Personalized location information for mobile devices
First Claim
1. A method of providing information about a location of a user, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a mobile device, signals from one or more external devices, each signal including information related to a location of the external device that provided the signal;
calculating a geographic location of the mobile device using at least some of the information contained in the received signals;
accessing a computer memory storage system that stores associations between geographic locations and descriptors;
as a consequence of accessing the computer memory storage system, determining that the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is associated with a descriptor;
providing an indication of the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device to a user of the mobile device;
enabling a control on the mobile device for confirming that the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct;
receiving an indication of an affirmative activation by the user of the mobile device of the control confirming that the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct;
enabling a control on the mobile device for triggering the updating of an electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system;
receiving an indication of an affirmative activation by the user of the mobile device of the control triggering the updating of the electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of the electronic communications system;
in response to receiving the indication of the affirmative activation of the control triggering the updating of the electronic message and based on receiving the indication of the affirmative activation of the control confirming that the descriptor associated the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct;
including the descriptor associated with the geographic location within the electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system, andtransmitting the electronic message including the descriptor to another device to provide an indication of the location of the user of the mobile device to one of the other users of the electronic communications system.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Providing location information on a mobile device includes receiving signals from external devices. Each signal includes information that specifies a geographic location for the external device that has provided the signal. A geographic location for the mobile device is calculated by using the information contained in each of the received signals. A representation of the geographic location of the mobile device is generated. The representation of the geographic location is included within an electronic message that provides information describing a user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system. The electronic message is transmitted to another device to provide an indication of the geographic location for the user to one of the other users of the electronic communications system.
335 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of providing information about a location of a user, the method comprising:
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receiving, at a mobile device, signals from one or more external devices, each signal including information related to a location of the external device that provided the signal; calculating a geographic location of the mobile device using at least some of the information contained in the received signals; accessing a computer memory storage system that stores associations between geographic locations and descriptors; as a consequence of accessing the computer memory storage system, determining that the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is associated with a descriptor; providing an indication of the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device to a user of the mobile device; enabling a control on the mobile device for confirming that the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct; receiving an indication of an affirmative activation by the user of the mobile device of the control confirming that the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct; enabling a control on the mobile device for triggering the updating of an electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system; receiving an indication of an affirmative activation by the user of the mobile device of the control triggering the updating of the electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of the electronic communications system; in response to receiving the indication of the affirmative activation of the control triggering the updating of the electronic message and based on receiving the indication of the affirmative activation of the control confirming that the descriptor associated the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct; including the descriptor associated with the geographic location within the electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system, and transmitting the electronic message including the descriptor to another device to provide an indication of the location of the user of the mobile device to one of the other users of the electronic communications system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22)
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19. A machine-accessible medium that, when accessed, results in a machine performing operations for providing information about a location of a user, comprising:
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receiving, at a mobile device, signals from one or more external devices, each signal including information related to a location of the external device that provided the signal; calculating a geographic location of the mobile device using at least some of the information contained in the received signals; accessing a computer memory storage system that stores associations between geographic locations and textual descriptors; as a consequence of accessing the computer memory storage system, determining that the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is associated with at least two textual descriptors; providing indications of the at least two textual descriptors associated with the calculated geographic location to a user of the mobile device; prompting the user of the mobile device to select one of the at least two textual descriptors associated with the geographic location as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location; receiving an indication of a selection by the user of the mobile device of a particular one of the textual descriptors associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location; in response to receiving the indication of the selection of the particular textual descriptor as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location; including the selected textual descriptor associated with the geographic location within an electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system, and transmitting the electronic message including the selected textual descriptor to another device to provide an indication of the location of the user of the mobile device to one of the other users of the electronic communications system.
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20. A system comprising:
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means for receiving, at a mobile device, signals from one or more external devices, each signal including information related to a location of the external device that provided the signal; means for calculating a geographic location of the mobile device using at least some of the information contained in the received signals; means for accessing a computer memory storage system that stores associations between geographic locations and descriptors; means for, as a consequence of accessing the computer memory storage system, determining that the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is associated with a descriptor; means for providing an indication of the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device to a user of the mobile device; means for enabling a control on the mobile device for confirming that the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct; means for receiving an indication of an affirmative activation by the user of the mobile device of the control confirming that the descriptor associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct; means for enabling a control on the mobile device for triggering the updating of the an electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system; means for receiving an indication of an affirmative activation by the user of the mobile device of the control triggering the updating of the electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of the electronic communications system; means for, in response to receiving the indication of the affirmative activation of the control triggering the updating of the electronic message and based on receiving the indication of the affirmative activation of the control confirming that the descriptor associated the calculated geographic location of the mobile device is correct; including the descriptor associated with the geographic location within the electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system, and transmitting the electronic message including the descriptor to another device to provide an indication of the location of the user of the mobile device to one of the other users of the electronic communications system.
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23. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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calculating a first geographic location of a mobile device; accessing a computer memory storage system that stores associations between geographic locations and textual descriptors; as a consequence of accessing the computer memory storage system, determining that the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device is associated with at least a first textual descriptor and a second textual descriptor; causing a display of a graphical user interface to a user of the mobile device, the graphical user interface; providing a selectable indication of the first textual descriptor associated with the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device, providing a selectable indication of the second textual descriptor associated with the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device, providing a control that enables the user of the mobile device to specify an alternative textual descriptor for the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device, and prompting the user of the mobile device to select one of the first and second textual descriptors associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location or to specify an alternative textual descriptor for the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device; receiving an indication of a selection by the user of the mobile device of the first textual descriptor as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location; in response to receiving the indication of the selection of the first textual descriptor as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location; including the first textual descriptor associated with the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device within an electronic message that provides information describing the user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system, and transmitting the electronic message including the first textual descriptor to another device to provide an indication of the location of the user of the mobile device to one of the other users of the electronic communications system; calculating a second geographic location of the mobile device that is different from the first calculated geographic location of the mobile device; accessing the computer memory storage system that stores associations between geographic locations and textual descriptors; as a consequence of accessing the computer memory storage system, determining that the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device is associated with at least a third textual descriptor and a fourth textual descriptor, the third and fourth textual descriptors being different from the first and second textual descriptors; causing a display of a graphical user interface to a user of the mobile device, the graphical user interface; providing a selectable indication of the third textual descriptor associated with the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device, providing a selectable indication of the fourth textual descriptor associated with the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device, providing a control that enables the user of the mobile device to specify an alternative textual descriptor for the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device, and prompting the user of the mobile device to select one of the third and fourth textual descriptors associated with the calculated geographic location of the mobile device as being reflective of the user'"'"'s location or to specify an alternative textual descriptor for the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device; receiving an indication of a specification by the user of an alternative textual descriptor for the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device; and in response to receiving the indication of the specification by the user of the alternative textual descriptor for the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device; updating the electronic message to include the alternative textual descriptor for the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device, and transmitting the updated electronic message including the alternative textual descriptor for the second calculated geographic location of the mobile device to another device to provide an indication of the location of the user of the mobile device to one of the other users of the electronic communications system.
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Specification