An intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.

Intelligent Automated Assistant

A data transmission system is disclosed which optimizes transfer and updates of information between systems by providing difference information between the systems. The system transmits data packages having instructions for manipulating user data. The data packages include a header identifying the respective packages, as well as transaction objects for effecting a change to user data on a device having object instructions.

Data transfer and synchronization system

Display screen with icon

Display screen with graphical user interface

A virtual assistant uses context information to supplement natural language or gestural input from a user. Context helps to clarify the user's intent and to reduce the number of candidate interpretations of the user's input, and reduces the need for the user to provide excessive clarification input. Context can include any available information that is usable by the assistant to supplement explicit user input to constrain an information-processing problem and/or to personalize results. Context can be used to constrain solutions during various phases of processing, including, for example, speech recognition, natural language processing, task flow processing, and dialog generation.

Using context information to facilitate processing of commands in a virtual assistant

A portable telephone provides a graphical user interface (GUI) using a high-resolution display. The GUI provides a Universal Mailbox for storing both electronic mail and voicemail messages (44), either of which can be accessed by a user from the same display screen. An automatic reply feature allows a user to initiate an outgoing reply to a received message with the touch of a button. For a reply to a voicemail message, the GUI accesses Caller ID information to automatically identify and dial out to the phone number (45) of the sender of the original message. For an electronic mail reply, the GUI automatically displays a reply form addressed to the source address (52). An advanced call control feature automatically checks an outgoing telephone number (45) against a database to determine whether the phone number (45) is currently appropriate. An animated call duration indicator indicates the length of telephone calls. A ticker-tape display automatically displays scrolled text messages according to the context of what the user is doing.

Graphical user interface for a portable telephone

A server machine transfers a version of an e-mail for presentation by a client machine. The version includes a user-understandable descriptor of an attachment to the e-mail but does not include the attachment. The server receives a request from the client to transfer the attachment for rendering. In response, the server obtains an output version of the attachment and transfers the output version to a rendering device, causing the rendering device to produce a rendered version of the attachment. The client machine can have a display, and the user-understandable descriptor can be visible on the display. The descriptor can be a selectable item; in response to selection of the descriptor, the server can transfer options to the client, including options that involve rendering an attachment. For an image attachment, the rendering options can include printing, sending to a copy shop, and sending to a fax machine. For a text attachment, the rendering options can include, in addition to the options for an image attachment, converting to audio. For an audio attachment, the rendering options can include listening to the attachment. If the client includes a rendering device and the server determines that the attachment can be rendered by the client's rendering device, the server can transfer an option describing transfer to the client's rendering device; for example, the client could be a wireless telephone that can render audio attachments.

Managing the transfer of e-mail attachments to rendering devices other than an original e-mail recipient

A portable telephone provides a graphical user interface (GUI) using a high-resolution display. The GUI provides a Universal Mailbox for storing both electronic mail and voicemail messages, either of which can be accessed by a user from the same display screen. An automatic reply feature allows a user to initiate an outgoing reply to a received message with the touch of a button. For a reply to a voicemail message, the GUI accesses Caller ID information to automatically identify and dial out to the phone number of the sender of the original message. For an electronic mail reply, the GUI automatically displays a reply form addressed to the source address. Reply forms may be generic, custom designed for a specific source address, or provided by the sender. An advanced call control feature automatically checks a destination telephone number against a database to determine whether the phone number is currently appropriate for the party to be called . Alternative or more-appropriate phone numbers may be retrieved from the database and suggested to the user. An animated call duration indicator indicates the length of telephone calls. A ticker-tape display automatically displays scrolled text messages according to the context of what the user is doing.

Wireless communication device with automatic destination telephone number validity checking

A server machine receives an input string of characters from a client machine, and the string includes at least one abbreviated substring preceded and followed by word delimiters. Each abbreviated substring represents an expanded substring. The server machine automatically finds one of the abbreviated substrings based on the preceding and following word delimiters, determines that it is one of a set of abbreviated substrings, and produces an expanded version of the string of characters with the abbreviated substring replaced by its expanded substring. The case of the beginning character of the expanded substring can be the same as that of abbreviated substring. The expanded substring can depend on time, such as the current time.

Automatically expanding abbreviated character substrings

An automatically created form includes a list of items in relation to which an operation can be performed. A processor creates the form in response to facsimile transmission of another form that includes a field requesting automatic creation of a form. The data defining the image of the requesting form also includes information indicating an image destination, and the automatically created form is transmitted to the indicated destination. The requesting form can be a previously created starter form that is automatically transmitted back to a fax machine in response to an image of a blank sheet or a sheet with simple marks received from the fax machine. The starter form can include a security code as well as fields with check boxes for indicating a set of items to be listed, such as recipients of facsimile transmissions or documents or forms that could be transmitted. The user can mark a check box on the starter form indicating a set of items to request an automatically created form for requesting an operation on one of the set of items. In response, the processor automatically creates a form with a field for each item in the indicated set. When an item' s field is marked on the automatically created form, the processor responds by performing the operation in relation to the indicated item.

Herbert D. Jellinek

Papers

Graphical user interface for a portable telephone

Managing the transfer of e-mail attachments to rendering devices other than an original e-mail recipient

Wireless communication device with automatic destination telephone number validity checking

Automatically expanding abbreviated character substrings

Using a form to request automatic creation of form with fields for requesting operations in relation to items