Time bar navigation in a media diary application

• US 20050108253A1
• Filed: 11/17/2003
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Backgren, Tommi, Finke-Anlauff, Andrea, Hakari, Tomi, Schybergson, Olof, Huhtela-Bremer, Laura, Macke, Annika, Metsatahti, Vesa
• Granted Patent: US 8,990,255 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/908 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A time bar that is navigable within a media diary application for the purpose of efficiently locating a date associated with a media file. The media diary is an application implemented on a digital device for the purpose of organizing by timeframe the digital media files that exist on the device. The time bar feature provides a means to easily and efficiently locate media files within the diary.

Claims

1. An application for representing media files on a digital device, the application comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program instructions comprising:

First instructions for generating a media view that provides access to digital media files and associates digital media files with a predefined time; and

second instructions for generating a time bar that divides time into segments having a size that depends upon the media files associated with the respective segment of time.

2. The application of claim 1, wherein the second instructions for generating a time bar further generates selectable segments of time.

3. The application of claim 1, wherein the second instructions for generating a time bar includes instructions for generating segments of time periods chosen from the group consisting of a year, a month, a week and a day.

4. The application of claim 1, wherein the second instructions for generating a time bar includes instructions for generating a segment of time that indicates the amount of media files in the time segment.

5. The application of claim 4, wherein the second instructions for generating a time bar includes instructions for generating a segment of time that indicates the amount of media items in the segment based on the size of the segment.

6. The application of claim 4, wherein the second instructions for generating a time bar includes instructions for generating a segment of time that indicates the amount of media items in the segment unit based on the color of the segment.

7. The application of claim 1, wherein the second instructions for generating a time bar additionally includes instructions for generating a time handle that allows for periods of time to be scrolled.

8. The application of claim 1, wherein the first instructions further include instructions for associating digital media files with a predefined time based upon information associated with the digital media file.

9. The application of claim 1, further including third instructions for generating a calendar view that represents time in calendar format and associates events with respective periods of time.

10. The application of claim 9, wherein the first instructions for generating a media view that provides access to digital media files and associates digital media files with a predefined time, associates digital media files with a past predefined time and wherein the third instructions for generating a calendar view that represents time in calendar format and associates events with respective periods of time, associates events with respective future periods of time.

11. A digital device, the device comprising:

a processing unit that executes computer-readable program instructions for accessing media files, the computer-readable program instructions comprising;

first instructions for generating a media view that provides access to digital media files and associates digital media files with a predefined time, and

second instructions for generating a time bar that divides time into segments having a size that depends upon the media files associated with the respective segment of time; and

a display in communication with the processing unit that presents a combined view of the media view and the time bar.

12. The digital device of claim 11, wherein the processing unit that executes computer-readable program instructions for accessing media files, the computer-readable program instructions comprising further comprises a third instructions for generating a calendar view that represents time in calendar format, associates events with respective periods of time and is presented by the display in combination with the media view and the time bar.

13. A method for providing access to stored digital media files in a digital media diary application, the method comprising the steps of:

associating a digital media file with a predefined time;

representing the digital media file in a media view that provides access to the media file with the associated predefined time; and

displaying a time bar having a plurality of segments in combination with the media view that permits user to locate the digital media file based on the associated predefined time, wherein displaying the time bar comprises sizing the segments based on the media files associated with the respective segments of time.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of displaying a time bar further comprises displaying a time bar that includes selected periods for months, weeks and days for locating a day associated with the digital media file.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of associating a digital media file with a predefined time further comprises associating a digital media file with a predefined time based on metadata information associated with the digital media file.

16. A method for using a time bar in a media diary application to access a media file, the method comprising:

providing the user of a digital device a display of a time bar and a media view that represents media files in association with a predefined time;

activating one or more time levels of the time bar to display the specific predefined time for which a media file is associated;

activating the specific period of time to display a representation of the media file and the associated predefined time; and

selecting the representation of the media file to access the media file.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of activating one or more time levels of the time bar to display the specific predefined time for which a media file is associated further comprises activating one or more time levels of the time bar chosen from the group consisting of month level, week level and day level to display the specific predefined time for which a media file is associated.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of activating the specific predefined time to display a representation of the media file and the associated predefined time further comprises activating a specific date to display a representation of the media file and the date.