device configured to display digital content, the mobile device comprising: a user interface configured to (a) receive an input from a user, (b) generate a first electrical signal corresponding to the input, and (c) transmit the electrical signal; a processor configured to (a) receive the first electrical signal from the user interface, (b) interpret the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the device, (c) generate a second electrical signal corresponding to a request for the digital content, and (d) optionally determine whether the mobile device is connected to the Internet; optionally a transmitter configured to transmit the second electrical signal to a remote server comprising a first library of digital content, if the mobile device is connected to the Internet; a memory configured to store a second library of digital content; a receiver configured to receive the digital content from the remote server or from the memory; a display configured to receive the digital content from the receiver and display the digital content; wherein the digital content is displayed on the display of the mobile device after the mobile device receives the request to unlock the mobile device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.
Certain embodiments may be directed to a device configured to display digital content, the device comprising: a user interface configured to (a) receive an input from a user, (b) generate a first electrical signal corresponding to the input, and (c) transmit the electrical signal; a processor configured to (a) receive the first electrical signal from the user interface, (b) interpret the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the device, (c) generate a second electrical signal corresponding to a request for the digital content, a memory configured to store a library of digital content; a display configured to receive the digital content from the memory and display the digital content; wherein the digital content is displayed on the display of the device after the device receives the request to unlock the device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.
In certain embodiments the device may be mobile.
In certain embodiments the device may be stationary.
In certain embodiments the digital content may be an advertisement.
In certain embodiments the digital content may be news content.
In certain embodiments the digital content may be loyalty offers or membership deals.
In certain embodiments the digital content may be audio content.
In certain embodiments the digital content may be audio/visual content.
In certain embodiments the remote server may be an ad server.
In certain embodiments the processor may comprise a broadcast receiver configured to receive the first electrical signal.
In certain embodiments at least a portion of the second library of digital content stored in the memory of the mobile device may be pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time before receiving the request to unlock the mobile device.
In certain embodiments at least a portion of the library of digital content stored in the memory of the mobile device may be pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time before receiving the request to unlock the mobile device.
In certain embodiments the digital content contained within the first library of digital content may be different than the digital content contained in the second library of digital content.
In certain embodiments the request for digital content may include data specific to the user of the device to facilitate selection of the digital content from at least one of the first library of digital content and the second library of digital content.
In certain embodiments the request for digital content may include data specific to the user of the device to facilitate selection of the digital content from the library of digital content.
In certain embodiments the data may comprise one or more of the following: preloaded user preferences, user demographic information, and user data collected from the device (e.g., geo-location and geo-targeting data).
In certain embodiments the user interface may comprise a touch screen display and the input from the user requesting to unlock the mobile device may be a gesture on the touch screen display.
In certain embodiments the user interface may be configured to enable the user to opt-in or opt-out of receiving the digital content.
The disclosed embodiments, consists of features and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that various changes in the details may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments or sacrificing one or more of the advantages of the present disclosure.
In certain embodiments, the digital content that may be delivered to devices includes any combination of one or more of the following: advertisements, news content, social media content, weather content, sports content, loyalty offerings, membership deals, audio content, visual content, audio-visual content, radio content, television content, games, financial market information and other forms of information.
The digital content may be delivered via a number of different approaches including one or more of the following: the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) and a cellular network, or some other telecommunications network. In addition, the user device may be connected to the telecommunications network in one or more of the following ways: wireless, wired, coaxial, Ethernet, and fiber optics.
In certain embodiments, the device may be configured to be unlocked by receiving an input from a user of the device. For example, in certain embodiments, the input provided by the user may be one or more of the following inputs into the device: touch sensitive display, one or more buttons associated with the device, mouse, keyboard, voice activation, motion activation and gesture activation.
As well as the embodiments discussed in the summary, other embodiments are disclosed in the specification, drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

To further clarify various aspects of certain embodiments, a more particular description of certain embodiments is provided by references to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. These drawings depict exemplary embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The exemplary embodiments are described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates the process flow of an exemplary system, according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 1B illustrates the process flow of an exemplary system in the context of the hardware associated with that system, according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates screen displays during an example of a registration process for the system, according to certain embodiments;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate screen displays on unlocking the screen of a mobile device and on launch of application software of the system, according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates screen displays for the share option of the system, according to certain embodiments;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate screen displays for the favorites option of the system, according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates screen displays for the loyalty programs option of the system, according to certain embodiments; and

