Mechanism for Compacting Shared Content in Collaborative Computing Sessions

1. A method comprising: initiating a collaborative computing session between a group of participant devices in data communication with each other, wherein at least one participant device operates as a presenter device to share data with at least one other participant viewer device; designating data associated with the group consisting of: (i) at least one application program executing on the presenter device to generate at least two windows and at least one background region between the two windows on a display of the presenter device, (ii) a predefined area of the display of the presenter device, and (iii) combinations thereof, to be shared with at least one viewer device; transmitting the designated shared data to the at least one viewer device; rendering the shared data for display on the at least one viewer device, wherein the shared data is rendered in accordance with display capabilities of the at least one viewer device; and displaying the rendered shared data on the at least one viewer device such that the background region between the at least two windows is removed and the at least two windows will be displayed contiguously on the at least one viewer device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein designating data comprises designating the predefined area of the display of the presenter device, wherein the predefined area includes at least two windows generated by at least one application program executing on the presenter device and at least one background region.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein designating data to be shared with at least one viewer device comprises determining a window priority for each window within the predefined area of the display on the presenter device, and designating a window for sharing with at least one viewer device based on the determined window priority.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining a window priority for each window comprises determining a window priority level as a function of the group consisting of window duration, wherein the window duration is the total amount of time the window is active; window activity index, wherein the window activity level is the number of user input events in the window; and combinations thereof, over a sample period of time.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein designating data to be shared with at least one viewer device further comprises determining a specified window priority level threshold, and designating a window for sharing based on the window priority level for the window exceeding the specified window priority level threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering the shared data comprises rendering the shared data for each viewer device in accordance with display capabilities of each one viewer device.

7. An apparatus, comprising: at least one network interface configured to transmit and receive data on a computer network; a group of participant devices in data communication with each other via the network; a processor coupled to the at least one network interface and configured to execute one or more processes; and a memory configured to store a collaboration process executable by the processor, the collaboration process when executed operable to: initiate a collaborative computing session between the group of participant devices in data communication with each other, wherein at least one participant device operates as a presenter device to share data with at least one other participant viewer device; designate data associated with the group consisting of: (i) at least one application program executing on the presenter device to generate at least two windows and at least one background region between the two windows on a display of the presenter device, (ii) a predefined area of the display of the presenter device, and (iii) combinations thereof, to be shared with at least one viewer device; transmit the designated shared data to the at least one viewer device; render the shared data for display on the at least one viewer device, wherein the shared data is rendered in accordance with display capabilities of the at least one viewer device; and display the rendered shared data on the at least one viewer device, such that the background region between the at least two windows is removed and the at least two windows will be displayed contiguously on the at least one viewer device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further operable to designate the predefined area of the display of the presenter device to be shared with the at least one viewer device, wherein the predefined area includes at least two windows generated by at least one application program executing on the presenter device and at least one background region.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine a window priority for each window within the predefined area of the display on the presenter device, and designating a window for sharing with at least one viewer device based on the determined window priority.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine a window priority level as a function of the group consisting of window duration, wherein the window duration is the total amount of time the window is active; window activity index, wherein the window activity level is the number of user input events in the window; and combinations thereof, over a sample period of time.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine a specified window priority level threshold, and designate a window for sharing based on the window priority level for the window exceeding the specified window priority level threshold.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein rendering the shared data comprises rendering the shared data for each viewer device in accordance with display capabilities of each one viewer device.

13. Logic encoded in at least one non-transitory computer readable media for execution by a processor, and when executed by the processor operable to: initiate a collaborative computing session between a group of participant devices in data communication with each other, wherein at least one participant device operates as a presenter device to share data with at least one other participant viewer device; designate data associated with the group consisting of: (i) at least one application program executing on the presenter device, (ii) a predefined area of the display of the presenter device, and (iii) combinations thereof, to be shared with at least one viewer device; transmit the designated shared data to the at least one viewer device; render the shared data for display on the at least one viewer device, wherein the shared data is rendered in accordance with display capabilities of the at least one viewer device; and display the rendered shared data on the at least one viewer device such that the background region between the at least two windows are removed and the at least two windows will be displayed contiguously on the at least one viewer device.