JP2010252387A - Digital photo frame system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital photo frame system improved in utility. <P>SOLUTION: The digital photo frame system includes a radio telephonic communication unit, its battery charger, and a digital photo frame. The radio telephonic communication unit has a short-distance radio telephonic communication unit, an operation unit, a telephonic communication display unit, and a rechargeable battery charged by the battery charger. The digital photo frame has a memory that accumulates image data, an image display unit, an image data display control unit, a short-distance radio telephonic communication unit to communicate with the radio telephonic communication unit, and a BGM speaker. When call arriving sound is generated by the speaker, the control unit changes the display of the image display unit from a normal photo frame display to a call arriving state display in linking with the communication between the short-distance radio telephonic communication units. A telephone function by a telephone line is provided to the digital photo frame or the radio telephonic communication unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital image viewing apparatus.

In recent years, various electronic image viewing apparatuses have been proposed for viewing digital images. A typical example is commercialized as a digital photo frame.

However, for further widespread use of digital photo frames, there remains a problem to be further examined regarding the usefulness of image viewing.

JP 2008-236395 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a digital photo frame system with enhanced usability.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a wireless communication unit, a charger for the wireless communication unit, and a digital photo frame. The wireless communication unit includes a short-range wireless communication unit, an operation unit, a call display unit that displays various telephone functions in cooperation with the operation unit, and a rechargeable battery. Further, the charger charges the rechargeable battery of the wireless communication unit. The digital photo frame includes a storage unit that stores image data, an image display unit, a control unit that controls display of image data in the storage unit in the image display unit, and a short-range wireless communication for communicating with a wireless communication unit The control unit changes the display of the image data on the image display unit in conjunction with the communication between the short-range wireless communication units. This effectively combines the functions of the digital photo frame with the telephone function.

According to a specific feature of the present invention, the digital photo frame has a speaker, and the control unit displays the image display unit in conjunction with communication between the short-range wireless communication units when a ring tone is generated from the speaker. Is changed from the normal photo frame display to the incoming call display state display. Thus, the incoming call is effectively notified without impairing the natural image display function of the digital photo frame in the normal state.

  According to a more specific feature of the present invention, the control unit adds background music from the speaker to the display of the image data by the display unit, and stops the background music when a ring tone is generated from the speaker. Thus, the function of the digital photo frame is usefully combined with the telephone function not only for the display unit but also for the speaker.

  Note that the features of the present invention described above can be effectively utilized both when the digital photo frame has a telephone function capable of communicating via a telephone line and when the wireless communication unit has a telephone function capable of communicating via a telephone line. Can do. In addition, image data can be stored in the digital photo frame through attachment / detachment of a storage medium to / from a storage medium slot, wireless communication by a short-range wireless communication unit, or the like.

  According to another feature of the present invention, a telephone function capable of communicating through a communication line, and when an electronic mail attached with image data is received via the telephone function, the electronic mail is automatically opened to attach the attached image data. There is provided a mobile phone having a control unit that takes out and a transfer unit that automatically transfers image data taken out by the control unit to a digital photo frame. As a result, even if the digital photo frame does not have a telephone function capable of communicating through a communication line, the image data received by the mobile phone is automatically displayed on the digital photo frame.

According to a specific feature of the present invention, the control unit detects whether or not image data is attached and, when the image data is attached, automatically opens the e-mail and extracts the attached image data. As a result, the automatic opening of the e-mail can be limited to what is necessary. According to another specific feature of the present invention, the control unit detects whether or not the sender permits the disclosure of the attached image data and permits the disclosure of the image data. The e-mail is automatically opened and the attached image data is taken out. Thus, it is possible to prevent a private image sent by the sender only to the owner of the mobile phone from being published on the digital photo frame. According to another specific feature of the present invention, the control unit automatically opens the e-mail and takes out the attached image data when the transfer destination digital photo frame is registered. As a result, the automatic opening of the e-mail can be limited to what is necessary. According to another specific feature of the present invention, the control unit automatically opens the e-mail and takes out the attached image data when transfer by the transfer unit is possible. As a result, the automatic opening of the e-mail can be limited to what is necessary.