FIG. 7 illustrates screen displays for the on/off option of the system, according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosures provides systems, devices and methods for displaying digital content (e.g., advertising) on a display for a user device such as a mobile device. Certain embodiments relate to systems, devices and/or methods for advertising on mobile devices where advertisements are displayed on the mobile device upon unlocking of the device, prior to, immediately following and/or at a preset time after the display of the homepage of the device.
Although certain embodiments described herein discuss the use of a mobile device, these embodiments may not be limited to mobile devices, the embodiments may be equally applicable to user devices in general.
The present disclosure is described in further detail with reference to one or more embodiments, some examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The examples and embodiments are provided by way of explanation and are not to be taken as limiting to the scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used by themselves to provide other embodiments and features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used with one or more other embodiments to provide further embodiments. The present disclosure covers these variations and embodiments as well as other variations and/or modifications.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, an exemplary process flow for a system 100 for advertising causing digital content (e.g., advertising) to be displayed is illustrated. The process flow for the system 100 may be separated into three components for convenience: a user device 110; application software 120; and a server/database 130. Additionally, the operation of the systems and devices are illustrated with reference to the hardware contained within a mobile device (see, FIG. 1B). As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the user device 110 and corresponding application 120 may comprise a display, a transmitter and receiver, a memory, and a processor. Although, the processor is not specifically shown, it should be well understood that the functionality described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B may, in certain embodiments, be performed by the processor in connection with an application installed on the device.
Referring firstly to the user device 110 component of the process flow of the system 100, a user interface provides for registration 111 of a user of the system 100. The registration 111 may include addition of loyalty programs 112 of the user. If a user of the system 100 registers loyalty program details, the user may receive current communications and offers from their various loyalty programs. As discussed herein, registration 111 may also include collection of information relating to topics of interest to the user. Data collected during registration 111 may be transferred 121 by the application software 120 to the database 131 for storage.
Upon launch 113 of the application software 120 an advertisement (or other digital content) may be retrieved from the database 131 through background services 122 which may pull the advertisement 123 in a predetermined forma (e.g., JSON format) via a predetermined protocol (e.g., RESTFull API). The advertisement may then be displayed 114 in full screen on the user device 110. Once displayed, the user may be able to tap through and the advertisement may be removed 115. As illustrated in the following figures, this results in the homepage to the user device 110 being displayed. Display of advertisements may also be triggered by unlocking 116 of the user device 110. It is considered that, on average, a user will unlock 116 their user device 110 between 35-50 times a day. As such, advertisements will be displayed on the user device 110 when the mobile device is unlocked 116. In certain embodiments, the advertisement does not have to be displayed each time and instead the advertisement may be displayed in one or more of the following timings: a portion of the times the user device is unlocked, a substantial portion of the times the user device is unlocked, a predetermined set of times the user device is unlocked and random times the user device is unlocked. In certain embodiments, this process may involve registering a broadcast receiver 124 and firing Screen_On action 125. This may result in retrieval of an advertisement from the database 131 through background services 122 which pulls the advertisement 123 in e.g., a JSON format via e.g., a RESTFull API. The advertisement may then be displayed 114 in full screen (or partial screen) on the user device 110. In other exemplary embodiments, advertisements are retrieved from the database 131 and stored in a memory on the user device 110 so that they can be accessed by the application software when the user device 110 is unlocked 116. How often the advertisement is accessed by the application software may be varied. In certain embodiments, the advertisement may be accessed by the software each time the user device is unlocked, a portion of the times the user device is unlocked, a substantial portion of the times the user device is unlocked, a predetermined set of times the user device is unlocked, random times the user device is unlocked or combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the mobile device (or user device) may be configured to be unlocked by receiving an input from a user of the mobile device (or user device). For example, in certain embodiments, the input provided by the user may be input into the device via a touch sensitive display and/or user interface. In certain embodiments, the user interface may comprise one or more buttons on the device. In certain embodiments, the digital content stored in memory on the mobile device (or user device) may be retrieved by a processor and displayed on the display of the mobile device (or user device) if the digital content is not available from a remote database (e.g., an ad exchange server). Accordingly, in exemplary embodiments, digital content may be available to the display of the mobile device (or user device) even if the mobile device is not connected to an appropriate communications network.
