WO2017195151A1

WO2017195151A1 - Electronic business cards

Info

Publication number: WO2017195151A1
Application number: PCT/IB2017/052778
Authority: WO
Inventors: Taimoor Muhammad KHAN
Original assignee: Perry + Currier Inc.
Priority date: 2016-05-11
Filing date: 2017-05-11
Publication date: 2017-11-16

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a system for exchanging electronic business cards between client devices. The system includes client devices that receive electronic business cards containing video content from a server, automatically store the electronic business cards in memory, and render on the display of the client device an electronic business card that contains video content.

Description

ELECTRONIC BUSINESS CARDS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to US Patent Application No. 62/334,495, filed May 1 1 , 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to electronic business cards, and more specifically a method and system for exchanging multi-lingual electronic business cards containing video content between client computing devices.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Business cards play an essential role in developing and facilitating business networking both locally and worldwide. Traditional paper business cards continue to be used by most businesses.

[0004] Traditional paper business cards, however, have numerous limitations. First, traditional business cards provide static information related to a business, such as, for example, a logo of the business, a name of the company, a person's details and contact information. Second, although businesses dealing internationally can either scan and send their business cards to their prospective clients by email, or send their business card by traditional mail which is quite costly, businesses which require their business cards to be translated into multiple languages have to get their business cards printed in all those languages separately and also have to carry the whole range of cards with them so as to be able to hand out the appropriate language card when required, or else risk missing a business opportunity. Third, traditional business cards are difficult to organize. One must get a business card holder book and manage through it, if you happen to have a quite large collection of them you must spend substantial amount of time in finding that right business card through your entire collection, which could also mean a lost business opportunity if you managed to lose a card of a potential client. Fourth, one's ability to distribute business cards is limited to the number of business cards on one's person and it is not quick to get the new pack printed. Fifth, if your business contact details are changed for some reason finding your existing business card holders and notifying them of the change is a big hassle which will result your precious time and business opportunity loss. Sixth, traditional business cards have negative impact on the environment, not just the board which is responsible for big carbon footprint but also the toxic inks which are used in its printing process.

[0005] Services for exchanging business contact information exists, however, these services are not suitable for businesses being transacted in multiple languages, and do not address the difficulties associated with collecting and organizing business cards. Further, these services do not send notifications when business contact information changes. Moreover, these services do not address the limited brand impact that can be achieved through the use of only static logos and static information on a business card.

SUMMARY

[0006] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system and method for exchanging electronic business cards. The system including a first client device, a second client device, a server storing user identifiers associated with users of an application for exchanging electronic business cards. The server is configured to facilitate the exchange of business contact information between the first client device and the second mobile device upon receiving requests to exchange electronic business cards from the first and second client devices.

[0007] In other aspects of the present invention, the server is further configured to exchange translated electronic business cards between the first and second client devices.

[0008] In other aspects of the present invention, the electronic business cards exchanged between the first and second client devices include business contact data and a video file.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram of electronic business card exchange system, according to a non-limiting embodiment; [0011] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a server of the electronic business card exchange system of FIG. 1 , according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a client device of the electronic business card exchange system of FIG. 1 , according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0013] FIG. 4A is a diagram of a business card database or library, according to a non- limiting embodiment;

[0014] FIG. 4B is a diagram of electronic business cards according, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0015] FIG. 4C is a diagram of electronic business cards according, according to a another non-limiting embodiment.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a main page rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 3, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a sign-in page rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 4, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0018] FIG. 7 is a diagram of a sign-up rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 3, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0019] FIG. 8 is a diagram of a menu structure rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 3, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0020] FIG. 9 is a diagram of a business card library rendered on a display of the client to a device of FIG. 3, according non-limiting embodiment;

[0021] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an activity page rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 3, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0022] FIG. 1 1 is a flowchart showing a method performed by a client device of the electronic business card exchange system of FIG. 1 , according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0023] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a method performed by a server of the electronic business card exchange system of FIG. 1 , according to another non-limiting embodiment; [0024] FIG. 13 is a diagram of a activity record page rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 3, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0025] FIG. 14 is a diagram of a user profile page rendered on a display of the client device of FIG. 3, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

[0026] FIG. 15 is a diagram of an electronic business card rendered on a display of the client to a device of FIG. 3, according non-limiting embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to be

understood that this invention is not limited to the particular structures, process steps, or materials disclosed herein, but is extended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understood that terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.

[0028] It should be understood that many of the functions described in this specification have been described as embodied in programs stored in memory and executable by processors. Programs may indeed be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified program of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified program need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the program and achieve the stated purpose for the program.

