Communication terminal apparatus and computer program

• US 8,694,028 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2011
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Mobile Communications Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Inukai, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Islam, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pope, Kharye
• Application Number:
  US13/118,796
• Publication Number:
  US 20110227943A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 379/112.01, 379/112.06, 379/121.04, 379/121.05, 379/126, 379/201.04, 455/405, 455/407, 455/415, 455/556, 455/457, 455/566
• US Class Current: 455/456.6
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2746 Sorting, e.g. according to history or frequency of use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/576 associated with a pictorial or graphical representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57

Abstract

A communication terminal apparatus includes: a communication unit performing communication; a storage unit collecting and storing history information on communication; a registration unit registering at least communication address information on communicating parties and image information that represents the communicating parties; a display unit displaying images, which represent the registered communicating parties, on a display screen; and an arrangement position determining unit determining arrangement positions of the images, which represent the communicating parties, based on the history information on communication with the communicating parties.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to register information on communicating parties;

a memory configured to store communication history information, which includes a number of communication times with each of the communicating parties; and

a display configured to display images that represent each of the registered communicating parties, wherein

the processor is configured to control an arrangement position of the displayed images based on the number of communication times with each of the communicating parties included in the communication history information.

2. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the processor is configured to control a distance between a position where an image representing a communicating party is displayed and a base position on the display based on a number of communication times with the communicating party.

3. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the processor is configured to determine a rank for a communicating party based on the communication history information.

4. The communication apparatus of claim 3, wherein

the processor is configured to control a distance between a position where an image representing the communicating party is displayed and a base position on the display based the determined rank of the communicating party.

5. The communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein

the processor is configured to control a position on one of concentric circles where an image representing the communication party is displayed, the concentric circles corresponding to a plurality of ranks, one for each circle, with the base position in a center, the concentric circles having different distances from the base position.

6. The communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein

the processor is configured to register an image representing a user of the communication apparatus, and control the display to arrange the image representing the user in the base position.

7. The communication apparatus of claim 3, wherein

the processor is configured to register a specific rank as a threshold of accepting or rejecting communications received from the communicating parties.

8. The communication apparatus of claim 7, wherein

the processor is configured to perform control such that communications received from communicating parties having a rank higher than the specific rank are accepted, and communications received from communicating parties having a rank lower than the specific rank are rejected.

9. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the processor is configured to classify statistical information on a communicating party into a plurality of categories based on the communication history information.

10. The communication apparatus of claim 9, wherein

the processor is configured to assign a nickname for the communicating party, the nickname being prepared in advance for each category.

11. The communication apparatus of claim 10, wherein

the processor is configured to control the display to display the nickname.

12. The communication apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to calculate a level of familiarity between a communicating party and a user based on the communication history information.

13. The communication apparatus of claim 12,

wherein the level of familiarity is compared to a predetermined threshold to determine a rank to which the communicating party belongs.

14. The communication apparatus of claim 13, wherein

the processor is configured to update the level of familiarity for a communicating party based on new communication history information using a calculation expression that makes it easy for the level of familiarity to increase but difficult to decrease if the rank is low, and that makes it difficult for the level of familiarity to increase but easy to decrease if the rank is high.

15. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the processor is configured to control the display to switch between a screen on which communicating parties are represented by images and a screen on which communicating parties are represented in a list format in response to an instruction from a user.

16. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the processor is configured to control the display to display the registered information on a communicating party in response to an instruction from a user corresponding to the image of the communicating party.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program, which when executed by a communication apparatus, causes the communication apparatus to perform a method comprising:

registering information on communicating parties;

storing communication history information, which includes a number of communication times with each of the communicating parties;

displaying images that represent each of the registered communicating parties; and

controlling an arrangement position of the displayed images based on the number of communication times with each of the communicating parties included in the communication history information.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein

the controlling further comprises controlling a distance between a position where an image representing a communicating party is displayed and a base position based on a number of communication times with the communicating party.

19. A communication apparatus comprising:

means for registering information on communicating parties;

means for storing communication history information, which includes a number of communication times with each of the communicating parties;

means for displaying images that represent each of the registered communicating parties; and

means for controlling an arrangement position of the displayed images based on the number of communication times with each of the communicating parties included in the communication history information.

20. The communication apparatus of claim 19, wherein

the means for controlling controls a distance between a position where an image representing a communicating party is displayed and a base position on the display based on a number of communication times with the communicating party.