Location-based categorical information services

• US 8,311,526 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2008
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Forstall, Scott, Christie, Gregory N., Borchers, Robert E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhattacharya, Sam
• Application Number:
  US12/127,505
• Publication Number:
  US 20090005021A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,631 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.3, 455/418, 455/419, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/414.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A selection of a category of interest and location information is used to determine categorical information that is provided to a device. In some implementations, the device includes a touch-sensitive display and presents the categorical information on a map using an indicator. In some implementations, the categorical information can be shared and/or updated by others.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device, a request for shared categorical information, the request includes a user-specified category, the shared categorical information being requested comprising information on one or more items of interest that are designated as belonging to the category by at least one other mobile device, wherein the categorical information is provided for sharing by the other mobile device;

receiving, from the mobile device, location information identifying a geographic location of the mobile device;

determining location-based categorical information using the user-specified category and the location information, the location-based categorical information comprising information on at least one of the one or more items of interest that belong to the user-specified category, wherein the at least one item satisfies a proximity condition in relation to the geographic location; and

providing the location-based categorical information to the mobile device for representation as a graphical object in a map on a display associated with the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

representing an item of interest in the location-based categorical information on the map as a push pin.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the location-based categorical information for display in accordance with a zoom level of the map.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, in response to a selection of the graphical object, additional information regarding the location-based categorical information represented by the graphical object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

synchronizing the location-based categorical information on the mobile device with an information service.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request specifies access rights to the categorical information.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

providing the categorical information to a second mobile device according to the access rights.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location is determined using global positioning system (GPS) coordinate data.

9. A method comprising:

receiving, by a first mobile device, a user input requesting shared categorical information, the request includes a user-specified category, the shared categorical information being requested comprising information on one or more items of interest that are designated as belonging to the category by at least one second mobile device, wherein the categorical information is provided for sharing by the second mobile device;

receiving, by the first mobile device, location information identifying a geographic location of the first mobile device;

determining, by the first mobile device, location-based categorical information using the user-specified category and the location information, location-based categorical information comprising information on at least one of the one or more items of interest that belong to the user-specified category, wherein the at least one item device satisfies a proximity condition in relation to the geographic location; and

providing, by the first mobile device, the location-based categorical information for presentation as a marker on a map.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the marker is a virtual push pin displayed on the map.

11. The method of claim 9, comprising:

specifying one or more access privileges for the marker; and

verifying that a user of the first mobile device has the access privileges.

12. The method of claim 9, comprising:

receiving a selection of the marker, the selection including a touch input; and

performing an action according to an information item corresponding to the marker.

13. The method of claim 9, comprising determining that the item of interest satisfies the proximity condition, wherein the determining includes determining that the item is located within a threshold distance from the first mobile device.

14. A software product tangibly stored on a non-transitory storage device, the product configured to cause a data processing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a first mobile device, a user input requesting shared categorical information, the request includes a user-specified category, the shared categorical information being requested comprising information on one or more items of interest that are designated as belonging to the category by at least one second mobile device, wherein the categorical information is provided for sharing by the second mobile device;

receiving, by the first mobile device, location information identifying a geographic location of the first mobile device;

determining, by the first mobile device, location-based categorical information using the user-specified category and the location information, the location-based categorical information comprising information on at least one of the one or more items of interest that belong to the user-specified category, wherein the at least one item satisfies a proximity condition in relation to the geographic location; and

providing, by the first mobile device, the location-based categorical information for presentation as a marker on a map.

15. The product of claim 14, wherein the marker is a virtual push pin displayed on the map.

16. The product of claim 14, the operations comprising:

specifying one or more access privileges for the marker; and

verifying that a user of the first mobile device has the access privileges.

17. The product of claim 14, the operations comprising:

receiving a selection of the marker, the selection including a touch input; and

performing an action according to an information item corresponding to the marker.

18. The product of claim 14, the operations comprising determining that the item of interest satisfies the proximity condition wherein the determining includes determining that the item is located within a threshold distance from the first mobile device.

19. A system, comprising:

one or more data processing devices configured to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by a first mobile device, a user input requesting shared categorical information, the request includes a user-specified category, the shared categorical information being requested comprising information on one or more items of interest that are designated as belonging to the category by at least one second mobile device, wherein the categorical information is provided for sharing by the second mobile device;

receiving, by the first mobile device, location information identifying a geographic location of the first mobile device;

determining, by the first mobile device, location-based categorical information using the user-specified category and the location information, the location-based categorical information comprising information on at least one of the one or more items of interest that belong to the user-specified category, wherein the at least one item satisfies a proximity condition in relation to the geographic location; and

providing, by the first mobile device, the location-based categorical information for presentation as a marker on a map.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein each the marker is a virtual push pin displayed on the map.

21. The system of claim 19, the operations comprising:

specifying one or more access privileges for the marker; and

verifying that a user of the second mobile device has the access privileges.

22. The system of claim 19, the operations comprising:

receiving a selection of the marker, the selection including a touch input; and

performing an action according to an information item corresponding to the marker.

23. The system of claim 19, the operations comprising determining that the item of interest satisfies the proximity condition, wherein the determining includes determining that the item is located within a threshold distance from the first mobile device.

24. A system comprising:

one or more computing devices operable to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a mobile device, a request for shared categorical information, the request includes a user-specified category, the shared categorical information being requested comprising information on one or more items of interest that are designated as belonging to the category by at least one other mobile device, wherein the categorical information is provided for sharing by the other mobile device;

receiving, from the mobile device, location information identifying a geographic location of the mobile device;

determining location-based categorical information using the user-specified category and the location information, the location-based categorical information comprising information on at least one of the one or more items of interest that belong to the user-specified category, wherein the at least one item satisfies a proximity condition in relation to the geographic location; and

providing the location-based categorical information to the mobile device for representation as a graphical object in a map on a display associated with the mobile device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the geographic location is determined using global positioning system (GPS) coordinate data.

26. The system of claim 24, the operations comprising:

representing an item of interest in the location-based categorical information on the map as a push pin.

27. The system of claim 24, the operations comprising:

providing the location-based categorical information for display in accordance with a zoom level of the map.

28. The system of claim 24, the operations comprising:

providing, in response to a selection of the graphical object, additional information regarding the location-based categorical information represented by the graphical object.

29. The system of claim 24, the operations further comprising:

synchronizing the location-based categorical information on the mobile device with an information service.

30. A non-transitory storage device storing instructions operable to cause one or more computing devices to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device, a request for shared categorical information, the request includes a user-specified category, the shared categorical information being requested comprising information on one or more items of interest that are designated as belonging to the category by at least one other mobile device, wherein the categorical information is provided for sharing by the other mobile device;

receiving, from the mobile device, location information identifying a geographic location of the mobile device;

determining location-based categorical information using the user-specified category and the location information, the location-based categorical information comprising information on at least one of the one or more items of interest that belong to the user-specified category, wherein the at least one item satisfies a proximity condition in relation to the geographic location; and

providing the location-based categorical information to the mobile device for representation as a graphical object in a map on a display associated with the mobile device.

31. The device of claim 30, the operations comprising:

representing an item of interest in the location-based categorical information on the map as a push pin.

32. The device of claim 30, the operations comprising:

providing the location-based categorical information for display in accordance with a zoom level of the map.

33. The device of claim 30, the operations comprising:

providing, in response to a selection of the graphical object, additional information regarding the location-based categorical information represented by the graphical object.

34. The device of claim 30, the operations comprising:

synchronizing the location-based categorical information on the mobile device with an information service.