[0029] A program may also be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A program may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays,

programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like. [0030] Indeed, a program of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within programs, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The programs may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

[0031] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an

embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0032] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of materials, fasteners, sizes, lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows an electronic business card exchange system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] The electronic business card exchange system 100 (referred to hereinafter as system 100) includes four client devices 102-1 , 102-2, 102-3, 102-4 (referred to hereinafter generically as a client device 102 and collectively as client devices 102), a network 104, and a server 106 connected to network 104. The network 104 connects client devices 102 to the server 106. The network 104 may include network devices, such as hubs (not shown), routers 108, network cables (not shown), wireless access points 1 10, 1 12, cellular base stations (not shown),, fiber-optic lines (not shown),, and the like,. The system 100 also includes another network 1 14, and a weather service server 1 16 connected to the server 106 via the network 1 14. The network 1 14 may include network devices, such as hubs, routers, network cables, wireless access points, fiber-optic lines, and the like, generally indicated at 1 18. It will be appreciated that although the networks 104, 1 14 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as two distinct networks, in alternative embodiments, the networks 104, 1 14 may be the same network.

[0035] The client devices 102 may each be a computer such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, tablet computer, smart phone, a mobile device, a netbook, and the like. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , four client devices 102 are shown, including two mobile devices (client devices 102-1 , 102-2), a desktop computer (e.g. client device 102-3), and a laptop computer (client device 102-4. It will be appreciated that although system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes four client devices 102, in alternative embodiments, the system 100 may include any number of client devices 102.

[0036] The server 106 is configured to communicate with the client devices 102 to store electronic business cards created by users of the client devices 102 and to exchange electronic business cards between client devices 102 for storage thereon. The server 106 is also configured to store multiple translated versions of each electronic business card corresponding to a user of the client device 102 as described in further detail below.

[0037] The network 1 14 connects the weather service server 1 16 to server 106. The weather service server 1 16 provides weather data to server 106 as described in further detail below.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows an example embodiment of a computer that can be used as the server 106. The server 106 includes a processor 200, memory 202, a network interface 204, and can further include an input device 206, and an output device 208. The processor 200, memory 202, network interface 204, the input device 206 and the output device 208 are electrically interconnected and can be physically contained within a housing or frame. The server 106 may be computer such as a rack-mount server, blade server, tower server, or another kind of computer, or a process or program running on such a computer. The server 106 can also be a virtual machine operated by a third- party, such as Amazon Web Services™ or Microsoft Azure™.

[0039] The processor 200 is configured to execute instructions, which may originate from the memory 202 or the network interface 204. The processor 200 may be known as a central processing unit (CPU). The processor 200 can include one or more sub- processors or processing cores. The processor 200 controls the overall operation of the server 106.

[0040] The memory 202 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium that is configured to store programs and data. The memory 202 can include one or more short- term or long-term storage devices, such as a solid-state memory chip (e.g., DRAM, ROM, non-volatile flash memory), a hard drive, an optical storage disc, and similar. The memory 202 can include fixed components that are not physically removable from the server (e.g., fixed hard drives) as well as removable components (e.g., removable virtual hard drives). The memory 202 allows for random access.

[0041] The network interface 204 is configured to allow server 106 to communicate with other computers, including client devices 102, across the network 104 and the network 1 14. The network interface 204 can include one or more of a wired and wireless network adaptor as well as a software or firmware driver for controlling such adaptor.

[0042] The input device 206, if provided, can include any suitable input device, such as, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch-sensitive element of a touch-screen display, or similar device. The input device 206 can be remote to the server 106 and provided via the network interface 204 to a client device 102 operated by a remote administrator. [0043] The output device 208, if provided, can include a display device, such as a monitor, a bank of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), or similar for monitoring operations of server 106.

[0044] The software program or application 210 (hereinafter referred to as application 210) can be executed by the server 106 to carry out the methods and functionality described herein. Such an application 210 may reference the data 212 in the form of databases, files, URL or web addresses, or other data structures. Data 212 in the form of databases includes a database or library that includes user account identifiers for each user, one or more electronic business cards corresponding to each user stored in association with each unique user account identifier. Data 212 in the form of URL or web address includes URL or web addresses that are stored in association with each unique user identifier. Each URL or web address references a location on a computer network, such as the network 104 or 1 14, where a video file associated with the user is stored.

[0045] FIG. 3 shows an example embodiment of a computer that can be used as any of the client devices 102. The computer includes a processor 300, memory 302, a network interface 304, a display 306, an input device 308, a global positioning satellite (GPS) sensor 310, and a short-range communications subsystem 312. The processor 300, memory 302, network interface 304, display 306 and input device 308, the GPS sensor 310, and the short-range communications subsystem 312 are electrically interconnected and can be physically contained within a housing or frame.

[0046] The processor 300 is configured to control the overall operations of the client device 102. The processor 300 execute instructions of a software program or application 318 stored in the memory 302. The processor 300 may be known as a central processing unit (CPU), a controller. The processor 300 can include one or more sub-processors or processing cores.