According to another specific feature of the invention, the transfer unit is a short-range wireless communication function. According to another specific feature, the transfer unit is a communication contact that enables communication with the digital photo frame. Here, as an example when transfer by the transfer unit in the above is possible, the former is a case where the mobile phone is in a range where short-distance communication with a digital photo frame is possible, and in the latter, This is a case where the mobile phone comes into contact with the communication contact. As a more specific feature of the latter, it is practical to configure so that communication with the digital photo frame is possible by contact of the communication contact when the charging contact of the mobile phone contacts the charger.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a charging contact for charging the mobile phone, a communication contact for contacting a terminal on the mobile phone side for outputting image data attached to the received e-mail, There is provided a charger having output means for outputting image data input from a communication contact to a digital photo frame. Accordingly, as described above, when the charging contact of the mobile phone comes into contact with the charger, the communication with the digital photo frame can be performed by the contact of the communication contact. As a more specific feature of the feature of the present invention, it is also proposed that a charger having the above-described feature is configured integrally with a digital photo frame.

According to another feature of the present invention, a display screen for viewing image data, and an image displayed on the display screen are controlled in a predetermined procedure, and when the image data attached to an e-mail is newly received, a predetermined screen is displayed. Instead of the procedure, a digital photo frame having a control unit for controlling to display newly arrived image data on the display screen is provided. As a result, new arrival of image data is effectively notified without impairing the natural image display function of the digital photo frame. According to the specific feature of the present invention described above, the control unit performs the background music when the image data attached to the e-mail is newly received when the predetermined procedure includes reproduction of the predetermined background music. Is changed to a predetermined one for image data new arrival notification. As a result, the new arrival of the image data is effectively notified audibly and naturally. Furthermore, it is also useful to configure such that when the image data attached to the e-mail is newly received, a message to that effect is superimposed on the display screen.

According to another specific feature of the present invention, the control unit checks whether the newly arrived image data is the same as the incoming image data, and in the case of different newly arrived image data, replaces the predetermined procedure. The newly arrived image data is displayed on the display screen. This is because one of the duplicate images is automatically omitted when a broadcast e-mail arrives on each mobile phone of multiple family members in the same room and these are transferred to a common digital photo frame. Useful above.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the digital photo frame function and the telephone function can be usefully combined, and the use efficiency of the display unit of the digital photo frame and the speaker added to the digital photo frame as necessary is improved. The practical significance of digital photo frame installation with decorative significance is improved.

1 is a drawing-substituting photograph showing a block diagram of an entire image appreciation system relating to Example 1 of the present invention. (Example 1) In Example 1, it is the drawing substitute photograph which showed the system block diagram in case there exist several mobile phones in the vicinity of a digital photo frame. In Example 1, it is the drawing substitute photograph which showed the system block diagram in case there exist a digital photo frame and a some mobile phone. It is a drawing substitute photograph which showed the block diagram of the whole image appreciation system regarding Example 2 of this invention. (Example 2) In Example 2, it is the drawing substitute photograph which showed the system block diagram in case there exists a some mobile phone in the vicinity of the digital photo frame also used as a charger. In Example 2, it is the drawing substitute photograph which showed the system block diagram in case there exist several charger combined digital photo frame corresponding to several mobile telephones. It is the drawing substitute photograph which showed the block diagram of the whole image appreciation system regarding Example 3 of this invention. (Example 3) It is the drawing substitute photograph which showed the block diagram of the whole image appreciation system regarding Example 4 of this invention. Example 4 FIG. 10 is a drawing-substituting photograph showing a flowchart of the operation of a mobile phone control unit that can be commonly applied to the first to fourth embodiments. 10 is a drawing-substituting photograph showing a flowchart of the operation of a photo frame control unit that can be commonly applied to the first to fourth embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire image viewing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and the system includes a digital photo frame 2, a mobile phone 4, and a charger 6 for the mobile phone. The digital photo frame 2 has a display screen 8, and image data stored in the storage unit 10 or the like is displayed under the control of the photo frame control unit 12. The storage unit 10 stores image data and also stores programs necessary for the function of the photo frame control unit 12 and temporary data necessary for control. The photo frame control unit 12 reads the image data from the storage unit 10 according to the program in the storage unit 10 and rewrites the image displayed on the display screen 8 by the driver 14.