In certain embodiments, the digital content and/or advertisement does not have to be displayed each time and instead the advertisement may be displayed in one or more of the following timings: a portion of the times the user device is unlocked, a substantial portion of the times the user device is unlocked, a predetermined set of times the user device is unlocked and random times the user device is unlocked. This speeds up the display 114 of each advertisement on the user device 110 as the advertisements do not need to be retrieved from the database 131 each time the user device 110 is unlocked 116. If a user opts in to having the advertisements displayed on their user device 110 up on unlocking of the screen to the user device 110, rather than a single advertisement being retrieved from the database 131 and displayed, a plurality or set of advertisements may be retrieved from the database 131, for example overnight, and stored on the user device 110. The stored advertisements may then be accessed directly from the user device 110 upon unlocking of the screen 116 of the user device 110 the following day. As discussed herein, the system 100 may facilitate viewing of all of the advertisements pushed to the user device 110 on one sitting, in which case advertisements may not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the screen 116 of the user device 110. Also, in that case, a set of advertisements pushed to the device may be removed after a default period of time and replaced with a new set of advertisements. This may advantageously reduce the memory consumed by the application software on the user device 110. In certain embodiments, the system 100 may facilitate viewing of a portion of the advertisements or a substantial portion of the advertisements pushed to the user device 110 on one sitting, in which case advertisements may not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the screen 116 of the user device 110. However, in certain exemplary embodiments the advertisements, a portion of the advertisements a single advertisement, a plurality of advertisements may be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the screen. Also, in that case, a set of advertisements or a subset of advertisements pushed to the device may be removed after a default period of time and replaced or supplemented with a new set of advertisements. This may advantageously reduce the memory consumed by the application software on the user device 110.
User options 117 can be accessed by the user by tapping through from the display 114 of the digital content and/or advertisement on the user device 110. As discussed herein, and referred to in more detail below, the user options 117 may include a share option 117 a for sharing advertisements with contacts, for example via email, SMS, MMS, Facebook or twitter, and a favorites option 117 b for marking advertisements as favorites and retrieving favorite advertisements. A loyalty program option 117 c may facilitate addition and deletion of user loyalty programs from the user's profile. An on/off option 117 d may let the user switch the automatic retrieval and display of advertisements on unlocking of the user device 110 off and on.
A blocking option 118 may also be provided that lets a user block certain content, advertisers and/or advertised subject matter from their user device 110. If the user of the user device 110 exercises this option, the advertisement may be blocked 126 via e.g., the RESTFull API and the user profile updated accordingly on the database 131.
Referring to FIG. 2, an example of a registration process 200 of the system 100 is illustrated, according to certain embodiments. The registration process 200 involves selecting the application software 201 from the relevant App store and entering user registration details 202. Details of a user's loyalty programs may be entered 203. On launch of the application software an advertisement is displayed 204, including a homepage tap through 205 to the homepage of the user device and an options tap through 206 to user options.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate screen displays on unlocking the screen 301 of a mobile device and on launch of application software 302 of the system, according to certain embodiments. From the locked screen display 303, a user of the device slides to unlock and, on unlocking of the locked screen, digital content and/or an advertisement is displayed 304. As shown in FIG. 3B, digital content may be displayed 304 when a user unlocks the device. The digital content and/or advertisement may be retrieved from the library on unlocking of the device, or digital content and/or advertisements may be pre-queued. As previously discussed, a user may navigate directly from the advertisement display 304 to their homepage, or they may navigate through to user options display 306. Likewise, on selecting the App from the homepage 305, digital content and/or an advertisement may be displayed 304 from which the user may navigate directly to user options display 306.
Referring to FIG. 4, screen displays are illustrated which provide an example of a user options display 401 and selection of a share option display 402, according to certain embodiments. As will be seen from the exemplified share option display 402, the user may be given a number of options such as SMS, email, Facebook and Twitter. Additional options may also be provided, for example alternative social media options and so on.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, if a user has saved digital content and/or advertisements, the user may select “favorites” on the user options display 501, which may result in a favorites option display 502 including the digital content and/or advertisements that have been saved by the user. As shown, in FIG. 5A, the saved content comprises advertisements and in FIG. 5B, the content comprises advertisements, news stories, and/or loyalty deals. The content may be searchable and/or may be scrolled through to locate a desired advertisement.
The desired advertisement may be selected by tapping on the digital content and/or advertisement, resulting in the digital content and/or advertisement display 503. As shown in FIG. 6, if the user is associated with one or more loyalty programs, such as Frequent Flyer, Flybuys, Everyday Rewards, MyerOne and so on, the user may select a “Loyalty Programs” option on the user option display 601. This will navigate through to a loyalty options display 602 that facilitates entry of relevant loyalty program details of the user. The loyalty options display 602 also includes an option for removal of stored loyalty programs from the user's profile.
In certain exemplary embodiments, a user of the system may want to opt out of receiving advertisements on unlocking of the screen of the user device. As such, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the user options display 701 may also include an “on/off” option. When in the on position, as illustrated in user options display 701, advertisements are automatically retrieved and displayed on unlocking of the screen. When in the off position, as illustrated in user options display 702, advertisements are not automatically retrieved, but may still be accessed by launching the application software through the App on the user device.
Further advantages of the claimed subject matter will become apparent from the following non-limiting examples describing certain embodiments of the claimed subject-matter:

