WO2013093559A1

WO2013093559A1 - Apparatus and method for indicating network cards in a portable communications device

Info

Publication number: WO2013093559A1
Application number: PCT/IB2011/055870
Authority: WO
Inventors: Manuela ZAVATTARO; Guilherme SCHNEIDER
Original assignee: Nokia Corporation
Priority date: 2011-12-21
Filing date: 2011-12-21
Publication date: 2013-06-27

Abstract

An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: provide one or more respective indicators to one or more displayed markings, each displayed marking being associated with a particular network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device, each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of: a particular network card of a plurality of network cards; and a particular network card slot of a plurality of network card slots, each indicated network card and indicated network card slot being associated with the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking.

Description

Apparatus and method for indicating network cards in a portable communications device

Technical Field The present disclosure relates to the field of network cards, associated methods, computer programs and apparatus. Certain disclosed aspects/embodiments relate to portable communications devices, in particular, so-called hand-portable communications devices which may be hand-held in use (although they may be placed in a cradle in use). Such hand-portable communications devices include so-called Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, smart devices and tablet computers.

The portable communications devices/apparatus according to one or more disclosed aspects/embodiments may provide one or more audio/text/video communication functions (e.g. tele-communication, video-communication, and/or text transmission (Short Message Service (SMS)/ Multimedia Message Service (MMS)/emailing) functions), interactive/non-interactive viewing functions (e.g. web-browsing, navigation, TV/program viewing functions), music recording/playing functions (e.g. MP3 or other format and/or (FM/AM) radio broadcast recording/playing), downloading/sending of data functions, image capture function (e.g. using a (e.g. in-built) digital camera), and gaming functions.

Background

Electronic devices may be configured to communicate via a network. To interact with the network some electronic devices use network cards, such as SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards. These cards may be associated with different network activities (e.g. data or calls) and/or network tariffs. Some electronic communication devices are configured to accommodate two or more such network cards.

The listing or discussion of a prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. One or more aspects/embodiments of the present disclosure may or may not address one or more of the background issues. Summary In a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

provide one or more respective indicators to one or more displayed markings, each displayed marking being associated with a particular network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device,

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of:

a particular network card of a plurality of network cards; and a particular network card slot of a plurality of network card slots, each indicated network card and indicated network card slot being associated with the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking. The network card may be configured to provide one or more network activities via a network.

The network may be a wireless local area network (WLAN), a cellular network, a telephony network, and/or a wireless network.

A displayed marking may be configured to provide information associated with operation of the communications device to the user. A displayed marking may comprise one or more of text and an image. A displayed marking may be a user interface element, such as one or more of an icon (e.g. an application icon), and a menu item (e.g. a contact in a list of telephone contacts, a message in a list of messages, or a particular call in a call log). A displayed marking may be configured to indicate the associated network service (e.g. a contact in a list of telephone contacts may indicate that the network service is providing a telephone call to the contact). The differentiated indicators may be considered to indicate the network card or network card slot currently associated with the particular network activity. That is, an indicated network card may be configured to provide the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking. Likewise, an indicated network card slot may be configured such that a network card stored therein provides the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking. One or more differentiated indicators may be provided for each marking associated with a network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device.

The apparatus may be configured to:

enable, in response to an associating user input, association of a network activity with at least one of:

a network card from a plurality of network cards, and

a network slot from a plurality of network slots; and

provide an indicator of the association on a display.

The associating user input may comprise:

a user input provided via the respective indicator (e.g. pressing the indicator may cycle through the available network cards);

inserting a network card into a network card slot (e.g. the apparatus/portable communications device may be configured to automatically detect when a network card is removed or inserted);

a user input provided via a network card selection screen, the network card settings screen being configured to open in response to a user input provided via the respective indicator; and

a user input provided via a network card selection pop-up window, the network card pop-up window being configured to open in response to a user input provided via the respective indicator.