The image data stored in the storage unit 10 can be received from the cellular phone 4 or the like by the short-range wireless communication unit 16 using a wireless LAN, Bluetooth (trademark), or the like. The short-range wireless communication unit 16 can also receive image data from a digital camera or the like. The photo frame control unit 12 can also display image data stored in an external storage medium inserted in the storage medium slot 18. The image data output from the storage medium slot 18 can be read into the storage unit 10 and then displayed from the storage unit 10 for display.

As will be described in detail later, when receiving a new image from the short-range wireless communication unit 16, the photo frame control unit 12 notifies that by displaying a message such as “New!” In red on the display screen. In addition, the received new image slide show is replaced with the slide show display or the like performed so far. Also, instead of the background music of the slide show that has been performed so far, a preset incoming melody is used as the background melody of the slide show of new images, and notification of new arrivals of images is made. The sound source data of the background music is stored in the storage unit 10 and the sound is generated by the speaker 13. Such a slide show of newly arrived images continues until an operation by the operation unit 19 is performed.

The operation unit 19 includes a direct operation unit such as a button and an infrared light receiving unit that receives a remote control operation. The infrared light receiver can receive an operation signal from the mobile phone 4 or the like. In this case, the digital photo frame 2 displays an image of the mobile phone 4 on the display screen 4 by operating the mobile phone 4. It becomes a large screen image appreciation device. The power supply unit 20 is a power supply unit that supplies power to the entire digital photo frame with different voltages as necessary, and is connected to a power line outlet 23 via an AC adapter 22.

Next, the configuration of the mobile phone 4 will be described. The mobile phone control unit 24 is for controlling the entire mobile phone 4 including the telephone function unit 26, and operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 28. The operation unit 30 and the display unit 32 are provided for operation and display related to the function of the telephone function unit 26, respectively. The camera unit 34 can perform shooting in the camera mode, and the shot image data is stored in the storage unit 28 or a storage medium inserted in the storage medium slot 36. This storage medium is detachable from the storage medium slot, and the stored image data is displayed on the display screen 8 by being taken out from the storage medium slot 36 and inserted into the storage medium slot 18 of the digital photo frame 2. Is also possible.

The cellular phone 4 can exchange image data with another cellular phone or an image server by an electronic mail function via the telephone function unit 26. A black arrow 27 indicates an incoming radio wave by the telephone function. As will be described in detail later, the e-mail attached to the image data received by the cellular phone 4 by the telephone function unit 26 is automatically opened when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the attached image data is transferred to the short-range communication unit 38. Automatically sent from. The short-range communication radio wave is indicated by a lightning bolt 39. An example of the predetermined condition is that the mobile phone 4 is placed on the charger 6 and is in a state in which short-distance communication with the digital photo frame 2 is possible. The image data transmitted from the near field communication unit 38 is received as new arrival data by the near field communication unit 16 of the digital photo frame 2 and displayed on the display screen 8 as described above. In this way, when the mobile phone 4 receives the e-mail attached with the image data, the attached image data is automatically displayed on the display screen 8 of the digital photo frame 2 under a predetermined condition.