Example 1A1

A system for advertising on a mobile device comprising:

- a user interface facilitating entry of registration details of a user of said system and thereby registration of said user; and
- application software adapted to retrieve an advertisement from an advertisement library stored on a database and display said advertisement on a screen of said mobile device,
- wherein said application software is adapted to display the advertisement on said screen of said mobile device on unlocking of said screen, prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of said mobile device.

Example 1A2

A system for providing digital content on a device comprising:

- a user interface facilitating entry of registration details of a user of said system and thereby registration of said user; and
- application software adapted to retrieve a digital content from a advertisement library stored on a database and display said digital content on a screen of said device,
- wherein said application software is adapted to display the digital content on said screen of said device on unlocking of said screen, prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of said device.

2A1. A system for advertising on a mobile device comprising:

- a user interface facilitating entry of registration details of a user of said system and thereby registration of said user; and
- application software adapted to retrieve a plurality of advertisements from an advertisement library stored on a database and push said plurality of advertisements to the mobile device at a predetermined time and to be stored locally within said mobile device for subsequent display independent of internet connectivity of said mobile device,
- wherein said application software is adapted to display an advertisement of said plurality of advertisements on a screen of said mobile device whereby unlocking of the device is the trigger that activates the system to display said advertisement, prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of said mobile device.

2A2. A system for providing digital content on a device comprising:

- a user interface facilitating entry of registration details of a user of said system and thereby registration of said user; and
- application software adapted to retrieve a plurality of digital contents from a library stored on a database and push said plurality of digital contents to the device at a predetermined time and to be stored locally within said device for subsequent display independent of internet connectivity of said device,
- wherein said application software is adapted to display a digital content of said plurality of digital contents on a screen of said device whereby unlocking of the device is the trigger that activates the system to display said digital content, prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of said device.

