JP2002358193A - Method for distributing contents using portable terminal, portable terminal equipped with freely attachable and detachable extended display and extended display module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents distributing method using a portable terminal with which displayable visual information quantity can be increased. SOLUTION: A hand-held computer 1 is provided with a display module 40 as a kind of extended module. The hand-held computer 1 incorporates an infrared transmitting and receiving device 56, and is allowed to communicate with an external infrared information distributing terminal 57 by the transmitting and receiving device 56. This display module 40 is provided with a unrewritable memory 66, and this non-unrewritable memory 66 is recorded with the serial number of the module 40. When contents are downloaded, the individual identification ID of the module 40 recorded in the unrewritable memory 66 of the display module 40 is transmitted through the built-in infrared transmitting and receiving device 56 of the hand-held computer 1 to the origin of distribution. The origin of distribution confirms that the transmitted individual identification ID is preliminarily registered, and then distributes the contents.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content distribution method using a portable terminal, a portable terminal having a detachable extension display, and a display module for extension.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of liquid crystal technology, portable terminals or portable computers have become widespread. For example, a portable computer generally includes a liquid crystal display, a keyboard, and the like, and further includes an expansion slot for expanding the functions of the computer. It is designed to be inserted.

[0003] Some portable terminals without a keyboard have begun to appear, the most typical example of which is:
It is a handheld computer. This handheld computer is mainly used for checking stored data and editing the stored data. For this reason, handheld computers often do not have a built-in keyboard, but instead have a touch panel-equipped liquid crystal.

[0004] Even this handheld computer is provided with an expansion slot for expanding functions, and various devices that can be mounted in the expansion slot, for example, various devices such as an additional memory module and a modem module are available. It is possible.

[0005] In such a portable terminal, it is practically difficult to simultaneously display character information and image information because of limitations on the size and resolution of the display area. For this reason, for example, it is considered that the user feels inconvenience with regard to distribution of content using infrared rays, which is currently being tested in the United States.

That is, in New York in the United States,
Preparations for trial start of distribution to a user of a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a palm computer using a dedicated infrared terminal are being made. According to this, since there is no need for communication costs to download the distributed content, there is an economical advantage for the user.

[0007]

However, since the display means of the portable terminal is generally intended to mainly display character information, it achieves the advertising effect intended for, for example, an apparel maker who attaches importance to color and form. There is a problem that it is difficult to do.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a distribution method capable of expanding the amount of visual information that can be displayed, in relation to a method of distributing content using a portable terminal. It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobile terminal and an additional display module suitable for a method of distributing content using the mobile terminal. It is another object of the present invention to provide an additional display module suitable for a content distribution method using a portable terminal while enhancing the display capability of a handheld computer.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an external infrared transmitting / receiving terminal,
A portable terminal including a transmitting / receiving device capable of communicating with the external infrared transmitting / receiving terminal and a first display unit, and an additional display connectable via an expansion slot of the portable terminal; Character information is distributed with image information, the character information is displayed on first display means of the portable terminal, and the image information is displayed on the additional display. This can be achieved by providing a distribution method.

[0010] According to another aspect of the present invention, the above object of the present invention can be connected to a portable terminal having a transmitting / receiving device capable of communicating with the outside and a display means via an expansion slot of the portable terminal. A second display means and a non-rewritable memory, and the non-rewritable memory is written in the non-rewritable memory at the time of manufacture or shipping of the additional display module. A portable terminal provided with a detachable additional display, wherein the personal identification ID is recorded and the individual identification ID can be transmitted to the external transceiver via the transmission / reception device. It is achieved by doing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an additional display module connectable via an expansion slot of a portable terminal provided with a transmitting / receiving device capable of communicating with the outside and a display means. The additional display module includes second display means, and a non-rewritable memory in which an individual identification ID of the additional display module is recorded, and an individual identification recorded in the non-rewritable memory. This is achieved by providing an additional display module, wherein an ID can be transmitted to the outside via the transmitting / receiving device.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A portable terminal to which the present invention can be applied is as follows.
It is not limited to a mobile phone, but may be a general-purpose mobile phone having an expansion slot into which an additional memory card or a modem card can be inserted. In particular, the present invention is suitably applicable to a hand-held computer, and an expansion slot included in the hand-held computer is directly connected to a CPU built in the hand-held computer. It is effective to reduce Handheld computers with such CPU bus direct connectors or expansion slots are currently available.