[0047] The memory 302 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium that is configured to store programs or applications and data. The memory 202 can include one or more short-term or long-term storage devices, such as a solid-state memory chip (e.g., DRAM, ROM, non-volatile flash memory), a hard drive, an optical storage disc, and similar. The memory 302 can include fixed components that are not physically removable from the server (e.g., fixed hard drives) as well as removable components (e.g., removable memory cards). The memory 302 allows for random access.

[0048] The network interface 304 is configured to allow the client devices 102 to communicate with each other and other computers across the network 104. The network interface 304 can include one or more of a wired and wireless network adaptor and well as a software or firmware driver for controlling such adaptor.

[0049] The display 306 can include any suitable display device, such as for example an LCD display, LED display, a monitor and the like.

[0050] The input device 308 can include any suitable input device, such as for example, a keyboard, keypad, mouse, a camera, or similar device.

[0051] The GPS sensor 310 obtains GPS coordinates of the client device 102 and provides the GPS coordinates to processor 300.

[0052] The short-range communications subsystem 312 provides for communication between client devices 102, without the use of network 104. For example, short-range communications subsystem 312 may include an infrared device and associated circuits and components for short-range communication. Examples of short-range

communication standards include standards developed by the Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Bluetooth, Near Field Communications (NFC), and the 802.1 1 family of standards developed by the IEEE.

[0053] The client device 102 includes an operating system 314, such as, for example, iOS™ or Android™, that is executed by the processor 300 and stored in memory 302. The client device 102 also includes a contact application 316 executed by the processor 300 and stored in memory 302. The contact application 316 includes functionality for organizing and managing contacts of a user of the client device 102. [0054] The client device 102 also includes a software program or application 318 (hereafter referred to as application 318) to carry out the methods and functionality described herein. The application 318 is configured to execute instructions to provide graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for display on the display 306 of a client device 102, to exchange electronic business cards with the server 106, and to interact with the contact application 316 to store business contact data included in the electronic business cards received from the server 106. The application 318 may reference data 320 in the form of databases, files, or other data structures. Data 320 can include business contact data representative of business contacts of the user of the client device 102. The application 318 may also execute instructions to access or interact with the contact application 316 to update contact data stored in the memory 302 as described in further detail below.

[0055] It will be appreciated that although application 318 is shown in FIG. 3, in alternative embodiments, a web browser may be stored in memory 302 of the client device 102 and the processor 300 may interact with the web browser using, for example, HTML instructions, to perform the methods described in further detail below.

[0056] FIG. 4A shows an example embodiment of a business card library 400 stored in memory 202 of the server 106. The business card library 400 includes records 402-1 , 402-2, 403-3, 404-4 (referred to hereinafter as generically as a record 402 and collectively as records 402). Each record 402 has fields, including a user account ID field 404, and business card ID fields 406-1 , 406-2, 406-3, 406-4 (referred to hereinafter individually as business card ID field 406 and collectively as business card ID fields 406). The user account ID field 404 includes a user account identifier for registered users of the application 210. Each business card ID field 406 includes an identifier of an electronic business cards (referred to hereinafter as business card ID) stored in the memory 202 that is associated with the user account identifier for the user. Each record 402 can include more one or business card ID fields 406. Each business card ID field 406 identifies a different translated version of the electronic business card stored in the memory 202 of the server 106. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 4A, the identifier of each business card ID is a hexadecimal number comprising four digits. It will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, business card ID may have any suitable number of hexadecimal digits. Also, it will be appreciated that the business card ID may have other formats, including the format shown in FIG. 15.

[0057] FIG. 4B shows an example embodiment of an electronic business cards 410 stored in the memory 302. The electronic business card 410 corresponds with a user of the system 100 and is stored association with a business card ID in the memory 302. In the embodiment in FIG. 4B, the electronic business card 410 is associated with the business ID 1 1 1 1. The electronic business card 410 includes business card data that identifies one or more of following: a first name, a last name, one or more phone numbers, an email address, an address, a job title, and a website of an company the registered user works for. The business contact data can also identify a uniform resource locator (URL) or web address where a video file associated with the business card ID is located in the network 104 or the network 1 14, a URL or web address where a personal photo associated with the business card ID is located in the network 104 or the network 1 14, and a URL or web address where a company logo associated with the business card ID is located in the network 104 or the network 1 14. The electronic business card 410 depicted in FIG. 4B includes the first name, the last name, a phone number, an email address, an address, a job identifier identified by business card ID 1 1 1 1 , and a URL where a video for the user identified by business card ID 1 1 1 1 is located in the network 104, 1 1 1.

[0058] It will be appreciated that each business card ID is stored in association with an electronic business card 410 that has a similar structure as shown in FIG. 4B.