The rechargeable battery 40 is a power source of the power supply unit 42 that supplies power to the entire mobile phone 4 with different voltages as necessary. The rechargeable battery 40 is connected to the power line outlet 23 via the AC adapter 50 by contact with the contact portion 44 of the mobile phone 4 and the contact portion 48 of the charger 6. As will be described in detail later, if the cellular phone 4 is not placed on the charger 6 and is in the vicinity of the digital photo frame 2 so as to be capable of short-distance communication, an e-mail attached with image data will be received as soon as it arrives. Can be configured to automatically open the image data and automatically transmit the attached image data from the short-range communication unit 38. According to the first embodiment as described above, the present invention can be implemented without greatly changing the hardware configuration of a normal mobile phone and a digital photo frame.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram when there are a plurality of mobile phones in the short-range communication possible range in the vicinity of the digital photo frame 2 in the first embodiment of FIG. 2, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in FIG. 1, and the detailed configuration in FIG. 1 is not shown. More specifically, in FIG. 2, in addition to the mobile phone 4 shown in FIG. 1, a second mobile phone 62 is placed on the second charger 64 and charged via the AC adapter 66. . Further, the third mobile phone 68 is placed on the desk or the like in the vicinity of the digital photo frame 2.

The mobile phone 4 and the third mobile phone 68 receive broadcast e-mails from the distant fourth mobile phone 70 by the incoming radio waves 27 and 72, respectively. For example, it is assumed that the mobile phone 4 is for a father, the third mobile phone 68 is for a mother, the fourth mobile phone 70 is for a daughter who lives in a remote location, and a photo of the grandchild is attached to the e-mail. To do. In FIG. 2, for the sake of simplicity, it is shown that incoming radio waves are directly exchanged between mobile phones. However, as is well known, it is actually an incoming call via a base station.

The e-mails that have arrived at the mobile phone 4 and the third mobile phone 68 are each automatically opened, and the attached image data is automatically transferred to the digital photo frame 2 by short-range wireless communication. In this case, transmissions from the mobile phone 4 and the third mobile phone 68 are executed on a first-come-first-served basis, and traffic is arranged so that later transmission is performed after the previous transmission is completed. In addition, when the e-mails received at the mobile phone 4 and the third mobile phone 68 are broadcast, the image data received at the digital photo frame 2 is the same. Are automatically removed from the slide show.

FIG. 3 is a system block diagram when there are a plurality of digital photo frames in the first embodiment of FIG. 1 and a plurality of mobile phones are within a range in which respective short-range communication coverage areas overlap. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to FIGS. 1 and 2. Further, as in FIG. 2, the detailed configuration of FIG. 1 is not shown. Also, the second mobile phone 62 in FIG. 2 is not shown. More specifically, the third mobile phone 68 automatically opens an e-mail received from the fourth mobile phone and transfers the attached image data to the second digital photo frame 74 by short-range wireless communication. Automatic transfer. The second digital photo frame is separately supplied with power from an AC adapter 76. Each of the digital photo frames 2 and 74 is assigned an IP address for near field communication. By registering the IP address as a transfer destination in the mobile phones 4 and 68, image data is registered in advance. Can be transferred to a digital photo frame. In the case of FIG. 3, even if the e-mails received by the mobile phone 4 and the third mobile phone 68 are broadcast, they are used for the slide show in the digital photo frames 2 and 74, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the entire image appreciation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration has many common parts with the first embodiment, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted unless particularly required. The system according to the second embodiment includes a digital photo frame 102 that also functions as a charger and a mobile phone 104. The first point in which the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment is that the charger / digital photo frame 102 is integrated with a charger for the mobile phone 104.

The second point in which the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment is that when the image data attached to the e-mail received by the mobile phone 4 is automatically opened and transmitted to the digital photo frame 102 serving as a charger, the contact portion 144 and It is possible to transmit by wired communication by 148 contact. Note that, as a modification of the second embodiment, the feature is that the charger-use digital photo frame 102 is integrated with the charger for the mobile phone 104 and is attached to the e-mail received by the mobile phone 4. The automatic transmission of image data may be configured to be performed wirelessly by the short-range wireless communication units 38 and 16 as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, if necessary, wireless and wired may be used together in automatic image transmission.

