JP2006190312A - Mobile information terminal and information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile information terminal which reads a URI described in a printed matter to acquire and display applicable contents from a WWW server of the Internet. <P>SOLUTION: The information terminal 1 having the size that a person can grasp in one hand is provided with: a display device 3; an operation switch 4; an execution button 5; a speaker 6; an antenna 7; and a reading start button 8 on its upper surface, and is provided with a reading window for a scanner on its bottom surface. When an image of an area including the URI on the printed matter is read with an internal scanner through the reading window, the URI is extracted from the inside of the image and a built-in browser is started. The browser acquires the contents corresponding to the URI from the WWW server on the Internet via a provider connected by a radio communication line and displays the contents on the display device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal device, and more particularly to a portable information terminal device that reads a URI described in a printed material, acquires the corresponding content from an Internet WWW server, and displays the content.

  Printed materials such as newspapers and magazines have features such as listability, ease of mass distribution, and ease of use, but the types of information that can be provided are limited to characters and photographs. On the other hand, the content provided from the WWW (World Wide Web) server on the Internet can provide not only text and still images but also video and audio, and the quickness that enables quick distribution. There are features that are not found in printed materials. Therefore, in order to take advantage of the advantages of both, recent advertising columns such as newspapers and magazines often include a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) of a homepage that introduces products in addition to advertising articles.

  In order to refer to the corresponding homepage according to the URI described in the printed matter, a WWW browser is started up on a computer such as a personal computer having a function of connecting to the Internet, and the URI described in the printed matter is visually read and entered by the keyboard. It is common. However, in many cases, the URI is a long character string, and if even one character is wrong, the access fails, so that the key input operation becomes considerably troublesome.

  Thus, several techniques have been proposed in the past that allow the URI described in the printed matter to be easily input to the computer. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a URI is converted into a barcode and printed on a printed matter, and the barcode-coded URI is read by a wireless barcode reader and transmitted to a computer. The document 1 also describes a method for automatically starting a browser and a method for inputting a URI to the browser. On the other hand, Patent Document 2 proposes a wireless remote controller that inputs an image on a printed matter, recognizes a URI from the image by character recognition processing, and transmits the URI to a computer. Also, the document 2 proposes several devices for an image input device and a character recognition device for inputting an image on a printed material.

JP-A-9-204389 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-171757

  With the above-mentioned techniques that have been proposed in the past, it has become possible to easily input a URI described in a printed matter. However, that alone cannot easily refer to the URI content described in the printed matter anywhere. The reason is that both Document 1 and Document 2 make the URI input device convenient by carrying it with a wireless barcode reader or remote control, but the computer on the main body still assumes a stationary type device. This is because the place of use is limited to the place where the computer is installed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal device that can be easily input a URI described in a printed matter and can acquire and display contents based on the input URI and is convenient to carry. There is to do.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of providing a user with a moving image related to an article described in a publication through a portable information terminal device.

  The portable information terminal device of the present invention is compatible with the access destination information based on the display device, the communication device, the reading means for reading the access destination information displayed on the printed matter, and the access destination information read by the reading means. A control device that connects to the access destination via the communication device, receives a content from the access destination, and executes a browser that displays the content on the display device; and a device housing that incorporates the control device. A display surface of the display device is provided on the upper surface of the body, and a reading window for the reading means is provided on the bottom surface of the device housing. According to such a portable information terminal device, reading of access destination information described on a printed matter, communication with the access destination, and reception and display of content by a browser can all be performed by a single portable device. Therefore, it is possible to easily refer to the content corresponding to the access destination information described in the printed matter without selecting the location.

  The access destination information may be a URI expressed in characters on a printed material, or may be a URI expressed as a graphic with a barcode or the like. In the former case, the reading means can be realized by OCR, and in the latter case, it can be realized by a bar code reader. The reading unit may include a scanner that reads an image on a printed material through the reading window and an extraction unit that extracts access destination information included in the image on the printed material read by the scanner. In this case, a memory for storing an image read by the scanner as a bookmark image may be provided. If the URI is printed in or near an article or image and the content of the URI is related to the article or image, the read image includes the article or image. Therefore, by looking at the bookmark image, it is possible to infer what the content of the URI includes, and it can be used as a bookmark. Further, when there are a plurality of pieces of extracted access destination information, they may be displayed on a display device to allow the user to select them.

  The communication device is preferably a wireless communication device for mobile communication service. In that case, the portable information terminal device automatically connects to the access point of the predetermined provider using the telephone number, the user identifier, and the password of the preset access point so as to automatically connect to the specific provider. It is desirable to provide a means for connecting to. In order to save a fee, it is desirable to provide means for automatically disconnecting the wireless communication line when content reading by the browser is completed.

  The content to be provided is preferably composed of a moving image, or a moving image and sound, in order to take advantage of multimedia characteristics that cannot be provided by printed matter such as newspaper. Other information such as advertisement information may be included in the content.

