JP2007026394A - Processing method of registered character, program for realizing the same, and mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable mobile phone to use an obtained photograph image as characters, without receiving support of a server. <P>SOLUTION: In a mobile phone 1 with a camera 19 and the like, at least a portion of a photographed image 32 is converted into font data of a scalable format identical to ordinary default font, so that the font data are made to associate with unique codes and are registered as registration characters 34 (48). In addition to the ordinary character, the registered characters can be input (44). When a generated text is transmitted as an electronic mail, to a variety of registration character included in the text, the font data of the registered character and the code related to the registration character are added to the electronic mail as registration character data, and transmitted (42). When the received electronic mail text is to be displayed, when the code concerned is not an ordinary default font code with respect to each code of the text, the font data related to the code are extracted from among the registration character data added to the registration character, and are displayed (42). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a mobile phone having a function of acquiring an image by photographing or the like and a mail transmission / reception function, and more specifically, a part or all of an image acquired by such a mobile phone is mainly used in a mail. Related to the technology to be used.

  With the spread of communication using e-mail transmission / reception functions such as mobile phones, it has become common to use “emoticons” and “pictograms” as one of the means for expressing emotions in addition to normal characters in e-mails. . In recent mobile phones, there are many emoticons (face mark or face font) that express various expressions by combining multiple symbols and pictorial symbols (pictorial symbols) that are dot images created according to the size of the characters. However, many are pre-registered in the built-in memory.

Currently, camera functions are added to most mobile phones, and captured images can be attached to e-mails. Based on these technologies, in order to increase the degree of freedom of expression in e-mail, a mobile phone capable of displaying a photographed image corresponding to the display size of one character has been proposed and is being put into practical use. (See, for example, Patent Document 1 (paragraphs 0052-56, FIG. 2)).
In this system, when an image taken by a user is used as a character (referred to as “image module”), the captured image is transferred to a server and registered together with a code (or an image module name), and the image is created at the time of mail creation. Enter the code enclosed by a predetermined delimiter at the location where the module is used. When this e-mail is sent to the server, the server analyzes the e-mail and searches for a code enclosed in a predetermined delimiter, and the corresponding image (image module) is sized according to the model of the receiving mobile phone. The URL is sent to the receiving side as an HTML file. On the receiving side, an e-mail in which reduced image data is interlaced with character data is displayed on the display means. Thus, the degree of freedom of expression of e-mail can be increased by using the captured image as characters.
In the following description, a character using an image acquired by shooting or the like is referred to as a pictogram.
JP 2005-62289 A

However, although the method of the above-mentioned patent document 1 is excellent in that it does not depend on the model of the mobile phone, it is a Web (meaning the World Wide Web) mail via a server, not directly between mobile phones, and the use of pictograms. You need a server to make it possible. Further, since the user on the transmission side needs to upload and register images one by one to the server, it cannot be said that it is convenient.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and a program that make it possible to use a captured image acquired by a mobile phone as characters without the assistance of a server.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobile terminal as a mobile phone that can use an acquired captured image as characters without receiving support from a server.