2A3. A system according to examples 1A2 or 2A2, wherein the device is a mobile device.
2A4. A system according to examples 1A2 or 2A2, wherein the device is a stationary device.
2A5. A systems according to examples one or more of the above A examples, wherein the digital content is one or more of the following: advertisements, news content, social media content, weather content, sports content, loyalty offerings, membership deals, audio content, visual content, audio-visual content, radio content, television content, games and financial market information.
3A. A system according to one or more of proceeding A examples, wherein the advertisement provides an incentive to the user of the system, for example in return for having the advertisement displayed on unlocking of the screen of the mobile device.
4A. A system according to one or more of the proceeding A examples, wherein an advertisement is retrieved from said advertisement library and displayed on said screen on launching said application software.
5A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein when a user opts in to receiving advertisements on unlocking of the screen of their mobile device, a plurality of advertisements are pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time, for example overnight.
6A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said application software is adapted to automatically push a plurality of advertisements to the mobile device overnight with no user intervention and to be stored locally on said mobile device for accessibility throughout the following day independent of internet connectivity.
7A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein the plurality of advertisements are stored on the mobile device and accessed each time the user unlocks the screen of the device.
8A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein the user can opt to view all of the plurality of advertisements pushed to the mobile device at one time, in which case advertisements will not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the mobile device.
9A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein the plurality of advertisements are stored locally on the mobile device and accessed each time the user unlocks the device and/or wherein the user can opt to view all of the plurality of advertisements that are stored locally on the mobile device at one time, in which case advertisements will not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the mobile device.
10A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein the plurality of advertisements uploaded onto the mobile device are removed from the mobile device after a predetermined time frame and replaced with a new plurality of advertisements.
11A. A system according one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein a set of advertisements is pushed to the mobile device overnight, some or all of the set of advertisements displayed on the mobile device during the course of the following day and the set of advertisements removed from the mobile device on the following night and replaced by a subsequent set of advertisements.
12A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said registration details include loyalty program details of said user.
13A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said registration details include user preferences for subject matter of advertisements to be retrieved from said advertisement library.
14A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein on display of said advertisement said application software provides a tap through to said homepage of said mobile device.
15A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein on display of said advertisement said application software provides a tap through to user options including one or more of save, share, favourites, stop advertiser or block, loyalty programs and on/off.
16A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said save option facilitates saving of said advertisement.
17A. A system according to one or more of the preceding a examples, wherein said share option facilitates sharing of said advertisement with contact via email, SMS, MMS, Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
18A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said favourites option facilitates searching for a previously saved advertisement.
19A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said stop advertiser or block option facilitates blocking of an advertisement retrieved from said advertisement library and/or blocking of all advertisements from an advertiser and/or relating to a particular subject matter.
20A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said loyalty programs option facilitates entry of loyalty programs of said user whereby said user can receive loyalty program advertising on said mobile device through said application software.
21A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein said on/off option facilitates adding or removing advertisements being retrieved and displayed on said mobile device on unlocking said screen.
22A. A system according to one or more of the preceding A examples, wherein advertisements to be displayed on said mobile device are selected on the basis one or more of preloaded user preferences, user demographic and user data collected from said mobile device, such as geo-location and geo-targeting data.

Example 1B1

A method for advertising on a mobile device comprising:

- receiving registration details of a user of said mobile device and effecting registration of said user; and
- retrieving an advertisement from an advertisement library stored on a database and displaying said advertisement on a screen of said mobile device,
- wherein said advertisement is displayed on said screen of said mobile device on unlocking of said screen, prior to the display of a homepage of said mobile device.

Example 1B2

A method for providing digital content on a device comprising:

- receiving registration details of a user of said device and effecting registration of said user; and
- retrieving a digital content from a library stored on a database and displaying said digital on a screen of said device,
- wherein said digital content is displayed on said screen of said device on unlocking of said screen, prior to the display of a homepage of said device.

2B1. A method for advertising on a mobile device comprising:

- receiving registration details of a user of said mobile device and effecting registration of said user;
- retrieving a plurality of advertisements from an advertisement library stored on a database and pushing said plurality of advertisements to the mobile device at a predetermined time and to be stored locally within said mobile device for subsequent display independent of internet connectivity of said mobile device; and
- displaying an advertisement of said plurality of advertisements on a screen of said mobile device,
- wherein said advertisement is displayed on said screen of said mobile device whereby unlocking of the device is the trigger that activates the system to display an advertisement, prior to the display of a homepage of said mobile device.

2B2. A method for providing digital content advertising on a device comprising:

- receiving registration details of a user of said device and effecting registration of said user;
- retrieving a plurality of digital contents from a library stored on a database and pushing said plurality of digital contents to the device at a predetermined time and to be stored locally within said device for subsequent display independent of internet connectivity of said device; and
- displaying a digital content of said plurality of digital contents on a screen of said device,
- wherein said digital content is displayed on said screen of said device whereby unlocking of the device is the trigger that activates the system to display a digital content, prior to the display of a homepage of said mobile device.