  In addition, the information providing method of the present invention using the portable information terminal device as described above includes a step of registering a content including a moving image in association with a URI in a WWW server, and an article composed of characters or still images. Or providing a user with a publication in which the URI of the content related to the article is printed in the vicinity of the article, and providing the user with a URI printed in the publication using a portable information terminal device And transmitting the content corresponding to the URI transmitted from the portable information terminal device to the WWW server and displaying the content on the display device of the portable information terminal device. Yes. According to such an information providing method, it is possible to expand the amount of information and improve the quality that could not be achieved with publications alone.

  As described above, according to the present invention, reading of access destination information described on a printed matter such as a publication, communication with a WWW server via a provider, reading and display of content by a browser are portable. Therefore, it is possible to easily refer to the contents of the access destination information described in the printed matter regardless of the location. In addition, since the contents of access destination information described in printed materials can be easily referred to in this way, information providers such as newspaper companies can expand the amount of information and improve the quality that could not be achieved with publications alone. It becomes.

  Next, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, an information terminal device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a device housing 2 including a lower case 2 a and an upper case 2 b that fits into the lower case 2 a. The device housing 2 is of a size that can be held by a person with one hand. On the upper surface of the upper case 2b, a display device 3, an operation switch 4, an execution button 5, a speaker 6, and an antenna 7 are provided. The display device 3 is composed of, for example, an LCD, and the display surface occupies an area of more than half of the upper surface of the upper case 2b. The operation switch 4 is a cross key switch having four direction indicating units, and the cursor on the display device 3 can be moved up, down, left, and right by pressing any one of the direction indicating units. The execution button 5 is a button for starting the operation being selected with the cursor. The antenna 7 can be bent at its base, and can be tilted along the upper case 2b when not in use, and can be upright when in use.

  The upper case 2b is provided with a reading start button 8 and a power switch 9. The reading start button 8 is a button that is operated when starting to read a URI on a printed material. For example, a thumb is placed on the side of the upper case 2b below the antenna 7, and the middle finger and the ring finger are opposite to the upper case 2b. The index finger is provided at a position where the index finger comes when the apparatus housing 2 is held with the right hand. Further, a slot 10 for a PC memory card is provided in the lower case 2a.

  Referring to FIG. 2 showing an outline of the information terminal device 2 as viewed from the bottom, the bottom surface of the substantially flat lower case 2a has a slit shape extending in the longitudinal direction (Y direction shown) and perpendicular (X direction shown). There is a reading window 11. For example, transparent glass is fitted in the reading window 11. An image including a URI on the printed material is two-dimensionally scanned in the X direction and the Y direction through the reading window 11. Scanning in the X direction (main scanning) is performed electrically, and scanning in the Y direction (sub scanning) is performed by moving the information terminal device 2 itself in the Y direction. For this reason, a distance measuring roller 12 for detecting the amount of movement in the Y direction is built in, and a part of the peripheral surface protrudes from the bottom surface of the lower case 2a.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the apparatus housing 2 includes an MPU 31, a ROM 33, a RAM 34, a display controller 35, a key interface 36, a speaker driving unit 37, a communication interface 38, and a scanner interface connected to the bus 32. 39, a card interface 40, a wireless communication device 41 connected to the communication interface 38, a scanner 42 connected to the scanner interface 39, and a primary battery that supplies power to each unit via the power switch 9. A power source 43 composed of a secondary battery is incorporated. The display controller 35 is connected to the display device 3, the speaker driving unit 37 is connected to the speaker 6, and the wireless communication device 41 is connected to the antenna 7. The key interface 36 is connected to an operation unit 44 including the operation switch 4, the execution button 5, and the reading start button 8. Further, the card interface 40 is connected to a PC memory card 45 inserted into the slot 10.

  The MPU 31 is a control unit that controls the entire information terminal apparatus 1, and various programs executed by the MPU 31 and control data are stored in the ROM 33. A typical program is a WWW browser. The WWW browser has already been plugged in with a video playback function and an audio playback function. A representative example of the control data is provider connection information. The provider connection information includes an access point telephone number, a user identifier, and a password.

  The RAM 34 temporarily stores an image read by the scanner 42 or an image acquired via the Internet, and is used as various work areas. The display controller 35 performs control to display an image or the like instructed from the MPU 31 on the display device 3. The key interface 36 is a part that notifies the MPU 31 of a key input from the operation unit 44 by interruption or the like. The speaker driving unit 37 is a part that converts the digital audio signal transmitted from the MPU 31 into an analog audio signal and drives the speaker 6.

  The communication interface 38 is an interface between the MPU 31 and the wireless communication device 41. The wireless communication device 41 is designed to be adapted to a specific mobile communication service, and is used when connecting to an access point of an Internet provider and using the Internet. For example, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) is used as the mobile communication system. Of course, other mobile communication systems such as digital cellular may be used.

  The card interface 40 conforms to the PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) standard, and controls the interface between the PC memory card 45 and the MPU 31. The PC memory card 45 stores acquired contents and the like.