The indicators may be a combination of one or more of:

a visual indicator (e.g. image, text, colour); a tactile indicator (e.g. haptic feedback, vibration); and a audio indicator (e.g. sound event, one or more beeps, an recorded message, computer simulated voice). For example, in response to a user selecting a marking, the apparatus may be configured to provide an audio indicator, the audio indicator configured to indicate a particular network card (e.g. a recorded message saying "network card 1 " may be provided).

The network may enable data transfer between communication devices. Network data may comprise one or more of phone call data, fax data, text message data, email data, MMS message data, SMS message data, Twitter post data, email attachment data, alarm data, pager alert data, pager message data, image data, text data, video data and audio data. Transmission and/or reception of network data may be by streaming methods (e.g. a phone call), by non-streaming methods, by batches, and/or by monolithic transfer (e.g. a short text message).

A network card may be a SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) card. A network card may store identification data to enable the device to interact (e.g. transmit receive data) with a network. For example, the network card may store an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and a related key used to identify and authenticate subscriber on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers). A network card may be removable from the portable communications device. A network card may be integrated with the portable communications device. A said network card may be removable from the portable communications device.

The network card may be associated with an identity. The identity may be, for example, a unique number or character string (e.g. telephone number, or email address), a unique identifier (UID), an Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI), a Media Access Control address (MAC address), an IP address, an email address, a user name, a globally unique identifier (GUID) or a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID). The identity may be allocated by the network (e.g. by a network server) or chosen by a user and registered on the network (e.g. on a network server). A network card (e.g. SIM card) may comprise one or more of a unique serial number (ICCID), an internationally unique number of the mobile user (IMSI), security authentication and ciphering information, temporary information related to the local network, a list of the services the user has access to and one or more passwords. The apparatus and/or network may support datagram transfer, Peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols, Reliable protocols, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Unicast protocols and/or Multicast protocols.

The network may allow communication of data between two or more devices/apparatus. The network may comprise a wireless network with associated protocols. For example, the network may comprise one or more of a cellular network, a mobile phone network, a satellite network, a radio network, a Bluetooth network, a wireless local area network or an infrared network. The network may comprise a wired network. For example, the network may comprise one or more of the internet, a wired local area network or a landline phone network. A wired network may, for example, be based on electrical wires or fibre optic cable. A network may be a combination of wired and wireless networks. The network may be governed by a network server. The network may be a telephony and/or non-telephony communications network.

A network card may be configured to provide particular service characteristics. The service characteristics of the particular network may comprise data management, internet access, international calling capability, international messaging capability, local calling capability and local messaging capability. The service characteristics may be associated with a particular tariff. For example, the cost of calls may be more expensive when using one network card compared to when using another network card.

The apparatus may be:

an electronic device, a portable electronic device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone, a Smartphone, a tablet computer, a monitor, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, a watch, a server, the portable communications device, or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method the method comprising:

providing one or more respective indicators to one or more displayed markings, each displayed marking being associated with a particular network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device,

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of:

a particular network card of a plurality of network cards; and a particular network card slot of a plurality of network card slots, each indicated network card and indicated network card slot being associated with the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking.

In a third aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising computer program code configured to:

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of:

a particular network card of a plurality of network cards; and a particular network card slot of a plurality of network card slots, each indicated network card and indicated network card slot being associated with the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking. The computer program may be stored on a storage media (e.g. on a CD, a DVD, a memory stick or other non-transitory medium). The computer program may form part of a computer program product. The computer program may be configured to run on a device or apparatus as an application. An application may be run by a device or apparatus via an operating system.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising:

means for providing configured to provide one or more respective indicators to one or more displayed markings,

each displayed marking being associated with a particular network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device,

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of:

The present disclosure includes one or more corresponding aspects, embodiments or features in isolation or in various combinations whether or not specifically stated (including claimed) in that combination or in isolation. Corresponding means for performing one or more of the discussed functions are also within the present disclosure.

Corresponding computer programs for implementing one or more of the methods disclosed are also within the present disclosure and encompassed by one or more of the described embodiments.