2B3. A method according to examples 1B2 or 2B2, wherein the device is a mobile device.
2B4. A method according to examples 1B2 or 2B2, wherein the device is a stationary device.
2B5. A method according to examples one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein the digital content is one or more of the following: advertisements, news content, social media content, weather content, sports content, loyalty offerings, membership deals, audio content, visual content, audio-visual content, radio content, television content, games and financial market information.
3B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein the advertisement provides an incentive to the user, for example in return for having the advertisement displayed on unlocking of the screen of the mobile device.
4B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein when a user opts in to receiving advertisements on unlocking of the screen of their mobile device, said method comprises pushing a plurality of advertisements to the mobile device at a predetermined time, for example overnight.
5B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, comprising storing said plurality of advertisements on the mobile device and accessing said advertisements each time the user unlocks the screen of the device.
6B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein the user can opt to view all of the plurality of advertisements pushed to the mobile device at one time, in which case advertisements will not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the mobile device.
7B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, comprising: removing the plurality of advertisements from the mobile device after a predetermined time frame and replacing them with a new plurality of advertisements.
8B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, comprising: pushing a set of advertisements to the mobile device overnight, displaying some or all of the set of advertisements on the mobile device during the course of the following day on unlocking of the screen of said mobile device, removing the set of advertisements from the mobile device on the following night and replacing them with a subsequent set of advertisements.
9B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said registration details include loyalty program details of said user.
10B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said registration details include user preferences for subject matter of advertisements to be retrieved from said advertisement library.
11B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, comprising providing a tap through to said homepage of said mobile device on displaying said advertisement on said mobile device.
12B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, comprising providing a tap through to user options including one or more of save, share, favourites, stop advertiser or block, loyalty programs and on/off on displaying said advertisement on said mobile device.
13B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said save option facilitates saving of said advertisement.
14B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said share option facilitates sharing of said advertisement with contact via email, SMS, MMS, Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
15B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said favourites option facilitates searching for a previously saved advertisement.
16B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said stop advertiser or block option facilitates blocking of an advertisement retrieved from said advertisement library and/or blocking of all advertisements from an advertiser and/or relating to a particular subject matter.
17B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said loyalty programs option facilitates entry of loyalty programs of said user whereby said user can receive loyalty program advertising on said mobile device through said application software.
18B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, wherein said on/off option facilitates adding or removing advertisements being retrieved and displayed on said mobile device on unlocking said screen.
19B. A method according to one or more of the proceeding B examples, comprising: selecting advertisements to be displayed on said mobile device on the basis one or more of preloaded user preferences, user demographic and user data collected from said mobile device, such as geo-location and geo-targeting data.

Example 1C

A computer readable medium containing programming instructions that cause a computer processor to perform the steps of:
receiving registration details of a user of said mobile device and effecting registration of said user; and retrieving an advertisement from an advertisement library stored on a database and displaying said advertisement on a screen of said mobile device,
wherein said advertisement is displayed on said screen of said mobile device on unlocking of said screen, prior to the display of a homepage of said mobile device.

Example 2C

A computer readable medium containing programming instructions according to Example C1 comprise one or more of the limitations of the proceeding B and/or C examples.

