APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING A MULTIMEDIA MESSAGE IN A USER EQUIPMENT OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREOF

• US 20120306774A1
• Filed: 08/08/2011
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: LEE, Joowoo, Seo, Kyunghye, Chang, Minkyoung, Baek, Songyi
• Granted Patent: US 9,300,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

An apparatus for controlling a multimedia message in a user equipment of a wireless communication system and method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes a touchscreen configured to display at least one first region corresponding to each message exchange unit and a second region for displaying an information of a content exchanged via the first region and a controller, if the information of the content displayed on the second region is selected, controlling the selected content information to be displayed on the at least one first region. In this case, the message exchange unit includes a group comprising at least two message exchange targets which are identified by at least one identification information.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a touch screen configured to display at least one first region and a second region, wherein each of the at least one first region corresponds to a message exchange unit, and wherein the second region is configured to display content information exchanged via the at least one first region; and

a controller configured to;

receive a selection of the content information displayed in the second region; and

control the touch screen to display the selected content information on the at least one first region based on the selection,

wherein each message exchange unit includes a group comprising at least two message exchange targets, and

wherein each of the at least two message exchange targets is identifiable by at least one identification information.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory configured to store a phonebook,

wherein the at least one identification information for each of the at least two message exchange targets is stored in the phonebook,

wherein the at least one identification information for each of the at least two message exchange targets comprises at least a phone number, an email address, a social network service ID, or a name and photo, and

wherein the controller is further configured to control the touch screen to display the at least one identification information in a prescribed form on each of the at least one first region.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein:

each of the message exchange units is configured for use in generating or receiving a message that comprises a SMS (short text message), a multimedia message (MMS), a social network service (SNS) message, or an email.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein:

the touch screen is further configured to display at least one message in each of the at least one first region; and

messages displayed in each of the at least one first region are enumerated to form a chronological message thread.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein

the touch screen is further configured to receive a touch and drag input of a specific content information of the content information displayed in the second region to one of the at least one first region;

and

the controller is further configured to form the specific content information as a message in the one of the at least one first region.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein:

the one of the at least one first region is further configured to receive input to transmit the message under the control of the controller; and

the controller is further configured to control the touch screen to display an identifier in the second region for a retransmission of the message when the message is not capable of being transmitted via the at least one first region due to constraints of a network in which the mobile terminal operates.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to control the touch screen to display a popup message for the retransmission of the message when a preset condition is met.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein the preset condition comprises a handover of the mobile terminal into a long term evolution (LTE) network.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to control the touch screen to display a popup message for a selection of whether to initiate a handover of the mobile terminal into a long term evolution (LTE) network when the mobile terminal is connected to a 3rd generation mobile telecommunications (3G) network and is positioned in an area overlapping between the LTE network and the 3G network.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a single first region corresponding to a group comprising the message exchange unit of a first of the at least one first region and the message exchange unit of a second of the at least one first region when a selection of the first of the at least one first region is received via the touch screen and a touch and drag input of the second of the at least one first region to the first of the at least one first region is received via the touch screen.

11. A method for controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

receiving a command, via a controller of the mobile terminal, for entering a message menu of the mobile terminal;

displaying, on a touch screen of the mobile terminal, at least one first region and a second region, wherein each of the at least one first region corresponds to a message exchange unit, and wherein the second region is configured to display content information exchanged via the at least one first region;

receiving a selection, via the controller of the mobile terminal, of the content information displayed in the second region; and

controlling the touch screen, via the controller, to display the selected content information on the at least one first region based on the selection,

wherein each message exchange unit includes a group comprising at least two message exchange targets, and

wherein each of the at least two message exchange targets is identifiable by at least one identification information.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing a phonebook in a memory of the mobile terminal, and

controlling the touch screen, via the controller, to display the at least one identification information in a prescribed form on each of the at least one first region,

wherein the at least one identification information for each of the at least two message exchange targets is stored in the phonebook, and

wherein the at least one identification information for each of the at least two message exchange targets comprises at least a phone number, an email address, a social network service ID, or a name and photo.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

generating or receiving a message using the message exchange unit corresponding to one of the at least one first region,

wherein the message comprises a SMS (short text message), a multimedia message (MMS), a social network service (SNS) message, or an email.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

displaying at least one message in each of the at least one first region of the touch screen; and

enumerating the displayed at least one message in each of the at least one first region to form a chronological message thread in each of the at least one first region.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

detecting a touch and a drag input, received via the touch screen, of a specific content information of the content information displayed in the second region to one of the at least one first region; and

forming the specific content information as a message in the one of the at least one first region.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving input, via the one of the at least one first region, to transmit the message under the control of the controller; and

controlling the touch screen, via the controller, to display an identifier in the second region for a retransmission of the message when the message is not capable of being transmitted via the at least one first region due to constraints of a network in which the mobile terminal operates.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining, via the controller, whether a preset condition is met; and

controlling the touch screen, via the controller, to display a popup message for the retransmission of the message based on a determination that the preset condition is met.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the preset condition comprises a handover of the mobile terminal into a long term evolution (LTE) network.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising controlling the touch screen, via the controller, to display a popup message for a selection of whether to initiate a handover of the mobile terminal into a long term evolution (LTE) network when the mobile terminal is connected to a 3rd generation mobile telecommunications (3G) network and is positioned in an area overlapping between the LTE network and the 3G network.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

detecting, via the controller, receipt of a selection of a first of the at least one first region using the touch screen;

detecting, via the controller, receipt of a touch and drag input of a second of the at least one first region to the first of the at least one first region using the touch screen; and

generating, via the controller, a single first region corresponding to a group comprising the message exchange unit of the first of the at least one first region and the message exchange unit of the second of the at least one first region based on the detected receipt of the selection of the first of the at least one first region and the touch and drag input of the second of the at least one first region.