The above summary is intended to be merely exemplary and non-limiting.

Brief Description of the Figures

A description is now given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 depicts an embodiment comprising a number of electronic components, including memory and a processor.

Figure 2 depicts an embodiment comprising a number of electronic components, including memory, a processor and a communication unit. Figure 3a-3e depicts the example embodiment of figure 2 wherein an indicator is provided for each message marking.

Figure 4a-4d depicts a further example embodiment wherein an indicator is provided for each application icon marking.

Figure 5a-5e depicts a further example embodiment wherein an indicator is provided for a list of telephone application contacts.

Figure 6 depicts a flow diagram describing the method used to provide indicators to respective markings.

Figure 7 illustrates schematically a computer readable media providing a program according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

Description of Example Aspects/Embodiments

Other embodiments depicted in the figures have been provided with reference numerals that correspond to similar features of earlier described embodiments. For example, feature number 1 can also correspond to numbers 101 , 201 , 301 etc. These numbered features may appear in the figures but may not have been directly referred to within the description of these particular embodiments. These have still been provided in the figures to aid understanding of the further embodiments, particularly in relation to the features of other described embodiments.

It is common for electronic devices to enable communications using a network card, such as a SIM card. Some electronic devices are configured to accommodate a plurality of network cards. Generally the user must remember to use the correct network card for a particular network activity.

Example embodiments contained herein may be considered to provide a way of indicating, for a particular network activity, a particular network card of a plurality of network cards or a particular network card slot of a plurality of network card slots by providing an appropriate indicator.

Figure 1 shows an apparatus (101 ) comprising memory (107), a processor (108), input I and output O. In this embodiment only one processor and one memory are shown but it will be appreciated that other embodiments may utilise more than one processor and/or more than one memory (e.g. same or different processor/memory types). In this embodiment the apparatus (101 ) is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for a portable communications device with a touch sensitive display. In other embodiments the apparatus (101 ) can be a module for such a device, or may be the device itself, wherein the processor (108) is a general purpose CPU of the device and the memory (107) is general purpose memory comprised by the device.

The input I allows for receipt of signalling to the apparatus 101 from further components, such as components of a portable communications device or the like. The output O allows for onward provision of signalling from within the apparatus 101 to further components. In this embodiment the input I and output O are part of a connection bus that allows for connection of the apparatus 101 to further components.

The processor 108 is a general purpose processor dedicated to executing/processing information received via the input I in accordance with instructions stored in the form of computer program code on the memory 107. The output signalling generated by such operations from the processor 108 is provided onwards to further components via the output O.

The memory 107 (not necessarily a single memory unit) is a computer readable medium (solid state memory in this example, but may be other types of memory such as a hard drive, ROM, RAM, Flash or the like) that stores computer program code. This computer program code stores instructions that are executable by the processor 108, when the program code is run on the processor 108. The internal connections between the memory 107 and the processor 108 can be understood to, in one or more embodiments, provide an active coupling between the processor 108 and the memory 107 to allow the processor 108 to access the computer program code stored on the memory 107.

In this embodiment the input I, output O, processor 108 and memory 107 are all electrically connected to one another internally to allow for electrical communication between the respective components I, O, 108, 107. In this example the components are all located proximate to one another so as to be formed together as an ASIC, in other words, so as to be integrated together as a single chip/circuit that can be installed into an electronic device. In other embodiments one or more or all of the components may be located separately from one another.

Figure 2 depicts an apparatus (201 ) of a further example embodiment, such as a mobile phone. In other example embodiments, the apparatus (201 ) may comprise a module for a mobile phone (or PDA or audio/video player), and may just comprise a suitably configured memory (207) and processor (208).