More specifically, the charger / digital photo frame 102 has a contact portion 148 on which the mobile phone 104 can be placed. The contact portion 148 is provided with a communication contact 248 in addition to the original charging contact. ing. Correspondingly, the contact 144 on the mobile phone 104 side is provided with a communication contact 244 in addition to the original charging contact. Then, the image data attached to the e-mail received by the mobile phone 4 is transmitted from the mobile phone control unit 24 to the photo frame control unit 112 via the communication contacts 244 and 248. The AC adapter 122 supplies power to the power supply unit 20 of the digital photo frame 102 also serving as a charger and the contact unit 148 for charging the mobile phone 104 at a necessary voltage.

In the configuration of the second embodiment, a wired communication path for image data transmission is connected by placing the mobile phone 104 on a charger for charging, and in preparation for new arrival of image data by e-mail to the mobile phone 4. be able to. This configuration is a simple configuration in which communications 244 and 248 are provided in the vicinity of the charging contacts even when at least one of the digital photo frame 102 serving as a charger and the mobile phone 104 does not have a short-range wireless communication unit. When image data by e-mail is newly received on the telephone 4, it can be displayed on the display unit of the digital photo frame. When the mobile phone 104 is placed on the charger for charging, all e-mails that have already arrived and have not been sent to the digital photo frame are automatically opened, and the attached image data is automatically sent in a batch. It is also possible. In the second embodiment, the image data received by the mobile phone 104 can be displayed on the digital photo frame 202 simply by placing the mobile phone 104 on the charger for charging without performing any special operation.

FIG. 5 is a system block diagram in the case where there are a plurality of mobile phones in the short-range communicable range near the charger / digital photo frame 102 in the second embodiment of FIG. Also in FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to parts common to FIG. 4, and the detailed configuration in FIG. 4 is not shown. Specifically, in FIG. 4, in addition to the mobile phone 104 shown in FIG. 4, a second mobile phone 62 and a third mobile phone 68 similar to FIG. It exists in the vicinity.

In the same manner as in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 104 and the third mobile phone 68 receive broadcast e-mails from the distant fourth mobile phone 70 by the incoming radio waves 27 and 72, respectively. The e-mails received by the mobile phone 104 and the third mobile phone 68 are each automatically opened, and the attached image data is taken out. The image data taken out from the mobile phone 104 is automatically transferred to the charger / digital photo frame 102 by wire via the communication contact 244 of the mobile phone 104 and the communication contact 248 of the charger / digital photo frame 102. A thick arrow 78 indicates such transfer of image data by wire. On the other hand, the e-mail received at the third mobile phone 68 is also automatically opened, and the attached image data is taken out and automatically transferred to the digital photo frame 102 that also functions as a charger by short-range wireless communication in the same manner as in FIG. The The processing for removing one of the e-mails received by the mobile phone 104 and the third mobile phone 68 from the slide show is the same as in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a system block diagram in the case where there are a plurality of charger / digital photo frames respectively corresponding to a plurality of mobile phones in the second embodiment of FIG. Also in FIG. 6, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to FIGS. 4 and 5. Similarly to FIG. 5, the detailed configuration of FIG. 4 is not shown. Also, the second mobile phone 62 in FIG. 5 is not shown, and as the other mobile phone, a fifth mobile phone 82 having the same communication contact 80 as the mobile phone 104 is shown. Further, a second charger / digital photo frame 86 having a communication contact 84 corresponding thereto and on which a fifth mobile phone 82 can be placed is shown. Similarly to the charger / digital photo frame 102, the second charger / digital photo frame 86 includes an AC adapter 88 that charges the mobile phone 82 and supplies power to the charger / digital photo frame 86 itself.

