Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA DISPLAY DURING BROWSING
FIELD
[0001] The present application generally relates to network-based
document retrieval
and, more particularly, to methods and devices for providing supplementary
data based on
browsing activity on an electronic device.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The Internet has become an increasingly useful resource for
parties researching
and buying property. For example, the Internet is commonly used for
researching vehicles,
appliances, real property, etc. The Internet is also commonly used for
ecommerce to allow
users to purchase goods while online.
[0003] However, despite their ubiquity, e-commerce websites and
websites used to
research property provide limited functions to assist a user in researching
goods and property.
For example, automotive-sale websites often provide only very basic financing
information
making it difficult for a user to determine the true cost of buying and
operating an automobile.
In order to determine the true cost, a user may need to contact a financing
company to
determine the terms of financing that they are eligible for and may need to
contact an
insurance company to determine insurance rates for that automobile.
[0004] There is a need for improved computer-systems which rapidly provide
data
that may be relevant to a specific user while protecting the privacy of data
associated with that
user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the
accompanying
drawings which show example embodiments of the present application, and in
which:
[0006] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example operating
environment in which
example embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied;
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[0007] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an example electronic device in
accordance with
example embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0008] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an example server in accordance
with example
embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0009] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method to obtain and display
supplementary data
based on a document retrieved at an electronic device;
[0010] Figure 5 is an example display screen which displays
supplementary data and a
document related to the supplementary data;
[0011] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method for obtaining and sending
supplementary
data based on attributes associated with a document;
[0012] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a method to obtain and display
first and second
supplementary data based on first and second documents; and
[0013] Figure 8 is an example display screen which displays a
comparison view based
on supplementary data.
[0014] Similar reference numerals may have been used in different figures
to denote
similar components.
DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS
[0015] In one aspect, the present application describes an electronic
device. The
electronic device includes an input interface, a display, a communication
interface and a
memory storing an application module. The electronic device also includes a
processor
coupled to the input interface, the communication interface, the display and
the memory. The
processor is configured to: establish a communications session via the
communication
interface with a first server based on authorization information received at
the input interface,
the authorization information associated with a profile stored at the first
server; parse a first
document retrieved by the application module to identify one or more
attributes; during the
communications session, transmit a signal to the first server via the
communication interface,
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the signal representing a first supplementary data request, the first
supplementary data request
based on one or more of the identified attributes for the first document;
receive first
supplementary data from the first server, the first supplementary data based
on the profile;
and display on the display the first supplementary data in association with
related data from
the first document.
[0016] In another aspect, the present application describes a
computer-implemented
method. The method includes: i) establishing a communications session between
an
electronic device and a first server based on authorization information
received at an input
interface associated with the electronic device, the authorization information
associated with a
profile stored at the first server; ii) parsing, by the electronic device, a
first document retrieved
by an application module to identify one or more attributes; iii) during the
communications
session, transmitting a signal to the first server via a communication
interface of the electronic
device, the signal representing a first supplementary data request, the first
supplementary data
request based on one or more of the identified attributes for the first
document; iv) receiving
first supplementary data from the first server, the first supplementary data
based on the
profile; and v) displaying, on a display, the first supplementary data in
association with
related data from the first document.
[0017] In another aspect, the present application describes a non-
transitory computer
readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when
executed,
cause a processor to perform a method described herein.
[0018] Other aspects and features of the present application will be
understood by
those of ordinary skill in the art from a review of the following description
of examples in
conjunction with the accompanying figures.
[0019] In the present application, the term "and/or" is intended to
cover all possible
combinations and sub-combinations of the listed elements, including any one of
the listed
elements alone, any sub-combination, or all of the elements, and without
necessarily
excluding additional elements.
[0020] In the present application, the phrase "at least one of
...or..." is intended to
cover any one or more of the listed elements, including any one of the listed
elements alone,
any sub-combination, or all of the elements, without necessarily excluding any
additional
elements, and without necessarily requiring all of the elements.
