WO2013173648A2

WO2013173648A2 - Method of and system for providing an image associated with a sender of an e-mail message or with contact information

Info

Publication number: WO2013173648A2
Application number: PCT/US2013/041456
Authority: WO
Inventors: Artur Olegovich BURCEV; Anna Andreevna KOTLYAREVSKAYA; Egor Vladimirovitch GANIN; Anton Igorevich KHOLODKOV
Original assignee: Yandex Europe Ag; Yandex Llc; Yandex Inc.
Priority date: 2012-05-16
Filing date: 2013-05-16
Publication date: 2013-11-21
Also published as: RU2486585C1; WO2013173648A3

Abstract

System comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. E-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and sending the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component. The profile management component is for sending the received sender e-mail address to at least one external network service and receiving therefrom the image, or retrieving the image from a profile database, and in either case sending the image to the e-mail management component. The e-mail client component is for receiving the incoming e-mail and the image, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. Related systems methods are disclosed.

Description

METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING AN IMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH A SENDER OF AN E-MAIL MESSAGE OR WITH CONTACT INFORMATION

CROSS-REFERENCE

[01] The present application claims the priority of Russian patent application no. 2012120248, entitled "CncTeMa H cnoco6 c6opa H ynpaBJieHna προφιυυΐΜΗ HHTe HeT- nojib30BaTejieH" ("System and Method of Collection and Control of Internet User Profiles"), filed May 16, 2012, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference in those jurisdictions allowing for incorporation by reference.

FIELD [02] The present technology relates to methods of and systems for providing an image associated with a sender of an e-mail message or with contact information.

BACKGROUND

[03] E-mail has become a very frequently used form of communication, for all types of communication, including business, commercial, advertising, marketing, informational, personal. Trillions of e-mail messages are sent every year. Most people have at least one e- mail address, many people have several different e-mail addresses, which they use to send and/or receive e-mail. For example, it is common for people to have both a "work" e-mail address and a "personal" e-mail address, and conventional e-mail clients allow people to simultaneously access e-mail received via different email addresses. [04] For an individual managing the amount of e-mail that they receive in a day has become both an arduous and a daunting task. People have begun to speak of "e-mail overload" (e.g. receiving too many e-mails in a day to be able to manage them) and "e-mail fatigue" (e.g. receiving too many e-mails from a particular sender (or senders) and just ignoring them). It has thus become common for e-mail recipients to miss reading or responding to important e-mails.

[05] Conventional e-mail clients (including both stand-along programs (e.g. Microsoft™ Outlook™) and web-accessible e-mail (Google™ G-mail™)) typically provide e-mail users with an e-mailbox through which e-mails can be accessed. E-mailboxes typically present users with several (sub-)e-mailboxes, such as an "in-box" for received e-mail, an "out-box" for e-mail to be sent, a "sent items" box for e-mail having been sent, and a "drafts" box for e- mail being composed or having been composed but not yet sent. Typically a user is able to create additional (sub-)e-mailboxes (sometimes also called "folders") in addition to those that are standard. (For purposes of the present specification "sub-e-mailboxes" should be considered "e- mailboxes".)

[06] Typically, each (sub)e-mailbox (whether standard or user-created) may be viewed separately for the others, and usually in a "list view" having a series of rows and columns. Typically in such a view each e-mail item will have one row and the columns will provide different types of information about the e-mail item (e.g. sender/recipient, date/time received/sent, message object (re: line), attachment indicator, flag indictor, size indicator, etc.) common to most items.

[07] To allow users to manage their e-mail, it is commonly possible to allow users to add or delete columns in a particular view and to cause a sorting of the items in a (sub-)e-mailbox based on any one of the columns then present in the view. It is also commonly possible to perform a search on all or some of the items in the view, (sub-)e-mailbox, entire e-mailbox, etc. It is also commonly possible to apply a filter (or filters) to exclude certain items or to solely include certain items from a particular view of the list. It is also commonly possible to apply a rule (or rules) to items to, for example, automatically delete e-mail items or automatically transfer items to a particular (sub-)e-mailbox.

[08] Notwithstanding all of the conventional tools that e-mail clients provide to their users, some users still find that e-mail management could be improved.

SUMMARY

[09] It is thus an object of the present technology to provide an improvement to conventional e-mail technology.

[10] The present technology is premised on the idea that it may be easier, faster and more useful for a user to visually process image information than to process textual information (depending on the person and the circumstances). And, to that end, were e-mail client users presented with images (be they a picture, a graphic image, a photograph, etc.) associated with a sender e-mail address in a list view of incoming images, it might make for improved e-mail management, at least for some users in some circumstances.

[11] Thus, in one aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a method in a computer system for providing information as to a sender of an e-mail message, comprising: within a graphical user interface displayed on a display associated with the computer system, presenting an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages, each of the e-mail messages having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages in the listing having an image associated with the sender e-mail address presented in the listing of e-mail messages.

[12] Similarly, in another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing information as to a sender of an e-mail message, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect: within a graphical user interface displayed on a display associated with the computer processor, presenting an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages, each of the e-mail messages having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages in the listing having an image associated with the sender e-mail address presented in the listing of e- mail messages.

[13] Similarly, in another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a method in a computer system for providing e-mail information to a user of the computer system, comprising:

receiving, by the computer system from a mail server, a plurality of e-mail messages, the e-mail messages each having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages having an image associated with that e-mail message's sender e-mail address;

presenting, via a graphical user interface on a display associated with the computer system, an e-mailbox, the e-mailbox having a listing of the plurality of e-mail messages including the image associated with that e-mail message's sender e-mail address, if any.

[14] Similarly, in another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing e-mail information to a user of the computer system, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect: receiving, by the computer system from a mail server, a plurality of e-mail messages, the e-mail messages each having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages having an image associated with that e-mail message's sender e-mail address;

[15] In some implementations of the above noted aspects, at least some of the images originate from a source other than an application managing the e-mailbox. In some such implementations, the at least some of the images originate from an external network service. In some such implementations, the at least some of the images originate from a social networking service.

