WO2009071335A1

WO2009071335A1 - Method and device for receiving multimedia content at a mobile terminal / sim card

Info

Publication number: WO2009071335A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/052047
Authority: WO
Inventors: Erkki Huru; Kuisma Heikkinen; Timo Ritola; Sami Uusitalo; Jouni ALANÄRÄ; Vesa Lahti
Original assignee: Nokia Corporation
Priority date: 2007-12-06
Filing date: 2008-02-20
Publication date: 2009-06-11

Abstract

It is presented a method for handling multimedia content in a mobile terminal. The method comprises receiving a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card (SIM) of the mobile terminal; presenting the selected multimedia content; receiving a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; crediting an account associated with the smart card (SIM) for the selected multimedia content; and storing the multimedia content m a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR RECEIVING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT AT

A MOBILE TERMINAL / SIM

CARD

Technical field

The disclosed embodiments of the present invention generally relates to handling multimedia content in a mobile terminal. In particular, the disclosed embodiments relate to a method, a mobile terminal, a device, a computer program product, a server, a system and/or a user interface for handling multimedia content.

Background

It is very popular to download multimedia content such as ringtones or images to mobile terminals. Multimedia content helps to personalise the mobile terminal, distinguishing it from similar mobile terminals.

One known method for downloading multimedia content is by first choosing a desired multimedia content, which can be previewed on the service providers webpage, and then downloading the multimedia content to the mobile terminal via SMS or an internet protocol such as WAP, saving it to a memory of the mobile terminal. This enables the use of the multimedia content on the mobile terminal.

However, downloading multimedia content to mobile terminals nevertheless have some drawbacks.

Summary

In view of the above, an improved solution would be advantageous and in particular a solution for allowing handling multimedia content without the use of a web browser. According to a first aspect, there is provided a method for handling multimedia content in a mobile terminal, the method comprising: receiving a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of the mobile terminal; presenting the selected multimedia content; receiving a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; crediting an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; and storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal. Receiving multimedia content to the smart card and being able to preview the multimedia content before the purchase and downloading is very practical, letting a person know what is being purchased. Being able to preview multimedia content from the smart card implies that the user does not have to utilise internet connections to preview the multimedia content, in some mobile communications standards, connections to the internet can be troublesome and slow, and being able to control the whole process via the SIM-card is very helpful. The service provider can in this way provide multimedia content and easily control the billing process. Prior to the receiving a user selection of a desired multimedia content, reception may be performed of the set of multimedia content.

The receiving of the set may involve reception of push transmission from the multimedia content source.

An advantage of push transmission is that the smart card in the mobile terminal may update its multimedia content automatically, and thus when a user wants to check for multimedia content, there is no need to navigate in a web browser or wait for downloads of multimedia content, as the multimedia content is already available on the smart card. The user only needs to navigate in the menus in the mobile terminal. The reception of the push transmission may take place at regular time intervals. The multimedia content source providing the multimedia content may regularly update the smart card with a new set of multimedia content. In this way the user automatically has access to all the newest multimedia content available on the server. The push transmission may be performed when the multimedia content source is updated.

Prior to the reception, a send request from the multimedia content source may be performed.

The receiving of the set may be user induced. If the user wants to check for new multimedia content that may be available on the multimedia content source, the user can ask the smart card to check for updates from the multimedia content source, wherein the smart card updates its multimedia content if there has been an update in the multimedia content source.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a mobile terminal configured for handling multimedia content, the mobile terminal comprising a smart card; and a multimedia device; wherein the smart card is being configured to receive a first user input representative of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of the mobile terminal; the smart card being further configured to supply the selected multimedia content: the multimedia device being configured to present the multimedia content; the smart card being further configured to receive a second user selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; the smart card being configured to credit an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; receiving the multimedia content; and storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

The mobile terminal may be a mobile phone. Multimedia content may thus be e.g. ringtones or images for users to personalise their mobile phone.

The smart card may be a SIM-card. The SIM-card may utilise a SIM application toolkit for applications regarding the handling of the multimedia content.

According to a third aspect, there is provided a mobile terminal configured for handling multimedia content, the mobile terminal comprising: means for receiving a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of the mobile terminal; means for presenting the selected multimedia content; means for receiving a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; means for crediting an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; and means for storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a device configured for use with a mobile terminal according to the second aspect the device comprising a processing unit; a storage unit; the device being configured to receive multimedia content, the device being further configured to receive a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored in the storage unit; the device being further configured to present the selected multimedia content on the mobile terminal: the device being configured to receive a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; crediting an account associated with the device for the selected multimedia content and sending the purchased multimedia content to the mobile terminal.

The device may be a smart card. The smart card may be a SIM-card. For a service provider providing multimedia content, this may simplify the billing of the multimedia content.

