Electronic device and method for extracting incoming/outgoing information and managing contacts

• US 9,531,871 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2015
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jung, Ji-Yeon
• Primary Examiner(s): Brandt, Christopher M
• Application Number:
  US14/942,523
• Publication Number:
  US 20160072948A1
• Time in Patent Office: 407 Days
• Field of Search: 455/415
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4594 Address books, i.e. directories containing contact information about correspondents telephone directories in user terminals H04M1/27453
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27453 Directories allowing storage of additional subscriber data, e.g. metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A method and electronic device for extracting incoming/outgoing information and managing contacts are provided. The method includes determining whether a communicating electronic device which has been or is in communication with the electronic device is included as a contact in a first contact list; extracting incoming/outgoing information based on at least one of metadata and contents of the communication with the communicating electronic device when the communicating electronic device is not included as a contact in the first contact list; and displaying the extracted incoming/outgoing information on a touchscreen of the electronic device.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

memory to store one or more contacts; and

a processor configured to;

receive a call request transmitted from an external electronic device;

obtain first identification information corresponding to the external electronic device based on the cell request;

determine whether the first identification information corresponds to at least one portion of at least one contact of the one or more contacts;

if the first identification information does not correspond to the at least one portion of the at least one contact of the one or more contacts, identify second identification information corresponding to a user of the external electronic device based on one or more previously received messages; and

present at least part of the second identification information in relation with the call request via an output interface operatively coupled with the processor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor searches an e-mail or an instant message as at least part of identifying the second identification information from the one or more messages.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a display which comprises the output interface operatively coupled with the processor,

wherein the processor presents the at least part of the second identification information via the display.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first identification information comprises a telephone number of the external electronic device.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more messages includes a message that was previously transmitted to the apparatus by a server.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

search the at least part of the second identification information from a corresponding message of the one or more messages, the corresponding message stored in the apparatus.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

update the at least one portion of the at least one contact using the second identification information.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more contacts comprises a first set of contacts, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

assign at least some of the second identification information as at least part of a second set of contacts different from the first set of contacts.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor identifies at least some of the second identification information from the one or more messages based at least in part on context information related to content of the one or more messages.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor determines the context information using a word or a sentence used in the content.

11. A method comprising:

receiving, at an electronic device including memory to store one or more contacts, a call request transmitted from an external electronic device;

obtaining first identification information corresponding to the external electronic device;

determining whether the first identification information corresponds to at least one portion of at least one contact of the one or more contacts;

if the first identification information does not correspond to the at least one portion of the at least one contact of the one or more contacts, identifying second identification information corresponding to a user from one or more previously received messages; and

presenting at least part of the second identification information in relation with the call request via an output interface operatively coupled with the electronic device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more messages comprise a message received from a server via the Internet.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the second identification information comprises:

searching, using at least one portion of a corresponding message of the one or more messages or the first identification information, the at least part of the second identification information from a server via the Internet.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the second identification information comprises:

searching the at least part of the second identification information from a corresponding message of the one or more messages, the corresponding message stored in the electronic device.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the second identification information comprises:

extracting at least some of the second identification information from the one or more messages based at least in part on context information, the context information determined using a word or a sentence used in the content of the one or more messages.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the second identification information comprises:

extracting, as at least some of the second identification information, a name corresponding to the user from the one or more messages.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing at least some of the second identification information in association with the at least one contact in the stored one or more contacts.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more messages comprise an audio message, and wherein the identifying comprises:

generating text information based at least in part on a portion of the audio message using a speech-to-text technology.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

presenting, in response to an input, at least some of the second identification information in association with the first identification information as part of a call history.

20. A machine-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at an electronic device including memory to store one or more contacts, a call request transmitted from an external electronic device;

obtaining first identification information corresponding to the external electronic device;

determining whether the first identification information corresponds to at least one portion of at least one contact of the one or more contacts;

based at least in part on a determination that the first identification information does not correspond to the at least one portion of the contacts, identifying second identification information corresponding to a user from one or more previously received messages; and

presenting at least part of the second identification information in relation with the call.