The example embodiment of figure 2, in this case, comprises a display device (204) such as, for example, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or touch-screen user interface. The apparatus (201 ) of figure 2 is configured such that it may receive, include, and/or otherwise access data. For example, this example embodiment (201 ) comprises a communications unit (203), such as a receiver, transmitter, and/or transceiver, in communication with an antenna (202) for connecting to a wireless network and/or a port (not shown) for accepting a physical connection to a network, such that data may be received via one or more types of networks. This example embodiment comprises a memory (207) that stores data, possibly after being received via an antenna (202) or port or after being generated at the user interface (205). The processor (208) may receive data from the user interface (205), from the memory (207), or from the communication unit (203). It will be appreciated that, in certain example embodiments, the display device (204) may incorporate the user interface (205). Regardless of the origin of the data, these data may be outputted to a user of apparatus (201 ) via the display device (204), and/or any other output devices provided with apparatus. The processor (208) may also store the data for later use in the memory (207). The memory (207) may store computer program code and/or applications which may be used to instruct/enable the processor (208) to perform functions (e.g. read data, write data, delete data, edit data, process data, connect to a network etc.).

Figure 3a depicts an example embodiment of the apparatus depicted in figure 2 comprising a portable electronic communications device (301 ), e.g. such as a mobile phone, with a user interface comprising a touch-screen user interface (305, 304), a memory (not shown), a processor (not shown) and an antenna (not shown) for transmitting and/or receiving data (e.g. emails, textual messages, phone calls, information corresponding to web pages).

Figures 3a-e illustrates a series of views of the example embodiment when the mobile phone device (301 ) is in use. In this example, the user is using a messaging application. When an application is open, the display is configured to show three regions: a device icon region (321 ), a network card region (322); and an open application region (323). The device icon region comprises a home screen icon (321 a) configured to allow the user to navigate to a home screen; and a number of application icons including an email application icon (321 b), a calendar application (321 c), a messaging application (321 d) and a database application (321 e). The network card region (322) displays an icon (322a, 322b) for each network card available to the portable communications device. In this case, there are two network cards available: network card A and network card B. The messaging open application screen displays a list of message markings (323a-d), each message marking (323a-d) indicating a messaging conversation with a respective contact. In this case, providing for each messaging conversation is a network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device. In this case, to each of the messaging conversations is assigned a network card. For example, in this case, providing for the Kiara Clarke messaging conversation (323a) and providing for the Henrik Magnusson messaging conversation (323d) network activities are assigned to network card A, whereas providing for the Chris Ferguson messaging conversation (323b) and providing for the Maria Da Prato messaging conversation (323c) network activities are assigned to network card B.

In this example, the apparatus/portable communications device is configured to provide one or more respective indicators (363a-d) to one or more respective displayed markings (323a-d). Each indicator (363a-d), in this case is differentiated to indicate the particular network card of a plurality of network cards, the particular network card being assigned to or associated with the corresponding network activity. The network card indicators (363a-d) are differentiated by having either a letter 'A' (to denote association with network card A) or the letter 'B' (to denote association with network card B). It will be appreciated that, were the user to continue a conversation, the assigned network card would automatically be activated to provide the corresponding network activity. For example, if the user wished to continue a conversation with Kiara Clarke and selected the Kiara Clarke message marking (323a), the apparatus/portable communications device would be configured to provide that network activity using the associated network card A. In this case, the user is travelling abroad to Finland and wishes to replace network card B (372) with a network card C (373) as network card C provides a better tariff in Finland (see figure 3b). The user therefore removes network card B (372) from a slot and replaces it with network card C (373). The situation just after the replacement is depicted in figure 3b. For this embodiment, the apparatus/portable communications device (301 ) is configured to update the icons of the network card region (322) to indicate which network cards are available to the device. The apparatus/portable communications device is also configured to update the indicators (363a-d) of each of the displayed message markings (323a-d) to indicate which network cards are assigned to each network activity. In this case, network card A remains available to the portable communications device and so the message markings (323a, 323d) which previously were associated with network card A remain associated with network card A. This is indicated by the respective indicators (363a, 363d). As network card B is no longer available, the message markings (323b, 323b) which previously were associated with network card B are no longer associated with network card B. This is indicated by the corresponding indicators having no letter (363b, 363b). In this example, the user wishes to continue a messaging conversation with the user 'Maria Da Prato', and so selects the corresponding message marking (323c) from the list (323), as in figure 3b. As this messaging conversation is not associated with an available network card, the network card region (322) is configured, in response to the user selecting a network activity not associated with an available network card, to be enlarged and prompt the user to select a network card to provide the selected network activity (which in this case is providing for messaging with Maria Da Prato). In this case, the user selects network card C from the available network cards (by selecting the corresponding icon (322b) with a stylus which, in this case, is the user's finger (391 )). This is shown in figure 3c.

