JP2003348160A - Mail transmission method, mail transmission apparatus, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for easily attaching music to an image mail for a mobile phone. <P>SOLUTION: A mail transmission apparatus includes: a music data generating section for generating music data of music attached to image data sent from a mobile phone on the basis of a type of designated music; and a transmission section for transmitting the image data with the music data attached to them to a designated mail address. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mail transmission method,
In particular, the present invention relates to a mail transmission method for attaching music to image data from a mobile phone, a mail transmission device, a program, and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a portable telephone capable of transmitting and receiving images has been put to practical use in a mail function which is one of the functions of the portable telephone. A mobile phone has a C for capturing an image.
An image pickup device such as a CD is mounted, and a user can take an image using the image pickup device and transmit the image data attached to a mail. Hereinafter, such an email is referred to as an image email. The captured image is a still image or a moving image. The mobile phone mail includes, for example, an electronic mail using the Internet and a mail that does not use the Internet but can be used only between mobile phones of the same communication carrier.

As a method of transmitting an image to a destination mobile phone, there is a method using a website. An image captured by a general digital camera is edited using a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a PC), and the edited image data is uploaded from the PC to a predetermined website. Then, by accessing the site from the mobile phone of the transmission destination and downloading the image data, the image can be viewed on the mobile phone.

[0004]

However, it has not been possible to attach music to an image by a conventional image mail using a mobile phone. When a still image is attached to an e-mail and transmitted, a sound, for example, a speech by a human voice can be recorded using a microphone provided in the mobile phone, and the sound can be transmitted together. By using the microphone, it is possible to record sound from a speaker of an audio device having a function of reproducing a compact disk (CD) or the like. The music recorded in this way can also be sent by e-mail along with the images, but when trying to record through the microphone provided on the mobile phone, recording is not possible unless such an audio device is nearby. In addition, it is often difficult to search for appropriate music at that time.

In the method using a website, P
Editing an image using C itself requires complicated work, and in many cases, searching for music to be attached to the image itself is difficult.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system which can easily attach music to an image mail of a portable telephone.

[0007] A mail transmission method according to the present invention generates music data of music to be attached to image data based on a specified music type with respect to image data transmitted from a mobile phone, and specifies the specified mail. The image data with the music data is transmitted to an address.

[0008] A mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a music data generating section for generating music data of music to be added to image data transmitted from a mobile phone based on a specified music type; A transmission unit that transmits the image data with the music data attached to a designated mail address.

A program according to the present invention has a function of generating music data of music to be attached to image data transmitted from a mobile phone, based on a specified music type, and a designated mail. A program for causing a computer to realize a function of transmitting the image data with the music data added to an address.

[0010] The recording medium of the present invention is a recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of a system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an image mail transmission system using a mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

[0013] Reference numerals 1 and 2 denote mobile phones owned by a user for transmitting and receiving electronic mail (hereinafter, also simply referred to as mail). The mobile phones 1 and 2 perform wireless communication with a base station (not shown) of a mobile phone carrier, and via the Internet 5 via gateway server devices 3 and 4 connected to the base station. Sends and receives email data. The data of the outgoing mail is stored in the server device 6 which is the center device. The server device 6, which is a web server, executes predetermined processing on the data of the received mail, and transmits the mail to the designated destination mobile phone to be transmitted. Reference numeral 7 denotes a memory device connected to the server device 6, and various data such as uploaded image data, a user identification code list which is an identification code unique to a mobile phone, and mail address list data of a member, which will be described later. Is stored.

In the following example, an example will be described in which the image attached to the e-mail is a moving image, but it may be one still image or a plurality of continuous still images.
Processing such as image upload, music designation, and mail distribution, which will be described below, is performed only for members (contractors) registered in advance. In the following description, an example in which an image mail is transmitted from the mobile phone 1 to the mobile phone 2 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 2, the overall operation of the system will be described. FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a process of the image mail transmission system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the left side of the dotted line indicates the processing content of the mobile phone 1, and the right side indicates the processing content of the center device 6. Reference numeral 11 denotes an image upload processing unit in the mobile phone. The image upload processing unit 11 is a process executed by a program stored inside the mobile phone 1. The image upload processing unit 11 stores data of a moving image captured using an image sensor such as a CCD provided in the mobile phone 1 in a memory device in the mobile phone 1. The user is a mobile phone 1
Is operated, a process for transmitting the moving image data to the center device 6 is executed. Reference numeral 12 denotes a first processing unit in the center device 6. First processing unit 1
In step 2, a process of performing predetermined data processing on the received image mail data is executed. This first processing unit 12
Will be described later.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a music designation processing unit in the mobile phone 1, which accesses a predetermined site of the center device 6 by web access from the mobile phone 1 as described later.
This is a process executed based on image data transmitted from the site. Reference numeral 14 denotes a second processing unit in the center device 6, which executes a process of adding music to a moving image based on the specified content. Reference numeral 15 denotes an e-mail transmission processing unit for transmitting an e-mail of a moving image to which music is attached, which is executed after the processing of the second processing unit 14. Each process will be described later.