[16] In this respect, it is common today for e-mail clients to also function as contact information managers, or to have a separate contact information manager that the e-mail client can exchange information with. Such contact information managers typically allow users to input an image associated with a contact (as well as the contact information). Thus in some implementations of the above noted aspects, the image that is displayed in the e-mail listing in the e-mailbox is an image that has been retrieved from such a contact information manager (e.g. the e-mail recipient's contact information manager.)

[17] It is also common today to allow a sender of an e-mail message to include their contact information with e-mail messages being sent. A simple, but non-limiting example, would be the case where an e-mail sender sends a v-card along with their e-mail. Commonly, such contact information would typically include an image associated with the sender. Thus in some implementations of the above noted aspects, the image that is displayed in the e-mail listing in the e-mailbox is an image that has been received in the e- mail itself (e.g. an image that the sender themself has included).

[18] In addition, it is common today for people to be members of external network services, for example social networking services such as a Facebook™, Twitter™, Foursquare™ and Linkedln™. It is common in such services for users of such services to have an image (be it a picture, a graphic image, a photograph, etc.) associated with their presence on such services. Typically, but not always, people will have a common image associated with themselves on various external network services, so that they are easily recognized by others (as the same person) across their various external network services. As would be understood by those skilled in the art, typically such external network services make available (limited) information about their users via standard application programming interfaces (APIs). Such information usually includes the image that the user has associated with them on that external network service. The image (along with other information - depending on the particular external network service in question) will be provided via an appropriate API upon request. Such APIs typically accept e-mail addresses as a search query to determine whether or not there is a user associated with that e-mail address in respect of the external network service in question. If there is, depending on the request, the API, and the external network service, once it is determined that there is indeed a user associated with that e-mail address in question, information in respect of that user will be returned by the API to the requester in a standard format. Thus, in some implementations of the present technology, the image that is displayed in the e-mail listing in the e-mailbox is an image that has been retrieved from an external network service, which may be a social networking service.

[19] Using an image from an external network service in an e-mailbox massage listing may (depending on the circumstances and the user) allow a user to more easily recognize the sender of a particular e-mail message in the listing, in the case, for example, where the image is one that the sender consistently uses across their presence in various external network services on the Internet. Such might also be the case if the image were very distinctive, or the person readily recognizable in the image.

[20] To the extent that an image to be displayed in an e-mail listing an e-mailbox is an image from an external network service, one of a number of various systems detailed below may be implemented in order to carry out this function. [21] In this respect, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for: receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, the profile including an image, and sending the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, and sending at least the image to the e-mail management component. The e-mail client is component for receiving the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[22] In the context of the present specification an "e-mail client component" is software that permits a user to access their e-mailbox and perform mail functions. Depending on the specific implementation, an e-mail client component may be a stand-alone product, typically called an e-mail client, such as Microsoft™ Outlook™ or Apple™ Mail, or an e-mail client component may be the portions of an integrated Internet web-mail mail system (e.g. Yandex™ Mail, Google™ G-mail™) that are user-facing and allow the user to interact with the system via a web browser.

[23] In the context of the present specification an "e-mail management component" is software that manages the back-end functions of an e-mail system such as mail sending, transmission, reception and delivery. Depending on the specific implementation, an e-mail management component may be a stand-alone product, typically called a mail server, such as Microsoft™ Exchange™ Server, or an e-mail management component may be the portions of an integrated Internet web-mail system that handle back-end mail functions. (It should be understood that where the e-mail client component and the e-management component are portions of a single system, any requirement in the present specification of "sending" and "receiving" information between the two should be considered to be meet without any need for actual transmission or reception of information. Such a requirement should be considered to be met, for example, where the two "components" to have access to the same data, e.g. access to a shared database, and where one component has caused information to be stored in that database and the other component retrieves such stored information.)

[24] In the context of the present specification a "profile management component" is software that manages "profiles" in respect of the present technology. Such management may include retrieving and/or storing profile information from a profile database and/or retrieving profile information from third party external network services such as social networking services. In the context of the present specification a "profile" is any information associated with an e-mail address, e.g. an image, a picture, text information, data, etc. A profile need not contact any specific amount or type of information in order to be a profile. Thus, a profile may consist solely of a single image in the present context, or may consist of an image and additional information, for example. [25] In the context of the present specification, an "external network service" is any service separate from the e-mail client, e-mail management, and profile management service but that is in communication with at least one of them via a communications network, typically the Internet.

[26] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, and sending the incoming e-mail message to the e- mail client component. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e- mail address from the e-mail management component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, the profile including an image, and sending at least the image to the e-mail client component. The e-mail client component for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, and receiving the image from the profile management component, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[27] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the incoming e-mail message to the e-mail client component. The e-mail client component is for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, the profile including an image, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail client component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, and sending at least the image to the e-mail client component.

[28] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the incoming e-mail message to the e-mail client component; receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, the profile including an image, and sending the image to the e-mail client component. The e-mail client component is for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving the image from the e-mail management component, displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e- mail message and the image. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail client component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, and sending at least the image to the e-mail management component.

[29] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and sending the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receiving from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least the image, and sending at least the image to the e-mail management component. The e-mail client component is for receiving the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. [30] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, and sending the incoming e-mail message to the e- mail client component. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e- mail address from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receiving from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least the image, and sending at least the image to the e-mail client component. The e-mail client component is for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, and receiving the image from the profile management component, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[31] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component is for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the incoming e-mail message to the e-mail client component. The e-mail client component for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. The profile management component is for receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail client component, sending the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receiving from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least the image, and sending at least the image to the e-mail client component.