  The scanner interface 39 is an interface between the scanner 42 and the MPU 31. The scanner 42 is activated in accordance with an instruction from the MPU 31, or image data read by the scanner 42 is converted into a digital signal, and a predetermined value stored in the RAM 34. It manages the process of storing in the area.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the scanner 42 includes a lamp 51 that illuminates the reading surface on the printed matter through the reading window 11, a photoelectric conversion unit 52, a mirror 53 that bends reflected light from the reading surface and guides it to the photoelectric conversion unit 52. 54, a lens 55, and an encoder 56 that detects the amount of movement in the Y direction from the rotation angle of the distance measuring roller 12 and outputs it to the photoelectric converter 52, and is disposed in the chamber 57 of the lower case 2a. In addition, the lower case 2a has a chamber 58 in which the PC card slot 10 is accommodated, and the upper case 2b stores other necessary parts such as the display device 3 but is not shown. is there. The photoelectric conversion unit 52 controls the main scanning of the one-dimensional image sensor 59, the one-dimensional image sensor 59 such as a CCD sensor, the amplifier 60 that amplifies the output and outputs the amplified output to the scanner interface 39. And a control unit 61 that controls the sub-scanning in the Y direction according to the output of the encoder 56. The control unit 61 is connected to the scanner interface 39 through a signal line 63. Although not shown, the control unit 61 is also connected to the lamp 51 in order to control on / off of the lamp 51.

  Next, the operation of the information terminal device 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  When the power switch 9 is turned on, electric power is supplied from the built-in power supply 43 to each unit, and the information terminal device 1 becomes operable. When the power is turned on, the MPU 31 starts the processing shown in FIG. First, an initial screen is displayed on the display device 3 through the display controller 35 (S1), and the reading start button 8 is turned on or an item on the initial screen is selected (S2, S3). When any item on the initial screen is selected by the operation switch 4 and the execution button 5 is turned on (YES in S3), the process proceeds to a process corresponding to the selected item (S4). This process will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the user places the reading window 11 of the information processing apparatus 1 on the area on the printed material where the URI is written and turns on the reading start button 8 (YES in S2), the MPU 31 scans the scanner 42 through the scanner interface 39. Is activated (S5). The controller 61 of the activated scanner 42 turns on the lamp 51, controls the scanning of the image on the printed material formed on the one-dimensional image sensor 59, and reads the image (S6). Image reading stops when the reading start button 8 is turned off or the amount of movement in the Y direction detected by the encoder 56 reaches a certain value. The image read by the scanner 42 is stored as a bookmark image in a predetermined area of the RAM 34 by the scanner interface 39 (S7).

  When the MPU 31 finishes reading and storing the image, the MPU 31 executes the URI extraction program stored in the ROM 33 to extract the URI from the bookmark image currently stored in the RAM 34 (S8). In the URI extraction by the URI extraction program, first, the bookmark image is character-recognized in the same manner as the character recognition process in the OCR to extract all characters. Next, the character string “http:” is searched from the character recognition result, and the portion from “http:” to the next blank part is extracted as a URI.

  When the MPU 31 finishes the URI extraction process, the MPU 31 activates the WWW browser stored in the ROM 33 (S9). When the WWW browser is activated, the screen of the display device 3 changes from the initial screen to the browser screen. The MPU 31 continues to read the provider connection information (access point telephone number, user identification name, password) stored in the ROM 33, and calls the provider access point from the wireless communication device 41 through the communication interface 38. Then, the user identification name and password are transmitted to connect to the provider (S10). Then, the extracted URI is input to the WWW browser (S11). As a result, the WWW browser sends a content acquisition request designating the URI to the provider via the wireless communication device 41, reads the content transmitted from the corresponding WWW server on the Internet, and reads the content of the document or image. Is displayed on the display device 3 through the display controller 35, and the audio content is output from the speaker 6 through the speaker driving unit 37 (S12).

  When the content reading from the WWW server by the WWW browser is completed, the MPU 31 immediately disconnects the communication line with the provider in order to save communication costs (S13). Even if the communication line is disconnected, the WWW browser continues to output the content already read for a certain period. If the user selects the save button on the browser screen with the operation switch 4 and presses the execute button 5 within the predetermined period (YES in S14), the current content is transferred to the PC memory card 45 via the card interface 40. Saved (S15). The name assigned on the WWW server side is automatically assigned to the saved content. The WWW browser ends the processing after the predetermined period, and the screen of the display device 3 returns to the initial screen again.

