Mobile device with weather condition display served by a network

• US 9,070,092 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2010
• Issued: 06/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: Chou, Peter, Chen, Hsu-Jung, Huang, Sheng-Hsin, Shieh, Chia-Chia
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US12/882,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20110076992A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0252 based on events or environment, e.g. weather or festivals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for displaying a weather condition and a recording medium are provided. In the present method, positioning information of a mobile device is detected, and weather information of the current location of the mobile device is inquired. Then, a weather type is determined according to the weather information, and a weather type image corresponding to the weather type is displayed on a screen of the mobile device. Finally, a corresponding weather condition animation is determined according to the weather type and the weather information and played on a background of the screen.

Claims

1. A weather condition display method, adaptable to a mobile device, the weather condition display method comprising:

detecting positioning information of the mobile device;

inquiring weather information according to the positioning information of the mobile device;

determining a weather type according to the weather information and time by selecting a weather type according to a mapping table which comprises a discrete number of predetermined weather types with each discrete predetermined weather type mapped to a corresponding weather condition animation, wherein a plurality of the weather types are mapped to a same weather condition animation;

displaying a weather type image corresponding to the weather type on a screen of the mobile device; and

determining the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and playing the weather condition animation on a background of the screen in addition to displaying the weather type image, wherein different weather condition animations are displayed for different time of the same weather type image.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the weather type image on the screen of the mobile device comprises:

displaying the weather type image within a weather widget on the screen.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the weather type according to the weather information and displaying the weather type image corresponding to the weather type on the screen of the mobile device further comprises:

inquiring time information according to the positioning information of the mobile device; and

determining the weather type according to the weather information and the time information, and displaying the weather type image corresponding to the weather type on the screen of the mobile device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of inquiring the time information according to the positioning information of the mobile device comprises:

determining a time zone according to the positioning information of the mobile device; and

inquiring the current time information of the time zone.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of displaying the weather type image on the screen of the mobile device comprises:

displaying a clock according to the time information; and

displaying both the weather type image and the clock within a clock widget on the screen.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the weather information comprises one or a combination of weather type, temperature, humidity, pressure, wind direction, wind force, visibility, ultraviolet (UV) intensity, and probability of precipitation.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of determining the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and playing the weather condition animation on the background of the screen comprises:

determining the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and other weather information.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and playing the weather condition animation on the background of the screen further comprises:

inquiring time information according to the positioning information of the mobile device; and

determining the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and the time information.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the step of displaying the weather type image and playing the weather condition animation, the method further comprises:

continuously detecting the positioning information of the mobile device to determine whether the positioning information changes; and

re-inquiring the weather information according to the positioning information of the mobile device to update the displayed weather type image if the positioning information changes.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the steps of displaying the weather type image and playing the weather condition animation, the method further comprises:

re-playing the weather condition animation and displaying the weather type image every time when the mobile device is switched to a screen page having a weather display function.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a weather type according to the weather infoimation and time by selecting a weather type according to a mapping table which comprises a discrete number of predetermined weather types with each discrete predeteimined weather type mapped to a corresponding weather condition animation further comprises:

selecting a sub-variation of the weather type which is mapped to a plurality of different weather condition animations; and

selecting the weather condition animation according to a first threshold.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the weather type image and the weather condition animation are displayed simultaneously.

13. A non-transitory recording medium, recording program instructions for

detecting positioning information of the mobile device;

inquiring weather information according to the positioning information of the mobile device;

determining a weather type according to the weather information and time by selecting a weather type according to a mapping table which comprises a discrete number of predetermined weather types with each discrete predetermined weather type mapped to a corresponding weather condition animation, wherein a plurality of the weather types are mapped to a same weather condition animation;

displaying a weather type image corresponding to the weather type on a screen of the mobile device; and

determining a corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and playing the weather condition animation on a background of the screen in addition to displaying the weather type image, wherein different whether condition animations are displayed for different time of the same weather type image.

14. A handheld electronic apparatus, comprising:

a display unit, for displaying a screen page;

a positioning unit, for detecting positioning information of the weather condition display apparatus;

a network unit, for connecting to a network;

an inquiry module, for inquiring weather information according to the positioning information;

a weather type display module, for determining a weather type according to the weather information and time by selecting a weather type according to a mapping table which comprises a discrete number of predetermined weather types with each discrete predetermined weather type mapped to a corresponding weather condition animation obtained by the inquiry module, and displaying a weather type image corresponding to the weather type on the screen, wherein a plurality of the weather types are mapped to a same weather condition animation; and

a weather condition animation play module, for determining a corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type determined by the weather type display module and playing the weather condition animation on a background of the screen page in addition to displaying the weather type image, wherein different whether condition animations are displayed for different time of the same weather type image.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the weather type display module displays the weather type image within a weather widget on the screen page.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising:

a time inquiry module, for determining a time zone according to the position information and inquiring a current time information of the time zone.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the weather type display module further determines the weather type according to the weather information and the time information and displays the weather type image corresponding to the weather type on the screen page of the apparatus.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the weather type display module further displays a clock according to the time information and displays both the clock and the weather type image within a clock widget.

19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the weather condition animation play module further determines the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type and the time information.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the weather condition animation play module further determines the corresponding weather condition animation according to the weather type determined by the weather type display module and other weather information obtained by the inquiry module.

21. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the inquiry module further determines whether the positioning information detected by the positioning unit changes, and when the positioning information changes, re-inquires the weather information of the current area so as to update the weather type image displayed by the weather type display module.