Example 1C

A method for displaying digital content on a device, the method comprising:
receiving an input from a user with the aid of a user interface,
generating a first electrical signal corresponding to the input;
transmit the electrical signal to a processor;
interpreting the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the device,
generating a second electrical signal corresponding to a request for the digital content;
determining whether the device is connected to the Internet;
transmitting the second electrical signal to a remote server comprising a first library of digital content, if the device is connected to the Internet;
receiving the digital content from the remote server if the device is connected to the Internet, or from a local memory if the device is not connected to the Internet;
displaying the digital content after the device receives the request to unlock the device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.
2C. A method for displaying digital content on a mobile device, the method comprising:
receiving an input from a user with the aid of a user interface,
generating a first electrical signal corresponding to the input;
transmit the electrical signal to a processor;
interpreting the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the mobile device,
generating a second electrical signal corresponding to a request for the digital content;
determining whether the mobile device is connected to the Internet;
transmitting the second electrical signal to a remote server comprising a first library of digital content, if the mobile device is connected to the Internet;
receiving the digital content from the remote server of the mobile device is connected to the Internet, or from a local memory if the mobile device is not connected to the Internet;
displaying the digital content after the mobile device receives the request to unlock the mobile device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.
3C. A method for displaying digital content on a device, the method comprising:
a user interface configured to
receiving an input from a user with the aid of a user interface,
generating a first electrical signal corresponding to the input;
transmit the electrical signal to a processor;
interpreting the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the device,
receiving the digital content from a local memory of the device if the input from the user is a request to unlock the device;
displaying the digital content after the device receives the request to unlock the device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.
4C. The method of examples 1C or 3C, wherein the device is mobile.
5C. The method of examples 1C or 2C, wherein the device is stationary.
6C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the digital content is an advertisement.
7C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples claims, wherein the digital content is news content.
8C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the digital content is loyalty offers or membership deals.
9C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the digital content is audio content.
10C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the digital content is audio/visual content.
11C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the remote server is an ad server.
12C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein at least a portion of the second library of digital content stored in the memory of the mobile device is pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time before receiving the request to unlock the mobile device.
13C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein at least a portion of the library of digital content stored in the memory of the mobile device is pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time before receiving the request to unlock the mobile device.
14C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the digital content contained within the first library of digital content is different than the digital content contained in the second library of digital content.
15C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the request for digital content includes data specific to the user of the device to facilitate selection of the digital content from at least one of the first library of digital content and the second library of digital content.
16C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the request for digital content includes data specific to the user of the device to facilitate selection of the digital content from the library of digital content.
17C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the data comprises one or more of the following: preloaded user preferences, user demographic information, and user data collected from the device (e.g., geo-location and geo-targeting data).
18C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the user interface comprises a touch screen display and the input from the user requesting to unlock the mobile device is a gesture on the touch screen display.
19C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the user interface is configured to enable the user to opt-in or opt-out of receiving the digital content.
20C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the advertisement provides an incentive to the user, for example in return for having the advertisement displayed on unlocking of the screen of the mobile device.
21C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein when a user opts in to receiving advertisements on unlocking of the screen of their device, said method comprises pushing a plurality of advertisements to the mobile device at a predetermined time, for example overnight.
22C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, comprising storing said plurality of advertisements on the mobile device and accessing said advertisements each time the user unlocks the screen of the device.
23C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein the user can opt to view all of the plurality of advertisements pushed to the mobile device at one time, in which case advertisements will not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the mobile device.
24C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, comprising removing the plurality of advertisements from the mobile device after a predetermined time frame and replacing them with a new plurality of advertisements.
25C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, comprising pushing a set of advertisements to the mobile device overnight, displaying some or all of the set of advertisements on the mobile device during the course of the following day on unlocking of the screen of said mobile device, removing the set of advertisements from the mobile device on the following night and replacing them with a subsequent set of advertisements.
26C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein said registration details include loyalty program details of said user.
27C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, wherein said registration details include user preferences for subject matter of advertisements to be retrieved from said advertisement library.
28C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, comprising providing a tap through to said homepage of said mobile device on displaying said advertisement on said device.
29C. The method of one or more of the proceeding C examples, comprising providing a tap through to user options including one or more of save, share, favorites, stop advertiser or block, loyalty programs and on/off on displaying said advertisement on said mobile device.
30C. A method according to C example 29, wherein said save option facilitates saving of said advertisement.
31C. A method according to C example 29, wherein said share option facilitates sharing of said advertisement with contact via email, SMS, MMS, Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
32C. A method according to C example 29, wherein said favorites option facilitates searching for a previously saved advertisement.
33C. A method according to C example 29, wherein said stop advertiser or block option facilitates blocking of an advertisement retrieved from said advertisement library and/or blocking of all advertisements from an advertiser and/or relating to a particular subject matter.
34C. A method according to C example 29, wherein said loyalty programs option facilitates entry of loyalty programs of said user whereby said user can receive loyalty program advertising on said mobile device through said application software.
35C. A method according to C example 29, wherein said on/off option facilitates adding or removing advertisements being retrieved and displayed on said mobile device on unlocking said screen.
Unless the context requires otherwise or specifically stated to the contrary, integers, steps or elements of the invention recited herein as singular integers, steps or elements clearly encompass both singular and plural forms of the recited integers, steps or elements.
Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated step or element or integer or group of steps or elements or integers, but not the exclusion of any other step or element or integer or group of steps, elements or integers. Thus, in the context of this specification, the term “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense and thus should be understood as meaning “including principally, but not necessarily solely”.
Additionally, the disclosure has been described with reference to particular exemplary embodiments. However, it may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that it is possible to embody the disclosure in specific forms other than those of the embodiments described herein. The embodiments are merely illustrative and should not be considered restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is given by the appended claims, rather than the preceding description, and variations and equivalents that fall within the range of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

1.-20. (canceled)