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[0021] Described herein are techniques for automatically generating
supplementary
data, such as insurance rates, tax information or financing information, for a
user based on the
user's web browsing activity and displaying such supplementary data on a
display. The
described techniques maintain the privacy of certain user-specific data that
may be used to
generate the supplementary data. That is, such private data is not provided to
third party
websites (such as websites that a user might visit when shopping for cars,
homes, appliances,
etc.). Rather, the techniques described allow such private data to be
maintained by a private
server (which may be operating by a bank, insurance company, etc.) and
supplementary data
(e.g., a quote for financing, insurance, etc.) to be displayed alongside data
from third party
websites without revealing such private data (which may include data
indicating a user's
credit-worthiness, etc.) or supplementary data (e.g., which may be a quote for
financing,
insurance, etc.) to the third party websites. In at least some embodiments,
the supplementary
data may be displayed in real-time during browsing. That is, the supplementary
data may be
instantly generated based on a user's browsing activities (e.g., based on a
particular car,
house, etc. associated with a document, such as a webpage, that the user is
currently viewing)
and may be instantly displayed.
[0022] An overview having been provided, reference will now be made
to Figure 1
which illustrates a block diagram of an example operating environment in which
embodiments of the present application may operate. Figure 1 depicts an
electronic device
102 in communication with servers through a network 120. The network 120 may
include
public and/or private networks including, for example, the Internet.
[0023] The electronic device 102 may be a computing device such as,
for example, a
personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a notebook computer,
a hand-held
computer, a personal digital assistant, a portable navigation device, a mobile
phone, a smart
.. phone, a wearable computing device (e.g., a smart watch, a wearable
activity monitor,
wearable smart jewelry, and glasses and other optical devices that include
optical head-
mounted displays), an embedded computing device (e.g., in communication with a
smart
textile or electronic fabric), or any other type of computing device that may
be configured to
store data and software instructions, and execute software instructions to
perform operations
consistent with disclosed embodiments. In certain embodiments, the electronic
devices may
be associated with one or more users. For instance, a user may operate the
electronic device,
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and may do so to cause the electronic devices to perform one or more
operations consistent
with the disclosed embodiments.
[0024] The servers that the electronic device 102 connects to through
the network 120
may include servers of various types and that provide various functions. For
example, a first
server 104 may maintain and store profiles associated with a plurality of
users and the first
server 104 may generate and deliver supplementary data to electronic devices
associated with
such profiles. The second server 106 may be a web server, which may serve
documents (and
other resources), which may be in the form of web pages, to the electronic
device. The
second server 106 may, therefore, function as a website, and may process
hypertext transfer
protocol (HTTP) requests, serving documents and other resources in response to
such
requests.
[0025] In at least some embodiments, the second server 106 serves
documents (to the
electronic device 102 over the network 120) that include information about
property, such as
real property (e.g., real estate such as houses, land, commercial real estate,
etc.), or goods,
such as vehicles, consumer goods, appliances, etc. For example, the second
server 106 may
serve documents that identify features associated with real property that is
available for sale.
For example, a particular document may detail information regarding a specific
property that
is offered for sale or lease. Such information may include any one or
combination of: the
address of the property, the number of bedrooms, the number of bathrooms, a
year of
construction of the property, a price, etc. In some embodiments, the second
server 106 may
serve documents associated with numerous properties. For example, the second
server 106
may function as an online real estate database. Example online real estate
databases include
ZillowTM, realtor.caTM, ZoloTM, ZoocasaTM, etc. It will be appreciated that
the second server
106 may be an online real estate database different from those specifically
identified above.
[0026] In some embodiments, the second server 106 may serve documents that
identify features associated with vehicles, such as cars, trucks, motorcycles,
vans, recreational
vehicles (RVs), etc. that are available for sale. For example, a particular
document may detail
information regarding a specific vehicle that is available for sale or lease.
Such information
may include any one or a combination of: the make of the vehicle, the model of
the vehicle, a
year associated with the vehicle, mileage information, a price, etc. For
example, the second
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server 106 may function as an online automobile database. Example automobile
databases
may include AutotraderTM, craigslistTM, etc.
[0027] The second server 106 may serve other documents apart from
those listed
above. For example, the second server 106 may be an e-commerce website, for
example, and
may serve documents including information about goods (which may be consumer
goods,
appliances, or any other type of goods) available for purchase or services
such as, for
example, health care services or cosmetic surgery.