The second liquid crystal display of the additional display module is preferably a high-quality color liquid crystal, and is preferably a field-sequential liquid crystal from the viewpoint of both high image quality and power saving.

A typical example of the individual identification ID recorded in the non-rewritable memory of the additional display module is the serial number of the additional display module. The serial number of the additional display module can be used as one of the personal authentications by sending the serial number to the distributor when the content is distributed from the outside. That is, the distribution source can perform the distribution after confirming, for example, the identification of the individual requesting the distribution from the serial number.

In order to perform the personal authentication, the user is required to register the address, name, gender, age, etc. in advance, and if the serial number is added to the registration card, the serial number of the additional display module is obtained. Can be specified.

For example, if a company that distributes advertisements and advertisements can know the gender and age of the person who has received the advertisements of the company, this information can be useful, for example, in later advertisements and sending direct mail. . Objects and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a portable terminal or a portable computer suitable for applying the present invention. The portable terminal 1 is preferably a hand-held computer that can be held with one hand. For example, a typical general-purpose hand-held computer currently available is a Hand-held computer.
spring, Inc. (189 Bernardo Avenue Mountain View, C
A 94043) sells a highly scalable microcomputer sold under the name "Visor" (registered trademark).

The illustrated handheld computer 1 has a rectangular shape large enough to be held by one hand.
The thickness is about 10 mm. The hand-held computer 1 has a monochrome liquid crystal display 2 with a 3-inch touch panel occupying almost the entire area on the front surface. The touch panel extends downward to form a writing input area 11 in a lower area of the liquid crystal display 2. A character can be input by writing a character on the surface of the handwriting input area 11 with an attached pen (not shown).

An operation unit 10 in which a plurality of operation buttons or switches 4 to 9 are arranged below the liquid crystal display 2.
Having. The functions of the various operation buttons or switches 4 to 9 of the operation unit 10 are the same as those of the related art, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted. Note that the above-described liquid crystal display 2 may be a color liquid crystal.

The handheld computer 1 includes an external keyboard (not shown) as an option. By connecting the keyboard to the handheld computer 1, input can be performed by a keyboard.

On the back of the handheld computer 1,
A recess or slot 20 is provided for accommodating various expansion modules to be described later. The expansion module slot 20 is open upward from the upper edge of the handheld computer 1, and a deep or bottom portion of the slot 20 is provided with an elongated body-side multi-pin connector 21 extending horizontally. .

As an extension module, an extension memory 25,
Various devices such as a modem module 26 to which a portable terminal can be connected, a CCD camera module, a GPS module, and an MP3 player are available, and all extension modules can be connected to the above-mentioned main body side connector 21 on the lower end surface thereof. A module side connector 30 (FIG. 2) is provided.

When an optional expansion module such as the expansion memory 25 is selectively mounted, the handheld computer 1 is held while holding the handheld computer 1 with one hand.
, The extension module is inserted into the slot 20 from above and slid downward along the back of the handheld computer 1 so that the connectors 21 and 30 are closely fitted to each other, and the handheld computer 1 and the extension module are integrated. And these are electrically connected.

Conversely, when removing the extension module, the extension module may be slid upward while holding the handheld computer 1 with one hand. Thereby, the module side connector 30 (FIG. 2) can be detached from the main body side connector 21 of the handheld computer 1.

The handheld computer 1 includes a display module 40 as a kind of extension module. The second display 40 has a card unit 41 substantially the same size as the slot 20 of the handheld computer 1.
A module-side connector 3 that can be connected to the additional memory main body-side connector 21 is provided at the lower edge of the card section 41.
0 (FIG. 2) is attached.

The display module 40 includes a relatively thin rectangular monitor case 42 extending upward from the upper end of the card section 41, and a high-density color liquid crystal display 43 is disposed on the front of the monitor case 42. This high-density color liquid crystal display 43 includes a monitor case 42
And has a size of 1.5 to 2 inches which occupies almost the entire area of the front surface.

For convenience of explanation, the monochrome liquid crystal display 2 of the handheld computer 1 is referred to as "main LCD or main body side LCD", and the high-density color liquid crystal display 43 of the display module 40 is referred to as "additional LCD or second LCD". I do.

When the display module 40 is mounted, the slot 2 is held from above the handheld computer 1 while holding the handheld computer 1 with one hand.
The display module 40 is integrated with the handheld computer 1 by inserting the card unit 41 of the display module 40 into the handheld computer 1 and sliding it downward along the back of the handheld computer 1.