[0059] Figure 4C depicts an example embodiment of a table 412 stored in the memory 302 that includes electronic business cards 414-1 , ... , 414-13 of users of the system 100. Each electronic business card 414-1 , ... , 414-13 is identified by a

BusinessCardID and each electronic business card 414-1 , ... , 414-13 includes business card data including a first name, a last name, a job title, a company name, a company tagline, a phone number, a mobile number, a company website address (e.g. URL), an address, city, country, postal code, email, company logo website address (e.g. URL), and personal photo website address (e.g. URL). [0060] Reference is now made to FIG. 5 to FIG. 10, which depict a front view of a client device 102, including the display 306, and various graphical user interfaces (GUIs) rendered on the display 306 when the processor 300 executes instructions of the application 318.

[0061] FIG. 5 depicts a main page 500 of the application 318 rendered at the display 306 of the client device 102, according to a non-limiting embodiment. The main page 500 may be rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102 a first time a user of the client device 102 opens the application 318. The application 318 executes instructions to automatically play an introductory short video in a media player provided in the main page 500 to give the user a better understanding about a brand and how the application 318 works. If the user wants to go through the introductory video again, the user can select a play icon 502 included in the main page 500. The main page 500 also includes a register button 506 which when selected, causes the processor 300 to execute instructions of the application 318 to render on the display 306, a page to create an account and enter business information of the user.

[0062] FIG. 6 depicts a sign-up page 600 of the application 318 rendered at the display 306 of the client device 102, according to a non-limiting embodiment, which enables users of the client device 102 to sign in to their personal dashboard within the system 100. A user of the client device 102 is requested to enter basic sign up details in order to proceed with the process of generating bespoke electronic business cards. The sign-up page also includes a button 602 that enables users to quickly sign up through a business information account, such as a Linkedln account. When a user selects button 602, business contact data is pulled from the Linkedln platform with prior permission from the user and stored in the memory 302 of the client device 102 in, for example, a business card library.

[0063] FIG. 7 depicts a sign-in page 700 displayed on the display 306 of a client device 102 when the application 318, according to a non-limiting embodiment. The example embodiment shown is the sign-in page when the client device 102 operating system 314 is the iOS. The sign-in page 700 is where users can sign-in to their personal dashboard within the system 100 provided to them. This dashboard can be rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102. Users can update their business contact information using the input device 206 of the client device 102, and the application 318 can execute instructions to synchronize business contact data across all the connected client devices 102 so users will always have up to date business contact data for other businesses they have exchanged electronic business cards with and stored in a business card library in the memory 302 of the client device 102.

[0064] FIG. 8 depicts a menu page 800 rendered on a display when the processor 300 executes instructions of the application 318, according to a non-limiting embodiment. The menu page 800 includes a dashboard tab 802, an activity tab 804, analytics tab 806, and a setting tab 808. A user of the client device 102 with an active account, upon selection of the dashboard tab 802 can update their business contact information. A user of the client device 102, upon selection of the activity tab 804, can check their activity on the system 100 by selecting the activity tab 804. The analytics tab 806, upon selection, can provide in-depth details of how the electronic business card associated with the user of the client device 102 is performing within the system 100. The settings tab 808 can be selected by a user of the client device 102 to render a menu that enables to change the general app preferences and other relevant settings through this tab. For users who have multiple companies that will require separate business card under both companies must need to logout from one company's account and log back in with the second one to be able to exchange that business card or do necessary updates that can be done through the logout button 810.

[0065] FIG. 9 depicts a business card library page 900 rendered on a display when the processor 300 executes instructions of the application 318. The example embodiment shown is a view of electronic business cards received from other within the iOS application interface. The electronic business cards are displayed in the business card library page 900 in a list which can grow periodically once the user receives more electronic business cards from other client devices 102. The list can be sorted in various ways, such as for example, by alphabetic order, company's name, user's name, industry, profession or by country to make the in-app search process efficient and easier. The top search bar 902 serves the purpose of in-app searches. This search query will only search through the business cards the user has got in their entire library. [0066] FIG. 10 depicts an activity page 1000 rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102, according to a non-limiting embodiment. The activity page 1000 includes a list of recent activities related to an electronic business card 410, 414 of a user and the business of the user. The client device 102 pushes or sends a notification whenever an event of any important activity occurs, which helps user of the client device 102 to be proactive about the unfolding regarding their business and can proactively engage the potential business client.

[0067] It is emphasized that each of the pages 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 rendered on the display 306 of the client device 192 described by way of example only. Variations of these pages are contemplated, including embodiments which may exist on Android, BlackBerry, or Windows phones, and embodiments with variations in the layout and structure of these pages.

[0068] Reference is now made to FIG. 1 1 to describe an example embodiment of a method performed by a client device 102 of the system 100 to exchange electronic business cards with another client device 102 of the system 100, indicated generally at 1 100. For the discussion of an example performance of method 1 100, it is assumed that client device 102-1 is performing method 1 100. It will be appreciated, however, that any client devices 102 of system 100 may perform method 1 100.

