Communication device

• US 20090017806A1
• Filed: 04/22/2008
• Published: 01/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Godo Kaisha IP Bridge 1 (IP Bridge, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishikura, Akira, Hayakawa, Hideki
• Granted Patent: US 8,515,405 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/415
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27453 Directories allowing storage of additional subscriber data, e.g. metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72481 for visually impaired users

Abstract

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a communication device including: a communication unit configured to communicate with an opponent by an electric communication network; a vibration unit configured to generate a vibration at a predetermined vibration pattern; a storage unit configured to store identification information about the opponent; a display unit configured to listing the identification information; an operation unit configured to accept an operation for moving a cursor which points at one of identification information listed by the display unit; and a control unit configured to activate the vibration unit in accordance with the one of identification information pointed at with the cursor.

Claims

1. A communication device comprising:

a communication unit configured to communicate with an opponent by an electric communication network;

a vibration unit configured to generate a vibration at a predetermined vibration pattern;

a storage unit configured to store identification information about the opponent;

a display unit configured to listing the identification information;

an operation unit configured to accept an operation for moving a cursor which points at one of identification information listed by the display unit; and

a control unit configured to activate the vibration unit in accordance with the one of identification information pointed at with the cursor.

2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined vibration pattern can be registered in the storage unit in association with the identification information, and

wherein the control unit activates the vibration unit in the predetermined vibration pattern when the predetermined vibration pattern is stored in association with the one of identification information pointed at with the cursor.

3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein a type of the identification information can be registered in the storage unit in association with the identification information, and

wherein the control unit activates the vibration unit at the predetermined vibration pattern conforming to the type of the identification information if the type of the identification information is registered in association with the identification information pointed at with the cursor.

4. The communication device according to claim 1, comprising:

clock unit configured to acquire a current date and time, wherein date and time information is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information, and

wherein the control unit stores time and date information in association with the identification information pointed at with the cursor and activates the vibration unit when a difference between the stored time and date information and current time and date information acquired by the clock unit is within a predetermined period of time.

5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein positional information about the opponent is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information, and

wherein the control unit activates the vibration unit in accordance with the positional information stored in association with the identification information pointed at with the cursor and positional information about the communication device.

6. The communication device according claim 1, wherein the storage unit is configured to store a plurality of pieces of identification information about the opponent in association with designation information about the opponent and to store the predetermined pattern of the vibration unit in association with respective pieces of identification information, and

wherein the control unit is configured to activate the vibration unit at the predetermined vibration pattern when the one of the plurality of pieces of identification information pointed at with the cursor is stored in the storage unit in association with the predetermined vibration pattern.

7. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is configured to store a phone directory database where a phone number of the opponent and an E-mail address of the opponent are registered and associated with each other and a E-mail database where a E-mail received by the communication unit is registered in association with an E-mail address of the opponent,

wherein the identification information includes the phone number registered in the telephone directory database stored in the storage unit, and

wherein the control unit is configured to activate the vibration unit when an E-mail received from the E-mail address registered in the phone directory database in association with the phone number pointed at with the cursor is registered, in an unread state, in the E-mail database.

8. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is configured to store and register a phone directory database in an association with at least one of phone numbers of the opponent and an incoming call history database registering history of the voice communication, wherein the identification information includes the phone number registered in the telephone directory database stored in the storage unit, and

wherein the control unit is configured to activate the vibration unit when the history of voice communication originated from a phone number pointed at with the cursor and the history of voice communication originated from a phone number stored in the phone directory database in association with the pointed phone number are registered in the incoming call history database as unattended incoming calls.

9. The communication device according to claim 1 further comprising:

a clock unit configured to acquire a current time and date, wherein the storage unit is configured to store a phone directory database where a phone number of the opponent can be registered in associate with text information and a schedule database where time and date information can be registered in association with the text information,

wherein the identification information includes the phone number registered in the opponent in the phone directory database, and

wherein the control unit is configured to activate the vibration unit when the time and date information within a predetermined period time counted from the current time and date acquired by the clock unit is registered in the schedule database in association with at least part of text information stored in the phone directory database in associate with a phone number pointed at with the cursor.