To achieve the above object, in the first aspect, the present invention provides wireless communication means (including download) for communicating with a base station, image storage means for storing a photographed image, characters and images. Provided is a registered character processing method based on a photographed image in a portable terminal having a function of resizing a pictograph including the character.
In this method, the character or image is acquired and stored in the image storage unit, and at least a part of an arbitrary image of the image in which the character or image is stored in the storage unit is the same as a normal default font A registration step of converting into scalable format font data and registering it as an additional registered character in association with a unique code, and an input step that allows the registered character to be resized and input in addition to the normal character When the text created in the input step is transmitted as an e-mail, the character data of the registered character and the code associated with the registered character are registered character data for various registered characters included in the text. A transmission step of adding to the e-mail and transmitting the e-mail; receiving the e-mail; And a display step of size display. In the display step, for each code of the text, when the code is not a normal default font code, the font data associated with the code is added to the various registered characters. And resize display. Thereby, the freedom degree of expression of a text can be raised.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the registration step includes a step of allowing an arbitrary range of the arbitrary image to be designated as at least a part of the arbitrary image. Thereby, it becomes possible to compose a pictograph using a portion desired by the user of the captured image.
In the first aspect of the present invention, the registered character may be an external character.
In the first aspect of the present invention, when the mobile terminal includes a plurality of pictograms that can be used in the same manner as the normal default font, the registered characters may be added as additional pictograms that are additionally registered to the plurality of pictograms. Good.
In the first aspect of the present invention, the transmitting step may include a step of adding information on a size of a font used for the text and the font data resized to the size to the e-mail.
In a first aspect of the invention, allowing a user to associate an email address registered in an address book with one of the available fonts;
Using the font data of the one font when the received font is associated with an email address of a sender of the received email when displaying the received email. It is characterized by that.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a program that realizes the registered character processing method based on the captured image can be obtained by causing the control unit included in the portable terminal to execute the above-described steps.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, wireless communication means for communicating with a base station, camera means for taking a picture to obtain an image, image storage means for storing the image, and image storage means stored in the image storage means In addition to normal characters, registration means for converting at least part of any of the images into font data in the same scalable format as the normal default font and registering it as a registered character in relation to a unique code Input means that can also input the registered characters, and when the text created by the input means is transmitted as an e-mail, for the various registered characters included in the text, the font data of the registered characters and the A transmitting means for adding a code associated with a registered character as registered character data to the electronic mail and transmitting the electronic mail; receiving the electronic mail; Can be obtained a mobile terminal including a display means for displaying resize the text. If the code is not a normal default font code for each code of the text, the display means adds character data associated with the code to the registered character data added to the various registered characters. Means for taking out and resizing the image. Thereby, the freedom degree of expression of a text can be raised.

In the third aspect of the present invention, the registration unit includes a unit that allows an arbitrary range of the arbitrary image to be specified as at least a part of the arbitrary image.
In the third aspect of the present invention, the portable terminal further includes browser means for browsing a website, and the registered characters include font data of an additional typeface based on a photographed image downloaded by the browser means via the Internet. But you can.
In the third aspect of the present invention, the registered character may be an external character.
In the third aspect of the present invention, when the mobile terminal includes a plurality of pictograms that can be used in the same manner as the normal default font, the registered characters may be added as additional pictograms that are additionally registered to the plurality of pictograms. Good.
In the third aspect of the present invention, the portable terminal further includes a scalable font engine for resizing the font data to a desired size.
In a third aspect of the present invention, means for enabling a user to associate an email address registered in the address book with one of the available fonts;
Means for using the font data of the one font when the received font is associated with the email address of the sender of the received email when displaying the received email It is characterized by that.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the mobile terminal may be used as a mobile phone, and when the mobile phone is not equipped with a scalable engine, a resize function is provided by downloading bitmap font data for each size. Can also be eliminated.

  According to the present invention, a sender uses a pictograph obtained by characterizing a captured image acquired by his / her mobile phone or a typeface obtained by downloading from a dedicated font content in an e-mail message. Send messages in the same way as e-mails, and the recipients receive and display them in the same way as normal e-mails, so that they can see messages with a rich and expressive character including pictograms created from captured images. Is possible. Moreover, this e-mail communication is more convenient because no special server intervention is required.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings. In addition, when showing the same element in several drawing, the same referential mark is attached | subjected.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a mobile phone 1 includes an antenna 11 that enables communication with a base station (not shown), and a wireless transmission / reception unit 12 that communicates with the base station via the antenna 11 and inputs / outputs communication data in a digital format. Equivalent to the wireless communication means of claim 1), a microphone 15 for inputting sound, a speaker 14 for outputting sound, a sound signal from the microphone 15 being output as digital transmission data, and a speaker 14 using digital reception data as a sound signal. A voice processing unit 13 that outputs to the user, an incoming call alarm unit 16 comprising a speaker (not shown) and / or a vibrator (not shown) that informs the user when there is an incoming call, and an operation by the user And a key operation unit 17 (corresponding to the input means in the claims) composed of switches (not shown) enabling data input, and various information are displayed. A display device 18 (corresponding to the display means and display means of the claims) comprising an LED, a camera section 19 (corresponding to the camera means of the claims), and the elements 12, 13 and 16 to 19 And a control unit 10 that controls the entire mobile phone 1.
The control unit 10 includes a ROM 20 for storing various programs 42 to 50 and data 36 (corresponding to the storage means of the read only memory claim) 20 and a non-volatile memory 30 for storing data 32 and 34 generated during operation. Equivalent to the means for storing the term).

