Visual address book and dialer

• US 9,325,823 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2008
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Felt, Michelle, Gharachorloo, Nader, Relyea, Donald H., Rodrigues, Ruchir, Moshrefi, Afshin
• Primary Examiner(s): DRAGOESCU, CLAUDIA B
• Application Number:
  US12/339,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20100162171A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,685 Days
• Field of Search: 715/713, 715/758, 715/810, 715/864
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

A method may include associating a plurality of graphical images with a plurality of contacts in a device having contact management functionality and displaying the plurality of graphical images to a user. The method may further include receiving a user selection of one of the plurality of graphical images; and initiating voice-based communication with the contact associated with the selected graphical image.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

associating a plurality of graphical images with a plurality of contacts in a device having contact management functionality;

displaying the plurality of graphical images having relative sizes based on a relative importance or priority of the plurality of contacts associated therewith, wherein the relative sizes are determined based on direct user interaction with the plurality of graphical images, and wherein displaying the plurality of graphical images further includes;

associating a plurality of communications types with a respective plurality of graphical icons,

identifying a plurality of communications associated with one of the plurality of contacts during a time period,

determining one of the plurality of communications types associated with each of the plurality of communications,

modifying, for each of the plurality of communications, a copy of one of the plurality of graphical images for the contact to include one of the plurality of graphical icons for the one of the plurality of communications types associated with the communication, and

displaying a stack that includes the modified copies of the graphical image, wherein displaying the stack includes presenting for display a portion of each of the modified copies;

receiving a user selection of a first one of the plurality of graphical images, wherein the first one of the plurality of graphical images is associated with a first contact of the plurality of contacts; and

initiating a first voice-based communication with the first contact.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a stationary or mobile telephone.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request to associate a first graphical image with a first contact in the plurality of contacts;

receiving an indication of a source of the first graphical image;

retrieving the first graphical image from the source; and

associating the retrieved first graphical image with the first contact.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the source of the first graphical image comprises a received multimedia message or email.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the source of the first graphical image comprises a location accessible via a network interface.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the location accessible via the network interface comprises a provider implementing an applications programming interface (API) for retrieving the first graphical image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the plurality of graphical images further comprises:

receiving spatial placement instructions from a user for a selected one of the plurality of graphical images, wherein receiving the spatial placement instructions comprises receiving an interaction with the selected one of the plurality of graphical images from the user via a touch screen display of the device to move the selected one of the plurality of graphical images to a different location on the touch screen display; and

displaying the plurality of graphical images based on the received spatial placement instructions.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the plurality of graphical images further comprises:

receiving image size or resize instructions from a user for one or more of the plurality of graphical images to reflect the relative importance or priority of the plurality of contacts associated therewith; and

simultaneously displaying the plurality of graphical images based on the size or resize instructions.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of graphical images are initially provided with a predetermined size.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the first one of the plurality of graphical images has a size less than a threshold size;

dynamically enlarging the selected graphical image when the selected graphical image has a size less than the threshold size; and

displaying the enlarged graphical image prior to initiation of the first voice-based communication.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying a size of the plurality of graphical images to reflect a communication history associated with the plurality of contacts corresponding to each of the plurality of graphical images.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein modifying the size of the plurality of graphical images to reflect the communication history further comprises:

increasing a first size associated with a first subset of the graphical images associated with more frequently contacted contacts relative to a second size associated with a second subset of the graphical images associated with less frequently contacted contacts.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a second graphical image from the plurality of graphical images; and

initiating a second voice-based communication with a second contact associated with the second graphical image, wherein the first voice-based communication and the second voice-based communication are bridged together.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second graphical image is selected by dragging and dropping the second graphical image onto the first one of the plurality of graphical images.