[32] Similarly, in another aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a system comprising: an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component. The e-mail management component for receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the incoming e-mail message to the e-mail client component; receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and sending the image to the e-mail client component. The e-mail client component for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving the image from the e-mail client component, displaying in an e- mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. The profile management component for receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail client component, sending the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receiving from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least the image, and sending at least the image to the e-mail management component.

[33] The aforementioned systems are capable of carrying out a number of methods, depending on the implementation, including those detailed below.

[34] In this respect, in another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a method of handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, comprising:

receiving, by the mail server, the incoming e-mail message, the incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address;

sending, by the mail server to a profile control server, the sender e-mail address;

receiving, by the mail server from the profile control server, a profile associated with the sender e-mail address, the profile including an image; and

sending, by the mail server to a recipient e-mail client application, the incoming e- mail message and the image.

[35] Similarly, in a related aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

receiving, by the mail server from the profile control server, a profile associated with the sender e-mail address, the profile including an image; and sending, by the mail server to a recipient e-mail client application, the incoming e- mail message and the image.

[36] In some implementations of the above aspects,

receiving the incoming e-mail message is receiving, by the mail server, a plurality of incoming e-mail messages, each of the plurality of incoming e-mail messages having a sender e-mail address;

sending the sender e-mail address is sending, by the mail server to a profile control server, each of the sender e-mail addresses;

receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address is receiving, by the mail server from the profile control server, a plurality of profiles associated with the sender e-mail addresses, each of the plurality of profiles including an image; and

sending the incoming e-mail message and the image is sending, by the mail server to a recipient e-mail client application, the plurality of incoming e-mail messages and the images.

[37] In another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a method of handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, comprising:

sending, by the mail server to a recipient e-mail client application, the incoming e- mail;

receiving, by the mail server, an indication that a user has accessed an e-mailbox managed by the recipient e-mail client application;

receiving, by the mail server, a profile associated with the sender e-mail address, the profile including an image; and

sending, by the mail server to the recipient e-mail client application, the image.

[38] Similarly, in a related aspect, some implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect: receiving, by the mail server, the incoming e-mail message, the incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address;

[39] In some implementations of the above aspects,

receiving the incoming e-mail message is receiving, by the mail server, a plurality of incoming e-mail messages, each of the plurality of incoming e-mail messages having a sender address;

sending the incoming e-mail is sending, by the mail server to a recipient e-mail client application, the plurality of incoming e-mail messages;

receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address is receiving, by the mail server, a plurality of profiles associated with the sender e-mail addresses, each profile including an image; and

sending the image is sending, by the mail server to the recipient e-mail client application, the images.

[40] In another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a method of providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, comprising:

receiving, by a profile control server from the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, the e-mail address;

effecting retrieval, by the profile control server, of information associated with the e- mail address from a profile database, the information including the image; and

sending, by the profile control server to the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, at least the image. [41] Similarly, in another related aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

sending, by the profile control server to the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, at least the image.

[42] In some implementations, the method the further comprises, after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail address from the profile database and prior to sending at least the image (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail address from the profile database and prior to sending at least the image - as the case may be),

sending, by the profile control server to at least one external network service, the e- mail address;

receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, updated information associated with the e-mail address.

[43] In some implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be), effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database by the profile control server.

[44] In some implementations,

receiving the e-mail address is receiving, by a profile control server from the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, the e-mail addresses;

effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail address from a profile database is effecting retrieval, by the profile control server, of information associated with a first subset of the e-mail addresses from a profile database, the information including images; and

sending at least the image is sending, by the profile control server to the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, at least some of the images. [45] In some implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be), after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail addresses from the profile database and prior to sending at least the images,

sending, by the profile control server to at least one external network service, a second subset of the e-mail addresses;

receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, updated information associated with the second subset of e-mail addresses.

[46] In some implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be), effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database by the profile control server.

[47] In another aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a method of providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, comprising:

receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, information associated with the e-mail address, the information including at least the image; and

[48] Similarly, in a related aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

[49] In some implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be), effecting storage of at least the image in a profile database by the profile control server.

[50] In some implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be):

resending, by the profile control server to the at least one external network service, the e-mail address;

receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, updated information associated with the e-mail address;

effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database.

[51] In some implementations:

sending the e-mail address is sending, by the profile control server to at least one external network service, the e-mail addresses;

receiving information associated with the e-mail address is receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, information associated with the e-mail addresses, the information including images; and sending at least the image is sending, by the profile control server to the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, at least some of the images.

[52] In some such implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be), effecting storage of at least some of the images in a profile database by the profile control server.

[53] In some such implementations, the method further comprises (or the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect - as the case may be):

resending, by the profile control server to the at least one external network service, at least some of the e-mail addresses;

receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, updated information associated with the at least some of the e-mail addresses;

effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database. [54] As was discussed hereinabove, it is common for conventional e-mail clients to also function as contact information managers. In this respect, it is also possible to use an image obtained as described hereinabove when presenting contact information in a contact information window (typically sometimes called a "card") (apart from in an e-mail message listing in an e- mailbox). [55] Thus, in another aspect, implementations of the present technology a method in a computer system for providing e-mail information to a user of the computer system, comprising:

receiving, by the computer system from a mail server, an e-mail message, the e-mail message having a sender e-mail address;

receiving, by the computer system, an image associated with the sender e-mail address of the e-mail message;

presenting, via a graphical user interface on a display associated with the computer system, a window providing contact information associated with the sender e-mail address of the e-mail message, the window providing the image associated with the sender e-mail address. [56] Similarly, in a related aspect, implementations of the present technology provide a computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing e-mail information to a user of a computer system, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

presenting, via a graphical user interface on a display associated with the computer system, a window providing contact information associated with the sender e-mail address of the e-mail message, the window providing the image associated with the sender e-mail address.