As described above, the mobile phone 1 of the present invention is not particularly defined as long as it is a normal camera-equipped mobile phone from the viewpoint of hardware. In other words, the present invention is a normal camera-equipped mobile phone. It can be applied to.
According to the present invention, the ROM 20 has a program that enables transmission / reception of e-mails, that is, a mailer 42, mainly a front-end processor (FEP) or IME for inputting desired characters when creating e-mails. An input program 44 generally called (input method editor) and at least one type of font data (three types of fonts A to C are prepared in the example of FIG. 1, but of course only one type) 36 are stored. Is done. The non-volatile memory 30 stores images or image data 32 taken by the camera unit 19 or acquired from the outside via the wireless transmission / reception unit 12.
The ROM 20 stores an external character registration program 48 for registering all or a part of arbitrary image data 32 stored in the nonvolatile memory 30 as external characters having the same font format as that of normal characters.

  The external character data 34 registered in this way is stored in the nonvolatile memory 30. Therefore, the various font data 36 in the ROM 20 and the external character data 34 stored in the nonvolatile memory 30 become font data that can be used in the mobile phone 1. Further, the ROM 20 has a scalable font engine (abbreviated as SFE: equivalent to means for enlarging / reducing claims) program 46 for enlarging or reducing the external character data 34 stored in the nonvolatile memory 30 to an arbitrary size. , And an external character management utility 50 for deleting external character data 34, transmitting it to another mobile phone, and the like. Next, the operation of the mobile phone 1 configured as described above will be described.

<Registering external character data>
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the external character registration program 48 according to the present invention which is executed when the user selects external character registration from the menu.
In FIG. 2, first, in step 62, the image 32 stored in the non-volatile memory 30 is displayed in a predetermined manner together with a screen scroll key and a message prompting or instructing selection of a desired image. Wait until a specific image is selected. If an image is selected, in step 66, the selected image is displayed at the maximum size. At this time, it is preferable to include a message and a registration button for prompting the user to specify a range of a part to be used as an external character.

In step 68, the range designation mode is entered, and in step 70, the process waits until the registration button is clicked.
If the registration button is clicked in step 70, in step 72, if the user designates a range in step 68, a message indicating that the image part designated in the range is registered as an external character, and in step 68 the user is registered. When the registration button is clicked without specifying the range, a message indicating that the entire image is registered as an external character is displayed together with an OK button and a NO button to confirm the intention of registration.
If NO in step 72, the process returns to step 68. If OK, the process proceeds to step 74.

In step 74, the entire image selected in step 64 or the portion designated in range in step 68 is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 30 as the external character data 34 together with the character code. At this time, it is assumed that the registered external character data 34 is recorded in the same font format as a normal character. The character code added to the registered external character data 34 is preferably determined automatically by the external character registration program 48 according to a predetermined rule, but may be selected by a user within a predetermined range.
As described above, by using the external character registration program 48, the entire or arbitrary part of the image data 32 acquired by photographing or externally is registered as the external character data 34 having the same font format as that of normal characters. Therefore, the registered external character data 34 can be used in the same manner as normal characters thereafter.