  On the initial screen, there are two operation items, bookmark and content playback. If a bookmark operation item is selected, content can be acquired based on the bookmark image stored in the RAM 34. Further, if an operation item for content reproduction is selected, the content stored in the PC memory card 45 can be reproduced.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of processing when the bookmark operation item is selected. The MPU 31 displays a list of bookmark images stored in the RAM 34 so far (for example, an image obtained by reducing each bookmark image) on the display device 3 (S21), and allows the user to select any one (S22). The bookmark image can be selected by operating the operation switch 4 to position the cursor on the bookmark image to be selected and pressing the execution button 5. The processing after one bookmark image is selected is the same processing as steps S8 to S15 described in FIG. 5 (S23 to S30). That is, the MPU 31 extracts a URI from the selected bookmark image (S23), starts a WWW browser (S24), connects to a provider (S25), and inputs the extracted URI to the WWW browser (S26). Further, the WWW browser reads the corresponding content from the WWW server on the Internet and outputs it (S27), and saves it to the PC memory card 45 when the user instructs saving (S29, S30). Further, the MPU 31 immediately disconnects the line when the reading of the content is completed (S28).

  FIG. 7 shows an example of processing when a content playback item is selected. The MPU 31 displays a list of contents stored in the PC memory card 45 (for example, a list of names assigned to the contents) on the display device 3 (S41), and allows the user to select one (S42). . The content can be selected by operating the operation switch 4 to position the cursor on the content to be selected and pressing the execution button 5. When one content is selected, the MPU 31 starts a WWW browser (S43), and causes the WWW browser to output the selected content (S44).

  The embodiment of the information terminal device has been described above, but the information terminal device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various additions and changes as described below are possible.

  Although the URI on the printed material is expressed by characters, it may be expressed by a one-dimensional barcode, a two-dimensional barcode, or other graphics. If it is expressed by a barcode or the like, in step S8 in FIG. 5, a predetermined graphic portion such as a barcode is extracted from the bookmark image, and a URI is detected from the graphic. A bar code reader may be used instead of the scanner 42. Further, the barcode or graphic in which the URI is embedded may include the title information of the URI. In this case, the URI and title information are clearly distinguished by a predetermined symbol or the like and embedded in a barcode or the like. If title information is included, the title information is extracted together with the URI in step S8 of FIG. The extracted title information is used as an index of the bookmark image stored in step S7 of FIG. 5, for example.

  Although it is assumed that only one URI is extracted from the image read from the printed material, if the image contains multiple URIs, all of them are extracted, and the extracted URIs are displayed on the display device 3 and selected by the user. You may make it let it. As described above, when title information is included, the title information may be displayed and selected.

  The bookmark image and the URI extracted from the bookmark image are stored in the RAM 34 in association with each other, and the processing in step S23 when the bookmark operation item is selected is performed by using the URI stored corresponding to the selected bookmark image. A process of reading from the RAM 34 may be used.

  Although the manual scanner 42 is used, it is also possible to use a fixed scanner in which the reading window 11 is enlarged in the Y direction and the optical system (51, 53, 54, 55) is mechanically moved in the Y direction. it can.

  The connection to the provider is performed wirelessly using a mobile communication system, but a wired telephone may be used. However, in that case, use is limited within the reach of the telephone cable.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of an information providing system utilizing the information terminal device of the present invention. In FIG. 8, a newspaper 71 is a newspaper such as a general newspaper, a sports newspaper, or an industry newspaper that is created by a newspaper production system 72 of a newspaper company and is sold at a station shop or delivered to each contractor's home. On this newspaper 71, various articles such as articles 73 such as general articles and sports articles composed of characters and photos, articles 74 in the TV program column, articles 75 in the advertisement column, and articles 76 in the weather forecast column are printed. In each article, URIs shown in 73a, 74a, 75a, and 76a are printed as characters or barcodes.

  Servers 77, 78, and 79 are WWW servers that store content, and are connected to the Internet 80. The newspaper production system 72 registers the contents corresponding to the URIs 73a to 76a described in the newspaper 71 in the servers 77 to 79 and the registered contents at least by the time when the newspaper 71 reaches the purchaser. I have finished my work. In this example, the server includes a server 77 managed and operated by a newspaper company, a server 78 operated and managed by a program producer, and a server 79 operated and managed by an advertiser. The content corresponding to the URI 75a printed in the article 75 in the advertisement column is registered in the advertiser's server 79, and the content corresponding to the URI 74a printed in the article 74 introducing a certain program in the television program column is The content corresponding to the URI 73a registered in the program producer's server 78 and printed in the article 73 such as a general article or a sports article is registered in the server 77 of the newspaper company issuing the newspaper 71.

  The newspaper production system 72 and the servers 77 to 79 are connected online, and the newspaper production system 72 and the servers 77 to 79 are based on the content storage medium 82 delivered together with the manuscript 81 of the articles 73 to 76 posted on the newspaper 71. Content is registered. The registration of contents to the servers 78 and 79 not managed and operated by the newspaper company 77 is also performed from the newspaper production system 72 because the company is responsible for the contents corresponding to the URI printed on the newspaper 71 issued by the company. Because there is. Of course, when there is no such need, the registration work of the contents to the servers 78 and 79 is left to the program producer and the advertiser.

