Method of Displaying Contact Information

• US 20080176585A1
• Filed: 01/19/2007
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chartoleaux KG LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Tepa Datasolutions Co LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Eldering, Charles A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,150,422 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.6
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4547 for personal communications, i.e. using a personal identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2746 Sorting, e.g. according to history or frequency of use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method of displaying contact method on a mobile device includes storing a plurality of contact records on a mobile device. At least one record contains information corresponding to the geographic location of at least one of the contacts. The geographic location of the mobile device is determined and compared with the geographic location of the contacts stored on the mobile device. The contacts are arranged based on the geographic proximity of the contact to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method of displaying contact information on a mobile device, the method comprising:

(a) storing a plurality of contact records on a mobile device, wherein at least one of the contact records contains information corresponding to the geographic location of at least one contact;

(b) determining the geographic location of the mobile device;

(c) comparing the geographic location of the mobile device to the geographic location of the at least one contact; and

(d) arranging the contact records on a display wherein the order in which the contacts records are displayed is determined based on relative proximity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the mobile device is determined by a global positioning system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by a global positioning system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the mobile device is determined by cell phone tower triangulation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by cell phone tower triangulation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by a zip code contained in the contact'"'"'s corresponding contact record.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by an area code and exchange contained in the contact'"'"'s corresponding contact record.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the mobile device is determined by input from a user.

9. A computer-implemented method of displaying contact information on a mobile device, the method comprising:

(a) maintaining a plurality of contact records on a mobile device;

(b) automatically determining the geographic location of the mobile device;

(c) automatically determining a geographic location corresponding to at least one of the plurality of contact records;

(d) comparing the geographic location of the mobile device to the geographic location of the at least of the plurality of contact records; and

(e) displaying the contact records on the mobile device, wherein the order of display is determined based on the relative proximity of the geographic location of the mobile device to geographic location corresponding to each contact.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the geographic location of the mobile device is determined by a global positioning system.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by a global positioning system.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the geographic location of the mobile device is determined by cell phone tower triangulation.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by cell phone tower triangulation.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by a zip code contained in the contact'"'"'s corresponding contact record.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the geographic location of the at least one contact is determined by an area code and exchange contained in the contact'"'"'s corresponding contact record.

16. A contact information display system for displaying information on a mobile device, the system comprising:

a storage device capable of storing a plurality of contact records, the contact records having a plurality of corresponding geographic locations; and

an information management module configured to determine location the relative proximity of the mobile device to the plurality of geographic locations corresponding to the plurality of contact records and display the contact records based on the determination.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein information management module determines the geographic locations corresponding to the contact records via a global positioning system.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein information management module determines the geographic locations corresponding to the contact records via a cell phone tower triangulation.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein information management module determines the geographic locations corresponding to the contact records via a zip code.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein information management module determines the geographic locations corresponding to the contact records via an area code and exchange.