Information service method and its computer program

• US 20030174047A1
• Filed: 02/25/2003
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: Hosoda, Koji, Ohmura, Hiroshi, Ikeda, Kenichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,026,915 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/7.48
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3629 Guidance using speech or audio output, e.g. text-to-speech text to speech systems per se G10L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41422 located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Upon providing information from an information center (1) to the user of a navigation apparatus (2) connected via a wireless/wired communication line, the user sets a category used to specify contents that he or she wants to receive, and a service timing of the contents to the user of the navigation apparatus (2) in advance. The information center (1) provides contents, which are extracted from many unspecified contents provided from a contents service center (6) and satisfy the category, to the navigation apparatus (2). The navigation apparatus (2) provides the acquired contents to the user in accordance with the service timing.

Claims

1. An information service method for providing information from an information service apparatus to a user of an information terminal connected via a communication line, comprising:

a setting step of allowing the user to set a category used to specify contents that the user wants to receive, a predetermined condition used to specify partial contents of user'"'"'s choice in contents which belong to the category, and a service timing of the partial contents to the user in the information terminal; and

an information service step of extracting partial contents which satisfy the category and the predetermined condition from many unspecified contents, and providing the extracted partial contents to the user at the service timing in the information terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when the category and the predetermined condition are set in the information service apparatus while the service timing is set in the information terminal in said setting step, and in said information service step, the information service apparatus provides the partial contents extracted from the many unspecified contents to the information terminal, and the information terminal provides the provided partial contents to the user in accordance with the service timing.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when the category, the predetermined condition, and the service timing are all set in the information service apparatus in the information terminal in said setting step,

in said information service step, the information service apparatus extracts partial contents to be provided to the information terminal from the many unspecified contents, temporarily stores the extracted partial contents, and provides the temporarily stored partial contents to the information terminal in accordance with the service timing.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in said information service step, the partial contents that satisfy the category and the predetermined condition are extracted by analyzing the many unspecified contents on the basis of the category and the predetermined condition.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, when a sports live program is selected as the category, said setting step allows the user to set at least one of a team and player of his or her choice, and an event that may occur during a game, which are associated with the selected sports live program, as the predetermined condition, and

in said information service step, a part of contents associated with the sports live program as partial contents to be provided to the information terminal is extracted by analyzing the many unspecified contents on the basis of the predetermined condition associated with the sports live program which is set as the category in said setting step.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the sports live program is a professional baseball live program, and

the event which may occur during the game includes at least one of a home run, replacement of a pitcher, and an offence, on-base, and score of a team and/or player of user'"'"'s choice.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein, when contents of the sports live program are sequentially stored in a database as an actual game progresses,

said setting step allows, when the event which may occur during the game is set, the user to set a service period of partial contents to be provided to the information terminal in said information service step in accordance with occurrence of that event, and

in said information service step, contents of the sports live program stored in the database can be extracted, as the partial contents to be provided to the information terminal, from a timing before occurrence of the event in accordance with the service period set in said setting step.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

a contents specifying step of specifying specific contents which satisfy the category of user'"'"'s choice from the many unspecified contents on the basis of the category, prior to said information service step, and

wherein said information service step provides information that allows the information terminal to directly acquire the specific contents from the information service apparatus to the information terminal when it is determined by analyzing the specific contents specified in said contents specifying step on the basis of the predetermined condition that the specific contents are currently provided while being satisfying the predetermined condition as well as the category.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said setting step allows the user to set an acquisition source of the partial contents to be provided to the information terminal.

10. A computer program which issues an operation instruction that makes a computer with a communication function serve as an information service apparatus which provides information to a user of an information terminal connected via a communication line, comprising:

a program code which implements a setting function for controlling to allow the user to set a category used to specify contents that the user wants to receive, a predetermined condition used to specify partial contents of user'"'"'s choice in contents which belong to the category, and a service timing of the partial contents to the user in the information terminal; and

a program code which implements an information service function for extracting partial contents which satisfy the category and the predetermined condition from many unspecified contents, and providing the extracted partial contents to the user at the service timing in the information terminal.

11. An information service apparatus which provides information to a user of an information terminal connected via a communication line, comprising:

setting means for allowing the user to set, by user'"'"'s operation of the information terminal, a category used to specify contents that the user wants to receive, a predetermined condition used to specify partial contents of user'"'"'s choice in contents which belong to the category, and a service timing of the partial contents to the user in the information terminal; and

information service means for extracting partial contents which satisfy the category and the predetermined condition from many unspecified contents, and providing the extracted partial contents to the information terminal.