Next, a specific procedure and contents of the processing will be described.

First, the image upload processing section 11 will be described. When a user captures a moving image using the mobile phone 1, the moving image data is stored in a memory device (not shown) of the mobile phone 1. The user operates the mobile phone 1 while viewing the screen of the mobile phone shown in FIG. 3 to transmit the moving image data to the center device 6, that is, upload the moving image data. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the mobile phone 1 for designating a moving image to be uploaded. Reference numeral 21 denotes a frame of the screen. Reference numeral 22 denotes a moving image list display section in which a list of captured moving image data is displayed together with a serial number, date and time of capturing, and a title. The user operates the button of the mobile phone to move the cursor, or inputs the number of the moving image, thereby displaying the list display section 22.
Select a moving image to send from.

In the following description, selection on the screen is made by moving the cursor, inputting a number or the like by operating such buttons, and further by pressing the execution button of the mobile phone if necessary. Done. 23
Is an upload button. This button is executed when the moving image selected from the list display unit 22 is transmitted to the center device 6. When the cursor is moved, the execution button is pressed, etc., the specified moving image data is displayed. The data is uploaded to the center device 6.

Next, the first processing unit 1 in the center device 6
2 will be described. When the moving image data from the mobile phone 1 is received by the center device 6, the above-described processing of the first processing unit 12 is executed. The processing of the first processing unit 12 is executed by the CPU or the like of the center device 6, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the first processing. When moving image data is transmitted to the center device 6, sound data recorded by a microphone provided in the mobile phone 1 may be transmitted together.

The audio data is, for example, “.AMR”
The data is in a format, and is input to a coding processing unit 31 that performs an AMR codec process or the like, and a coding process is performed. The coding processing unit 31 converts the data into, for example, “.WA” for Windows (registered trademark).
V "format. Next, the ".WA"
The sound quality adjustment processing unit 32 that performs sound quality adjustment such as audio volume adjustment on the data in the “V” format is subjected to sound quality adjustment processing, and audio data 33 that has been subjected to sound quality adjustment processing is generated.

The moving image data is, for example, data in the ".NOA" format, and is input to a coding processing unit 34 for executing Nancy codec processing and the like, and the coding processing is executed. By the coding processing unit 34,
The data is converted into, for example, a bitmap format. Next, the data in the bitmap format is compressed by a converter 35 such as a PNG converter.
A compressed data file of still image data in the “.PNG” format is generated. Thus, from the moving image data,
Compressed still image data 36 is generated. The still image data 36 is image data for confirmation or sample as described later. Therefore, the coding processing unit 34 and the converter 35 constitute a confirmation image data generation unit.

As described above, the center device 6 generates the audio data 33 and the still image data 36 from the received audio data and moving image data, and stores them together with the moving image data 37 in the memory device 7 for each member.

When the user wants to attach music to the image data or the like uploaded to the center device 6 and attach the image data to an e-mail and send it to a third party, a predetermined site of the center device 6 To access. This access is similar to web access on the Internet. As a result of the access, a screen as shown in FIG.
It is displayed on the display device of the user's mobile phone. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen of the mobile phone 1 displaying a list of uploaded images.

As shown in FIG. 5, in a display frame 41 of the screen of the mobile phone 1, an upload image list display section 42 in which moving image data uploaded by the user is displayed in a list format is displayed. This list display section 42
This is displayed including the serial number, date and time, and title of the moving image data.

When the user selects one moving image from the moving image list of FIG. 5 on the screen, the center device 6
The screen data including the still image data 36 is transmitted, and a screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display device of the mobile phone 1.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen example of the mobile phone 1 displaying a still image. As shown in FIG. 6, in the screen display frame 51,
A still image display section 52 and a genre designation section 53 are displayed. The genre specification section 53 includes a video genre specification button 54 for specifying a video genre, and a music genre specification button 55 for specifying a music genre.