21. A method for displaying digital content on a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving an input from a user with the aid of a user interface,

generating a first electrical signal corresponding to the input;

transmit the electrical signal to a processor;

interpreting the first electrical signal to determine whether the input from the user is a request to unlock the device,

generating a second electrical signal corresponding to a request for the digital content;

determining whether the device is connected to the Internet;

transmitting the second electrical signal to a remote server comprising a first library of digital content, if the device is connected to the Internet;

receiving the digital content from the remote server if the device is connected to the Internet, or from a local memory if the device is not connected to the Internet;

displaying the digital content after the device receives the request to unlock the device and prior to, immediately following, or at a preset time after, the display of the homepage of the device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the digital content is an advertisement.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the digital content is news content.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the digital content is loyalty offers or membership deals.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the digital content is audio content.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the digital content is audio/visual content.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the remote server is an ad server.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the second library of digital content stored in the memory of the mobile device is pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time before receiving the request to unlock the mobile device.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the library of digital content stored in the memory of the mobile device is pushed to the mobile device at a predetermined time before receiving the request to unlock the mobile device.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein the digital content contained within the first library of digital content is different than the digital content contained in the second library of digital content.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein the request for digital content includes data specific to the user of the device to facilitate selection of the digital content from at least one of the first library of digital content and the second library of digital content.

32. The method of claim 21, wherein the request for digital content includes data specific to the user of the device to facilitate selection of the digital content from the library of digital content.

33. The method of claim 21, wherein the data comprises one or more of the following: preloaded user preferences, user demographic information, and user data collected from the device (e.g., geo-location and geo-targeting data).

34. The method of claim 21, wherein the user interface comprises a touch screen display and the input from the user requesting to unlock the mobile device is a gesture on the touch screen display.

35. The method of claim 21, wherein the user interface is configured to enable the user to opt-in or opt-out of receiving the digital content.

36. The method of claim 21, wherein the advertisement provides an incentive to the user, for example in return for having the advertisement displayed on unlocking of the screen of the mobile device.

37. The method of claim 21, wherein when a user opts in to receiving advertisements on unlocking of the screen of their device, said method comprises pushing a plurality of advertisements to the mobile device at a predetermined time, for example overnight.

38. The method of claim 21, comprising storing said plurality of advertisements on the mobile device and accessing said advertisements each time the user unlocks the screen of the device.

39. The method of claim 21, wherein the user can opt to view all of the plurality of advertisements pushed to the mobile device at one time, in which case advertisements will not be displayed on subsequent unlocking of the mobile device.

40. The method of claim 21, comprising removing the plurality of advertisements from the mobile device after a predetermined time frame and replacing them with a new plurality of advertisements.

41. The method of claim 21, comprising pushing a set of advertisements to the mobile device overnight, displaying some or all of the set of advertisements on the mobile device during the course of the following day on unlocking of the screen of said mobile device, removing the set of advertisements from the mobile device on the following night and replacing them with a subsequent set of advertisements.

42. The method of claim 21, wherein said registration details include loyalty program details of said user.

43. The method of claim 21, wherein said registration details include user preferences for subject matter of advertisements to be retrieved from said advertisement library.

44. The method of claim 21, comprising providing a tap through to said homepage of said mobile device on displaying said advertisement on said device.

45. The method of claim 21, comprising providing a tap through to user options including one or more of save, share, favorites, stop advertiser or block, loyalty programs and on/off on displaying said advertisement on said mobile device.

46. A method according to claim 45, wherein said save option facilitates saving of said advertisement.

47. A method according to claim 45, wherein said share option facilitates sharing of said advertisement with contact via email, SMS, MMS, Facebook, Twitter or other social media.

48. A method according to claim 45, wherein said favorites option facilitates searching for a previously saved advertisement.

49. A method according to claim 45, wherein said stop advertiser or block option facilitates blocking of an advertisement retrieved from said advertisement library and/or blocking of all advertisements from an advertiser and/or relating to a particular subject matter.

50. A method according to claim 45, wherein said loyalty programs option facilitates entry of loyalty programs of said user whereby said user can receive loyalty program advertising on said mobile device through said application software.

51. A method according to claim 45, wherein said on/off option facilitates adding or removing advertisements being retrieved and displayed on said mobile device on unlocking said screen.