[0028] The second server 106 may serve documents of the type
described above to the
electronic device 102 in response to receiving an HTTP request for such
resources from the
.. electronic device 102. The HTTP request may, for example, be issued by an
application
module, such as a web browser, operating on the electronic device 102.
[0029] The documents that are served by the second server 106 may
include
documents of various types including, for example, text-based documents,
multimedia
documents, videos, audio files. In some embodiments, the documents may be
hypertext
markup language (HTML) documents.
[0030] As will be described in greater detail below, the electronic
device 102 may be
configured to monitor documents received at the electronic device from the
second server
106. More specifically, the electronic device 102 may automatically parse such
documents to
identify one or more attributes of such documents. A supplementary data
request may be
issued to the first server 104 based on such attributes. As will be described
in greater detail
below, the first server 104 may generate supplementary data for delivery to
the electronic
device 102 that issued the supplementary data request. More particularly, the
supplementary
data request is received from an electronic device associated with a user that
is associated
with a profile stored at the first server 104. A profile associated with the
user that is
associated with the electronic device that issued the supplementary data
request and
information in the supplementary data request are used, by the first server
104, to generate
supplementary data. The supplementary data is sent, over the network 120, from
the first
server 104 to the electronic device 102 that issued the supplementary data
request.
[0031] The supplementary data is data that supplements or complements
data in a
document served from the second server 106 to the electronic device 102. For
example, the
supplementary data may be financing data (e.g., mortgage rate information or
vehicle
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financing rate information, such as monthly payment information, interest rate
information,
etc.), tax data (such as sales tax information, property tax data, land
transfer tax (which may
also be referred to as stamp duty)) or insurance data (such as home or auto
insurance data).
The profile stored at the first server 104 defines user-specific data which
includes information
.. that allows the first server to determine such supplementary data. For
example, the profile
may include a credit score, asset information (such as a bank balance, etc.),
income
information, driver's license history data, claims history, etc. Information
in the profile may
be defined by a user (who may complete a questionnaire, for example, when
first registering
with the first server) or may be defined based on previous interactions with
the user. For
.. example, credit information may be determined by polling a credit agency
server (not shown)
with identifying information for the user associated with a profile. By way of
further
example, in some embodiments, the first server 104 may be associated with a
financial
institution and asset information may be determined based on account balances
for the user at
that financial institution. By way of yet further example, in some embodiments
where the
first server 104 is associated with a financial institution, income
information may be
automatically determined by the first server 104 based on recurring payroll
deposits made into
the user's accounts. Other techniques for determining profile data may be used
instead of or
in addition to the techniques described above.
[0032] The first server 104 may be operated by a financial
institution such as a bank,
an insurance company, or an organization of another type. The second server
106 is operated
by a different entity than the first server 104 and the profile(s) stored at
the first server 104 are
maintained privately at the first server 104 and not revealed to the second
server 106. Indeed,
the supplementary data that is generated at the first server 104 may be
generated based on
documents served to the electronic device 102 from the second server 106, but
the first server
104 provides such supplementary data directly to the electronic device 102 so
that the
supplementary data is not revealed to the second server 106.
[0033] Reference will now be made to Figure 2 which illustrates an
example
electronic device 102. The example electronic device 102 includes at least one
processor 224.
The processor 224 is coupled to a memory 222, a communication interface 226
and device
subsystems such as one more input interface 228 (which may include a keyboard,
touchscreen, camera, fingerprint sensor, button, etc.), one or more output
interface 230 (which
may be a display, speaker, vibrator, etc.) and other device subsystems.
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[0034] The communication interface 226 may include subsystems for
wired or
wireless data communication. The communication interface 226 allows the
electronic device
102 to send and receive data. For example, the communication interface 226 may
allow
electronic messages to be sent and received over a network, which may include
the Internet.
Among other things, the communication interface 226 may be used by the
electronic device
for communication with one or more servers such as, for example, the first
server 104 and
second server 106 of Figure 1.
[0035] The memory 222 may include volatile and non-volatile memory.
At least a part
of the memory 222 may store processor-readable instructions that, when
executed by the
processor, cause the processor 224 to carry out some of the operations
described herein. The
processor-readable instructions are referred to as applications 219. The
applications 219 may
include, for example, an operating system 229 that may control overall device
operations.