In the above-described manner, the handheld computer 1
When the display module 40 is mounted on the handheld computer 1, the additional LCD 43 of the display module 40 is located on substantially the same plane as the main LCD 2 of the handheld computer 1 and directly above the main LCD 2.

If it is desired to remove the display module 40, the display module 40 may simply be pulled up. Thereby, the connection between the connectors is released, and the display module 40 can be removed from the handheld computer 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the handheld computer 1 and the display module 40.

The handheld computer 1 has a CPU 5
0, main memory 51, main LCD, that is, main body side LC
The main memory 51, the first LCD image memory 54, and the main body connector 21 include a first LCD driver 52 and a first LCD controller 53 for driving the D2, a first LCD image memory 54, a main body side connector 21, and the like. It is connected to the CPU 50 via 55.

The handheld computer 1 also has a built-in infrared transmission / reception device 56, which can communicate with an external infrared information distribution terminal 57 by this transmission / reception device 56.

The display module 40 includes an additional LC
Regarding the driving of D43, it has substantially the same configuration as the handheld computer 1. That is, the display module 40 includes the second LCD driver 62 and the second LCD driver 62.
LCD controller 63, second LCD image memory 6
4, and the additional LCD 43 is substantially controlled by the second LCD controller 63. The second LCD image memory 64 is connected to the module side connector 3 via the bus 65.
Connected to 0. This display module 40
The second LCD image memory 64 may be replaced with a memory built in the handheld computer 1.

The display module 40 also includes a non-rewritable memory 66 connected to a bus 65. The non-rewritable memory 66 is written in the non-rewritable memory 66 when the module 40 is manufactured or shipped, such as the serial number of the module 40. The recorded individual identification ID is recorded.

An additional liquid crystal display, that is, a second LCD 4
Reference numeral 3 is not limited to a high-density color liquid crystal display, but may be a monochrome liquid crystal display, but is most preferably a field-sequential color liquid crystal having no color filter.

Characters and / or characters captured by the handheld computer 1 through the infrared transmitting / receiving device 56, for example.
Alternatively, various image data are stored in the first LCD image memory 54.
Is processed by the first LCD controller 53 through the main LCD 2 and displayed on the additional LCD 4.
3 is transmitted from the main body side bus 55 to the connector 2
The second LC transferred to the display module 40 through the first and the 30th and built in the display module 40
The second through the image memory for D, that is, the frame memory 64
The processing is performed by the LCD controller 63 and the additional LCD
43 is displayed.

Since the display module 40 is connected via the main body-side connector 21 directly connected to the bus of the handheld computer 1, it is possible to transfer image data from the handheld computer 1 to the display module 40 at an extremely high speed. it can. Therefore, it is suitable to display the image data by the additional LCD 43. When the additional LCD 43 is formed of a field sequential type color liquid crystal, high-quality display can be performed with low power consumption.

When a still image is displayed on the additional LCD 43, it can be processed by data already written in the second image memory 64 built in the display module 40.
The load on the CPU 50 can be reduced, and the power saving drive of the handheld computer 1 can be performed.

The second LCD driver 62, the second LCD controller 63, and the second LCD image memory 64 incorporated in the display module 40 can be mounted on a single chip. There is no increase in size.

The external infrared information distribution terminal 57 is arranged, for example, at a street corner, a bus stop, a place where many people gather, or in front of a shop.
It is connected to the Internet (not shown) or a computer of each shop, and various contents can be distributed through the infrared information distribution terminal 57 through the Internet or department stores and shops.

The contents that can be distributed are as follows. (1) An electronic teaching material such as an English conversation teaching material of one lesson in 30 minutes: image data of a business scene and a conversation sentence (phrase) of a business conversation synchronized with the business scene;

(2) Electronic advertisement: for example, image data of a new item of clothing of an apparel maker, a detailed description thereof, a telephone number and address of a sales destination, or image data of a new vehicle, and a description of specifications and characteristics thereof;

(3) Newspaper or magazine articles containing image data;

The owner of the handheld computer 1 can download desired contents through the built-in infrared transmission / reception device 56 and the infrared information distribution terminal 57 without requiring communication costs.

The distribution source requests the user of the display module 40 for user registration, and obtains the individual identification ID such as the serial number of the display module 40, and the like.
It is possible to obtain user information relating the user's gender, age, address, name, and the like.