  The Internet 80 has several access points 83 and 84 that are operated and managed by a specific provider. On the other hand, some readers who have purchased the newspaper 71 have the information terminal device 1 according to the present invention. The reader can read the page of the newspaper 71 and refer to the content using the information terminal device 1 if the URI is described in the article of interest.

  The contents corresponding to the URIs 73a to 76a described in the articles 73 to 76 are composed of a moving image related to the article or a moving image and a sound in order to utilize the multimedia property that cannot be provided by the newspaper 71 as a printed matter. Is desirable.

For example, in the case where the article 73 is an article composed of characters, it is possible to understand the article by preparing, in correspondence with the URI 73a, a moving image obtained by actually shooting a scene expressed in a certain sentence or a content including a moving image and sound. Useful. If the article 73 is a still image,
(1) A moving image related to the still image (2) A moving image following the still image (3) A moving image up to the still image (4) A moving image including the still image on the way . Of course, voice may be included. For example, when the article 73 is a photograph of a moment when a popular professional baseball player hits a home run, a moving image from when the pitcher throws the ball to when the ball enters the stand can be provided by this type of content.

  Further, as the content corresponding to the URI 76a described in the article 76 in the weather forecast column, content that shows a weather map with time as a moving image can be considered. In this case, the reader can obtain the latest weather map by appropriately updating the content of the content on the server 77. Further, the content corresponding to the URI 74a described in the introduction article 74 of a certain program in the program column can be a content including a moving image and a sound indicating one scene of the program. Further, as the content corresponding to the URI 75a described in the advertisement column 75, when the advertisement is an advertisement of a certain movie, it can be a moving image and audio data including one scene of the movie, a description, and the like. Further, in the case of an advertisement for a car, it can be a moving image that captures a scene in which the car travels. It is also possible to provide moving images for music promotions.

Advertisement information can be included in the content. As a method of adding advertisement information, there are the following forms.
(1) An advertisement still image or moving image is superimposed in advance on the content of the moving image to be distributed.
(2) An advertisement still image or moving image is added to the head, middle or end of the content of the moving image to be distributed by the WWW server. Of course, it is also possible to store content with these added in advance.
(3) The advertisement content URI is added and transmitted by the WWW server. In this case, the information terminal device 1 has a function of storing the received URI information in the URI storage area, a function of allowing the reader to appropriately select the URI, and an access based on the selected URI to obtain and display advertisement information. Functions are added. This advertisement information is also preferably a moving image. A plurality of URI information as advertisement information may be transmitted.

  The advertisement fee received by the newspaper company can be differentiated according to the type and content of the article to which the advertisement information is added, and can be differentiated according to any of the forms (1) to (3). . When adding advertisement information to the content, the WWW server may change the allocation time of the advertisement information to be distributed for each hour. That is, an advertisement of a certain company is added to an article in the morning, and an advertisement of another person is added in the afternoon. In this case, the advertising fee can be differentiated according to the added time zone. In general, since the access frequency to the content can be grasped by the access log in the WWW server, the advertisement fee may be determined according to the access frequency. Furthermore, the advertisement information to be added can be changed depending on the position or area where the reader (information terminal device 1) is located. The position detection of the information terminal device 1 can be grasped by GPS or a microcell network. The WWW server acquires the position of the terminal and adds advertisement information corresponding to the terminal position.

  FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of the server 77 in the case of providing content including advertisement information. The server 77 in this example includes two servers, a content server 101 and a billing server 102, a content storage unit 103 connected to the content server 101, an advertisement content storage unit 104, an advertisement control information table 105, and a terminal location registration unit 106. , An access request receiving unit 107 and a content transmitting unit 108, and a charging file 109, a charging control information file 110, and a charging information transmitting unit 111 connected to the charging server 102.

  The content storage unit 103 is a storage unit that stores content corresponding to the URI 73 a added to the article 73, and the advertisement content storage unit 104 is a storage unit that stores advertisement content to be added to the article 73. When the advertisement form (1) is used among the advertisement forms (1) to (3) described above, the content of the advertisement content such as an advertisement still image or moving image is superposed in advance in the content itself in the content storage unit 103. Imposed. Further, in the case of the advertisement form (2) in which the advertisement content is added at the beginning, middle or end of the content to be distributed, and the advertisement form (3) in which the URI of the advertisement content is added and transmitted, the advertisement content is It is stored in the advertisement content storage unit 104 in association with the URI.