[0036] The applications 219 stored in the memory 222 may also include
an
application module which includes instructions for interacting with web
servers, such as the
second server 106 of Figure 1. This application module may, for example, take
the form of a
web browser 221. The applications also include processor-executable
instructions which,
when executed by the processor 224 cause the electronic device 102 to interact
with the first
server 104 as described herein. Such instructions are referred to herein as a
browsing
enhancement module 227. The browsing enhancement module 227 may, for example,
be
.. provided on the electronic device 102 as a plug-in to the web browser 221.
A web-browser
plug-in extends the functionality of the web browser 221.
[0037] The electronic device 102 will include other components apart
from those
identified in Figure 2 including, for example, a power source or an interface
for connecting to
a power source.
[0038] Reference will now be made to Figure 3 which illustrates an example
server.
The example server may function as the first server 104 described above with
reference to
Figure 1. The example first server 104 includes at least one processor 324.
The processor
324 is coupled to a memory 322 and a communication interface 326. The
processor may be
coupled to other device subsystems not illustrated in Figure 3 such as an
input interface or an
output interface.
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[0039] The communication interface 326 may include subsystems for
wired or
wireless data communication. The communication interface 326 allows the first
server 104 to
send and receive data. For example, the communication interface 326 may allow
electronic
messages to be sent and received over the network 120 (Figure 1). Among other
things, the
communication interface 326 may be used by the first server 104 for
communication with one
or more electronic devices 102.
[0040] The memory 322 may include volatile and non-volatile memory.
At least a part
of the memory 322 may store processor-readable instructions (which may be
referred to as
applications 319) that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor
324 to carry out
some of the operations described herein. The applications 219 stored in the
memory 222 may
include a supplementary data generation module 321. The supplementary data
generation
module 321 configures the processor to process supplementary data requests
from electronic
devices 102. More particularly, the supplementary data generation module 321
receives a
supplementary data request from an electronic device and processes such a
request to generate
supplementary data and provides such data to the electronic device from which
the request
was received. The supplementary data is generated based on a profile for a
user associated
with the electronic device that sent the request. Accordingly, profile(s) 329
may be stored in
memory 322. Among other things, the profiles may include or be associated with
respective
authentication data which may be used to authenticate authorization
information (such as a
password, biometric input, PIN, etc.) to ensure that the authorization
information is associated
with a user having a profile stored at the first server 104. As will be
described below with
reference to Figure 4, the authorization information may be received via an
input interface of
the electronic device and may be provided, in an encrypted format, to the
first server 104 as a
proof-of-identity for a user of the electronic device. That is, the
authorization information is
used to allow a user to prove that they are associated with a profile 329
stored at the first
server.
[0041] The first server 104 will include other components apart from
those identified
in Figure 3 including, for example, a power source or an interface for
connecting to a power
source.
[0042] Reference will now be made to Figure 4 which illustrates a flowchart
of an
example method 400 that may be performed by an electronic device 102 to
obtain, from a first
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server 104, supplementary data based on a document obtained from a second
server 106 (such
as a web server). The method 400 may be performed by a processor 224 which
executes
processor-executable instructions stored in memory 222. The processor
executable
instructions may be provided in applications 219 or modules such as a browsing
enhancement
module 227 (Figure 2). For example, the browsing enhancement module 227 may,
when
executed, configure the electronic device to perform the method 400.
[0043] At operation 402, the electronic device 102 establishes a
communications
session with the first server. The communications session is established via a
communication
interface 226 (Figure 2) of the electronic device 102. The communications
session is
established based on authorization information that is received at an input
interface 228
(Figure 2) of the electronic device 102. The input interface may be a
keyboard, touchscreen,
camera, biometric reader such as a fingerprint sensor, or an input interface
of another type.
The authorization information may be proof-of-identity data such as a
password, PIN,
biometric input such as a fingerprint, or other data. During operation 402,
the electronic
device 102 may send the authorization information in an encrypted form to the
first server
104 for validation. Upon validation of the authorization information using
authentication data
stored at the first server (e.g., upon determining that the authorization
information is
associated a profile stored at the first server since the authorization
information is valid based
on the authentication data in the profile), a communications session may be
established. The
communications session is a trusted session which allows the electronic device
102 and the
first server 104 to subsequently exchange communications without having to
input the
authorization information at each exchange. A session identifier (ID) may be
established
during operation 402 and the session ID may be used in subsequent
communications.