This opens the messaging conversation. When the messaging conversation is open, the display is configured to show messages received (332) and messages sent to the remote contact, and a virtual keyboard configured to allow the user to compose new messages. In the situation depicted in figure 3d, the user is composing a new message (333) using the virtual keypad (31 1 ). When the user has finished writing and sending the message, the user navigates back to the home screen (as shown in figure 3d).

As the user has associated the network activity of providing for messaging to Maria Da Prato with network card C, the apparatus/portable communications device is configured to provide an updated indicator (363c) to the Maria Da Prato message conversation marking (figure 3e). In this case, the update indicator is differentiated by having the letter C, which is configured to indicate that network card C is associated with the network activity of the corresponding marking. It will be appreciated that for other example embodiments, the apparatus may be configured to allow the user to select labels for each of the network cards. It will be appreciated that other example embodiments may be configured such that the indicator comprises information of the particular network characteristics of the associated network card or network card slot. For example, an indicator may be configured to indicate the network services provided by the card (e.g. an icon of a business suit for the network service of providing for business calls, or an icon comprising a map of France for the network service of providing network services on a French network).

It will be appreciated that for other example embodiments, the apparatus may be configured to allow the user to associate the replacing card with all the network activities associated with the previous replaced card.

In this case, the selection of a particular network card is enabled in response to an interaction with an icon of the network card region (322). It will be appreciated that, for other example embodiment, selection of a particular network card may be enabled in response to an interaction with the indicators provided to the markings. For example, an indicator may be configured to toggle the associated network card in response to the user selecting the indicator (e.g. by pressing or hovering over the indicator). Other example embodiments may be configured to provide a pop-up window or network card screen in response to the indicator being selected, wherein the pop-up window or network card screen enables the user to select a network card to associate with the corresponding marking.

It will be appreciated that other example embodiments may be configured to store associations between network services and one or more network cards/network slots (e.g. when the one or more network cards are available and/or when the one or more network cards are not available to the communications device). For example, if the network card B in the above described embodiment became available again (e.g. by being inserted into the first or second network card slot), the apparatus/communications device may be configured to identify and activate the stored association between the Chris Ferguson network services and the network card B (i.e. in response to the network card becoming available). That is, when the user would request to open the messaging conversation with Chris Ferguson, the apparatus/communications device would be configured to provide the requested network service using associated network card B. It will be appreciated that the apparatus/communications device may be configured to store associated network service for multiple network cards. Figure 4a shows a further embodiment of a communications device such as a personal digital assistant or a tablet computer. Figures 4a-4d show the communications device when in use. Figure 4a depicts the home screen of the communications device which is configured to be displayed when the communications device is first turned on. The home screen comprises two regions: a network card region (421 ) and an application icon marking region (425). The network card region comprises an icon (421 a, 421 b) for each network card available to the communications device. Each network card icon (421 a, 421 b) comprises a signal strength bar configured to indicate the quality of network signal available and a network card symbol. The network card symbol is configured to denote the corresponding network slot using a numeric character, and the corresponding network card using an alphabetic character. In this example, there is a first network card slot denoted by the numeric character T, and a second network card slot denoted by the numeric character '2'. In this case, a network card A has been inserted into the first network card slot and a network card B has been inserted into the second network card slot.