An image of the still image data 36 is displayed on the still image display section 52 of FIG. Since a still image that is a part of the moving image selected from the movie list is displayed, the user can check the contents of the moving image. Then, whether the music to be attached to the selected moving image is designated by the video genre or the music genre is designated by selecting one of the video genre designation button 54 and the music genre designation button 55.

For example, when the user sets the video genre specifying unit 5
4 is selected, as shown in FIG.
In the screen display frame 61 of this display device, a genre content list display section 62 for displaying a list of categories of video genres is displayed. FIG. 7 is a screen example of the mobile phone 1 for designating a music genre. When the user selects, for example, a sport from the list, the center device 6 detects that the sport has been selected, and automatically composes music that matches the sport video, for example, and selects the moving image selected in FIG. Is generated.

The music to be composed is music composed by an automatic music composition program. The automatic music program includes BGM such as Panasonic SY-VM1.
It is a judge and composes music suitable for a specified genre. Note that music data corresponding to a genre, which is stored in a database in advance, may be generated instead of the automatic music. Further, the music length of the music may be adjusted to match the recording time of the moving image, or the music length may not be adjusted to the recording time of the moving image. Also, as described later, music data for trial listening is also generated based on the generated music data.

The music of the designated genre is transmitted to the center device 6.
When the music is composed in, data for generating the screen shown in FIG. 8 is transmitted from the center device 6 to the mobile phone 1, and the screen shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows a mobile phone 1 for designating trial listening and mail transmission.
It is an example of a screen.

The screen display frame 71 has a still image display section 72
A preview button 73, a mail address input field 74 for inputting a mail destination, a genre designation button 75,
A send button 76 is included. In the still image display section 72,
The same still image as that displayed on the still image display section 52 of FIG. 6 is displayed. The preview button 73 is a button that is pressed when the user wants to preview the composed music. When the cursor is moved to the preview button 73, the trial listening button 73 is transmitted from the trial listening music data center device 6 and the user can use the mobile phone. It can be heard through the speaker of the telephone 1.

The mail address input field 74 is an area for inputting a mail address of a partner to which the image mail is to be transmitted. The genre designation button 75 is a button that is selected when the genre of the song is to be changed, for example, when the user wants to change the genre to another genre as a result of a trial listening. In order to shift the screen display to the screen of FIG. 6, the center device 6 transmits screen data. The send button 76 is a button for sending a moving image mail to the address input in the destination input field 74. When this button is pressed, the center device 6 attaches the moving image data mail to the moving image. The music is transmitted to the mail address specified in the mail address input field 74 together with the selected music.

In the screen shown in FIG. 8, a field for inputting a text sentence may be provided.

The above processing relates to the second processing 14 and the mail transmission processing unit 15 in FIG. The second processing 14 and the mail transmission processing unit 15 are executed by the CPU of the center device 6, and FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the second processing unit 14 and the mail transmission processing unit 15. .

In FIG. 9, first, in the genre specification processing section 81, when the center device 6 is accessed from the mobile phone 1 by web access from the mobile phone 1, the center device 6 is uploaded from the accessed mobile phone 1. The screen data (FIG. 5) including the list data of the images is transmitted. The center device 6 executes the screen processing of FIGS. 6 and 7 in response to the subsequent operation on the mobile phone 1. Then, when a genre is designated in the screen processing of FIG. 7, a composition is performed in the composition processing unit 82, which is a music data generation unit, and music data 83 is generated.
Note that the music data 83 includes audio data 3 as described later.
Combined with 3.

Next, the music data for viewing 85 is generated by the music data for viewing generator 84 for generating music data for viewing based on the generated music data 83.

The viewing music data generator 84 generates, based on the music data 83, viewing music data 85 using a sound source of a so-called ringing melody of a mobile phone, for example.
The viewing music data is, for example, data in the “.MMF” format.

Then, FIG.
Is selected, the processing of the mail transmission processing unit 15 in FIG. 2 is executed, and an e-mail is transmitted to the designated mobile phone 2 of the other party.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of the first processing unit 12 executed by the CPU of the center device 6.

When the image data is uploaded from the mobile phone 1, the center device 6 first receives the image data from the registered member based on the user identification code of the mobile phone 1 included in the received data. It is determined whether or not uploading has been performed (step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1).
Whether the member is a registered member is determined based on a user identification code list registered in the memory device 7 in advance. If it is not an upload from a member, the result in S1 is NO, and the process ends.