15. A device comprising:

a memory configured to store data associated with a plurality of contacts; and

a processor configured to;

receive data associated with a plurality of graphical images,

associate the plurality of graphical images with a plurality of contacts,

store, to the memory, the data associated with the plurality of graphical images,

cause a display to present the plurality of graphical images to a user, and

initiate, via a communication interface, voice-based communication with one or more contacts based on a user selection of a graphical image associated with the one or more contacts,

wherein the processor, when causing the display to present plurality of graphical images, is further configured to;

determine whether the selected graphical image has a size less than a threshold size,

dynamically enlarge the selected graphical image when the selected graphical image has a size less than the threshold size,

cause the display to present the enlarged graphical image prior to initiation of the voice-based communication,

associate a plurality of communications types with a respective plurality of graphical icons,

identify a plurality of communications associated with one of the plurality of contacts during a time period,

determine one of the plurality of communications types associated with each of the plurality of communications,

modify, for each of the plurality of communications, a copy of one of the plurality of graphical images for the contact to include the graphical icon for the communication types associated with the communication, and

cause the display to present a stack that includes the modified copies of the graphical image, wherein the stack presents portions of each of the modified copies.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor, when associating the plurality of graphical images with a plurality of contacts, is further configured to, for each received graphical image:

identify one or more individuals in the graphical image,

determine whether a contact in the plurality of contacts matches an identified individual, and

associate the graphical image with the contact when the contact matches the identified individual.

17. The device of claim 16, where the processor is further configured to identify the one or more individuals in the graphical image based on meta data associated with the graphical image.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the meta data indicates a location associated with the graphical image, and wherein the processor is further configured to identify the one or more individuals based on the location.

19. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

modify a size of the plurality of graphical images relative to other graphical images to reflect a communication history associated with the plurality of contacts corresponding to each of the plurality of graphical images.

20. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor, when receiving the data associated with the plurality of images, is configured to receive the plurality of graphical images from at least one of a remote network location, a memory card upload, a multimedia message, or a synchronization activity with another device.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable memory device including instructions executable by at least one processor, the computer-readable memory device comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive a plurality of graphical images;

associate the plurality of graphical images with a plurality of contacts;

receive spatial placement instructions from a user for a selected one of the plurality of graphical images for indicating relative spatial positioning of the selected one of the plurality of graphical images relative to others of the plurality of graphical images, wherein receiving the spatial placement instructions comprises receiving an interaction with the selected one of the plurality of graphical images from the user via a touch screen display of an electronics device to move the selected one of the plurality of graphical images to a different location on the touch screen display;

display the plurality of graphical images to the user based on the received placement instructions, wherein the one or more instructions, when cause the at least one processor to display the plurality of graphical images, further cause the one or more processors to;

associate a plurality of communications types with a respective plurality of graphical icons,

identify a plurality of communications associated with one of the plurality of contacts during a time period,

determine one of the plurality of communications types associated with each of the plurality of communications,

modify, for each of the plurality of communications, a copy of one of the plurality of graphical images for the contact to include one of the plurality of graphical icons for the one of the plurality of communications types associated with the communication, and

display a stack that includes the modified copies of the graphical image, wherein displaying the stack includes presenting for display a portion of each of the modified copies;

receive a user selection of a selected one of the plurality of graphical images; and

initiate voice-based communication with the contact associated with the selected graphical image.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable memory device of claim 21, wherein the one or more instructions, when causing the one or more processors to associate the plurality of graphical images with a plurality of contacts, further cause the one or more processors to:

automatically identify individuals appearing in the plurality of graphical images;

identifying contacts from the plurality of contacts that match the identified individuals; and

associate graphical images having identified individuals to respective contacts matching the identified individuals.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable memory device of claim 22, wherein a single graphical image may be associated with multiple contacts.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable memory device of claim 23, wherein the selected one of the plurality of graphical images is associated with the multiple contacts,

wherein the multiple contacts are associated with respective different portions of the single graphical image, and

wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

determine a particular portion, of the respective different portions of the single graphical image, associated with the user selection, and

identify, as the contact associated with the selected graphical image, one of the multiple contacts associated with the particular portion the single graphical image.