<Download fonts and external characters>
It is also possible to increase the types of fonts 36 and external characters 34 by downloading fonts and pictograms that can be used as external characters 34 via the Internet.
For this purpose, for example, various pictograms (or various fonts) that can be used as external characters may be disclosed on a specific website, and a web browser (not shown) may be stored in the ROM 20 of the mobile phone 1. In this case, the user accesses a site that provides pictograms (or fonts) with a Web browser, selects a desired pictogram (or font) from the provided pictograms (or fonts), and clicks the download button. Thus, the external character 34 and the font 36 are added by transmitting the selected pictogram (or font) and the program for automatically registering the downloaded pictogram and executing the automatic registration program.
It is also possible to store a font download program and an external character download program in the ROM 20.

<Entering external characters>
Various methods can be considered as an external character input method. For example, in the input program 48, for example, “Kanji”, “Katakana”, “English”, “Number”, etc. can be used so that the above-mentioned external characters can be used while inputting an e-mail transmission text or message. A method of adding “gaiji” to the options is conceivable. In this case, when an external character is selected, the external character 34 registered at that time is displayed so that the user can select it. When the user selects a specific external character, the selected external character is displayed at a display position for external use. In this case, the scalable font engine (SFE) program 46 resizes the selected external character to the font size designated at that time and displays it.
Regardless of the input mode described above, the “external character” input mode is entered by a specific key sequence such as “##”, “##”, etc., so that a list of external characters 34 can be automatically displayed and selected. Also good. It goes without saying that this input method may be provided in addition to the external character input method of the preceding stage.

  When an e-mail message including an external character 34 is created in this way, the e-mail is used for information on the type and size of font used in the e-mail (referred to as font information), and for this e-mail. "External character data" of each external character is automatically added or attached and transmitted. Here, the “external character data” is composed of “character data” of the external character and a code assigned to the external character. Note that the font information and external character data sent with the e-mail are not hidden as a so-called attached file, but hidden from the user so that the user is not confused with the file that the user intentionally attaches to the e-mail. It is desirable to be added.

<Display of received mail>
When the mailer 42 of the mobile phone 1 on the receiving side receives the e-mail created as described above and detects a command to display the e-mail, the mailer 42 reads the font information added to the e-mail and sends the e-mail message. The portion is displayed on the display device with the specified font and font size while analyzing each character one by one.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation for displaying characters corresponding to each code of the e-mail message under the control of the mailer 42. When the process of FIG. 3 is started, first, in a decision step 82, it is determined whether or not the current code in the message is any one of the predetermined control codes. When it is a control code (in the case of YES), in step 84, the process designated by the control code is performed, and the one-character display process for the code is terminated.

  If it is not a control code in the determination step 82, it is determined in a determination step 86 whether or not the current code in the message matches any code of the designated font 36. If the current code is in the designated font 36 data at step 86 (YES), the font data corresponding to that code is obtained from the designated font 36 data at step 88 and the current code of the display device 18 is obtained. Displays the specified size at the position corresponding to the code.

If the determination result is NO in the determination step 82, it is determined in a further determination step 90 whether or not the current code in the message matches any code of the external character data added to the e-mail. If they match, in step 92, the font data corresponding to this external character code is extracted from the external character data added to the e-mail and displayed at the position corresponding to the current code on the display device 18 to display the one-character display of FIG. The process ends.
In the determination step 90, if the current code in the message does not match any code of the external character data added to the e-mail (that is, in the case of NO), there is no corresponding font code. For example, a predetermined character such as a blank is displayed at a position corresponding to this code, and the processing of FIG. In step 94, a method in which nothing is performed (nothing is displayed) may be used.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the sender uses the pictograph obtained by converting the captured image acquired by his / her mobile phone 1 in the e-mail message in the same manner as normal e-mail. By transmitting and receiving and receiving and displaying in the same manner as normal e-mail, it is possible to view a message with excellent expressiveness including pictographs created from the captured image. Moreover, this e-mail communication is more convenient because no special server intervention is required.