If the upload is from a member, the result of S1 is YES, the received moving image data is stored in the memory device 7, and the stored data is decoded (S1).
2). In the process of S2, a file for generating image data for confirmation is generated by decoding the data in the “.NOA” format as described above. Then, in S3, image data for confirmation, for example, one still image data 36 is generated. The processing of S2 and S3 corresponds to the processing of the coding processing unit 34 and the converter 35 of FIG. Subsequently, the audio data is decoded (S4). S4
Corresponds to the processing of the coding processing unit 31 in FIG. 4, and decodes, for example, “.AMR” format data to generate “.WAV” format data. After the processing in S4, a sound quality adjustment processing is executed (S5). The processing of S5 corresponds to the processing of the sound quality adjustment processing unit 32 in FIG. As a result, audio data 33 is generated. In S6, the audio data 33, the still image data 36, and the moving image data 3
7 is stored in a predetermined storage area of the memory device 7 for each member.

FIG. 11 shows the second processing unit 12 and the mail transmission processing unit 1 executed by the CPU of the center device 6.
12 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process of FIG.

When a web access is made from the mobile phone 1, the center device 6 first determines whether or not the access is from a registered member based on the user identification code at the time of access (S11). Whether the member is a registered member is determined based on a user identification code list registered in the memory device 7 in advance. If it is not access from the member,
NO is determined in S11, and the process ends.

If the access is from a member, Y in S11
It becomes ES, and transmits the image data for displaying the list of images uploaded by the member (FIG. 5) stored in the memory device 7 to the mobile phone 1 (S12). Next, a genre specification process for specifying music to be attached to the image selected from the transmitted list data is executed (S13). The processing of S13 is performed by the genre specification processing unit 81.
Corresponding to the processing of. Next, composition processing for composing music according to the specified genre or composition / selection processing for selecting music according to the specified genre is executed (S).
14). The processing of S14 corresponds to the processing of the composition processing unit 82. Music data for trial listening and music data for mail transmission are generated based on the composed music data (S15).

The center device 6 transmits the still image data in the “.PNG” format and the music data for viewing in the “.MMF” format to the mobile phone 1 (S16). At this stage, since the screen of the mobile phone 1 is the screen of FIG. 8, the user presses the audition button or moves the cursor to the audition button to use the function of the ringtone melody for the music for audition. hand,
You can listen on your mobile phone.

It is determined whether the transmission button 76 has been pressed on the screen of FIG. 8 (S17). If the transmission button 76 has not been pressed, the determination at S17 is NO, and it is determined whether the genre designation button 75 has been pressed. (S18). If the genre designation button 75 has not been pressed, the process returns to S17. When the genre designation button 75 is pressed, Y is determined in S18.
It becomes ES and returns to the processing of S13. The center device 6
When the send button 76 is pressed, YES is determined in S17,
A synthesizing process for synthesizing the music data 83 and the audio data is executed. The combined data generated by this combining process is data in the “.WAV” format,
Is the designated e-mail address, ie, mobile phone 2
Then, the image data is attached and transmitted (S19).

In the above-described example, the genre, which is the type of music, is specified when image data is uploaded from the mobile phone 1 to the center device 6 and then accessed from the mobile phone 1 to the center device 6. However, the music genre designation processing may be performed in the mobile phone 1 when the image data is uploaded. In this case, a music genre can be designated by a program stored in the mobile phone 1, and code data or the like of the designated music genre is transmitted to the center device 6. Since the genre designation data is received at the time of uploading the image data, the center device 6 can preliminarily compose music or select music. According to such a configuration, there is an advantage that music can be immediately previewed on the mobile phone 1 at the time of subsequent web access from the mobile phone 1. Then, when the user listens to the sample when accessing the web and wants to change the music, the user can change the music by pressing the genre designation button in FIG.

Further, when uploading image data,
In addition to the music genre designation data, a destination mail address may be transmitted. By transmitting the destination address in advance, an image with music can be automatically transmitted to the destination without web access.

Also, in the above example, the mail transmission of the image data with music is performed by pressing the transmission button in FIG. 8, but the transmission date or the transmission date and time is specified.
The e-mail may be transmitted on the designated date or date and time. For example, when a wedding anniversary or the like is reached, an email of the uploaded image is transmitted to the designated destination.

