Terminal device and recording medium

• US 20080201069A1
• Filed: 02/06/2008
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Innovations Ltd Hong Kong (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications Company Limited (NEC Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Hideo
• Granted Patent: US 8,775,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/204
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A mobile phone terminal has a positional information acquisition unit acquiring present positional information indicating a present position, a destination information acquisition unit acquiring destination information specifying a destination (where to return, and where to go), a navigation unit navigating a route from a position specified by the present positional information acquired by the positional information acquisition unit to a destination specified by the destination information, upon activation, a distance acquisition unit acquiring a distance between a position specified by the present positional information acquired by the positional information acquisition unit and a destination specified by the destination information, and an activation control unit activating the navigation unit depending on a distance acquired by the distance acquisition unit.

Claims

1. A terminal device comprising:

a positional information acquisition unit which acquires positional information indicating a position;

a destination information acquisition unit which acquires destination information specifying a destination;

a navigation unit which navigates, upon activation, a route from a position specified by the positional information acquired by said positional information acquisition unit to a destination specified by the destination information;

a distance acquisition unit which acquires a distance between a position specified by the positional information acquired by said positional information acquisition unit and the destination specified by said destination information; and

an activation control unit which activates said navigation unit depending on the distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said navigation unit navigates at least either at least a part of a route from a present position to a destination, and an estimated required time to go to the destination from the present position.

3. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a determining unit which determines whether or not a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit reaches at a specified value, and wherein;

said destination information acquisition unit has a position registration unit which registers a position where a user should return to as the destination; and

said activation control unit activates said navigation unit whether or not a position-to-return is registered as a destination by said return position registration unit and whether or not the determining unit determines that the distance reaches at the specified value.

4. The terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said return position registration unit registers a position acquired by said positional information acquisition unit as a position-to-return.

5. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a clock unit which counts a time;

a target arrival time memory unit which stores a target arrival time when to arrive at a destination; and

a time difference acquisition unit which acquires a time difference between a time acquired by said clock unit and a target arrival time stored in said target arrival time memory unit;

wherein

said activation control unit activates said navigation unit depending on a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit and a time difference acquired by said time difference acquisition unit.

6. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein said activation control device activates said navigation unit whether or not a distance calculated by said distance acquisition unit reaches at a first specified value and a time difference acquired by said time difference acquisition unit reaches at a second specified value.

7. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a target arrival time memory unit which stores a target arrival time that is a target value of a time required until a user arrives a destination;

a clock unit which counts an elapsed time; and

a time difference acquisition unit which acquires a difference between a time stored in said target arrival time memory unit and a time counted by said clock unit, and wherein

said activation control unit activates said navigation unit whether or not a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit reaches at a first specified value and a time difference acquired by said time difference acquisition unit reaches at a second specified value.

8. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

said destination information acquisition unit has a unit which registers a position where a user wants to go as a destination,

a determining unit which determines whether or not a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit reaches at a specified distance, and wherein

said activation control unit activates said navigation unit whether or not said determining unit determines that the distance reaches at the specified distance.

9. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said destination information acquisition unit has a reception unit which receives information specifying a position of an other terminal device as the destination information.

10. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a condition-completion determining unit which determines whether or not a specified condition set beforehand is satisfied, and wherein

said activation control unit activates said navigation unit based on a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit and a determination result by said condition-completion determining unit.

11. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a condition-completion determining unit which determines whether or not a specified operation is performed, and wherein

said activation control unit activates said navigation unit based on a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit and a result of said condition-completion determining unit determines that the specified operation has been performed.

12. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said activation control unit has a message output unit which outputs a message for inquiring necessity of activation of said navigation unit before said navigation unit is activated, and activates said navigation unit in response to an activation instruction by a user via an input unit.

13. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said activation control unit has a determining unit which determines whether or not a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit is larger than a specified distance, and activates said navigation unit whether or not said determining unit determines that the distance is larger than or equal to the specified distance.

14. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said activation control unit has a determining unit which determines whether or not a distance acquired by said distance acquisition unit is larger than a specified distance, and activates said navigation unit whether or not said determining unit identifies that the distance is smaller than or equal to the specified distance.

15. A recording medium in which a program is recorded, the program allowing a computer to perform:

a step of acquiring positional information indicating a position;

a step of acquiring destination information specifying a destination;

a step of acquiring a distance between the position indicated by the positional information and the destination indicated by the destination information; and

a navigating step, performed depending on a calculated distance, of navigating a route to the destination.