  The terminal location registration unit 106 is a part that stores terminal location information reported from an external terminal location detection system 120 that knows the latest location of the information terminal device 1 through, for example, a microcell network. A pair of a terminal identifier (for example, a user identifier transmitted by the wireless communication apparatus 41 when making a call) and position information is uniquely identified. The access request receiving unit 107 is a part that receives an access request addressed to the server 77 from the Internet 80 and notifies the content server 101 of the access request. The access request includes the URI of the content to be accessed and the terminal identifier. The content transmission unit 108 is a part that transmits the content delivered from the content server 101 to a designated party via the Internet 80. The advertisement control information table 105 is a table that holds various types of control information related to advertisements to be provided, and an example of the contents is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, the advertisement control information table 105 is composed of a set of entries 201 corresponding to articles 73 on a one-to-one basis. One entry 201 corresponding to an article includes an article ID 202 that uniquely identifies the article, a URI 203 added to the article, an advertisement form 204, and advertisement information 205. The advertisement form 204 indicates which one of the advertisement forms (1) to (3). The advertisement information 205 differs between the advertisement form (1) and the advertisement forms (2) and (3). In the case of the advertisement mode (1), as shown in FIG. 10B, an advertisement ID 211 that uniquely identifies the superimposed advertisement is set in the advertisement information 205. In the case of advertisement forms (2) and (3), as shown in FIG. 10 (c), one or more sets of time zone information 221 and advertisement determination table name 222 are set. In the example of the figure, the time zone is divided into morning and afternoon, and advertisement determination table names A and B are set for each. As shown in FIG. 10D, the advertisement determination table A is a table in which a set of the terminal position 311, the morning advertisement content URI 312 and the advertisement ID 313 is registered for each predetermined terminal position. . The advertisement determination table B is basically the same as the morning advertisement determination table A except that the URI of the advertisement content for the afternoon is registered.

  A billing file 109 connected to the billing server 102 is a file that holds billing information for the advertiser, and stores a record for each advertiser. As shown in FIG. 11A, one record 401 corresponding to an advertiser includes an advertiser ID 402 that uniquely identifies the advertiser, billing information 403 for each advertisement issued by the advertiser, and Includes the total advertising fee 404 for that advertiser. Further, as shown in FIG. 11B, one billing information 403 corresponding to a certain advertisement includes the ID 411 of the advertisement, the ID 412 of the article in which the advertisement is placed, the advertisement form 413, and the advertisement. Time period 414 to be accessed, the number of accesses 415, and an advertisement fee 416 for the advertisement.

  The billing control information file 110 is a file that stores a billing table used by the billing server 102 to calculate an advertising fee. An example of the contents is shown in FIG. The billing control information file 110 includes an article basic charge table 501 shown in FIG. 5A, an advertisement form charge table 511 shown in FIG. 5B, and an advertisement time band charge table 521 shown in FIG. The four types of charge tables are stored in the access-based charge table 531 shown in FIG. The article basic charge table 501 holds a basic charge for each article ID. The basic fee is differentiated according to the type and content of the article. The advertisement form-specific fee table 511 holds the adjustment rate of the advertisement fee for each advertisement form. For example, the adjustment rate of 100% is maintained for the advertisement form (1), 70% for the advertisement form (2), and 30% for the advertisement form (3). The advertisement time zone fee table 521 holds the adjustment rate of the advertisement fee for each advertisement time zone. For example, the adjustment rate of 80% in the morning and 100% in the afternoon is maintained. The access count fee table 531 holds an extra charge for each access count. For example, when the number of accesses is less than a certain value X, the premium charge is 0, X or more, when Y is less than Y, the basic charge is 20%, and when Y is more than 30% of the basic charge.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the content server 101, and FIGS. 14 and 15 are flowcharts showing a processing example of the billing server 102. A specific example of a method for providing advertisement information in content and a method for charging an advertiser will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  When the content server 101 receives an access request from the Internet 80 through the access request receiving unit 107, the content server 101 starts the processing shown in FIG. The access request issued from the information terminal device 1 includes the URI and the terminal identifier of the own device. First, the content server 101 searches the advertisement control information table 105 for an entry that matches the URI received by the URI 203 in FIG. 10A (S51). If there is no corresponding entry (YES in S52), the content corresponding to the received URI is read from the content storage unit 103 or the advertising content storage unit 104, and transmitted to the access request source through the content transmission unit 108 (S53). Then, the current process is finished. As a result, the content corresponding to the article to which no advertisement is added and the advertisement content of the URI provided by the advertisement form (3) are sent to the information terminal device 1.

  When an entry having the same URI as the received URI exists in the advertisement control information table 105 (NO in S52), it is determined whether or not the advertisement form 204 of the entry 201 is the advertisement form (1) (S54). In the case of the advertisement form (1), the content corresponding to the received URI is read from the content storage unit 103 and transmitted to the access request source through the content transmission unit 108 (S55). As a result, the content on which the advertising content is superimposed is sent to the information terminal device 1. Thereafter, the content server 101 notifies the billing server 102 of the advertisement ID 211 shown in FIG. 10B included in the advertisement information 205 (S56), and ends the current process.

  When the advertisement form is other than the advertisement form (1) (NO in S54), the current position of the access source information terminal device 1 is acquired from the terminal position registration unit 106 based on the terminal identifier (S57), The time is acquired (S58), and the URI of the advertisement content to be provided is determined based on the advertisement determination table (S59). That is, depending on whether the current time is AM or PM, one of the advertisement determination table names A and B in FIG. 10C is selected, and then the selected advertisement determination table is accessed to match the acquired terminal position. The entry having the terminal position 311 to be searched is searched, and the URI 312 and the advertisement ID 313 of the advertisement content in the entry are acquired.