[0044] The session may be established at operation 402 automatically;
for example,
when the browsing enhancement module 227 is first executed, or after the first
execution of
the browsing enhancement module 227 following execution of a web browser.
Other trigger
conditions may cause operation 402 to be performed in other embodiments. Once
a session is
established, the session may terminate due to termination of the browsing
enhancement
module 227 or termination of a web browser, or due to detection of another
triggering
condition.. In some embodiments, after termination of the session, input of
authorization
information may again be used for a further session to be established. In some
embodiments,
authorization information, once input, may be stored locally on the electronic
device 102 so
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that input of such information is not required each time a session is
instantiated. For example,
in such embodiments, during operation 402 the electronic device 102 may
retrieve the
authorization information from memory.
[0045] The electronic device 102 retrieves a document or another
resource from a
.. second server 106, which may be a web server. This document may be
retrieved, for
example, by an application module such as a web browser in response to an
input of an
instruction to retrieve the document. The instruction may be input via an
input interface of
the electronic device. The instruction may cause an HTTP request for the
document or other
resource to be sent to the second server 106 and the second server may then
send the
document or other resource to the electronic device. The retrieved document
may be
displayed within the application module that issued the HTTP request. For
example, the
retrieved document may be displayed within a web browser.
[0046] At operation 404, the electronic device 102 parses the
document retrieved by
the application module to identify one or more attributes of the document. The
parsing of the
document may be performed automatically by a processor of the electronic
device and may be
performed as a background process on the electronic device. To identify
attributes of the
document at operation 404, the electronic device may first categorize the
document and may
then identify the one or more attributes based on the category of the first
document. For
example, the browsing enhancement module 227 may configure the processor to
identify
certain categories of documents including, for example, real estate documents
(e.g., which
identify or describe a house, land, commercial property, industrial property,
cottage, etc. that
is offered for lease or sale), automobile-related documents (e.g., which
identify or describe a
car, truck, van, tractor trailer, tractor, recreational vehicle, motorcycle,
etc. that is offered for
sale or lease), e-commerce documents (e.g., which identify or describe
appliances, consumer
electronics, etc. that are offered for sale), or other categories of
documents. Once a category
of a document is determined, the category may affect the types of attributes
that the electronic
device 102 attempts to identify. For example, at least some of the attributes
that the electronic
device 102 attempts to identify in a document when the document is a real
estate document
may be different than attributes that the electronic device 102 attempts to
identify in a
document when the document is an automobile-related document.
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[0047] By way of example, for a real estate document, the electronic
device 102 may
identify one or more of the following attributes in a document: price data,
geographic location
data (i.e., the location of the property, house, etc.), or house feature data.
House feature data
includes data that may affect a home insurance rate such as, for example,
security system
presence data (i.e., data indicating whether a security system exists), square
footage data (i.e.,
data indicating the square footage of the house), wood burning fireplace data
(i.e., data
indicating the existence of a wood burning fireplace or stove in the house),
electrical data
(which may indicate the presence or absence of knob and tube wiring, aluminum
wiring, or an
amperage of service), waterfront proximity data (which may indicate whether
the property is
on the water), age-of-roof data (which may indicate a date when a roof was
last replaced),
year-built information (which indicates a date when property was constructed),
or data of
another type.
[0048] By way of further example, for an automobile-related document,
the
electronic device may identify one or more of the following attributes in a
document: price
data, the make of the automobile, the model of the automobile, a year
associated with the
automobile, mileage information, etc.
[0049] Attributes in the document may be identified through keyword
analysis
techniques and/or by applying natural language processing to the text of the
document.
Document categorization may involve similar techniques. For example, to
categorize the
.. document, the electronic device may perform a keyword-based automated
analysis of the
document. For example, categorization may be performed based on keyword and/or
pattern
searching on the document. Terms in the document such as "house", "home", etc.
may
indicate that the webpage identifies a house for sale whereas "car", "truck",
etc. may indicate
that the document identifies a car for sale.
