The French multimedia company Thomson wants to exploit caller ID – normally used to identify the source of incoming phone calls – to flash an alert on a TV screen when your PC receives an instant message (US 2004/49545).
Software running on the PC checks any incoming instant message for the sender’s email address and uses it to generate an alert in the format that phone networks use to send caller ID information. When a suitably equipped TV receives the message, it flashes up the name of the sender on the screen.