  The received mail can be displayed in the font size specified by the sender, but if the receiving mobile phone 1 also has a scalable font engine program, it can be displayed in the font size specified by the receiver. Become. The SFE 46 on the transmission side and the SFE on the reception side are not necessarily the same type.

  The external character management utility 50 of the mobile phone 1 transmits all of the registered external characters or an arbitrary number of external characters selected by the user attached to an e-mail in addition to the function of deleting any registered external characters An external character transmission function, and a received external character browsing function for browsing the external characters sent attached to the e-mail in this way.

  It is technically possible to register an external character included in the received e-mail message or an external character sent by the external character transmission function as an external character of the recipient's mobile phone. However, if it is possible to register an external character sent by e-mail as an external character in the mobile phone on the receiving side in this way, the following problems may occur. . That is, (1) if an external character of the same code is registered, the external character code may be complicated, and (2) if the external character is transmitted in a chain type, the copyright of the external character is not protected.

The above is merely an example of an embodiment for explaining the present invention. Accordingly, it is easy for those skilled in the art to make various changes, modifications, or additions to the above-described embodiments in accordance with the technical idea or principle of the present invention.
For example, a function for associating an email address (sender) registered in the address book with a font name (for example, specifying a font name for the email address) is provided, and when the received email is displayed, the sender's By using the font set in the address, it is possible to have a function of changing the font depending on the sender of the e-mail, like a ringtone. In this case, fonts may be associated with individual e-mail addresses, and a function for classifying e-mail addresses into, for example, family, friends, and work relations (for example, dividing into folders) is provided. May be related. The default font can be used for mail from addresses that do not have a font associated with them or from addresses not in the address book.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pictograph created from the acquired photographed image is registered as the external character 34. However, many recent mobile phones with mailers have pictograms stored in advance. In the case of such a mobile phone, a function of additionally registering pictographs created from acquired captured images as pictographs prepared in advance instead of registering them as external characters 34 may be provided. In this case, the external character registration program 48 is a pictogram addition (registration) program, and the external character management utility is a pictogram management utility. In this case, in the above description, “external character” may be read as “additional pictogram”. In the claims, “external characters” and “additional pictograms” are collectively referred to as “registered characters”.

In the above description, a mobile phone provided with a scalable font engine has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to a mobile phone not provided with a scalable font engine. In such a case, it is possible to cope with various sizes by downloading and storing bitmap font data for each necessary font size.
In the above-described embodiment, a mobile phone has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone, but is applied to a personal computer having both a wireless phone and a camera function, a so-called PDA (personal digital assistants). Applicable.
In the above description, an example in which an external character or additional pictograph is included in an e-mail message is used. However, an external character or an additional pictogram is not limited to an e-mail message, and a normal character is input (for example, a telephone number). It is also possible to make it possible to use it when creating and editing books.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile telephone by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the external character registration program 48 by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which displays the character corresponding to each code | cord | chord of an electronic mail message.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile phone of this invention 10 Control part 11 Antenna 12 Wireless transmission / reception part (wireless communication means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Voice processing part 14 Speaker 15 Microphone 16 Incoming alarm part 17 Key operation part 18 Display apparatus 19 Camera part (camera means)
20 ROM (storage means)
30 Non-volatile memory (storage means)
32 Captured image data 34 External character data 36 Various font data 40 Font data 42 Mailer
44 Input program 46 SFE (Means to enlarge / reduce)
48 External character registration program 50 External character management utility

Claims (12)