[0069] Method 1 100 may be carried out by routines or subroutines of application 318 executed by processor 300. Coding of software for carrying out such steps is well within the scope of a person of ordinary skilled in the art having regard to the present specification. Method 1 100 may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and described, and may be performed in a different order.

[0070] Regardless, it is to be emphasized, that method 1 100 of FIG. 1 1 need not be performed in the exact sequence as shown, unless otherwise indicated; and likewise, various blocks may be performed in parallel rather than in sequence; hence the elements of method 1 100 of FIG. 1 1 are referred to herein as "blocks" rather than "steps". It is also to be understood, however, that method 1 100 of FIG. 1 1 can be implemented on variations of the client device 102 as well. [0071] Method 1 100 begins at block 1 105 where a client device 102 a request to exchange electronic business cards with another client device 102 of system 100. In the present example performance of method 1 100, it will be assumed that the processor 300 of the client device 102 executes instructions of the application 318 to receive, at block 1 105, from client device 102-2, a user account identifier of a user of the application 318 on the client device 102-2. The user account identifier of the user is a unique account identifier of the user of the client device 102-2 that is associated by the server 106 with the user. The method 1 100 then proceeds to block 1 1 10.

[0072] In an embodiment, the client device 102-1 receives, at block 1 105, the user account identifier of a user of the client device 102-2 via the short-range

communications subsystem 312. For example, when the client device 102-2 is placed in proximity to the client device 102-1 , the client device 102-2 transmits, using the short- range communication subsystem 312 and near field communications (NFC), the user account identifier to the client device 102-1. The client device 102-1 receives at the processor 300, via the short-range communications subsystem 312, the user account identifier of the user of client device 102-2 and then method 1 100 proceeds to block 1 1 10.

[0073] In an alternative embodiment, the client device 102-1 , receives, at block 1 105, the user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-2 by capturing, using a camera of the client device 102-1 , a QR code rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102-2, and processing, using the processor 300, the captured QR code to obtain a user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-2 included in the QR code. The method then proceeds to block 1 1 10.

[0074] In another alternative embodiment, the client device 102-1 , receives at block 1 105, the user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-2 when a user of the client device 102-1 selects a uniform resource locator (URL) link displayed in a signature line of an email rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102-2. When a user of client device 102-2 selects the URL link by for example, clicking on the link, the client device 102-2 sends a user account identifier embedded in the URL link to the client device 102-1 via the network 104. The client device 102-1 receives the user account identifier of a user of the client device 102-2 and the method proceeds to block 1 1 10.

[0075] At block 1 1 10, the client device 102-1 transmits, to the server 106 via the network interface 304 and network 104, a request to exchange electronic business cards with the client device 102-1. The request includes the user account identifier associated with the user account of the client device 102-2. The method then proceeds to block 1 1 15.

[0076] At block 1 1 15, the server 106 retrieves from the data 212 in the memory 202, the electronic business card stored in association with the user account identifier and sends, via the network interface 204 and the network 104, the electronic business cad to the client device 102-1. The client device 102-1 receives, from the server 106 via the network 104 and the network interface 304, the electronic business card. The electronic business card received from the server 106 can include business contact data and a URL or web address of a video file associated with the electronic business card corresponding to the user. The business contact data can include data representative a first name of the user, a last name of the user, an address of the user, a phone number of the user, a website of an organization of the user, and the like. The method then proceeds to block 1 120.

[0077] At block 1 120, the processor 300 of the client device 102-1 executes instructions of the application 318 to interact with the contact application 316 to create a new contact record, populate fields of the new contact record with the business contact data of the received electronic business card 410, 414, and store the new contact record in data 320 of the memory 302 of the client device 102-1. The new contact record includes fields identifying a first name, a last name, a phone number, a mobile number, an email address, an address, and a job title of the user associated with the received business card, and the application 318 executes instructions to store, in the fields of the contact record, the business contact data of the electronic business card received from the server 106. The new contact record can also include fields that identify one or more of: a uniform resource locator (URL) or web address where a video file associated with the business card ID is located in the network 104 or the network 1 14, a URL or web address where a personal photo associated with the business card ID is located in the network 104 or the network 1 14, and a URL or web address where a company logo associated with the business card ID is located in the network 104 or the network 1 14. At block 1 120, the processor 300 of the client device 102-1 executes instructions of the application 318 to rendered the electronic business card on the display 306 of the client device 102, as shown in FIG. 15.

[0078] Reference is now made to FIG. 12 to describe an example embodiment of a method performed by a server 106 of the system 100 to exchange electronic business cards between client devices 102 of the system 100 that are not in physical proximity to each other but geographic proximity to each other, indicated generally at 1200. For the discussion of an example performance of method 1200, it is assumed that client devices 102-1 and 102-2 are each sending a request to exchange electronic business cards with each other. However, it will be appreciated that the server 106 can receive requests from any two client devices in the system 100 for exchanging electronic business cards.