[0050] Image-based analysis techniques may also be used in the
categorization based
on images on the first document.
[0051] Other techniques may also be used to categorize the document
instead of or in
addition to text-based analysis techniques. For example, the document may be
categorized
using image-based analysis techniques. For example, pictures of a house
contained in the
document may be interpreted as an indicator that the document is a real estate
related
document whereas pictures of an automobile contained in the document may be
interpreted as
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an indicator that the document is an automobile-related document. In at least
some
embodiments, the electronic device 102 may use an address associated with the
document to
categorize the document. The address may be a uniform resource locator (URL)
used to
retrieve the document and the categorizing may compare the URL or a portion of
the URL to
one or more URLs that have been predefined for a category (e.g., certain URLs
may be
defined for a first category, such as real estate documents and other URLs may
be defined for
a second category, such as automobile-related documents). For example, when
the URL for
the retrieved document is associated with an online real estate database, the
electronic device
may determine that the document is a real estate document and when the URL is
associated
.. with an online automobile database, the electronic device may determine
that the document is
an automobile-related document.
[0052] In some embodiments in which the document is or includes a
video, the video
may be pre-processed to identify text displayed in frames of the video or to
identify text from
speech in the video (or speech in an audio file if the document includes an
audio file). Such
text may then be used to categorize the document.
[0053] At operation 406, during the communications session
established at operation
402, the electronic device transmits a signal to the first server 104 via the
communication
interface 226. The signal represents a supplementary data request. The first
supplementary
data request is based on one or more of the identified attributes for the
document. For
example, one or more of the attributes identified at operation 404 may be
included in the
supplementary data request sent at operation 406. The supplementary data
request may also
include the category identified at operation 404. The supplementary data
request may include
the session ID for the session established at operation 402.
[0054] At operation 408, in response to sending the supplementary
data request, the
electronic device 102 receives supplementary data from the first server 104.
The
supplementary data is based on the profile associated with the authorization
information
received at operation 402 and also based on at least a portion of the
attributes identified at
operation 404, which may have been sent at operation 406. The supplementary
data may also
be based on the category of the document identified at operation 404. The
supplementary
data received at operation 408 may include financing data (such as mortgage
rate information,
which may include any one or a combination of a monthly payment, an
amortization period, a
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term, a rate which may be expressed as a number of basis points, etc.), tax
data (such as sales
tax information, property tax data, land transfer tax) and/or insurance data
(such as home
insurance data or automobile insurance data).
[0055] The supplementary data received at operation 408 may specify
certain data or
assumptions are that associated with a quote or estimate. For example, if
during the parsing it
was determined that a home represented by a document includes a security
system and if this
affected the rate, then the home insurance information may specify that the
quoted rate
assumes that the house has an operating security system.
[0056] At operation 410, the electronic device displays, on a display
of the electronic
device, the supplementary data. The supplementary data may be displayed in
association with
related data from the document that was parsed at operation 404. The
supplementary data
may be displayed in real-time after retrieving the first document. That is,
the supplementary
data may be instantly displayed when the document is retrieved.
[0057] Referring now to Figure 5, an example display screen 500 is
illustrated. The
example display screen may be displayed at operation 410 of the method 400 of
Figure 4.
The example display includes a document 504 which is displayed within a web-
browser area
concurrently while supplementary data generated based on attributes identified
from the
document 504 are displayed in a supplementary data portion 502 of the display
screen 500.
The supplementary data illustrated includes financing and insurance
information generated for
a property identified in the document 504. As described above with reference
to Figure 4, the
supplementary data may be user-specific. That is, the supplementary data is
generated based
on data in a profile associated with the user.
[0058] Reference will now be made to Figure 6 which illustrates a
flowchart of an
example method 600 that may be performed by a first server 104 to provide
supplementary
data to an electronic device. The method 600 may be performed by a processor
324 which
executes processor-executable instructions stored in memory 322. The processor
executable
instructions may be provided in applications 319 or modules such as a
supplementary data
generation module 321 (Figure 3). For example, the supplementary data
generation module
321 may, when executed, configure the electronic device to perform the method
600.
