Sharing of media using contact data

• US 20080189293A1
• Filed: 02/07/2007
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Tammi, Tuomas, Wong, Davin, Strandel, Toni
• Granted Patent: US 7,627,608 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Media sharing using contact data involves identifying contact records on a personal electronic device of a user. Each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record. The contact records are communicated to a media sharing service via a network. Media items of the user are sent to the sharing service. One or more of the contact records are associated with each of the media items. A notification is sent to the persons associated with the one or more contact records. The notification describes sharing of the media items associated with the contact records. The sharing service facilitates access to the media items by the persons associated with the contact records in response to the persons receiving the notification.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying contact records on a personal electronic device of a user, wherein each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record, and wherein at least one of the contact addresses includes a telephone number;

communicating the contact records to a media sharing service via a network, wherein the persons associated with the respective contact record are not previously registered with the service;

sending media items of the user to the sharing service;

associating one or more of the contact records with each of the media items;

sending notifications that describe sharing of the media items to the persons associated with the one or more contact records, wherein at least one of the notifications is sent via the telephone number; and

facilitating, via the sharing service, access to the media items by the persons associated with the contact records in response to the persons receiving the notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the notifications contains an access code unique to each person receiving the notification, and wherein the sharing service facilitates access to the media based on the access code.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the access code remains associated with the user receiving the notification for subsequent access of the media items via the sharing service.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the notifications to the persons associated with the one or more contact records comprises sending the notifications to the contact addresses of the respective contact records.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the contact records via the sharing service with contact records submitted by other users to identify persons having contact information in the contact records of two or more of the users.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising creating aggregated contact records for any persons having contact information in the contact records of two or more of the users, wherein the aggregated records are formed by combining the contact records of the two or more of the users.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein one of the aggregated contact records comprises two or more contact addresses, and wherein sending the notification to the persons associated with the one aggregated contact record comprises choosing a least disruptive of the two or more contact addresses, and sending the notification to the least disruptive address.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising facilitating registration of the persons who are sent the notifications that describe sharing of the media items, wherein facilitating registration comprises presenting to the persons electronic forms that are pre-filled with the contact information of the respective persons.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying the contact addresses of the contact records submitted to the media sharing services so that the modified contact addresses are globally unique.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a network interface capable of being coupled to a network;

a persistent data storage containing one or more media items and contact records of a user of the apparatus, wherein each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record, wherein at least one of the contact addresses includes a telephone number;

a processor coupled to the network interface and the persistent data storage; and

memory coupled to the processor and having instructions that cause the processor to,

associate the contact records with the media items;

communicate the contact records and media items to a media sharing service via the network, wherein the persons associated with the contact records are not previously registered with the service; and

facilitate sending of notifications that describe sharing of the media items to the persons associated with the one or more contact records via the media sharing service, wherein at least one of the notifications is sent via the telephone number, and wherein the notifications facilitate access;

to the media items via the sharing service.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a transducer coupled to the processor, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to record the media items from the transducer and place the recorded media items into the persistent storage.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a user interface coupled to the processor, and wherein the instruction further cause the processor to prompt the user, via the user interface, to associate the contact records with the media items and communicate the contact records and media items to the media sharing service via the network in response to recording the media items.

13. A server apparatus comprising:

a network interface capable of being coupled to a network;

a processor coupled to the network interface; and

memory coupled to the processor and having instructions that cause the processor to,

receive, via the network, contact records on from personal electronic devices of users, wherein each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record, wherein at least one of the contact addresses includes a telephone number, and wherein the persons associated with the contact records are not previously registered with sharing services provided by the server apparatus;

receive media items from the users, wherein each of the media items is associated with one or more of the contact records;

send, via the network, notifications that describe sharing of the media items to the persons associated with the one or more contact records, wherein the notifications, and wherein at least one of the notifications is sent via the telephone number; and