Similarly to FIG. 5, the mobile phone 104 and the fifth mobile phone 82 receive broadcast e-mails by incoming radio waves 27 and 72 from the distant fourth mobile phone 70, respectively. The incoming e-mail is automatically opened by the mobile phone 104 and the fifth mobile phone 82, respectively, and the attached image data is transferred to the charger / digital photo frames 102 and 86 through the communication contacts in a wired manner. The thick arrow 90 of the second charger / digital photo frame 86 is similar to the thick arrow 78 and indicates the transfer of such image data by wire. In the case of FIG. 6, similarly to FIG. 3, even if the e-mails received by the mobile phone 104 and the fifth mobile phone 82 are broadcast, they are provided for a slide show in the digital photo frames 102 and 86 for both chargers. Is done.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the entire image appreciation system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration has many common parts with the second embodiment, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted unless particularly required. The system according to the third embodiment includes a digital photo frame 202, a mobile phone 104, and a charger 206 for the mobile phone.

In the third embodiment, communication contacts 244 and 248 are provided in the charging contact portions 144 and 148, and image data is transmitted from the mobile phone 104 to the charger 206 by wire by contact of the communication contacts. 2 and common. The third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the digital photo frame 202 and the charger 206 are separated, and the charger side communication contact 92 and the digital photo frame side communication contact 94 are connected by a communication cable. The point is that wired communication is performed.

Since the digital photo frame side communication contact 94 can be configured with a normal standard digital terminal, the digital photo frame 202 of the third embodiment may have a normal configuration, and it is not necessary to have a special configuration that also serves as the charger of the mobile phone 104. .

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the entire image appreciation system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration has many parts in common with those of the first to third embodiments, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted unless particularly necessary. The system of the fourth embodiment includes a digital photo frame 2, a mobile phone 104, and a charger 306 for the mobile phone.

In the fourth embodiment, the image data is transmitted from the mobile phone 104 to the charger 306 by wire by the contact of the communication contacts 244 and 248, and the digital photo frame 2 and the charger 306 are separated. This is common with the third embodiment. The fourth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that a short-range wireless communication unit 96 is provided in the charger 306, and the image data transmitted to the charger 306 by wire is transmitted to the digital photo frame 2 by short-range wireless communication. It is the point which comprised so that it could transmit to the near field communication part 16 of this.

According to the configuration of the fourth embodiment, even when the mobile phone 104 does not have a short-range wireless communication function, it is possible to prepare for new arrival of image data by e-mail to the mobile phone 104 by placing the mobile phone 104 on the charger 306. it can. In addition, the charger 306 functions as a short-range wireless communication station, and the mobile phone 104 being charged can communicate with a device other than the digital photo frame 2 via a wireless LAN.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone control unit 24 that can be commonly applied to the first to fourth embodiments. Note that the flow in FIG. 9 is limited to functions related to transfer of incoming images to a digital photo frame, and other normal cellular phone functions are omitted. When the flow starts when the mobile phone is turned on, the mobile phone is started up in step S2. In step S4, the presence / absence of an incoming e-mail is checked.

If no new arrival of e-mail is detected in step S4, the process proceeds to step S6 to check whether there is an e-mail that has already been received but has not been transferred to the digital photo frame. If there is a corresponding electronic mail, the process proceeds to step S8. In addition, when a new arrival of e-mail is detected in step S4, the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, it is checked whether or not image data is attached to the corresponding electronic mail. If there is an attachment, the process proceeds to step S10, and it is checked whether or not the image data is permitted to be disclosed by the sender. Whether the image is public or private can be set when the image is attached to the transmission e-mail. If it is confirmed in step S10 that the image is a sender / society permission image, the process advances to step S12 to check whether there is a photo frame in which an IP address is registered as a transmission destination in the mobile phone.