In a mobile terminal comprising: wireless communication means for communicating with a base station; storage means for storing an image; and means for enlarging / reducing the image.
Acquiring an image and storing it in said storage means;
A registration step of converting at least a part of the image stored in the storage means into font data in the same scalable format as a normal character and registering it as a registered character in relation to a unique code;
An input step that allows the registration characters to be input in addition to the normal characters;
When the text created in the input step is transmitted as an e-mail, the e-mail is registered with the character data of the registered character and a code associated with the registered character as registered character data for the registered character included in the text. A transmission step of adding to and transmitting,
Receiving the email and displaying the text of the email; and
If the code is not a normal character code for each code of the text, the display step extracts character data associated with the code from the registered character data added to the registered character A method for processing registered characters, comprising the step of displaying the registered characters. In a mobile terminal comprising: wireless communication means for communicating with a base station; storage means for storing typeface data; and means for enlarging / reducing the typeface data.
Obtaining typeface data by downloading and storing it in the storage means;
A registration step of converting the typeface data stored in the storage means into font data of the same scalable format as normal characters and registering it as a registered character in relation to a unique code;
An input step that allows the registration characters to be input in addition to the normal characters;
When the text created in the input step is transmitted as an e-mail, the electronic character data of the registered character and a code associated with the registered character are registered as character data for the various registered characters included in the text. A sending step for sending in addition to the email;
Receiving the email and displaying the text of the email; and
In the display step, for each code of the text, when the code is not a normal character code, the font data associated with the code is selected from the registered character data added to the various registered characters. A method for processing registered characters, comprising a step of taking out and displaying. The mobile terminal includes a plurality of pictograms that can be used in the same manner as the normal characters,
The registered character processing method according to claim 1, wherein the registered character is an additional pictograph additionally registered with the plurality of pictographs. The transmitting step includes information on the size of registered characters and / or additional pictograms used in the text;
The registered character processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of adding the font data resized to the size to the electronic mail. Allowing a user to associate an email address registered in the address book with one of the available fonts;
Using the font data of the one font when the received font is associated with an email address of a sender of the received email when displaying the received email. The registered character processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A program for realizing the registered character processing method according to claim 1,
The transmitting side and the receiving side of the mobile terminal have the same control means,
A program that realizes a registered character processing method by causing the control means to execute the steps described above. Wireless communication means for communicating with the base station;
Camera means for taking pictures and obtaining images;
Storage means for storing the image;
Means for enlarging / reducing the image;
Registration means for converting at least a part of the image stored in the storage means into font data in the same scalable format as a normal default font and registering it as a registered character in relation to a unique code;
An input means that enables the registration characters to be input in addition to the normal characters;
When the text created by the input means is transmitted as an e-mail, the e-mail is registered with the character data of the registered character and the code associated with the registered character as registered character data for the registered character included in the text. Transmission means for adding to and transmitting,
Display means for receiving the email and displaying the text of the email;
For each code of the text, when the code is not a normal character code, the display means extracts the font data associated with the code from the registered character data added to the registered character A portable terminal characterized by including means for resizing and displaying to a specified size of the receiving terminal. Wireless communication means for communicating with a base station, storage means for acquiring and storing typeface data by downloading, means for enlarging / reducing the typeface data,
Registration means for converting the typeface data stored in the storage means into character data in the same scalable format as normal characters and registering it as a registered character in relation to a unique code;
An input means that enables the registration characters to be input in addition to the normal characters;
When the text created by the input means is transmitted as an e-mail, the electronic character data of the registered character and a code associated with the registered character are registered as character data for the various registered characters included in the text. A transmission means for adding to a mail and transmitting;
Display means for receiving the email and displaying the text of the email;
If the code is not a normal character code for each code of the text, the display means selects character data associated with the code from the registered character data added to the various registered characters. A portable terminal comprising means for taking out and resizing and displaying to a specified size of the receiving terminal. The portable terminal according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a scalable font engine for resizing the font data to a desired size. Means for allowing a user to associate an email address registered in the address book with one of the available fonts;
Means for using the font data of the one font when the received font is associated with the email address of the sender of the received email when displaying the received email The mobile terminal according to claim 7, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal according to claim 7, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile phone. 12. The mobile phone according to claim 11, wherein when the mobile phone does not have a scalable font engine, it is possible to cope with various sizes by downloading and storing bitmap font data for each necessary font size. Terminal.

Images