facilitate access to the media items via the network by the persons associated with the contact records in response to the persons receiving the notifications.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the notifications each contains an access code unique to the person receiving the notification, and wherein access to the media is facilitated based on the access code.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to compare the contact records submitted by different users to identify persons having contact information in the contact records of two or more of the users.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to create aggregated contact records for any persons having contact information in the contact records of two or more of the users, wherein the aggregated records are formed by combining the contact records of the two or more of the users.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein one of the aggregated contact records comprises two or more contact addresses, and wherein sending the notification to the persons associated with the one aggregated contact record comprises sending the notification to a least disruptive of the two or more contact addresses.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to facilitate registration, via the network, of the persons who are sent the notifications that describe sharing of the media items, wherein facilitating registration comprises presenting to the persons electronic forms that are pre-filled with the contact information of the respective persons.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to modify the contact addresses of the contact records submitted to the media sharing services so that the modified contact addresses are globally unique.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which are executable by an apparatus capable of being coupled to a network for performing steps comprising:

storing in a persistent data storage of the apparatus, one or more media items and contact records of a user of the apparatus, wherein each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record, and wherein at least one of the contact addresses includes a telephone number;

associating the contact records with the media items;

communicating the contact records and media items to a media sharing service via the network, wherein the persons associated with the contact records are not previously registered with the service; and

facilitating sending of notifications that describe sharing of the media items associated with the contact record to the persons associated with the one or more contact records via the media sharing service, wherein the notifications facilitates access to the media items via the sharing service by the persons associated with the contact records, and wherein at least one of the notifications is sent via the telephone number.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the steps further comprise recording the media items from a transducer of the apparatus and storing the recorded media items into the persistent storage in response to the recording.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the steps further comprise prompting the user, via a user interface of the apparatus, to associate the contact records with the media items and communicate the contact records and media items to the media sharing service via the network in response to recording the media items.

23. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which are executable by an apparatus capable of being coupled to a network for performing steps comprising:

receiving, via the network, contact records from personal electronic devices of users, wherein each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record, wherein at least one of the contact addresses includes a telephone number, and wherein the persons associated with the contact records are not previously registered with sharing services provided by the apparatus;

receiving, via the network, media items from the users, wherein each of the media items is associated with one or more of the contact records;

sending, via the network, notifications that describe sharing of the media items to the persons associated with the one or more contact records, wherein at least one of the notifications is sent via the telephone number; and

facilitating access to the media items via the network by the persons associated with the contact records in response to the persons receiving the notifications.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein at least one of the notifications contains an access code unique to the person receiving the notification, and wherein access to the media is facilitated based on the access code.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the steps further comprise creating aggregated contact records for any persons having contact information in the contact records of two or more of the users, wherein the aggregated records are formed by combining the contact records of the two or more of the users.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein one of the aggregated contact records comprises two or more contact addresses, and wherein sending the notification to the person associated with the one aggregated contact record comprises sending the notification to a least disruptive address of the two or more contact addresses.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the steps further comprise facilitating registration, via the network, of the persons who are sent the notifications that describe sharing of the media items, wherein facilitating registration comprises presenting to the persons electronic forms that are pre-filled with the contact information of the respective persons.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the steps further comprise modifying the contact addresses of the contact records submitted to the media sharing services so that the modified contact addresses are globally unique.

29. A system comprising:

means for identifying contact records on personal electronic devices of users, wherein each of the contact records includes a contact address of a person associated with the respective contact record, and wherein at least one of the contact addresses includes a telephone number;

means for associating one or more of the contact records with media items;

means for sending notifications that describe sharing of the media items to the persons associated with the one or more contact records, wherein at least one of the notifications is sent via the telephone number; and

means for facilitating access to the media items by the persons associated with the contact records in response to the persons receiving the notification.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising means for creating aggregated contact records for any persons having contact information in the contact records of two or more of the users, wherein the aggregated records are formed by combining the contact records of the two or more of the users.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein one of aggregated contact records comprises two or more contact addresses, and wherein the system further comprises means for sending the notification to a least disruptive addresses of the two or more contact addresses.

32. The system of claim 29, further comprising means for modifying the contact addresses of the contact records so that the modified contact addresses are globally unique.

33. The system of claim 29, further comprising means for registering, via a network, one of the persons who are sent the notifications that describe sharing of the media items, wherein registration involves using electronic forms that are pre-filled with the contact information of the respective persons.