  Next, the content server 101 determines whether or not the advertisement form is (2) (S60). If the advertisement form is (2), the content server 101 reads the content corresponding to the received URI from the content storage unit 103 and obtains the acquisition. The advertising content corresponding to the URI 312 is read from the advertising content storage unit 104, the advertising content is added to the content read from the content storage unit 103 by a predetermined method, and transmitted to the access request source through the content transmission unit 108 (S61). As a result, the content with the advertisement content added at the beginning, in the middle or at the end is sent to the information terminal device 1. On the other hand, in the case of the advertisement form (3) (NO in S60), the content corresponding to the received URI is read from the content storage unit 103, and the URI 312 of the advertising content is added to the content and accessed through the content transmission unit 108. It is transmitted to the request source (S62). In any case, thereafter, the content server 101 notifies the billing server 102 of the acquired advertisement ID 313 (S56), and ends the current process.

  When the advertisement server 102 is notified of the advertisement ID from the content server 101, the accounting server 102 performs the process shown in FIG. First, the billing file 109 having the contents as shown in FIG. 11 is searched using the advertisement ID as a key, and billing information 403 having the same advertisement ID as the advertisement ID 411 is searched (S71). Then, the access count 415 in the billing information 403 is incremented by 1 (S72).

Further, when a predetermined date such as the end of the month arrives, the billing server 102 executes the processing shown in FIG. 15 for each record 401 in FIG. Calculate and charge advertising fees for advertisers. First, paying attention to the billing information 403 related to a certain advertisement in the record 401 (S81), based on the article ID 412, the basic charge is acquired from the article-specific basic charge table 501 of FIG. 12A (S82). ). Next, based on the access count 415, an extra charge is acquired from the access count charge table 531 in FIG. 12D (S83). Next, based on the advertisement form 413, the adjustment rate is obtained from the advertisement form fee table 511 of FIG. 12B, and based on the advertisement time zone 414, the adjustment rate is obtained from the advertisement time period charge table 521 of FIG. Are acquired respectively (S84). Then, the advertising fee for the advertisement is calculated by the following formula (S85), and temporarily set to the advertising fee 416.
Advertising fee = (Basic fee + Additional fee) x Advertising rate adjustment rate x Time zone adjustment rate

  If there is unprocessed billing information 403 relating to another advertisement remaining in the record 401 (YES in S86), the billing server 102 shifts attention to the remaining billing information 403 (S87), and the processing described above Repeat the same process to calculate the advertising fee. When the processing for all the billing information 403 is completed (NO in S86), the total of the advertising fee 416 in each billing information 403 is calculated and set to the total fee 404 (S87). Thereafter, an invoice description and an invoice for the advertiser uniquely identified by the advertiser ID 402 in the record 401 are created. The billing statement describes the contents of each billing information 403, and the bill describes the advertiser ID 402, the total fee 401, and biller data. Thereafter, the billing server 102 stores the billing statement and billing log, and transmits the billing statement and bill to the advertiser through the billing information transmitting unit 111 and the Internet 80 (S90). Then, the accounting server 102 initializes the record 401 (S91), and ends the processing of the record 401. In this initialization, the total fee 404, the number of accesses 415 in each billing information 403, and the advertisement fee 416 are each cleared to zero.

  In the above specific example, the advertisement rate is differentiated by the adjustment rate according to the advertisement form and the advertisement time zone, but a table in which a basic fee is set for each advertisement form / advertisement time zone may be used. Further, the differentiation based on the number of accesses is performed with an extra charge, but a table in which a basic charge is set for each access number may be used. In addition, when it does not differentiate by the advertisement form, the advertisement time zone, and the number of accesses, the adjustment table 511 by advertisement form, the adjustment table 521 by advertisement time zone, and the adjustment table 531 by number of accesses are unnecessary, and the basic charge table 501 by article is I just need it.

  By the way, if the information terminal device 1 is used to access a WWW server on the Internet 80 via a provider, communication costs and connection costs to the provider are incurred. By paying at least a portion of this cost to the newspaper company, the burden on the reader can be reduced and the reader can be encouraged to gain active access. As a mechanism in which the newspaper company bears the cost, a contractor of a mobile communication service and a provider of a provider used in the information terminal device 1 is a newspaper company, and the information terminal device 1 is lent to a reader at the time of newspaper contract. is there. A newspaper company, for example, generates its cost by advertising revenue. The center of the communication provider providing the mobile communication service charges the newspaper company for all or part of the communication cost incurred by the information terminal device 1 and charges it. Also, the provider charges and charges the newspaper company for all or part of the connection cost incurred by the information terminal device 1. If the center of the carrier or the billing center of the provider is connected to the Internet 80, it is possible to charge via the Internet 80. Further, when the communication company also serves as a provider, the communication company charges and charges the newspaper company for all or part of the communication cost and the connection cost.