The SIM-card may utilise a SlM application toolkit. An advantage is that menus relevant for the application may be created with the SIM application toolkit

According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, comprising program code, which computer program product when executed by a controller may carry out the method according to the first aspect. According to a sixth aspect, there is provided method in a server comprising transmitting multimedia content for use in a method in a mobile terminal according to the first aspect.

Prior to the transmitting of the multimedia content, a request for transmitting the multimedia content may be transmitted to the mobile terminal. According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a server comprising a storage unit, the storage unit storing multimedia content, wherein the server may be configured to update the multimedia content, and wherein the server may be configured to perform the method according to the sixth aspect.

According to an eight aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising program code, which computer program product when executed by a controller may carry out the method according to the sixth aspect.

According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a system comprising a mobile terminal and a server, wherein the mobile terminal may be configured according to the second aspect, and wherein the server may be configured according to the seventh aspect.

According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a user interface configured for user selection of multimedia content, the mobile terminal comprising: an input device; wherein the user interface is configured to receive a first user input representative of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of a mobile terminal; the user interface being further configured to present the selected multimedia content; the smart card being further configured to receive a second user selection to purchase the selected muitimedia content; the user interface being configured to credit an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; and receiving the multimedia content; and storing the complete set of multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

The second aspect to the tenth aspect may generally have the same features and advantages as the first aspect. Generally, ail terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc]" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, step, ete, unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Other aspects, features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached claims as well as from the drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

The above, as well as additional aspects, features and advantages, will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings, where the same reference numerals will be used for similar elements, wherein:

Fig 1 is a schematic illustration of a cellular telecommunication system, as an example of an environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be applied. Fig 2 is a schematic front view illustrating a mobile terminal according to an embodiment.

Fig 3 is a schematic block diagram representing an embodiment of an internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal shown in Fig 2. Fig. 4a-b shows flow charts of a method according to an embodiment.

Figs 5a-c are schematic display views illustrating an embodiment of the mobile terminal of Fig 2.

Figs βa-c are schematic display views illustrating an embodiment of the mobile terminal of Fig 2. Detailed description of embodiments

Methods and arrangements summarized above will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. Embodiments may be in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Fig 1 illustrates an example of a cellular telecommunications system in which embodiments of the the invention may be applied. In the telecommunication system of Fig 1 , various telecommunications services such as cellular voice calls, www/wap browsing, cellular video calls, data calls, facsimile transmissions, music transmissions, still image transmissions, video transmissions, electronic message transmissions and electronic commerce may be performed between a mobile terminal 100 and other devices, such as another mobile terminal 106 or a stationary telephone, it is to be noted that for different embodiments of the mobile terminal 100 and in different situations, different ones of the telecommunications services referred to above may or may not be available; there is no limitation in terms of any particular set of services in this respect.

The mobile terminals 100, 106 may be connected to a mobile telecommunications network 110 through RF links 102, 108 via base stations 104, 109. The mobile telecommunications network 110 may be in compliance with any commercially available mobile telecommunications standard, such as GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, FOMA and TD-SCDMA.

The mobile telecommunications network 110 may be operatively connected to a wide area network 112, which may be Internet or a part thereof. An Internet server 115 may have a data storage 114 and may be connected to the wide area network 112, as is an internet client computer 116. The server 115 may host a www/wap server capable of serving www/wap content to the mobile terminal 100. The server 115 may provide multimedia content to a smart card of the mobile terminal 100.

The mobile terminal 100 may also be capable of communicating locally via a local link 101 to one or more local devices 103. The local fink may be any type of link with a limited range, such as Bluetooth, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) link, a Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WUSB) link, an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network link, an RS-232 serial link, etc.

An embodiment 200 of the mobile terminal 100 is illustrated In more detail in Fig 2. The mobile terminal 200 may comprise a speaker or earphone 222, a microphone 225, a display 223 and a set of keys 224 which may include a keypad 224a of common ITU-T type (alpha-numerical keypad representing characters "0"-"9"_. "^*" and "#") and certain other keys such as soft keys 224b, 224c and a joystick 226 or other type of navigational input device. The internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal 200 will now be described with reference to Fig 3. The mobile terminal may have a controller 331 which is responsible for the overall operation of the mobile terminal and may preferably be implemented by any commercially available CPU ("Central Processing Unit"), OSP ("Digital Signal Processor") or any other electronic programmable logic device. The controller 331 may have associated electronic memory 332 such as RAM memory, ROM memory, EEPROM memory, flash memory, or any combination thereof. The memory 332 may be used for various purposes by the controller 331. one of them being for storing data and program instructions for various software in the mobile terminal. The software may include a real-time operating system 336, drivers for a man-machine interface (MMI) 339, an application handler 338 as well as various applications. The applications may include a messaging application 340 for sending and receiving SMS, MMS or email, a media player application 341, as well as various other applications 342, such as applications for voice calling, video calling, web browsing, an instant messaging application, a phone book application, a calendar application, a control panel application, a camera application, one or more video games, a notepad application, etc.

The MMI 339 may also include one or more hardware controllers, which together with the MMI drivers may cooperate with the display 323/223, keypad 324/224, motion sensor 325, such as an accelerometer, as well as various other I/O devices 329 such as microphone, speaker, vibrator, ringtone generator, LED indicator, etc. As is commonly known, the user may operate the mobile terminal through the man-machine interface thus formed. The software may also include various modules, protocol stacks, drivers, etc._: which are commonly designated as 337 and which may provide communication services (such as transport, network and connectivity) for an RF interface 333, and optionally a Bluetooth interface 334 and/or an IrDA interface 335 for local connectivity. The RF interface 333 may comprise an internal or external antenna as well as appropriate radio circuitry for establishing and maintaining a wireless link to a base station (e.g. the link 102 and base station 104 in Fig 1). As is well known to a man skilled in the art, the radio circuitry may comprise a series of analogue and digital electronic components, together forming a radio receiver and transmitter. These components may include, i.a, band pass filters, amplifiers, mixers, local oscillators, low pass filters, AD/DA converters, etc. The mobile terminal may also have a SIM card 330 and an associated reader. As is commonly known, the SIM card 330 may comprise a processor as well as local work and data memory.

Fig. 4a shows a flow chart of a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, In a receive user selection step 405, a user selects a desired multimedia content, which multimedia content is being stored on the smart card of a mobile terminal. The smart card may occasionally be updated with a set of multimedia content. The update may be such that the service provider sends a complete set of multimedia content, overwriting the existing set stored in the smart card, or by sending only new multimedia content to the smart card, wherein old multimedia content expires after a predetermined amount of time, the multimedia content consequently being removed.

The multimedia content may, e.g, be an image, a ringtone, music, a game, software, a video or any other type of data file. A set of multimedia content may be a group of any of the previously mentioned multimedia content, or a combination thereof.

In a present step 407, the multimedia content is presented, e.g., on a multimedia device of the mobile terminal, such as a display or a loudspeaker. In this example, the presentation is a preview of the multimedia content since the user has no freedom to use the multimedia content in user applications, such as a ringtone when receiving a call, a background image, a screen saver, an image at the start up of the mobile terminal or any other use associated with the user profile of a user.

In a conditional purchase step 409, there is a decision whether to purchase the multimedia content to enable user specific user of the multimedia content, if the user decides not to purchase the multimedia content, the process is finished, wherein the multimedia content remains stored on the smart card. On the other hand, if the user decides to purchase the multimedia content, the process will continue to a credit step 411. in the credit step 411, the service provider debits the smart card for the purchase of the multimedia content. in a store step 413, the multimedia content is stored in a storage unit related to the mobile terminal. The storage unit may be the memory of the mobile terminai or a removable memory device such as a removable flash memory card. This may enable the use of the multimedia content in a user defined way, such as a ringtone, a background image or a screen saver as noted above.

Fig, 4b shows a flow chart of a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. in a receive set of multimedia content step 403, the smart card receives a set of multimedia content from a muitimedia source. The multimedia source may be a server. In one embodiment, the set of multimedia content may be pushed from the multimedia content source, i.e. the smart card is updated with multimedia content regularly. The interval between two updates may be constant, or it may alternatively occur when the multimedia content source updates its muitimedia content. in one embodiment, the user may choose to update the smart card, wherein the multimedia content source updates the set of multimedia content on the smart card.

The following receive user selection, present, purchase, credit and store steps are the same as described in Fig. 4a. Figs 5a-c are schematic display views illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the mobile terminal of Fig 2. In this example, the smart card has received a push transmission from the multimedia content source. In fig 5a, the display 500 comprises a softkey 502. Fig. 5b also comprise the softkey 502, wherein the display 500 in Fig. 5c has softkeys 509 and 510. The multimedia content may be any kind of multimedia content, but for the sake of simplicity, in this example the multimedia content is ringtones. in fig. 5a a menu is shown with a newest ringtones application 501. In fig 5b, a list 505 is shown for user selection of ringtones after selecting the newest ringtone application 501 of fig 5a. By selecting a ringtone 2 503, a user can listen to the ringtone 2 503. The listening can be interrupted by the user if the person do not wish to listen to the whole ringtone. This is not shown in Figs. 5a-c. Fig. 5c shows a menu 507 for purchasing a ringtone 2 508. The purchasing can follow listening to the ringtone or, alternatively, without listening to the ringtone. The menus of Figs. 5a-c can be created using the SIM-application toolkit.