[0059] At operation 602, the first server 104 stores a user profile. The
profile stored
at the first server 104 defines user-specific data which includes information
that allows the
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first server to determine the supplementary data. For example, the profile may
include a
credit score, asset information (such as a bank balance, etc.), income
information, driver's
license history data, claims history, etc. Information in the profile may be
defined by a user
(who may complete a questionnaire, for example, when first registering with
the first server)
or may be defined based on previous interactions with the user. For example,
credit
information may be determined by polling a credit agency server (not shown)
with identifying
information for the user associated with a profile. By way of further example,
in some
embodiments, the first server 104 may be associated with a financial
institution and asset
information may be determined based on account balances for the user at that
financial
institution. By way of yet further example, in some embodiments where the
first server 104 is
associated with a financial institution, income information may be
automatically determined
by the first server 104 based on recurring payroll deposits made into the
user's accounts.
Other techniques for determining profile data may be used instead of or in
addition to the
techniques described above.
[0060] At operation 604, the first server 104 establishes a communications
session
with the electronic device 102. The communications session is established via
a
communication interface 326 of the first server 104. The communications
session is
established based on authorization information that is received at an input
interface 228
(Figure 2) of the electronic device 102. The first server 104 receives the
authorization
information and authenticates the authorization information based on
previously-define
authentication data stored in association with the profile at the electronic
device 102. A
session ID may be defined for the session at operation 604.
[0061] At operation 606, the first server 104 receives the
supplementary data request
issued by the electronic device 102 at operation 406 of the method 400 of
Figure 4. The
supplementary data request may include one or more attributes identified from
a document
retrieved at the electronic device. The first server 104 may obtain
supplementary data at
operation 608 based on data contained in the supplementary data request (such
as one or more
attributes for the document, category information for the document, etc.) and
based on a
profile associated with a user for whom the communications session was
established at
operation 604. For example, a user-specific quote or rate may be generated at
operation 608.
For example, an insurance rate, financing rate, tax rate, etc. that is
specific to the user (i.e.,
generated based on data in the profile for that user) may be generated by the
first server 104.
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The supplementary data that is generated is also specific to the first
document. That is, the
attributes that were identified in the first document are used to generate the
supplementary
data. For example, where the first document illustrates a house, the
supplementary data may
represent a quote for insurance or a quote for financing for that house.
[0062] The supplementary data is sent to the electronic device at operation
610 of the
method 600 over the communication interface 326.
[0063] In at least some embodiments, the electronic device 102 may be
configured to
generate a display screen 800, an example of which is displayed in Figure 8,
based on first
supplementary data generated based on a first document and second
supplementary data
generated based on a second document. Such a display screen provides a
comparison view
which allows the supplementary data for these different documents to be
compared. An
example method 700 for generating such a display will now be described with
reference to
Figure 7.
[0064] The example method 700 may be performed by an electronic
device 102.
More particularly, the method 700 may be performed by a processor 224 which
executes
processor-executable instructions stored in memory 222. The processor
executable
instructions may be provided in applications 219 or modules such as a browsing
enhancement
module 227 (Figure 2). For example, the browsing enhancement module 227 may,
when
executed, configure the electronic device to perform the method 700.
[0065] At operation 702, the electronic device establishes a communications
session
with the first server 104. Operation 702 may be performed in the manner
described above
with reference to operation 402 of the method 400 of Figure 4.
[0066] At operation 704, the electronic device may parse a first
document retrieved by
the application module to identify one or more attributes as described above
with reference to
operation 404 of the method 400 of Figure 4.
[0067] At operation 706, the electronic device may, during the
communications
session, transmit a signal to the first server via the communication
interface. The signal
represents a first supplementary data request. The first supplementary data
request is based
on one or more of the identified attributes for the first document. Operation
706 may be
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performed in the manner described above with reference to operation 406 of the
method 400
of Figure 4.
[0068] At operation 708, the electronic device may receive first
supplementary data
from the first server. The first supplementary data may be generated based on
the profile and
attributes, as described above with reference to operation 608 of the method
600 of Figure 6.
Operation 708 may be performed in the manner described above with reference to
operation
408 of the method 400 of Figure 4.