Further, as described above, the music attached to the image may not be music composed by the composition program. For example, music may be selected according to a specified genre from a classified music database.

Further, the method of designating the type of music has been described with reference to two methods, namely, video genre specification and music genre specification, but other methods may be used.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example of an e-mail using the Internet has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a mail that does not use the Internet and can be used only between mobile phones of the same communication carrier. it can.

As described above, by using the system according to the present embodiment, music can be added to the image data uploaded from the mobile phone, and the mail of the image data with music can be easily transmitted. Can be.

The program for executing the above-described operation is a floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-RO
M and other portable media, hard disks and other storage devices, etc.
The whole or a part thereof is recorded or stored. The program is read by the computer, and all or part of the operation is executed. Or
The whole or a part of the program can be distributed or provided via a communication network. The user
The mail transmission system of the present invention can be easily realized by downloading the program via a communication network and installing the program on a computer, or by installing the program on a computer from a recording medium.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to realize a system that can easily attach music to an image mail of a mobile phone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an image mail transmission system using a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of processing of the image mail transmission system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a mobile phone for designating an image to be uploaded according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the contents of a first process according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a mobile phone displaying a list of uploaded images according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a mobile phone displaying a still image according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a screen example of a mobile phone for designating a music genre according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a screen example of a mobile phone for designating trial listening and mail transmission according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining contents of a second processing unit and a mail transmission processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a first processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a second processing unit and a mail transmission processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, ... mobile phone 3, 4, ... gateway server device 5 Internet 6 ... Center device 7. Memory device

   ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Soga             United States California             95113 San Jose West Saint             John Street 111 Suite 705               Improvista Interactive             Music, ink. Inside (72) Inventor Okada Kenyuki             United States California             95113 San Jose West Saint             John Street 111 Suite 705               Improvista Interactive             Music, ink. Inside (72) Inventor Kato Suganuma             United States California             95113 San Jose West Saint             John Street 111 Suite 705               Improvista Interactive             Music, ink. Inside (72) Inventor Takahisa Honda             United States California             95113 San Jose West Saint             John Street 111 Suite 705               Improvista Interactive             Music, ink. Inside F term (reference) 5K030 HA06 HB01 HB02 JT09 LE11                 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB21 DD52 FF25                       GG01 GG11 HH23 KK13 KK15                 5K101 KK16 LL12 MM07 NN06 NN12                       NN18

Claims (16)

[Claims] And generating music data of music to be attached to the image data based on a specified music type with respect to image data transmitted from a mobile phone, and transmitting the music data to a specified mail address. A mail transmission method, characterized by transmitting the image data marked with a symbol. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the image data is moving image data. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the music data is generated by a music composition program that composes the music based on a type of the music. 4. The sound data associated with the image data is synthesized with the music data to generate synthesized data of voice and music, and the music data is data obtained by synthesizing the audio data. 4. The mail transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the mail is transmitted. 5. The music data for trial listening is further generated based on the music data, and the music data for trial listening is transmitted to the mobile phone. Or Claim 4
Email sending method described in. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: generating image data for confirmation with respect to the image data transmitted from said mobile phone; and transmitting the image data for confirmation to said mobile phone. The mail transmission method according to claim 2, claim 4, claim 4, or claim 5. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the confirmation image data is still image data extracted from moving image data. 8. A music data generation unit for generating music data of music to be attached to image data transmitted from a mobile phone based on a specified music type, and a specified mail address A transmission unit for transmitting the image data to which the music data has been added. 9. The mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image data is moving image data. 10. The mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the music data generating unit is a music composition program that composes the music based on the type of the music. 11. A synthesized data generating section for synthesizing the music data with audio data associated with the image data to generate synthesized audio and music data, wherein the music data is the audio data 11. The mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the data is composed data. 12. A music data generator for trial to generate music data for trial on the basis of the music data, and a music data transmitter for trial for transmitting the music data for trial to the mobile phone. The mail transmission device according to claim 8, claim 9, claim 10, or claim 11, wherein 13. A confirmation image data generator for generating confirmation image data for image data transmitted from a mobile phone, and transmission of the confirmation image data to the mobile phone. And a part having the same.
An e-mail transmitting device as described in. 14. The mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the confirmation image data is still image data extracted from moving image data. 15. A function for generating music data of music to be attached to the image data based on the type of music specified for the image data transmitted from the mobile phone; A program for causing a computer to realize a function of transmitting the image data with music data. 16. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 15 is recorded.