In this case, the application icon marking region (425) comprises an email application icon marking (425a), a telephone application icon marking (425b), a messaging application icon marking (425c), a navigation application icon marking (425d), a web browser application icon marking (425e) and a peripheral device application icon marking (425f). In this case, the navigation application and the peripheral device application are not associated with network activities and so the apparatus is not configured to provide one or more respective indicators to the displayed navigation application icon marking (425d) or to the peripheral device application icon marking (425f).

Unlike the previous example embodiment, wherein network activities comprised providing messaging conversations with particular users, in this case, network activities comprise activities associated with particular user applications. That is, the email application is associated with the network activities associated with sending and receiving emails, the telephone application is associated with the network activities associated with the sending and receiving telephone calls, the messaging application is associated with the network activities of providing for messaging conversations, and the web browser is associated with the network activities of requesting and receiving website data. In this case, the apparatus/communications device is configured to provide one or more respective indicators (463a-e) to one or more of the displayed application icon markings (425a-f), each displayed application icon marking (425a-f) being associated with a particular network activity which can be performed using a network card of a portable communications device, each indicator (463a-e) being differentiated to indicate a particular network card slot of a plurality of network card slots, wherein each indicated network card slot is currently associated with the particular network activity. The indicators in this case are differentiated by having either the numeric character Ί ' to indicate the first network slot, or the numeric character '2' to indicate the second network slot. That is, in the situation depicted in figure 4a, the indicators (463a-e) indicate that the network services of the email application and of the telephone application are provided by the network card of the second network card slot, and the network services of the messaging application and of the web browser application are provided by the network card of the first network card slot.

In this example, the user replaces the network card in the second slot (which currently is network card B) with network card C as shown in figure 4b. The network card region (421 ) is updated to indicate that the network card in the second slot is network card C by alphabetic character from 'B' to 'C. As, in this case, the different applications' network activities are associated with a network slot, rather than with a network card as in the previous example, the indicators (463a-e) remain unchanged. That is, the email application network activities and the telephone application network activities will be provided by the network card in the second network card slot (regardless of whether the network card has changed).

In this example, the user wishes to make a phone call to a work colleague so the user selects the telephone application by selecting the corresponding telephone application icon marking (425b). This opens the telephone application (as shown in figure 4c). When the telephone application is open, the display is configured to show the network card region and a telephone application region comprising a list of contacts (441 ) and a number of telephone application icons including an initiate call icon which enables the user to initiate a call with the selected contact, a back icon (442b) configured to allow the user to return to the previous screen, a terminate call region (442c) configured to enable the user to terminate an ongoing call, and a numeric keypad icon (442d) configured to activate a virtual numeric keypad to allow the user to enter numbers not stored on the device. In this case, the user wishes to call his colleague Seb Pauliac. He therefore selects the corresponding contact from the list and selects the initiate call icon using his finger (491 ) or other stylus.

Figure 4d depicts the situation when the call has been initiated. In this case, the apparatus is configured to provide an indicator (464) when the call network activity is ongoing, the indicator (464) configured to indicate that the network card providing the network activity is in the second network card slot.

Indicating which network card slot containing the network card which is providing the network service may provide intuitive information to a user. For example, a mobile phone may have a network card slot which is difficult to access (e.g. behind a battery) and a network card slot which is easier to access (e.g. on the side or above the battery). The user may then be able to configure the device such that calls are provided by the network card slot which is easier to access. The user may then be able to know that if he required a different call tariff (e.g. when travelling abroad), he could replace the network card in the second easy access network card slot. That is, the user may identify the network activity with a network card slot instead of (or in addition to) with a network card. It will be appreciated that other example embodiments may have more than two network card slots.

Figure 5a depicts a further embodiment of a portable communications device such as a mobile phone. In this case, the portable communications device is configured to house a first network card and a second network card.

In the situation depicted in figure 5a, the user is looking at a number of contacts using a telephone application. When the contacts list is being displayed the device is configured to show two lists: a work contacts list marking (581 ) and a personal contacts list marking (582). The work contacts list marking is associated with providing telephone call network activities to work contacts and the personal contacts list marking is associated with providing telephone call network activities to personal contacts.