[0069] The first supplementary data may be displayed on the display
(as described
above with reference to operation 410 of the method 400 of Figure 4) or it may
be stored in
memory of the electronic device for future use.
[0070] After the first supplementary data is received, a second
document may be
retrieved at the electronic device by the application module. The electronic
device may then,
at operation 710 parse the second document to identify one or more attributes
for the second
document. Operation 710 may be performed in the manner as operation 404 of the
method
400 of Figure 4.
[0071] Then, during the communications session established at
operation 702, the
electronic device may, at operation 712, transmit a second signal to the first
server via the
communication interface. The second signal represents a second supplementary
data request.
The second supplementary data request is based on one or more of the
identified attributes for
the second document. Operation 712 may be performed in the manner described
above with
reference to operation 406 of the method 400 of Figure 4, except that
operation 712 generates
the second supplementary request based on attributes identified from the
second document.
[0072] At operation 714, the electronic device receives second
supplementary data
from the first server. The second supplementary data is based on the profile.
Operation 714
is performed in the manner described above with reference to operation 708 and
operation
408 of the method 400 of Figure 4, except that the second supplementary data
received at
operation 714 relates to the second document and not the first. That is, the
attributes
identified in the second document were used by the first server to generate
the second
supplementary data.
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[0073] At operation 716, the electronic device displays the second
supplementary data
in association with related data from the second document while concurrently
displaying the
first supplementary data in association with related data from the first
document. That is, a
display screen 800 may be generated which provides a side-by-side comparison
of the first
supplementary data and the second supplementary data. For example, the display
screen 800
of Figure 8 compares a rate for property (e.g., monthly payment amount, etc.)
described in the
first document with a rate for property described in the second document. In
the illustrated
example, a total payment rate (expressed as a monthly payment rate) is
illustrated together
with itemized rates (e.g., a mortgage rate which is expressed as a monthly
mortgage payment,
an insurance rate expressed as a monthly rate and/or a tax rate expressed as a
monthly
payment towards property tax).
[0074] Variations of the techniques described herein may also be
used. For example,
in some embodiments, the supplementary data request is not sent automatically.
Instead, the
attributes identified from the document may be used to automatically populate
fields of a form
which may be displayed on the electronic device. The form may be a
supplementary data
request form which may define data that may be used by the first server to
generate
supplementary data. For example, any one or more of the following form fields
may be
included and may be automatically populated based on attributes identified in
the document:
price data, geographic location data (i.e., the location of the property,
house, etc.), security
system presence data (i.e., data indicating whether a security system exists),
square footage
data (i.e., data indicating the square footage of the house), wood burning
fireplace data (i.e.,
data indicating the existence of a wood burning fireplace or stove in the
house), electrical data
(which may indicate the presence or absence of knob and tube wiring, aluminum
wiring, or an
amperage of service), waterfront proximity data which may indicate whether the
property is
on the water, age-of-roof data which may indicate a date when a roof was last
replaced, year-
built information which indicates a date when property was constructed, or
data of another
type.
[0075] Automatic document categorization as described above with
reference to
operation 404 may be used to select an appropriate form from a plurality of
pre-defined forms
for display. For example, when a document that has been retrieved is a real
estate document,
then a real estate form may be displayed and where the document that has been
retrieved is an
automobile-related document, then an automotive form may be displayed. By way
of
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example, the automotive form may include fields to specify a make and model of
a vehicle
whereas the real estate form may not.
[0076] The form may be transmitted to the first server after display
of the form upon
receipt of an instruction via an input interface authorizing the transmission
of the form. The
form may allow a user to edit or supplement data before submitting the form.
[0077] It will be understood that the applications, modules,
routines, processes,
threads, or other software components implementing the described
method/process may be
realized using standard computer programming techniques and languages. The
present
application is not limited to particular processors, computer languages,
computer
programming conventions, data structures, or other such implementation
details. Those
skilled in the art will recognize that the described processes may be
implemented as a part of
computer-executable code stored in volatile or non-volatile memory, as part of
an application-
specific integrated chip (ASIC), etc.
[0078] Certain adaptations and modifications of the described
embodiments can be
made. Therefore, the above discussed embodiments are considered to be
illustrative and not
restrictive.
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