[0079] Method 1200 may be carried out by routines or subroutines of software programs or application 210 executed by processor 200. Coding of software for carrying out such steps is well within the scope of a person of ordinary skilled in the art having regard to the present specification. Method 1200 may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and described, and may be performed in a different order.

[0080] Regardless, it is to be emphasized, that method 1200 of FIG. 12 need not be performed in the exact sequence as shown, unless otherwise indicated; and likewise, various blocks may be performed in parallel rather than in sequence; hence the elements of method 1200 of FIG. 12 are referred to herein as "blocks" rather than "steps". It is also to be understood, however, that method 1200 of FIG. 12 can be implemented on variations of the server 106 as well.

[0081] Method 1200 begins at block 1205. At block 1205, the server 106 receives, from client device 102-1 via the network 104, a first request to exchange electronic business cards with a user of the client device 102-2. The first request can be received when the processor 300 of the client device 102-1 detects selection of a selectable item rendered in a GUI on the display 306 of the client device 102-1 , such as for example, of the send buttons 1302, 1304, 1308, 1308 shown in FIG. 13. Each selectable item is representative of a user of a client device 102-2. The first request includes a user account identifier of the user of the application at the client device 102-2. At block 1205, the client device 102-2 receives, via the network 104 and the network interface 304, a second request send by the client device 102-1. The second request can be received when the processor 300 of the client device 102-1 detects selection of a selectable item rendered in a GUI on the display 306 of the client device 102-2, such as for example, of the send buttons 1302, 1304, 1308, 1308 shown in FIG. 13. The second request includes a user account identifier of the user of the application at the client device 102- 1. The method 1200 then proceeds to block 1210.

[0082] At block 1210, the server 106 receives, from the client device 102-1 via network 104, GPS coordinates of the client device 102-1 , including a latitude and a longitude of the client device 102-1. Also, at block 1210, the server 106 receives, from the client device 102-2 via network 104, GPS coordinates of the client device 102-2, including a latitude and a longitude of the client device 102-2. The method 1200 then proceeds to block 1215.

[0083] At block 1215, the server 106 compares the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-1 and the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-2 to determine whether client device 102-1 and client device 102-2 are within a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance defines a limit or geo-circumference in which the server 106 of the system 100 considers the client devices 102-1 and 102-2 to be in proximity to each other. The predetermined distance can be in the range of 0 km to 5 km, however, it will be appreciated that the predetermined distance can be set to be other values, including distance values, such as 0 miles to 3 miles, or 0 nautical miles to 2 nautical miles. When the server 106 determines that the client devices 102-1 , 102-2 are within a

predetermined distance, the server sends the GPS coordinates of the client devices 102-1 , 102-2 to the weather service server 1 16 via the network 1 14 to obtain weather for the client devices 102-1 , 102-2. The weather service server 116, upon receipt of the GPS coordinates of the client devices 102-1 , obtains weather information, including a temperature value at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-1 and sends the weather information for the client device 102-1 to the server 106 via the network 1 14. The weather service server 1 16 also, upon receipt of the GPS coordinates of the client devices 102-2, obtains weather information including a temperature value at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-2 and sends the weather information for the client device 102-1 to the server 106 via the network 1 14. The method then proceeds to block 1220.

[0084] At block 1220, the server 106 compares the temperature value at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-1 with the temperature value at the GPS

coordinates of the client device 102-2. The method then proceeds to block 1225.

[0085] At block 1225, when the server 106 determines whether the temperature value at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-1 and the temperature value at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-2 are within a predetermined tolerance, such as for example, 2 degrees Celsius. When the temperature value at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-1 and the weather information for the client device 102-2 are within a predetermined tolerance, the server 106 determines that client device 102-1 and 102-2 are within the same geographic region and the method proceeds to block 1230. Otherwise, the method returns to block 1205.

[0086] At block 1230, the server 106 retrieves, from memory 202, an electronic business card stored in association with the user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-1 , and an electronic business card stored in association with the user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-2. Also at block 1230, the server 106 sends, using the network interface 204 and the network 104, the electronic business card stored in association with the user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-1 to client device 102-2 for storage thereon, and the electronic business card stored in association with the user account identifier of the user of the client device 102-2 for storage thereon. The method 1200 then ends.