  In the system of FIG. 8, newspapers and contents on the WWW server are associated with each other. However, if a URI is described in publications other than newspapers, other types of publications such as catalog shopping magazines and contents on the WWW server are included. Can also be associated. In addition to printed materials that can be carried, such as publications, the related moving images can be created by recording URIs on printed materials that are fixed to buildings, such as information panels for art works and amusement parks. Etc. can be easily constructed.

It is an external appearance perspective view of the information terminal device of one Example of this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the information terminal device of one Example of this invention from the bottom face. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the information terminal device of one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a scanner, and its arrangement location. It is a flowchart which shows the process example in the information terminal device of one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the information terminal device when the operation item of a bookmark is selected. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the information terminal device when a content reproduction | regeneration item is selected. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the information provision system using the information terminal device of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the server in the case of providing content including advertisement information. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of an advertisement control information table. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of the record corresponding to the advertiser in an accounting file. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of an accounting control information file. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of a content server. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of an accounting server. It is a flowchart which shows another example of a process of an accounting server.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information terminal device 2 ... Device housing 2a ... Lower case 2b ... Upper case 3 ... Display device 4 ... Operation switch 5 ... Execution button 6 ... Speaker 7 ... Antenna 8 ... Read start button 9 ... Power switch 10 ... PC memory card Slot 11 ... reading window 12 ... distance measuring roller

Claims (19)

A display device, a communication device, a reading means for reading the access destination information displayed on the printed matter, and an access destination corresponding to the access destination information based on the access destination information read by the reading means via the communication device A control device that executes a browser for connecting and receiving content from the access destination and displaying the content on the display device; and a device housing that incorporates the control device; and a display surface of the display device on an upper surface of the device housing And a reading window for the reading means is provided on the bottom surface of the device casing. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit includes a scanner that reads an image on a printed material through the reading window, and an extraction unit that extracts access destination information included in the image on the printed material read by the scanner. . The portable information terminal device according to claim 2, further comprising a memory that stores an image read by the scanner as a bookmark image. The portable information terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising means for displaying a plurality of pieces of extracted access destination information on a display device and causing a user to select them. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device for mobile communication service. 6. The portable information terminal device according to claim 5, further comprising means for automatically connecting to an access point of a predetermined provider using a telephone number, a user identifier, and a password of an access point set in advance. 7. The portable information terminal device according to claim 5, further comprising means for automatically disconnecting the wireless communication line when reading of the content by the browser is completed. The portable information terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the access destination information is a URI written on a printed material. 2. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the printed matter is a publication in which an URI of a content including a moving image related to the article is printed in an article composed of characters or still images or in the vicinity of the article. . The portable information terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the content includes advertisement information. Registering a content including a moving image in a WWW server in association with a URI;
Providing a user with a publication in which the URI of the content related to the article is printed in or near the article composed of characters or still images;
Allowing a user to read and transmit a URI printed in the publication using a portable information terminal device; and
Causing the content corresponding to the URI transmitted from the portable information terminal device to be transmitted to the WWW server and displayed on the display device of the portable information terminal device;
Information providing method including The information providing method according to claim 11, wherein advertisement information is included in the content. A billing server having a charge table registered in association with an article to which advertisement information is added and an advertisement fee set in advance based on the content of the article, and a billing file holding billing information for each advertiser 13. The information providing method according to claim 12, wherein an advertisement fee collected from an advertiser by a publisher of a publication is differentiated and charged according to an article to which advertisement information is added. Issuance of publications using a billing server that has a charge table registered in association with the number of accesses and advertising fee information corresponding to the number of accesses, and a billing file that holds billing information for each advertiser 13. The information providing method according to claim 12, wherein an advertising fee collected by the merchant from the advertiser is differentiated and charged according to the number of accesses to the advertising information. Publications using a billing server having a billing table registered in association with an advertising time zone and advertising fee information corresponding to the advertising time zone, and a billing file holding billing information for each advertiser 13. The information providing method according to claim 12, wherein an advertising fee collected by the issuer is differentiated and charged according to an advertising time zone for providing advertising information. Publication using a billing server having a billing table in which advertisement information is provided in association with advertisement fee information corresponding to the form and a billing file that holds billing information for each advertiser 13. The information providing method according to claim 12, wherein the advertising fee collected by the issuer of the product is differentiated and charged according to the form of providing the advertising information. 13. The information providing method according to claim 12, wherein the current position of the portable information terminal device that is the access source is detected, and advertisement information corresponding to the detected current position is selected and included in the content. 13. The information providing method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein at least a part of communication costs generated in the portable information terminal device is charged to a publisher of the publication. 19. The information providing method according to claim 11, 12 or 18, wherein at least a part of the connection fee to the provider generated in the portable information terminal device is charged to a publisher of the publication.

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