If it is confirmed in step S12 that there is a registered photo frame, the process proceeds to step S14 to check whether the mobile phone is placed on the charger. If not, the process proceeds to step S16 to check whether the mobile phone is within the short-range communication range of the digital photo frame. If yes, the process proceeds to step S18. On the other hand, if it is confirmed in step S14 that the mobile phone is placed on the charger, the process proceeds to step S20 to check whether the charger has a communication contact. Then, if there is a communication contact, the process directly goes to step S18 without waiting for a check of whether short-distance communication is possible. If there is no communication contact in step S20, a check is made in step S16 as to whether near field communication is possible.

When the process reaches step S18, the e-mail is automatically opened. In step S22, the image data attached to the e-mail is automatically extracted, and in step S24, an automatic transmission of the attached image is instructed. Automatic transmission is performed by wireless or wired means. Then, in step S26, it is checked whether or not the transfer of the image data is successful within a predetermined time. If the transfer is successful, in step S28 the fact that the image data has been transferred is marked as transferred, and the process proceeds to step S30. . On the other hand, if the transfer success within the predetermined time cannot be confirmed in step S26, the process directly proceeds to step S30.

In step S30, the automatically opened electronic mail is automatically stored, and the electronic mail is returned to the state before opening. That is, at step S26 and step S30, the e-mail is returned to the state before opening once a predetermined time has passed, whether the transfer is successful or not. In step S32, it is checked whether the power of the mobile phone is turned off. If the power is turned off, the flow ends. On the other hand, if the power is not turned off, the flow returns to step S4 to wait for a new incoming e-mail or the like. Hereinafter, step S4 to step S32 are repeated unless the power is turned off.

When there is no incoming untransferred e-mail at step S6, when there is no image attachment at step S8, or when the attached image is not the sender public permission image at step S10, the digital photo frame registered at step S12 is If no, or if the mobile phone is not in the short-range communication range in step S16, the process returns to step S4 to deal with subsequent changes in the situation.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the photo frame control unit 12 or 112 that can be commonly applied to the first to fourth embodiments. Note that the flow in FIG. 10 is limited to functions related to handling of incoming images in a digital photo frame, and details of normal functions of the digital photo frame are omitted. When the flow is started by turning on the digital photo frame, the digital photo frame is started up in step S42. In step S44, an instruction to start a normal slide show of the digital photo frame is issued.

Here, “normal slide show” is a slide show set by the user based on the image data input to or held in the digital photo frame, such as image selection, order, playback layout, background music, etc. Is appropriately selected. The slide show here includes a case where the setting for continuously displaying a single image is selected.

When the start of the normal slide show is instructed in step S44, the flow proceeds to step S46 to check whether image data is being received. If not, it is checked in step S48 whether new arrival of image data has started. In step S50, it is checked whether the newly arrived image is the same as that already received. If it is not the same image, the process proceeds to step S52, where the currently executed slide show is stopped, and in step S54, a slide show with only newly arrived images is started.

In step S56, a text message such as “New!” Indicating that the image has newly arrived is superimposed on the screen image. In step S58, it is checked whether the current slide show is accompanied by playback of background music. If the background music is being played back, the process proceeds to step S60 to stop the current background music, and in step S62, an instruction is given to start playing the background music that is preset as an incoming call notification melody (ringtone). The process reaches step S64. The background music based on the incoming notification exclusive melody started here is continued as long as there is no operation in step S64 described later.

On the other hand, when it is not detected in step S58 that the background music is being reproduced, the process proceeds to step S66, where an instruction to reproduce a melody dedicated to incoming call notification that continues for a predetermined time and then stops automatically is transmitted to step S64. As described above, regardless of whether the background music reproduction is detected in step S58, the incoming call notification melody is reproduced in any case, and the new arrival of the image is notified in an auditory sense.