[0087] In some embodiments, the weather information obtained at block 1215 for the client device 102-1 can include temperature at the GPS coordinates for the client device 102-1 and the weather information obtained at block 1215 for the client device 102-2 can include temperature at the GPS coordinates of the client device 102-2, and the predetermined tolerance can be, for example, 2 degrees Celsius. When the temperature at the GPS coordinates for the client device 102-1 is determined to be within 2 degrees Celsius (e.g. the predetermined tolerance) of the temperature at the GPS coordinates for the client device 102-2 at block 1225, the method 1200 can proceed to block 1230. Those skill in the art will appreciate that the weather data may include temperature values either in Celsius or Fahrenheit and the predetermined tolerance can be any suitable temperature value in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit, such as for example, between 0 degrees and 2 degrees Celsius and 0 degrees and 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

[0088] As mentioned above, when a client device 102 receives an electronic business card from the server 106, a copy of the electronic business card which includes business contact data and a URL or web address for video file. The application 318 on the client device 102 executes instructions to interacts, with the contact application 316 using an API to create a new contact record which includes the business contact data of the electronic business card received from the server 106. A user of the client device 102 can change the electronic business card associated with its user account identifier to update the contact information for the electronic business card using a user interface rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102. The application 318 can execute instructions to interact with the contact application 316 using an API to update the contact record stored in the memory 302 of the client device 102 with the updated business contact data, thus keeping the contact information for the user always up to date.

[0089] In some embodiments, the server 106, for each client device 102, stores a log which identifies which other client devices 102 in the system 100 a given client device 102 has received electronic business cards from. When a user of a client device 102 wishes to update their business contact information, the user selects the dashboard tab 802 of the menu structure 800 rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102, which causes the processor 300 to execute instructions of the application 318 to render a GUI 1400 on the display 306 of the client device 102 for editing the electronic business card corresponding to the user, as shown in FIG. 14. Upon completion of editing the business contact information in the electronic business card, the processor 300 of the client device 102 executes instructions of the application 318 to send the updated electronic business card to the server 106 for storage thereon. The server 106 stores the updated electronic business card and sends or pushes the updated electronic business card to the other client devices 102 identified in the log.

[0090] Attention is now directed to FIG. 15, which shows an electronic business card rendered on the display 306 of a client device 102. The electronic business card rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102 includes a media player 1502 for playing the video file located at the URL or webpage included in the received electronic business card. The electronic business card rendered on the display 306 of the client device 102 also includes a picture field 1504 which displays a picture at the URL or web page included in the electronic business card. The electronic business card rendered on the display 306 of a client device 102 also includes a selectable icon 1506 that enables a user of the client device 102 to select a translated version of the business card for rendering on the display 306. As mentioned above, when a user account identifier is stored in association with multiple different business card ID'S and each business card ID identifies a different translated version of an electronic business card corresponding to the user, selection of the icon 1506 can cause the processor 300 to execute instructions of the application to retrieve, from the server 106, a different translated version of the electronic business card and rendered, on the display 306, the different translated version of the electronic business card and to render on the display 306 a translated version of the video file.

[0091] In another embodiment, the processor 200 of the server 106 executes instructions of the application 210 to periodically requests the GPS coordinates of each client device 102 in the system 100. The request can be send at predetermined time intervals, such as, for example, 60 seconds. The processor 200 of the server 106 then executes instructions of the application 210 to compare GPS coordinates of the client devices. For the client devices 102 that are determined to be within a predetermined distance of each other based on the GPS coordinates, the server 106 sends the GPS coordinates of those client devices 102 to the weather service server 1 16 to obtain weather information, including a temperatures values, at the location of those client devices 102. The processor 200 then executes instructions to compare the temperature values of those client devices 102 to a threshold temperature value to determine which of the client devices 102 are within a predetermined temperature value threshold. For the client devices 102 that are determined to be within a predetermined temperature threshold value, the processor 200 executes instructions of the application 210 to indicate that the client devices 102 are in proximity to each other, and provides the client devices 102 a user interface including icons which the client devices 102 display on their displays to an activity page, such as the activity page shown in FIG. 10, which shows the client device 102 are in proximity to a client device 102.

[0092] The system and method of the present invention facilitate the collection, distribution, storage, and updating of business contact information. The electronic business cards exchanged by the system of the present invention include video files containing video content to improved brand appearance.

[0093] The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole. All changes that come with meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for exchanging electronic business cards, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first client device executing computer-readable instructions of an application for exchanging electronic business cards, a user account identifier of a user of a second client device;

transmitting, from the first client device to a server, a request for an electronic business card of the user of the second client device, the request comprising the user account identifier of the user of the second client device;

receiving, from the server, the electronic business card of the user of the second client device, the electronic business card of the user being stored in memory of the server in association with the user account identifier of the user of the second client device; and

storing, at the first client device, the electronic business card of the user of the second client device in association with the user account identifier of the user of the application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving from a server, the electronic business card of the user of the second client device comprises receiving business contact data for the user of the second client device and a video file.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein storing comprises generating, at the first client device, a new contact record for the user of the second client device, populating fields of the new contact record with the business contact data and the video file, and storing, in memory of the first client device, the new contact record.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein storing, in memory of the first client device, the new contact record comprises storing the new contact record in a business card library.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the server, an updated electronic business card for the user of the second client device; and

