SNS PROVIDING METHOD USING PHONE BOOK AND MOBILE TERMINAL USING THE METHOD

• US 20130263009A1
• Filed: 10/26/2012
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: KIM, Jae-hwan, YOO, Ji-yeon
• Granted Patent: US 9,258,399 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading

Abstract

A method of providing a Social Networking Service (SNS) based on a phone book of a mobile terminal is provided. The method includes executing the phone book, receiving a selection of a group tab of the phone book from a first user of the mobile terminal, displaying a list of social groups that shares group activity information of its group members including a second user registered in the phone book in response to the selection of the group tab, and, when at least one social group is selected from the list of social groups, providing at least one piece of information from among group information, a group share space including group activity information, and link information corresponding to the selected at least one social group.

Claims

1. A method of providing a Social Networking Service (SNS) based on a phone book of a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

executing the phone book;

receiving a selection of a group tab of the phone book from a first user of the mobile terminal;

displaying a list of social groups that share group activity information of its group members, including a second user registered in the phone book, in response to the selection of the group tab; and

when at least one social group is selected from the list of social groups, providing at least one piece of information from among group information, a group share space including group activity information, and link information corresponding to the selected at least one social group.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the first user to create a social group that includes the second user registered in the phone book ; and

creating a social group that includes the first user and the second user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the creating of the social group comprises:

transmitting a join request message for the social group to a device of the second user in response to the request to create the social group; and

receiving a join acceptance message for the social group from the device of the second user.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the creating of the social group further comprises receiving link information to determine group activity information of the social group on the web from a social group management server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the group activity information comprises at least one piece of information from among message information, photo information, bookmark information, music information, video information and document information corresponding to the selected at least one social group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the executing of the phone book comprises:

receiving a selection of a favorites tab of the phone book from the first user; and

providing at least one of a second user list added to the favorites by the first user and a second user list that communicates with the first user for a predefined period of time more than a predefined number of times in response to the selection of the favorites tab.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the executing of the phone book further comprises:

receiving a selection of a recent call tab of the phone book from the first user; and

providing a second user list that communicates with the first user within a predefined period of time from the current time in response to the selection of the recent call tab.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the executing of the phone book further comprises:

receiving an external device search request from the first user;

searching for the device of the second user registered in the phone book, which is located within a predefined distance from the mobile terminal, in response to the external device search request; and

providing a list of second users that own any found device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the executing of the phone book further comprises:

receiving a selection of a private information tab of the phone book from the first user;

displaying private information of the first user in response to the selection of the private information tab; and

providing a setting object for setting a public range of the private information of the first user for each piece of private information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying of the list of social groups comprises displaying an external SNS group list that classifies second users who use external SNSs according to external SNSs in response to the selection of the group tab.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, when at least one external SNS group is selected from the external SNS group list, providing at least one piece of information from among group information, a group share space including group activity information, and link information corresponding to the selected at least one external SNS group.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

obtaining group activity information of the selected at least one external SNS group; and

transmitting the obtained group activity information to an external SNS server corresponding to the selected at least one external SNS group.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting messages to devices of a plurality of third users selected by the first user;

receiving a request to create an instant group from the first user with respect to the plurality of third users to which the messages are transmitted; and

creating an instant group including the plurality of third users and adding the created instant group to the phone book in response to the request to create the instant group.

27. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for executing the SNS providing method of claim 1.

14. A mobile terminal comprising:

a user input unit for receiving a selection of a group tab of a phone book from a first user of the mobile terminal;

a display unit for displaying a list of social groups that shares group activity information of its group members including a second user registered in the phone book, in response to the selection of the group tab, and, when at least one social group is selected from the list of social groups, providing at least one piece of information from among group information, a group share space including group activity information, and link information corresponding to the selected at least one social group; and

a control unit for controlling the user input unit and the display unit.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the user input unit receives a request from the first to create a social group that includes the second user registered in the phone book, and the control unit creates a social group that includes the first user and the second user.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, further comprising a communication unit for transmitting a join request message for the social group to a device of the second user in response to the request to create the social group, and receiving a join acceptance message for the social group from the device of the second user.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 15, further comprising a communication unit for receiving link information to determine group activity information of the social group on the web from a social group management server.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the group activity information comprises at least one piece of information from among message information, photo information, bookmark information, music information, video information and document information corresponding to the selected at least one social group.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the user input unit receives a selection of a favorites tab of the phone book from the first user, and wherein the display unit provides at least one of a second user list added to the favorites by the first user and a second user list that communicates with the first user for a predefined period of time more than a predefined number of times in response to the selection of the favorites tab.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the user input unit receives a selection of a recent call tab of the phone book from the first user, and

wherein the display unit provides a list of second user(s) that communicate(s) with the first user within a predefined period of time from the current time in response to the selection of the recent call tab.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein when the user input unit receives an external device search request from the first user,

the control unit searches for the device of the second user registered in the phone book located within a predefined distance from the mobile terminal in response to the external device search request, and

the display unit provides a list of second users that own any found device.

22. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein when the user input unit receives a selection of a private information tab of the phone book from the first user,

the display unit displays private information of the first user in response to the selection of the private information tab, and provides a setting object for setting a public range of the private information of the first user for each piece of private information.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the display unit displays an external SNS group list that classifies second users who use external SNSs according to external SNSs in response to the selection of the group tab.

24. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein, when at least one external SNS group is selected from the external SNS group list, the display unit provides at least one piece of information from among group information, a group share space including group activity information, and link information corresponding to the selected at least one external SNS group.

25. The mobile terminal of claim 24, further comprising a communication unit for obtaining group activity information of the selected at least one external SNS group, and transmitting the obtained group activity information to an external SNS server corresponding to the selected at least one external SNS group.

26. The mobile terminal of claim 14, further comprising:

a communication unit for transmitting messages to devices of a plurality of third users selected by the first user,

wherein the user input unit receives a request to create an instant group from the first user with respect to the plurality of third users to which the messages are transmitted, and

wherein the control unit creates an instant group including the plurality of third users and adds the created instant group to the phone book in response to the request to create the instant group.