In step S64, it is checked whether there is an operation for instructing the return to the normal slide show. This is based on the assumption that a user who notices a new arrival of an image operates the operation unit 19 in the hope of ending the slide show with only the new arrival image. When this operation is detected in step S64, the process proceeds to step S68, and an instruction to start a normal slide show including newly arrived images is given. At this time, if the normal slide show is set to include background music, the reproduction of the incoming notification notification melody is stopped and the normal background music reproduction is resumed.

When the normal slide show start instruction is performed in step S68, the flow proceeds to step S70, and it is checked whether or not a power-off operation has been performed. If no normal slide show instruction operation is detected in step S64, the process immediately proceeds to step S70. If image data is being received in step S46, the process advances to step S72 to instruct the peripheral devices such as a mobile phone to transmit a “Busy signal”. The transmission of this “Busy signal” continues as long as the digital photo frame is receiving image data. As a result, when image data from one mobile phone is being received by the digital photo frame, image data transfer from another mobile phone is not possible, and image data transfer by the previous mobile phone is completed, and the “Busy signal” It will wait until the transmission of is stopped. When the transmission of the “Busy signal” is instructed, the flow proceeds to step S70. Furthermore, when the start of new arrival of image data is not detected in step S48, or when it is detected in step S50 that the new arrival image is the same as that already received, the flow directly proceeds to step S70.

When the power-off operation is detected in step S70, the flow of FIG. On the other hand, when the power-off operation is not detected, the flow returns to step S46, and thereafter steps S46 to S72 are repeated. That is, when the data is being received, this is continued, and when it is not being received, the reception of new image data is waited, and if there is an incoming call, this is dealt with.

The various features of the present invention described above are not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be implemented in other various embodiments. It is not limited to the implementation in the above embodiment. For example, various features of the digital photo frame in FIG. 10 described above can be obtained from a short-range wireless communication or a wired mobile phone in an embodiment in which the digital photo frame itself has a function of directly receiving an image through a communication line. This can be implemented not only when the image is transferred but also when the digital photo frame directly receives an image via a communication line.

  The present invention can be applied to image communication using a mobile phone and image viewing using a digital photo frame.

4 Wireless communication unit 38 Near field communication unit
30 Operation part 32 Call display part 40 Rechargeable battery
6 Battery Charger 2 Digital Photo Frame 10 Storage Unit 8 Image Display Unit 12 Control Unit 16 Near Field Communication Unit 13 Speaker 26 Telephone Function Unit 18 Storage Medium Slot

Claims (7)

A short-range wireless communication unit, an operation unit, a call display unit that displays various telephone functions in cooperation with the operation unit, and a wireless call unit having a rechargeable battery;
A charger for charging the rechargeable battery of the wireless communication unit;
A storage unit for storing image data, an image display unit, a control unit for controlling display of image data in the storage unit in the image display unit, and a short-range wireless communication unit for communicating with the wireless communication unit, The control unit includes a digital photo frame that changes display of image data on the image display unit in conjunction with communication between the short-range wireless communication units. The digital photo frame has a speaker, and the control unit displays the image display unit from a normal photo frame display in conjunction with communication between the short-range wireless communication units when a ring tone is generated from the speaker. 2. The digital photo frame system according to claim 1, wherein the digital photo frame system is changed to an incoming call display state display. The control unit adds background music from the speaker to display of image data by the image display unit, and stops the background music when a ring tone is generated from the speaker. 2. The digital photo frame system according to 2. 4. The digital photo frame according to claim 1, wherein the digital photo frame has a telephone function capable of communicating through a telephone line. 5. The digital photo frame according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit has a telephone function capable of communicating through a telephone line. 6. The digital photo frame according to claim 1, wherein the storage of the image data in the storage unit is performed by attaching / detaching a storage medium to / from a storage medium slot. The digital photo frame according to claim 1, wherein the image data is stored in the storage unit via the short-range wireless communication unit of the digital photo frame.