This example embodiment is configured such that the network card of the first network card slot is configured to provide the telephone call network activities to work contacts, and the network card of the second network card slot is configured to provide the telephone call network activities to personal contacts. To indicate this, this example embodiment is configured to provide one or more respective indicators (563a, 563b) to each of the displayed contacts list markings. In this case, the indicators are differentiated using a numeric character for each network card slot. The numeric character Ί ' indicates that the corresponding network activities are provided by the network card of the first network card slot of the plurality of network card slot, and the numeric character '2' indicates that the corresponding network activities are provided by the network card of the second network card slot of the plurality of network cards. In this way, the user can easily see that the network card of which network slot will provide (or is providing) the requested network activity.

In this case, the indicators are also configured to indicate a network card of a plurality of network cards. In this case, the user has labelled the network cards to indicate a particular network characteristic. That is, the user has labelled the network card in the first network card slot as 'day', to indicate that the network card provides a favourable tariff when used in the day time (e.g. during working hours), and labelled the network card in the second network card slot as 'evening', to indicate that the network card provides a favourable tariff when used in the evening. It will be appreciated that the labels may be provided automatically (e.g. based on information stored in the network card).

In this case, the user wishes to change the network card associated with work contacts to a French network card as the user is travelling in France for work purposes. The user can easily determine, from the indicator, that it is the network card of the first network card slot that is associated with providing network services to work colleagues. He therefore removes the 'day' network card from the first network card slot and replaces it with a French network card (which had previously been labelled 'France').

In response to detecting that the network card has changed, the apparatus/portable communications device is configured to update the indicator (563a) to display the label of the new network card. This is shown in figure 5b.

In this case, as the user is in France, he also wishes to use the 'France' network card for personal calls. In this example embodiment, the indicators are configured to provide a network card selection pop-up (583). The network card selection pop-up is configured to prompt the user to select an available network card to associate with the corresponding network service (which in this case is providing telephone calls to personal colleagues). In this case, the user selects the 'France' network card which is in the first network card slot. In response to the network card and the network card slot associated with a particular network card changing, the apparatus/portable communications device is configured to update the corresponding indicator (as shown in figure 5d). In this example, the user wishes to make a telephone call to his personal contact Tuomas Pauliac, and so selects the corresponding contact user interface element from the work contacts list by pressing or hovering over with a stylus.

Figure 5e depicts the device when the telephone call is ongoing. The display is configured to provide an ongoing call marking (584) indicating the network activity being provided (in this case providing for a telephone call with Tuomas Pauliac). The apparatus/communications device is further configured to provide an indicator (563c) to indicate which network card and network card slot is providing for the network activity.

The display is also configured to display a call icon region (594) comprising a numeric keypad icon (594a) which enables the user to request that a virtual numeric keypad be displayed, and a terminate call icon (594b) which enables the user to terminate the ongoing call.

In this example embodiment, the indicator is configured to be differentiated to indicate a particular network card of a plurality of network cards. It will be appreciated that other example embodiments may be configured to be differentiated to indicate a particular network slot of a plurality of network card slots.

The previously described embodiments have each had two network cards available. It will be appreciated that some example embodiments may have more than two network cards and/or more than two network card slots available.

The previously described embodiments have each provided visual indicators. It will be appreciated that, other example embodiments may be configured to provide one or more of a visual indicator (e.g. image, text); a tactile indicator (e.g. haptic feedback, vibration); and an audio indicator (e.g. sound event, one or more beeps, a recorded message, computer simulated voice). For example, in response to a user selecting a marking, the apparatus may be configured to provide a tactile indicator, the tactile indicator configured to indicate a particular network card (e.g. the device may be configured to vibrate twice to indicate that the network activity would be provided by network card of the second network card slot). Figure 6 shows a flow diagram illustrating the provision of one or more respective indicators to one or more respective displayed markings, and is self-explanatory.