[57] In some implementations, the image originates from a source other than an application managing at least one of e-mail messages and contact information.

[58] In some such implementations, the image originates from an external network service.

[59] In some such implementations, the image originates from a social networking service.

[60] In the context of the present specification, a "server" is a computer program that is running on appropriate hardware and is capable of receiving requests (e.g. from client devices) over a network, and carrying out those requests, or causing those requests to be carried out. The hardware may be one physical computer or one physical computer system, but neither is required to be the case with respect to the present technology. In the present context, the use of the expression a "server" is not intended to mean that every task (e.g. received instructions or requests) or any particular task will have been received, carried out, or caused to be carried out, by the same server (i.e. the same software and/or hardware); it is intended to mean that any number of software elements or hardware devices may be involved in receiving/sending, carrying out or causing to be carried out any task or request, or the consequences of any task or request; and all of this software and hardware may be one server or multiple servers, both of which are included within the expression "at least one server". [61] In the context of the present specification, "client device" is any computer hardware that is capable of running software appropriate to the relevant task at hand. Thus, some (non-limiting) examples of client devices include personal computers (desktops, laptops, netbooks, etc.), smartphones, and tablets, as well as network equipment such as routers, switches, and gateways. It should be noted that a device acting as a client device in the present context is not precluded from acting as a server to other client devices. The use of the expression "a client device" does not preclude multiple client devices being used in receiving/sending, carrying out or causing to be carried out any task or request, or the consequences of any task or request, or steps of any method described herein. [62] In the context of the present specification, a "database" is any structured collection of data, irrespective of its particular structure, the database management software, or the computer hardware on which the data is stored, implemented or otherwise rendered available for use. A database may reside on the same hardware as the process that stores or makes use of the information stored in the database or it may reside on separate hardware, such as a dedicated server or plurality of servers.

[63] In the context of the present specification, the expression "information" includes information of any nature or kind whatsoever capable of being stored in a database. Thus information includes, but is not limited to audiovisual works (images, movies, sound records, presentations etc.), data (location data, numerical data, etc.), text (opinions, comments, questions, messages, etc.), documents, spreadsheets, etc.

[64] In the context of the present specification, the expression "component" is meant to include software (appropriate to a particular hardware context) that is both necessary and sufficient to achieve the specific function(s) being referenced.

[65] In the context of the present specification, the expression "computer usable information storage medium" is intended to include media of any nature and kind whatsoever, including RAM, ROM, disks (CD-ROMs, DVDs, floppy disks, hard drivers, etc.), USB keys, solid state-drives, tape drives, etc.

[66] In the context of the present specification, the words "first", "second", "third", etc. have been used as adjectives only for the purpose of allowing for distinction between the nouns that they modify from one another, and not for the purpose of describing any particular relationship between those nouns. Thus, for example, it should be understood that, the use of the terms "first server" and "third server" is not intended to imply any particular order, type, chronology, hierarchy or ranking (for example) of/between the server, nor is their use (by itself) intended imply that any "second server" must necessarily exist in any given situation. Further, as is discussed herein in other contexts, reference to a "first" element and a "second" element does not preclude the two elements from being the same actual real-world element. Thus, for example, in some instances, a "first" server and a "second" server may be the same software and/or hardware, in other cases they may be different software and/or hardware.

[67] Implementations of the present technology each have at least one of the above- mentioned object and/or aspects, but do not necessarily have all of them. It should be understood that some aspects of the present technology that have resulted from attempting to attain the above-mentioned object may not satisfy this object and/or may satisfy other objects not specifically recited herein.

[68] Additional and/or alternative features, aspects and advantages of implementations of the present technology will become apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[69] For a better understanding of the present invention as well as other aspects and further features thereof, reference is made to the following description which is to be used in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where:

[70] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing various computer systems being implementations of the present technology communicating via a communications network (e.g. the Internet).

[71] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing various components of a system implementing the present technology.

[72] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating various methods being implementations of the present technology. [73] Figures 4A-4B are a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology.

[74] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology. [75] Figure 6A-6B are a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology.

[76] Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology.

[77] Figure 8A-8B are a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology.

[78] Figure 9A-9B are a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology.

[79] Figure 10A-10B are a flow chart illustrating various methods being other implementations of the present technology. [80] Figure 11 is graphical image showing an example of an e-mail listing provided by an e-mail client employing the present technology.

[81] Figure 12 is a graphical image showing an example of a window providing contact information employing the present technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [82] Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a diagram of various networked computer systems 100 in communication with one another via a communications network 110. It is to be expressly understood that the various computer systems 100 are merely some implementations of the present technology. Thus, the description thereof that follows is intended to be only a description of illustrative examples of the present technology. This description is not intended to define the scope or set forth the bounds of the present technology. In some cases, what are believed to be helpful examples of modifications to computer systems 100 may also be set forth below. This is done merely as an aid to understanding, and, again, not to define the scope or set forth the bounds of the present technology. These modifications are not an exhaustive list, and, as a person skilled in the art would understand, other modifications are likely possible. Further, where this has not been done (i.e. where no examples of modifications have been set forth), it should not be interpreted that no modifications are possible and/or that what is described is the sole manner of implementing that element of the present technology. As a person skilled in the art would understand, this is likely not the case. In addition it is to be understood that the computer systems 100 may provide in certain instances simple implementations of the present technology, and that where such is the case they have been presented in this manner as an aid to understanding. As persons skilled in the art would understand, various implementations of the present technology may be of a greater complexity.

[83] Referring to Fig. 1, computer systems 100 include a plurality of devices in communication with each other via a communications network 110. In the present implementation, communications network 110 is the Internet (and has been labeled as such in the figure), but in other implementations it could be any communications network capable of routing information between devices on the basis of their IP addresses. Computer systems 100 include various types of computer hardware and software, each of which will be described in turn.

[84] Portable computer 120 in this implementation is a conventional notebook computer running the Microsoft™ Windows™ operating system and having the Yandex.Browser™ web browser program loaded and running thereon. (In other implementations, portable computer could be other types of hardware (e.g. notebook computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, netbook computers, etc.) and/or could be running other operating systems (e.g. Linux™, Mac OS X™, etc.) and/or other programs.) Portable computer 120 is connected to the Internet 110 in a conventional manner over a wireless communications link. (In other implementations, portable computer 120 could be connected to the Internet 110 over a conventional wired link (e.g. Ethernet).)

[85] Desktop computer 122 in this implementation is a conventional desktop computer running the Apple™ Macintosh™ operating system, and having the Safari™ web browser program loaded and running thereon. Desktop computer 122 is connected to the Internet 110 in a conventional manner over a wired communications link. As was the case with portable computer 120, in other implementations, the hardware and/or software aspects of desktop computer 122 may vary in a similar fashion.

[86] Smartphone 124 in this implementation is a conventional Samsung™ Galaxy™ SIII smartphone running the Google Android™ operating system, and having the Mozilla™ Firefox™ browser application loaded and running thereon. Smartphone 124 is connected to the Internet 110 in a conventional manner over a mobile network. In other implementations, smartphone 124 could be connected to the Internet in another manner such as wirelessly via Bluetooth™ or WiFi™. As was the case with portable computer 120 and desktop computer 122, in other implementations the hardware and/or software aspects of smartphone 124 will vary. No particular smartphone hardware or software is required in respect of the present technology.

[87] Mail client server 126 in this implementation is a conventional computer server (e.g. a Dell™ PowerEdge™ Server) running the Microsoft™ Windows Server™ operating system. In other implementations mail client server 126 the hardware and/or software aspects of mail client server 126 will vary. Mail client server 126 is connected to a LAN (not shown) via a wired communications link (e.g. Ethernet). Connected to LAN is a conventional LAN gateway (not shown) that connects the LAN to the Internet 110 via a wired communications network. The function of LAN gateway is to regulate communication between the various devices on the LAN 126 and devices in communication with the Internet 110 (not on the LAN). In this implementation, for example, LAN gateway employs the DHCP and network address translation (NAT) to assign IP addresses to LAN devices (e.g. Mail client server 134) to allow them to communicate with Internet hosts and devices.

[88] Mail server 118 in this implementation is collectively the multitude of servers running the backend operations of an Internet web-based mail service, such as, for example that offered by Yandex (Yandex Mail), Google (G-mail), or Microsoft (Hotmail). The present technology is not restricted to such mail services, an in other implementations, a mail server of the present technology could be, for example, a single server running the Microsoft Exchange™ Server software.

[89] Profile control server 112 in this implementation is a multitude of servers that operate a profile control component as described herein. (The present technology is not so restricted and could operate, for example, in cooperation with the Microsoft Exchange Server software referred to above.) Loaded and running on the profile control server 112 is a server application program enabling the profile control server 112 to function in respect of the present technology. In this implementation, also loaded and running on profile control server 112 conventional database management software that manages a database 128 to be used in conjunction with the present technology. In other implementations, database 128 is hosted on different servers from profile control server 112, but in communication therewith. In some such implementations, such other server is a virtual server running on the same hardware as profile control server 112, in other implementations such other server is running on hardware physically distinct from profile control server 112. [90] External Service I 114, is a first social networking service available via the Internet that has publicly available APIs that when provided with an e-mail address will return information (from the service) including picture in respect of a user associated with that e- mail address in a standard format.

[91] External Service II 116, is a second social networking service available via the Internet (different from External Service I 114) that also has publicly available APIs that when provided with an e-mail address will return information (from the service) including a picture in respect of a user associated with that e-mail address in a standard format.

[92] Referring to Fig. 2, in several implementations, the present technology includes several different components, a mail management component 202, a profile control component 204, and an e-mail client component 200 interconnected to one another via a network 206. Also accessible via the network is an external network service 208. As the functions of the various components 200, 202, 204 may very among implementations, examples of such functions are given hereinbelow.

[93] It should be understood that the foregoing flow charts are only meant to show simplified examples of implementations of the present technology. Various actions have been omitted in order to facilitate understanding.

[94] Shown in Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 including implementations of the present technology. Method 300 may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are stored in a profile database 128. (Such would be the case, for instance, were a system employing method 300 to have previously stored the e-mail address and the image associated therewith in the profile database 128.) In method 300, at 302, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 304, mail server 118 sends to profile control server 112 the sender e- mail address of the incoming message. At 306, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address of the incoming message from the mail server 118. At 308, the profile control server 112 retrieves from the profile database 128, the profile in respect of the sender e-mail address. The profile includes (or may even consist exclusively) of an image associated with the sender e-mail address. At 310, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 312, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 314, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message along with the image to the mail client 120. At 316, the mail client receives the e-mail message and the image from the mail server 118. At 318, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in an e- mailbox listing (Fig. 11).

[95] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 300, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, retrieve the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database 128, and send at least the image to the e-mail management component 202. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[96] Shown in Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method 500 including implementations of the present technology. Method 500 may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are stored in a profile database 128. Method 500 is similar to method 300, with the exception that after an image has been retrieved from the profile database 128, profile control server 112 checks with external network service(s) (e.g. External Network Service I 114 and/or External Network Service II 114 to determine whether the retrieved images needs updating - as might be the case if the user of such server associated with a sender e-mail address in question had changed their image in respect of the service in question) to determine whether an updated picture is available and if so uses that picture instead of the retrieved picture. Thus in method 500, at 502, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 504, mail server 118 sends to profile control server 112 the sender e-mail address of the incoming message. At 506, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address of the incoming message from the mail server 118. At 508, the profile control server 112 retrieves from the profile database 128, the profile in respect of the sender e-mail address. The profile includes (or may even consist exclusively) of an image associated with the sender e-mail address. At 510, the profile control server 112 sends the sender e-mail address to an external network service. At 512, the profile control server 112 receives from the external network service an updated image. At 514, the profile control server 114 saves the updated image in the profile database 128. At 516, the profile control server 112 forwards the updated image to the mail server 118. At 518, the mail server 118 receives the updated image from the profile control server 112. At 520, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message along with the updated image to the mail client 120. At 522, the mail client receives the e-mail message and the updated image from the mail server 118. At 524, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in an e-mailbox listing (Fig. 11).

[97] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 500, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, retrieve the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database 128, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an updated image, and send at least the updated image to the e-mail management component 202. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. [98] Shown in Figs 4A-4B is a flow chart illustrating a method 400 including implementations of the present technology. Method 400 may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are stored in a profile database 128. In method 400, at 402, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 404, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message to the mail client. At 406, the mail client receives the e-mail message from the mail server 118. At 408, a user accesses an e-mailbox of the e-mail client. At 410, the e-mail client sends an indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox to the mail server 118. At 412, the mail server 118 receives the indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox from the e-mail client. At 414, the mail server 118 sends the sender e-mail address to the profile control server 112. At 416, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address from the mail server 118. At 418, the profile control server 112 retrieves an image from the profile database 128. At 420, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 422, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 424, the mail server sends the image to the mail client 120. At 426, the mail client receives the image from the mail server 118. At 428, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in the e-mailbox message listing.

[99] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 400, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the incoming e-mail message, receive an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, retrieve the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database 128, and send at least the image to the e-mail management component 202. The e- mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail, send an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, receive the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. [100] Shown in Figs. 6A-6B is a flow chart illustrating a method 600 including implementations of the present technology. Method 600 may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are stored in a profile database 128. Method 600 is similar to method 400, with the exception that after an image has been retrieved from the profile database 128, profile control server 112 checks with external network service(s) to determine whether an updated picture is available and if so uses that picture instead of the retrieved picture. Thus, in method 600, at 602, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 604, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message to the mail client. At 606, the mail client receives the e-mail message from the mail server 118. At 608, a user accesses an e-mailbox of the e-mail client. At 610, the e- mail client sends an indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox to the mail server 118. At 612, the mail server 118 receives the indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox from the e-mail client. At 616, the mail server 118 sends the sender e-mail address to the profile control server 112. At 616, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address from the mail server 118. At 618, the profile control server 112 retrieves an image from the profile database 128. At 620, the profile control server 112 sends the sender e-mail address to an external network service. At 622, the profile control server 112 receives from the external network service an updated image. At 624, the profile control server 114 saves the updated image in the profile database 128. At 626, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 628, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 630, the mail server sends the image to the mail client 120. At 632, the mail client receives the image from the mail server 118. At 634, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in the e-mailbox message listing.

[101] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 600, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the incoming e-mail message, receive an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, retrieve the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database 128, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an updated image, and send at least the updated image to the e-mail management component 202. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail, send an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, receive the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[102] Shown in Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method 700 including implementations of the present technology. Method 700 is similar to method 300 but may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are not stored in a profile database 128. In method 700, at 702, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 704, mail server 118 sends to profile control server 112 the sender e-mail address of the incoming message. At 706, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address of the incoming message from the mail server 118. At 708, the profile control server 112 sends the sender e-mail address to an external network service. At 710, the profile control server 112 receives from the external network service an updated image. At 712, the profile control server 114 saves the updated image in the profile database 128. At 714, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 716, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 718, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message along with the image to the mail client. At 720, the mail client receives the e-mail message and the image from the mail server 118. At 722, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in an e-mailbox listing (Fig. 11). [103] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 700, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an updated image, and send at least the updated image to the e-mail management component 202. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[104] Shown in Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method 900 including implementations of the present technology. Method 900 may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are not stored in a profile database 128. Method 900 is similar to method 700 but also includes steps to maintain images up-to-date after having initially been retrieved from an external network service. Thus, in method 900, at 902, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 904, mail server 118 sends to profile control server 112 the sender e-mail address of the incoming message. At 906, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e- mail address of the incoming message from the mail server 118. At 908, the profile control server 112 sends the sender e-mail address to an external network service. At 910, the profile control server 112 receives from the external network service an updated image. At 912, the profile control server 114 saves the updated image in the profile database 128. At 914, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 916, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 918, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message along with the image to the mail client. At 920, the mail client receives the e-mail message and the image from the mail server 118. At 922, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in an e-mailbox listing (Fig. 11). To maintain the image up-to-date, periodically, at 924, the profile control server 112 resends the sender e-mail address to an external network service(s). At 926, the profile control server 112 receives an updated image from the external network service(s). At 928, the profile control server 112 saves the updated images in the profile database 128.

[105] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 900, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an image, and send at least the image to the e-mail management component 202. The profile management component 204 is also configured to resend the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an updated image, and to store the updated image. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[106] Shown in Figs 8A-8B is a flow chart illustrating a method 800 including implementations of the present technology. Method 800 is similar to method 400, but may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are not stored in a profile database 128. In method 800, at 802, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 804, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message to the mail client. At 806, the mail client receives the e-mail message from the mail server 118. At 808, a user accesses an e-mailbox of the e-mail client. At 810, the e-mail client sends an indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox to the mail server 118. At 812, the mail server 118 receives the indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox from the e-mail client. At 814, the mail server 118 sends the sender e-mail address to the profile control server 112. At 816, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address from the mail server 118. At 818, the profile control server 112 sends the sender e-mail address to an external network service. At 820, the profile control server 112 receives from the external network service an image. At 822, the profile control server 114 saves the image in the profile database 128. At 824, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 826, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 828, the mail server sends the image to the mail client 120. At 830, the mail client receives the image from the mail server 118. At 832, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in the e-mailbox message listing.

[107] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 800, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the incoming e-mail message, receive an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an image, and send at least the image to the e-mail management component 202. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail, send an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, receive the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image.

[108] Shown in Fig. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method 1000 including implementations of the present technology. Method 1000 may be employed in respect of an incoming e-mail message where the sender e-mail address and an image associated therewith are not stored in a profile database 128. Method 1000 is similar to method 800 but also includes steps to maintain images up-to-date after having initially been retrieved from an external network service. Thus, in method 1000, at 1002, mail server 118 receives the incoming message. At 1004, the mail server 118 sends the e-mail message to the mail client. At 1006, the mail client receives the e-mail message from the mail server 118. At 1008, a user accesses an e-mailbox of the e-mail client. At 1010, the e-mail client sends an indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox to the mail server 118. At 1012, the mail server 118 receives the indication that the user is accessing the e-mailbox from the e-mail client. At 1014, the mail server 118 sends the sender e-mail address to the profile control server 112. At 1016, the profile control server 112 receives the sender e-mail address from the mail server 118. At 1018, the profile control server 112 sends the sender e-mail address to an external network service. At 1020, the profile control server 112 receives from the external network service an image. At 1022, the profile control server 114 saves the image in the profile database 128. At 1024, the profile control server 112 forwards the image to the mail server 118. At 1026, the mail server 118 receives the image from the profile control server 112. At 1030, the mail server sends the image to the mail client 120. At 1032, the mail client receives the image from the mail server 118. At 1034, the mail client displays the e-mail message and the image in the e-mailbox message listing. To maintain the image up- to-date, periodically, at 1036, the profile control server 112 resends the sender e-mail address to an external network service(s). At 1038, the profile control server 112 receives an updated image from the external network service(s). At 1040, the profile control server 112 saves the updated images in the profile database 128.

[109] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 600, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the incoming e-mail message, receive an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, retrieve the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database 128, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an updated image, and send at least the updated image to the e-mail management component 202. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail, send an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, receive the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. [110] Thus, in a system (Fig. 2) implementing method 1000, the various components (200, 202, 204) have the following functions. The e-mail management component 202 (e.g. mail server 118) is configured to receive an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, send the incoming e-mail message, receive an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e-mail client, send the sender e-mail address to the profile management component 204, receive a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component 204, the profile including an image, and send the image to the e-mail client component 200. The profile management component 204 (e.g. profile control server 112) is configured to receive the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component 202, send the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an image, and send at least the image to the e-mail management component 202. The profile management component 204 is also configured to resend the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receive from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least an updated image, and to store the updated image. The e-mail client component 200 (e.g. portable computer 120) is configured to for receive the incoming e-mail, send an indication that a user is accessing an e-mailbox of the e- mail client, receive the image from the e-mail management component 202, and display in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e-mail message and the image. [111] Referring to Fig. 11, there is shown a non-limiting example of an e-mailbox view 1100 showing a listing of e-mail messages. In the view 1100 there is a series of rows and columns, with 1 per e-mail message. In each of each e-mail message (in the columns) are provided a number of fields that are commonly displayed. For example, there are a number of indicators 1102, 1104, 1114, 1116 (e.g. a read/unread indicator, a flag indicator, a message size indicator, an attachment indicator, etc.). There is also a sender name 1108, a picture 1106 associated with the sender e-mail address (as per the present technology), the reception date 1110, and the subject of the email 1112. [112] Referring to Fig. 12, there is shown a non- limiting example of contact information "card" 1200 providing the contact information a person. In "card" 1200 the contact information is presented in a series of fields, including: the name 1212, e-mail addresses 1204, telephone numbers 1206, addresses 1208, personal information 1210 (e.g. date of birth, spouse's name, etc.). There is also provided a picture 1202 as per the present technology.

[113] Modifications and improvements to the above- described embodiments of the present invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art. The foregoing description is intended to be exemplary rather than limiting. The scope of the present invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, comprising: receiving, by the mail server, the incoming e-mail message, the incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

3. A method of handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, comprising: receiving, by the mail server, the incoming e-mail message, the incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address;

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

5. A method of providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, comprising:

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail address from the profile database and prior to sending at least the image,

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database by the profile control server.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein:

sending at least the image is sending, by the profile control server to the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, at least some of the images.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising, after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail addresses from the profile database and prior to sending at least the images,

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database by the profile control server.

11. A method of providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, comprising:

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, effecting storage of at least the image in a profile database by the profile control server.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

14. The method of clam 11, wherein:

receiving information associated with the e-mail address is receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, information associated with the e-mail addresses, the information including images; and

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising, effecting storage of at least some of the images in a profile database by the profile control server.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

17. A method in a computer system for providing information as to a sender of an e-mail message, comprising: within a graphical user interface displayed on a display associated with the computer system, presenting an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages, each of the e-mail messages having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages in the listing having an image associated with the sender e-mail address presented in the listing of e-mail messages.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein at least some of the images originate from a source other than an application managing the e-mailbox.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least some of the images originate from an external network service.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least some of the images originate from a social networking service.

21. A method in a computer system for providing e-mail information to a user of the computer system, comprising:

22. The method of claim 21, wherein at least some of the images originate from a source other than an application managing the e-mailbox.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least some of the images originate from an external network service.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least some of the images originate from a social networking service.

25. A method in a computer system for providing information as to a sender of an e-mail message, comprising: within a graphical user interface displayed on a display associated with the computer system, presenting a window providing contact information associated with a sender e-mail address of the e-mail message, the window providing an image associated with the sender e-mail address, the image originating from a source other than an application managing at least one of e-mail messages and contact information.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the image originates from an external network service.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the image originates from a social networking service.

28. A method in a computer system for providing e-mail information to a user of the computer system, comprising:

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the image originates from a source other than an application managing at least one of e-mail messages and contact information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the image originates from an external network service.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the image originates from a social networking service.

32. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

33. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 32, wherein: receiving the incoming e-mail message is receiving, by the mail server, a plurality of incoming e-mail messages, each of the plurality of incoming e-mail messages having a sender e-mail address;

34. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for handling an incoming e-mail message by a mail server, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

35. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 34, wherein:

sending the incoming e-mail is sending, by the mail server to a recipient e-mail client application, the plurality of incoming e-mail messages; sending the sender e-mail address is sending, by the mail server to a profile control server, each of the sender e-mail addresses;

36. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

37. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 36, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail address from the profile database and prior to sending at least the image,

38. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 37, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database by the profile control server.

39. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 36, wherein: receiving the e-mail address is receiving, by a profile control server from the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, the e-mail addresses;

sending at least the image is sending, by the profile control server to the one of the mail server and the e-mail client application, at least the images.

40. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 39, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect, after effecting retrieval of information associated with the e-mail addresses from the profile database and prior to sending at least the images,

41. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 40, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect effecting storage of at least some of the updated information in the profile database by the profile control server.

42. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon providing one of a mail server and an e-mail client application with an image associated with an e-mail address, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

sending, by the profile control server to at least one external network service, the e- mail address; receiving, by the profile control server from the at least one external network service, information associated with the e-mail address, the information including at least the image; and

43. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 42, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect effecting storage of at least the image in a profile database by the profile control server.

44. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 43, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect,

45. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 42, wherein:

46. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 45, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect effecting storage of at least some of the images in a profile database by the profile control server.

47. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 46, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions that when executed by the computer processor effect,

48. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing information as to a sender of an e-mail message, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect: within a graphical user interface displayed on a display associated with the computer processor, presenting an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages, each of the e-mail messages having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages in the listing having an image associated with the sender e-mail address presented in the listing of e- mail messages.

49. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 48, wherein at least some of the images originate from a source other than an application managing the e-mailbox.

50. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 49, wherein the at least some of the images originate from an external network service.

51. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 50, wherein the at least some of the images originate from a social networking service.

52. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing e-mail information to a user of the computer system, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

receiving, by the computer system from a mail server, a plurality of e-mail messages, the e-mail messages each having a sender e-mail address, at least some of the e-mail messages having an image associated with that e-mail message's sender e-mail address; presenting, via a graphical user interface on a display associated with the computer system, an e-mailbox, the e-mailbox having a listing of the plurality of e-mail messages including the image associated with that e-mail message's sender e-mail address, if any.

53. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 52, wherein at least some of the images originate from a source other than an application managing the e-mailbox.

54. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 53, wherein the at least some of the images originate from an external network service.

55. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 54, wherein the at least some of the images originate from a social networking service.

56. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing information as to a sender of an e-mail message, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect: within a graphical user interface displayed on a display associated with the computer processor, presenting a window providing contact information associated with a sender e-mail address of the e-mail message, the window providing an image associated with the sender e-mail address, the image originating from a source other than an application managing at least one of e-mail messages and contact information.

57. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 56, wherein the image originates from an external network service.

58. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 57, wherein the image originates from a social networking service.

59. A computer usable information storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for providing e-mail information to a user of a computer system, the computer readable program code including instructions that when executed by a computer processor effect:

receiving, by the computer system, an image associated with the sender e-mail address of the e-mail message; presenting, via a graphical user interface on a display associated with the computer system, a window providing contact information associated with the sender e-mail address of the e-mail message, the window providing the image associated with the sender e-mail address.

60. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 59, wherein the image originates from a source other than an application managing at least one of e-mail messages and contact information.

61. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 60, wherein the image originates from an external network service.

62. The computer usable information storage medium of claim 61, wherein the image originates from a social networking service.

63. A system comprising:

an e-mail client component, an e-mail management component, and a profile management component;

the e-mail management component for

receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, the profile including an image, and sending the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component;

the profile management component for

receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, and

sending at least the image to the e-mail management component; and the e-mail client component for

receiving the incoming e-mail and the image from the e-mail management component, and

displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e- mail message and the image.

64. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, and sending the incoming e-mail message to the e-mail client component;

the profile management component for

receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, the profile including an image, and

sending at least the image to the e-mail client component; and the e-mail client component for

receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, and receiving the image from the profile management component, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e- mail message and the image.

65. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the incoming e-mail message to the e-mail client component;

the e-mail client component for

receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, the profile including an image, and displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e- mail message and the image; and

the profile management component for

receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail client component, retrieving the profile associated with the sender e-mail address from a profile database, and

sending at least the image to the e-mail client component.

66. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

receiving a profile associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, the profile including an image, and sending the image to the e-mail client component;

the e-mail client component for

receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving the image from the e-mail management component, displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e- mail message and the image; and

the profile management component for

sending at least the image to the e-mail management component.

67. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

receiving an incoming e-mail message having a sender e-mail address, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and sending the incoming e-mail message and the image to the e-mail client component;

the profile management component for

receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receiving from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least the image, and

68. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

the profile management component for

69. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

the e-mail client component for

receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and

displaying in an e-mailbox having a listing of e-mail messages the incoming e- mail message and the image; and

the profile management component for

receiving the sender e-mail address from the e-mail client component, sending the sender e-mail address to at least one external network service, receiving from the at least one external network service information associated with the sender e-mail address, the information including at least the image, and

sending at least the image to the e-mail client component.

70. A system comprising:

the e-mail management component for

receiving an image associated with the sender e-mail address from the profile management component, and

sending the image to the e-mail client component;

the e-mail client component for receiving the incoming e-mail from the e-mail management component, sending the sender e-mail address to the profile management component, receiving the image from the e-mail client component,

the profile management component for

sending at least the image to the e-mail management component.