replacing the electronic business card stored in the memory with the updated electronic business card.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving, at a first mobile device executing computer-readable instructions of an application for exchanging electronic business cards, a user identifier of a user of the second client device comprises:

capturing, using a camera of the first client device, a QR code rendered on a display of the second client device, the QR code comprising the user account identifier of the user of the second client device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving, at the first client device executing computer-readable instructions of the application for exchanging electronic business cards, the user account identifier of the user of the second client device comprises receiving, from a second client device, via a short-range communications interface using near field communications, the user account identifier of the user of the second client device.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

rendering, a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display of the first client device, the GUI comprising one or more selectable items, each selectable item representative of a user of a client device in proximity of the first client device; and

in response to selection of a first selectable item of the one or more selectable items, receiving a user account identifier of the user of the client device.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

obtaining, at the first client device, GPS coordinates of the first client device; and transmitting the GPS coordinates of the first client device to the server.

10. A client device, comprising:

a memory storing an application comprising computer-readable instructions; a communication interface;

a display device; and

a processor interconnected with the memory, the communication interface, and the display device, the processor operable to execute the computer-readable

instructions of the application stored in the memory to:

receive a user account identifier of a user of the application; transmit, to a server using the communication interface, a request for an electronic business card of the user of a second client device, the request comprising the user account identifier of the user of the second client device;

receive, from the server via the communication interface, the electronic business card of the user of the second client device, the electronic business card of the user being stored in memory of the server in association with the user identifier of the user of the second client device; and

store, in the memory, the electronic business card of the user of the second client device in association with the user account identifier of the user of the application.

1 1. The client device of claim 10, wherein the electronic business card of the user of the second client device comprises business contact information for the user of the second client device and a video file.

12. The client device of claim 1 1 , wherein the processor further operable to execute the computer-readable instructions of the application stored in the memory to generate a new contact record for the user of the second client device, populating the new contact record with the business contact information and the video file, and storing, in the memory, the new contact record.

13. The client device of claim 12, wherein the new contact record is stored in a business card library of the memory.

14. The client device of claim 12, wherein the processor further operable to execute the computer-readable instructions of the application stored in the memory to:

receive, from the server via the communications interface, updated contact data for the user of the second client device; and replacing the contact data for the user of the second client device stored in the memory with the updated contact data.

15. The client device of claim 10, wherein the processor operable to execute the computer-readable instructions of the application stored in the memory to receive a user identifier of a user of the second client device by capturing, using a camera of the client device, a QR code rendered on a display device of a second client device, the QR code comprising the user identifier of the user of the second client device.

16. The client device of claim 10, wherein the processor operable to execute the computer-readable instructions of the application stored in the memory to receive a user identifier of a user of the application by:

receiving, from a second mobile device, via a short-range communications interface of the client device, the user identifier of the user of the application.

17. The client device of claim 10, wherein the processor further operable to execute the computer-readable instructions of the application stored in the memory to:

render, a graphical user interface (GUI) on the display device, the GUI comprising one or more selectable items, each selectable item representative of a user of the application in proximity of the client device; and

in response to selection of a first selectable item of the one or more selectable items, receiving the user identifier of the user of the application.

18. The client device of claim 10, wherein the processor further operable to execute the computer-readable instructions of the application stored in the memory to:

obtain GPS coordinates of the client device; and

transmit, using the communications interface, the GPS coordinates of the client device to the server.

19. A server comprising:

a memory storing computer-readable instructions of an application,

a processor interconnected with the memory, the processor operable to execute the computer-readable instructions stored in the memory to:

receive, from a first client device, a first request from a first user of an application to exchange electronic business cards with a second user of the application, the first request comprising a second user account identifier of the second user of the application;

receive, from a second client device, a second request from the second user of the application to exchange business cards with the first user of the application, the second request comprising a first user account identifier of the first user of the application;

retrieve, from the memory, a first electronic business card stored in association with the first user account identifier and a second electronic business card stored in association with the second user account identifier;

send, to the first client device, the first electronic business card; and, send, to the second client device, the second electronic business card.

20. The server of claim 19, wherein the processor operable to execute the computer- readable instructions stored in the memory to:

receive, from the first client device, first GPS coordinates of the first client device; receive, from the second client device, second GPS coordinates of the second client device; determine whether the first client device and the second client device are within a predetermined distance based on the first GPS coordinates of the first client device and the second GPS coordinates of the second client device;

responsive to determining that the first client device and the second client device are within a predetermined distance:

obtain, from a weather server using the first GPS coordinates of the first client device, first weather information for the first client device;

obtain, from the weather server using the second GPS coordinates of the second client device, second weather information for the second client device;

compare the first weather information for the client device and the second weather information for the second client device; and

when the first weather information for the first client device matches the second weather information for the second mobile device within a predetermined tolerance, retrieve from the memory, the first electronic business card stored in association with the first user identifier and the second electronic business card stored in association with the second user identifier.