Figure 7 illustrates schematically a computer/processor readable media 700 providing a program according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the computer/processor readable media is a disc such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD). In other embodiments, the computer readable media may be any media that has been programmed in such a way as to carry out an inventive function. It will be appreciated to the skilled reader that any mentioned apparatus/device and/or other features of particular mentioned apparatus/device may be provided by apparatus arranged such that they become configured to carry out the desired operations only when enabled, e.g. switched on, or the like. In such cases, they may not necessarily have the appropriate software loaded into the active memory in the non-enabled (e.g. switched off state) and only load the appropriate software in the enabled (e.g. on state). The apparatus may comprise hardware circuitry and/or firmware. The apparatus may comprise software loaded onto memory. Such software/computer programs may be recorded on the same memory/processor/functional units and/or on one or more memories/processors/functional units.

In some embodiments, a particular mentioned apparatus/device may be preprogrammed with the appropriate software to carry out desired operations, and wherein the appropriate software can be enabled for use by a user downloading a "key", for example, to unlock/enable the software and its associated functionality. Advantages associated with such embodiments can include a reduced requirement to download data when further functionality is required for a device, and this can be useful in examples where a device is perceived to have sufficient capacity to store such pre-programmed software for functionality that may not be enabled by a user. It will be appreciated that the any mentioned apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor may have other functions in addition to the mentioned functions, and that these functions may be performed by the same apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor. One or more disclosed aspects may encompass the electronic distribution of associated computer programs and computer programs (which may be source/transport encoded) recorded on an appropriate carrier (e.g. memory, signal). It will be appreciated that any "computer" described herein can comprise a collection of one or more individual processors/processing elements that may or may not be located on the same circuit board, or the same region/position of a circuit board or even the same device. In some embodiments one or more of any mentioned processors may be distributed over a plurality of devices. The same or different processor/processing elements may perform one or more functions described herein.

It will be appreciated that the term "signalling" may refer to one or more signals transmitted as a series of transmitted and/or received signals. The series of signals may comprise one, two, three, four or even more individual signal components or distinct signals to make up said signalling. Some or all of these individual signals may be transmitted/received simultaneously, in sequence, and/or such that they temporally overlap one another. With reference to any discussion of any mentioned computer and/or processor and memory (e.g. including ROM, CD-ROM etc), these may comprise a computer processor, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware components that have been programmed in such a way to carry out the inventive function.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole, in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that the disclosed aspects/embodiments may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. Furthermore, in the claims means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of:

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to:

in response to an associating user input, enable association of a network activity with at least one of:

a network card from a plurality of network cards, and

a network slot from a plurality of network slots; and

provide an indicator of the association on a display.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the wherein the associating user input comprises:

a user input provided via the respective indicator;

inserting a network card into a network card slot;

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to:

update the indicator, in response to detecting a change in at least one of: the network card being associated with the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking; and

the network card slot being associated with the network activity associated with the respective displayed marking.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the markings are associated with use of a network to provide a particular network activity.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicators are a combination of one or more of:

a visual indicator;

a tactile indicator; and

an audio indicator.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of network service cards is configured to provide particular service characteristics.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the network activity using the indicated network card.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the each of the plurality of network service cards are configured to provide particular respective service characteristics such that each network card is configured to allow or disallow one or more of:

data transfer; internet access; international calling; international messaging; local calling; local messaging; network services to a subset of contacts; and network services at particular times.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a said network card is removable from the portable communications device.

1 1 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a said network card is a SIM card.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network is one or more of:

a wireless network; a cellular network; a mobile phone network; a satellite network; a radio network; a Bluetooth network; a wireless local area network; an infrared network; a wired network; the internet; a wired local area network; a landline phone network; and a telephony network.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is:

14. A method the method comprising:

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of:

15. A computer program comprising computer program code configured to:

each indicator being differentiated to indicate at least one of: