WO2010100095A1

WO2010100095A1 - Method for organizing an address book file

Info

Publication number: WO2010100095A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/052512
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sebastian Schulz; Stephan Pohl
Original assignee: Deutsche Telekom Ag
Priority date: 2009-03-03
Filing date: 2010-02-26
Publication date: 2010-09-10
Also published as: EP2404262A1; DE102009011105A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for organizing an address book file in connection with an address book function running on an end device, in particular a mobile telephone, wherein the end device is connected to the Internet in a data-transferring manner via a communication connection, wherein the data of selected participants, namely of people and/or groups of people, is saved in the address book file, retrieved via an address book function and presented to the user of the end device, wherein the saved data is supplemented by supplemental data allocated to the selected participants comprising contact data and/or profile data that is published by said participant via an Internet portal, in particular a social network service, or a so-called community portal or online contact network, and imported therefrom.

Description

Method for organizing an address book file

The present invention relates to a method for the organization of an address book file in the context of an on a terminal, in particular a mobile phone, running address book function, wherein the terminal via a communication link to the Internet is in data-related connection, wherein in the address book data from selected participants, namely persons and / or groups of persons, which are retrieved via an address book function and presented to the user of the terminal. The invention also relates more generally to a method for presenting personal data via such a terminal, which is in data-conducting connection via a communication connection with the Internet.

As is known, today's mobile phones sometimes have quite extensive address book functions, which offer the user the opportunity to store a large amount of data about individual subscribers connected to him. So it is possible, in addition to the names and address or contact information, for example, to deposit images of participants in the address book file. In order to be able to transfer the current address book file to the new device when the mobile phone is exchanged, it can be saved on a computer, for example as an ^Outlook® file, and copied to the new device. In fact, a number of utilities provide the ability to constantly synchronize address book files and diaries between computers and mobile devices. Nevertheless, it remains unsatisfactory that the supplementary data must always be entered by hand somewhere. The object of the present invention is therefore to propose a method that is easy to implement, which makes the updating of such address book files even easier for the user. In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for presenting current personal data.

These objects are achieved by a method with the characterizing features of claim 1 and by the method according to claim 14. Advantageous embodiments and modifications of the invention will become apparent from the respective dependent claims.

The essential idea of the invention is to make use of the Internet and the Internet portals accessible through it in order to access personal data. As such Internet portals are preferably "social network service", so-called community portals or online contact networks used.

On the one hand, the idea according to the invention is expressed by the fact that the data of a selected subscriber stored in the address book file are supplemented by supplementary data associated with this subscriber from an Internet portal, this supplementary data containing contact data and / or profile data. In this case, as it were, a search takes place using data stored in the terminal to a subscriber, such as name and / or address. The additional data published via Internet portals to a subscriber are then imported from there to the terminal and written to the address book file. However, the idea according to the invention can also be expressed by the fact that personal data comprising contact data and / or profile data are imported from an Internet portal to a selected subscriber and presented to the user of the terminal, if appropriate in addition to the existing data from the address book file. However, this personal data need not necessarily be stored in the address book file.

The advantages of the invention, which allows quasi automatic synchronization of the address book file with the Internet or obtaining information from the Internet, are obvious: the user is at any time comprehensive personal data about the individual subscribers of his address book automatically available. In this case, the invention can be conveniently integrated into today's mobile phones, as they are usually equipped with access to the Internet. The invention also offers particular advantages because a large number of such Internet portals such as "Xing", "Facebook" or "MySpace" have recently become established, on which such supplementary data are available for retrieval The possibilities offered by the Internet are even more strongly exploited by mobile end devices. For the operator of the telephone network, further use of his network resources results.

With the invention can thus create a service for the mobile phone, which makes it possible to take social network contacts directly into the address book of the phone. When the user selects a contact from their address book, they can not only see the name, phone numbers and email addresses, but also information from the participant's social network profile and updates on their social network page.

In order to be able to use all the possibilities of "social networking", it is advantageous if the supplementary data of the selected subscriber also contain references to "meta-data" in addition to the data. This meta-data is contact data and / or profile data of "meta-participants", ie participants of the second generation who are in contact with the selected participant in the sense of social networking, ie if the user personally known to the user in his on the Internet Accessible supplementary data references to him again known "Meta-subscriber" has, then these can be imported as supplementary data in the address book file of the user for display and / or storage. In this way, a network of contacts can emerge, which ultimately build up a comprehensive network. Since this procedure can be extended arbitrarily to other meta-levels, ie to "meta-participant", it makes sense, of course, before a display and / or storage of such "meta-data" provide a corresponding query. In order to obtain a factual synchronization of the address stock, it may be advantageous to import the supplementary data automatically when calling the subscriber via the address book function directly. Such an automatism, however, is limited by an appropriate control in view of the danger of reaching a myriad of meta-levels. So it may be useful to limit the depth of the meta-levels. In particular, it is possible to allow only those imports that relate to existing in the address book participants.

Another way to control the flood of data is to store personal access data to at least one Internet portal in the terminal so that the terminal logs in with the access data to the Internet portal and retrieves the supplementary data. The user must therefore be an authorized member of the community of an Internet portal in order to retrieve additional data. Such an approach is also desirable for reasons of data protection and data security. So only the one who benefits from the information who is willing to reveal information about himself can benefit.

Another approach would be if the terminal automatically generates a search query based on the data stored on a subscriber and thus searches Internet portals accessible via the Internet for supplementary data. In the process, this procedure is neither controllable nor expedient in its entirety if, in the simplest case, the terminal could search for the name of a subscriber indiscriminately via a search engine. The invention is therefore limited to seeking the available social network service on the Internet, which contain usable supplementary information in a controlled amount. The available and accessible by their URL Internet portals are advantageously deposited in the terminal with its URL. This ensures that only those are visited by the terminal, which computational effort and transmission costs. Depending on requirements, the user can add new Internet portals to his list and / or delete old ones.

In this regard, it may be advantageous to the user only immediately when selecting a subscriber in the address book file of his address book function the Possibility to import additional data from a specific Internet portal "on-demand" to import, so to exclude any uncontrollable automatism.The user of one or more Internet portals can be specified, the selection by "clicking" in the menu of one of the Internet portals the connection to this Internet portal established. The user has it in his own hands, which data source he wants to use. Accordingly, the user can be given in this phase, the opportunity to specify his access to the selected Internet portal to import additional data of a participant in his address book function.

In an advantageous embodiment, the terminal searches the Internet portals accessible via the Internet not (only) on the basis of names or similar contact data, but based on stored in the address book function images of participants. This functionality can be easily implemented using well-known image recognition programs.

Another advantageous procedure is to provide not only a "download" from the Internet portal but also an "upload" to the Internet portal. In this case, the content of the accessible Internet portals directly by data from the address book function, but in particular by the deposited own profile to supplement. Also with this procedure it should be prevented by suitable protection mechanisms that personal data of participants without their consent on the portals appear public.

In addition, it is advantageous if a more direct contact with a listed in the Internet portal participants, in particular by mail, SMS, telephone, is offered. Thus, the user can send a social network message to other subscribers via his terminal and receive new social network messages. He can also update his own social network profile via the terminal, upload photos or change the "tagline." On the start screen of the terminal, a group can be placed with a selection of contacts that can be changed at any time. The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Showing:

Figure 1, the establishment of a social network part 1 and

Figure 2, the establishment of a social network Part 2.

According to FIG. 1, the user calls up the address book file designated by an icon 1 on the screen of his mobile telephone, receives all contacts ("all contacts") and selects the subscriber 2 "Max Higgins", who is backed up with a picture 3 and There is a tagline on the tag line 4. Pressing the right arrow key twice puts icon 5, which has the option of creating a social network, in the center of the upper input bar 6. In this menu, the user now has the option With the input command he activates the menu option 7 "Add a social network". Upon activation, he ends up in a form 8 that allows him to be selected from several Internet portals, named "Xing", "Facebook", "Localists" and "Bebo", which are deposited with their URL. The user also arrives at this menu 8 when he selects 10 in the start menu 9 "Options" and there clicks on "add social network" 11. This path is indicated by the arrow 12. In menu 8, the user first lands on the Internet portal mentioned above, here "Xing." In menu item 13, the user has selected "Facebook" and confirms his choice by means of the enter key 14.

According to Figure 2, it lands on the home page 16 of "Facebook", which can be stored locally, and must here with his username 15 and his password 17 authenticate (menu item 18) If the authentication failed, he gets a message in Menu item 19. Otherwise, as shown in menu item 20, it will take some time before access to "Facebook" is established.

In his "Xing" maintained social network, among 97 friends, besides "Max Higgins" 21, there is also an "Axel Baier" 22 and will be published on the Screen 23 is listed. By selecting "Axel Baier" in menu item 24, the user imports all data on "Axel Baier" published via "Xing" into his own address book, as shown on screen 25.

Claims

claims

1. A method for the organization of an address book file as part of an on a terminal, in particular a mobile phone, running address book function, wherein the terminal via a communication link to the Internet is in data-related connection, wherein in the address book data from selected participants, namely people and / or Groups of persons stored, which are retrieved via an address book function and presented to the user of the terminal, indicate that the stored data is supplemented by supplementary data, including contact data and / or profile data, assigned by the selected subscriber an Internet portal, in particular a social network service, so a so-called community portal or online contact network, published and imported from there.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the supplementary data of the selected subscriber contain references to metadata containing contact data and / or profile data of meta subscribers which are connected to the selected subscriber in the sense of the social network and which can also be imported as supplementary data in the address book file for display and / or storage.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the supplementary data are automatically imported when the subscriber is called via the address book function.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that access data to at least one Internet portal are stored in the terminal, wherein the terminal logs in with the access data at the Internet portal and retrieves supplementary data.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the terminal generates a search query on the basis of the data stored for a subscriber, and thus searches internet portals accessible via the Internet for supplementary data.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the available Internet portals are predefined on the basis of their URL or are stored in the terminal with their URL.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the user is given the option of importing supplementary data from an Internet portal when a subscriber is selected in the address book function.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein one or more Internet portals are specified to the user, wherein the selection of one of the Internet portals establishes the connection to this Internet portal.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the user uses his

Enter access data to the selected Internet portal to

To be able to import supplementary data of a subscriber into his address book function.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal searches subscribers via the Internet for accessing Internet portals using images stored in the address book function.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of the accessible internet portals, in particular the own profile stored therein, are supplemented directly by data from the address book function.

12. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a more direct contact with a subscriber listed in the Internet portal, in particular by mail, SMS, telephone, is offered

13. A method for presenting personal data via a terminal, in particular a mobile phone, which is in data communication with the Internet via a communication link, dadu rc hgekenn ze ichnet that are presented to a selected subscriber personal data comprising contact data and / or profile data, which Personal data via an Internet portal, in particular a social network service, so a so-called community portal or online contact network, published and imported from there to the current performance.