Location-based categorical information services

• US 9,131,342 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2014
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Forstall, Scott J., Christie, Gregory N., Borchers, Robert Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhattacharya, Sam
• Application Number:
  US14/266,630
• Publication Number:
  US 20140287780A1
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.3, 455/418, 455/419, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/457
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A selection of a category of interest and location information is used to determine categorical information that is provided to a device. In some implementations, the device includes a touch-sensitive display and presents the categorical information on a map using an indicator. In some implementations, the categorical information can be shared and/or updated by others.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a first device, a request for categorical information, the request specifying a category;

storing a collection of shared categorical information;

determining relevant categorical information from the collection, the relevant categorical information comprising categorical data representative of a content item, wherein the categorical data is responsive to the category, and wherein the categorical data includes location information for the content item, wherein the location information satisfies a location-based conditional setting of the first device; and

providing, to the first device, the relevant categorical information for representation as a graphical object at a location in a map on a display, wherein the location corresponds to the location information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical object comprises a virtual push pin.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location-based conditional setting specifies a proximity condition that the content item be located within a threshold distance from a current position of the first device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location-based conditional setting specifies a condition that the content item be located within a geographical parameter of the map on the display.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing is automatic in response to the content item satisfying the location-based conditional setting.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a selection of a manual update option on the first device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a second device sets access rights for the collection of shared categorical information, the access rights enabling sharing of the collection, and further comprising:

authenticating the first device against the access rights to allow the first device to share the collection.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that when executed cause an information service to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a first device, a request for categorical information, the request specifying a category;

storing a collection of shared categorical information;

determining relevant categorical information from the collection, the relevant categorical information comprising categorical data representative of a content item, wherein the categorical data is responsive to the category, and wherein the categorical data includes location information for the content item, wherein the location information satisfies a location-based conditional setting of the first device; and

providing, to the first device, the relevant categorical information for representation as a graphical object at a location in a map on a display, wherein the location corresponds to the location information.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the graphical object comprises a virtual push pin.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the location-based conditional setting specifies a proximity condition that the content item be located within a threshold distance from a current position of the first device.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the location-based conditional setting specifies a condition that the content item be located within a geographical parameter of the map on the display.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the providing is automatic in response to the content item satisfying the location-based conditional setting.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the request comprises a selection of a manual update option on the first device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein a second device sets access rights for the collection of shared categorical information, the access rights enabling sharing of the collection, and further comprising:

authenticating the first device against the access rights to allow the first device to share the collection.

15. A system comprising an information service having one or more data processors configured to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a first device, a request for categorical information, the request specifying a category of the first device;

storing a collection of shared categorical information;

determining relevant categorical information from the collection, the relevant categorical information comprising categorical data representative of a content item, wherein the categorical data is responsive to the category, and wherein the categorical data includes location information for the content item, wherein the location information satisfies a location-based conditional setting of the first device; and

providing, to the first device, the relevant categorical information for representation as a graphical object at a location in a map on a display, wherein the location corresponds to the location information.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the graphical object comprises a virtual push pin.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the location-based conditional setting specifies a proximity condition that the content item be located within a threshold distance from a position of the first device.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the location-based conditional setting specifies a condition that the content item be located within a geographical parameter of the map on the display.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the providing is automatic in response to the content item satisfying the location-based conditional setting.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the request comprises a selection of a manual update option on the first device.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein a second device sets access rights for the collection of shared categorical information, the access rights enabling sharing of the collection, and the operations further comprising:

authenticating the first device against the access rights to allow the first device to share the collection.