Figs 6a-c are schematic display views illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the mobile terminal of Fig 2.

The display in figs 6a-c comprises softkeys 602, 603 and 604. Figs 6b-c are the same display as in fig. 6a, at a iater moment in time. As in figs 5a-c, the multimedia content can be any kind of multimedia, but in this example the multimedia content is ringtones. In fig. 6a, a menu 601 giving a user a choice of updating the ringtones on a smart card of the mobile terminal is shown. The user may choose to update the ringtones by selecting the "yes" softkey 602. Other methods for selection in the menus of the mobile terminal can be used, such as using a key pad and pressing the key pad or a touch sensitive screen to confirm the choice. In fig 6b, a list 605 is shown, wherein a user can chose New

R₁ngtones 606 from the list 605. In fig 6c, a list 607 of ringtones is shown after selecting New R₁ngtones 606 of fig 6b. By selecting a ringtone 2 608, a user can listen to the ringtone 2 608. The listening can be interrupted by the user if the person do not wish to listen to the whole ringtone. The purchasing can be done the same way as described in Fig. 5c.

It should be appreciated that the multimedia content can be sent to a plurality of mobile terminals simultaneously.

Although the present invention has been desribed above with reference to specific embodiments and modes of operation, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the invention is limited only by the accompanying claims and, hence, other embodiments than the specific above are equally possible within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for handling multimedia content in a mobiie terminal, the method comprising: receiving a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of the mobiie terminal; presenting the selected multimedia content; receiving a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; crediting an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; and storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein prior to the receiving a user selection of a desired multimedia content, reception is performed of the set of multimedia content

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the receiving of the set involves reception of push transmission from the multimedia content source.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the reception of the push transmission takes place at regular time intervals.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein, prior to the reception of the set of multimedia content, a send request from the multimedia content source is performed.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the receiving of the set of multimedia content is user induced.

7. A mobile terminal configured for handling multimedia content, the mobile terminal comprising: a smart card: and a multimedia device; wherein the smart card is being configured to receive a first user input representative of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on the smart card of the mobile terminal; the smart card being further configured to supply the selected multimedia content; the multimedia device being configured to present the multimedia content; the smart card being further configured to receive a second user selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; and the smart card being configured to credit an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; receiving the multimedia content; and storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

8. The mobile terminal according to claim 7, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile phone.

9. The mobile terminal according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the smart card is a SIM-card.

10. A mobile terminal configured for handling multimedia content, the mobile terminal comprising: means for receiving a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of the mobile terminal; means for presenting the selected multimedia content; means for receiving a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; means for crediting an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; and means for storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.

11. A device configured for use with a mobile terminal according to any of the claim 7-9, the device comprising: a processing unit; and a storage unit; the device being configured to receive multimedia content, the device being further configured to receive a first user input representative of a selection of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored in the storage unit; the device being further configured to present the seiected multimedia content on the mobile terminal; the device being configured to receive a second user input representative of a selection to purchase the selected multimedia content; crediting an account associated with the device for the selected multimedia content and supplying the purchased multimedia content to the mobile terminal

12, The device according to claim 11 , wherein the device is a smart card.

13 The device according to claim 12, wherein the smart card is a SIM-card.

14. The device according to claim 13. wherein the SIM-card utilises a StM application toolkit.

15. A computer program product, comprising program code, which when executed by a controller carries out the method as claimed in any of the claims 1-6.

16. A method in a server comprising transmitting multimedia content for use in a method in a mobile terminal as in any of the claims 1-6.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein prior to the transmitting of the multimedia content, a request for transmitting the multimedia content is transmitted to the mobile terminal.

18. A server comprising a storage unit, the storage unit storing multimedia content, wherein the server is configured to update the multimedia content, and wherein the server is configured to perform the method according to claim 16 or 17.

19. A computer program product, comprising program code, which when executed by a controller carries out the method as claimed in any of the claims 16 or 17.

20. A system comprising a mobile terminal and a server, wherein the mobile terminal is configured as in claims 7-9, wherein the server is configured as defined in claim 18.

21. A user interface configured for user selection of multimedia content, the mobile terminal comprising: input device; wherein the user interface is configured to receive a first user input representative of a desired multimedia content from a set of multimedia content, the set of multimedia content being stored on a smart card of a mobile terminal; the user interface being further configured to present the seiected multimedia content; the smart card being further configured to receive a second user selection to purchase the selected muitimedia content; the user interface being configured to credit an account associated with the smart card for the selected multimedia content; and receiving the multimedia content; and storing the multimedia content in a storage unit associated with the mobile terminal.