16. The communication device according to claim 6, wherein the identification information about the opponent is either one of a phone number and an E-mail address, and

wherein the predetermined vibration pattern is stored in the storage unit in association with either one of the phone number and the E-mail addresses.

10. A communication device comprising:

a communication unit configured to communicate with an opponent by an electric communication network;

a vibration unit configured to generate a vibration at a predetermined vibration pattern;

a storage unit configured to store identification information about the opponent;

an operation unit configured to accept a call origination operation performed by the communication unit; and

a control unit configured to activate the vibration unit in accordance with the identification information when the operation unit accepts an operation for originating a call to the identification information about the opponent.

11. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein a predetermined vibration pattern can be registered in the storage unit in association with the identification information about the opponent, and

wherein the control unit activates the vibration unit at the predetermined vibration pattern when the predetermine vibration pattern is registered in association with the identification information about the opponent when a call origination operation is accepted by the operation unit.

12. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein the storage unit can register a type of the identification information in association with the identification information about the opponent;

and

wherein the control unit activates the vibration unit at the vibration pattern conforming to the type of the identification information if the type of the identification information is registered in association with the identification information about the opponent when a call origination operation is accepted by the operation unit.

13. The communication device according to claim 10 further comprising:

a clock unit configured to acquire a current time and date, wherein time and date information is registered in the storage unit in association with the identification information about the opponent,

wherein, when the operation unit accepts a call origination operation, the control unit activates the vibration unit if time and date information is stored in association with identification information about the opponent and if a difference between the time and date information and current time and date information acquired by the clocking unit are within a predetermined period of time.

14. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein positional information about the opponent is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information about the opponent, and,

wherein, when the operation unit accepts a call origination operation, the control unit activates the vibration unit in accordance with positional information stored in association with the identification information about the opponent and positional information about the communication device.

15. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein the storage unit is configured to store a plurality of pieces of identification information about the opponent in association with designation information about the opponent and the predetermined vibration pattern activated at the time of receipt of an incoming call or origination of a call from the identification information in association with the respective pieces of identification information, and

wherein the control unit is configured to activate the vibration unit at the predetermined vibration pattern if the identification information is stored in the storage unit in association with the vibration pattern at the time of arrival of an incoming call or origination of a call.

17. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein the storage unit is configured to store a phone directory database where a phone number of the opponent and an E-mail address of the opponent are registered and associated with each other and a mail database where a mail received by the communication unit is registered, and

wherein the control unit is configured to activate the vibration unit if an E-mail received from an E-mail address registered in the phone directory database in association with the phone number of the opponent is registered, in an unread state, in the E-mail database when the call origination operation is accepted by the operation unit.

18. The communication device according claim 10, wherein the storage unit is configured to store a phone directory database where at least one of phone numbers of the opponent can be registered and an incoming call history database where a history of the voice communication performed by the communication unit, and

wherein the control unit configured to activate the vibration unit if a history of voice communication originated form a phone number of the opponent and a history of voice communication originated from a phone number stored in the phone directory database in association with the phone number of the opponent are registered, as unattended incoming calls, in the incoming call history database when the operation unit accepts call origination operation.

19. The communication device according to claim 10 further comprising:

a clocking unit configured to acquire a current time and date,

wherein the storage unit is configured to store a phone directory database where a phone number of the opponent and text information associated with the phone number of the opponent can be registered and a schedule database where time and date information and the text information are registered in an associated manner, and

wherein the control unit is configured to, when the operation unit accepts a call origination operation, activate the vibration unit if the schedule database registers a time and date within a predetermined period of time starting from a current time and date acquired by the clock unit which is associated with at least part of the text information stored in the phone directory database in association with the phone number of the opponent.

20. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein the identification information about the opponent is either one of a phone number and an E-mail address, and

wherein the predetermined vibration pattern is stored in the storage unit in association with either one of the phone number and the E-mail addresses.