When downloading the content, the built-in infrared transmitting / receiving device 56 of the handheld computer 1 is used.
In addition to the personal information stored in the memory 51 of the handheld computer 1 or alone, the individual identification ID of the module 40 recorded in the non-rewritable memory 66 of the display module 40 is sent to the distribution source, The distribution source may distribute the content after confirming that the sent individual identification ID is registered in advance.

According to this, the distribution source can know the person who has accessed the specific content through the handheld computer 1 through the individual identification ID of the display module 40, such as gender and age. It is possible to obtain valuable business information such as consumer trends regarding contents. When distributing electronic teaching materials such as English conversation, the individual identification ID of the display module 40 may be used as one tool for personal authentication.

The handheld computer 1 has been developed mainly for confirming personal data and its main purpose is to display character information on the display 2. Can use the display module 40 to view high-quality color still images or moving images.

For example, a person who downloads business English teaching materials at a bus stop on his way home gets on a train
It is possible to study English conversation while watching the business conversation sentence displayed on D2 and the business scene (image) clearly displayed on the additional LCD 43.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment but includes the following modifications.

(1) The handheld computer 1 in which the expansion module slot 20 is open upward has been described. However, the opening direction of the slot 20 is not particularly limited. For example, the slot 20 is open to the side. The present invention can also be applied to such cases.

(2) Display module 4 described above
0, the card portion 41 and the monitor case 42 are integrated, that is, they are substantially rigidly connected. However, a hinge is provided between the card portion 41 and the monitor case 42 so that the second LCD 43 The display angle may be changed.

(3) The display module 40
Between the card portion 41 and the monitor case 42 by a freely bendable connecting member, for example, a bendable arm,
The display angle and display direction of the second LCD 43 may be freely variable.

(4) The computer to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to the handheld computer 1, but may be a keyboard-input type portable computer having an expansion slot or a mobile phone having an expansion slot.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a handheld computer and various modules that can be detachably attached to the computer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a handheld computer and an additional display module.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Handheld computer 2 Liquid crystal display (main LCD) of a handheld computer 20 Expansion slot 40 Display module 43 Additional liquid crystal display (extension LCD) 50 CPU 52 Driver for main LCD 53 Controller for main LCD 54 Image memory for main LCD 56 Infrared transmitting / receiving device 57 Infrared information distribution terminal 62 Driver for second LCD 63 Controller for second LCD 64 Image memory for second LCD 66 Non-rewritable memory

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A portable terminal comprising: an external infrared transmitting / receiving terminal; a transmitting / receiving device capable of communicating with the external infrared transmitting / receiving terminal; and first display means; and an extension for connection via an expansion slot of the mobile terminal. A character information and image information from the external transmission / reception terminal, display the character information on a first display unit of the portable terminal, and display the image information on the additional display. A method for distributing content including image information. 2. A portable terminal comprising a transmitting / receiving device capable of communicating with the outside and a display means, and an additional display connectable through an expansion slot of the portable terminal, wherein the additional display includes a second terminal. And an unrewritable memory are provided. The unrewritable memory has an individual identification I written at the time of manufacture or shipment of the additional display module.
D is recorded, and the individual identification ID can be transmitted to the external transceiver via the transmission / reception device,
A mobile terminal with a detachable extension display. 3. The mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein the individual identification ID is a serial number of the additional display module. 4. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the additional display includes a memory for the second display unit. 5. The mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal is a handheld computer. 6. An extension slot of the handheld computer is open to an upper edge of the handheld computer, and when the additional display module is mounted on the handheld computer, the second slot of the additional display module is provided. 6. The portable terminal according to claim 5, wherein said display means is located on substantially the same plane as said first display means of said handheld computer and located directly above said first display means. 7. The portable terminal according to claim 4, wherein said second display means comprises a field sequential type color liquid crystal. 8. An additional display module connectable via an expansion slot of a portable terminal having a transmitting / receiving device capable of communicating with the outside and a display means, wherein the additional display module comprises a second display means. And a non-rewritable memory in which the individual identification ID of the additional display module is recorded, wherein the individual identification ID recorded in the non-rewritable memory can be transmitted to the outside via the transmitting / receiving device. A display module for expansion. 9. The extension according to claim 8, further comprising a driver for the second display unit, a controller for the second display unit, and a memory for the second display unit. Display module. 10. The additional display module according to claim 8, wherein the individual identification ID is a serial number of the additional display module. 11. The additional display module according to claim 10, wherein said second display means is made of a field sequential type color liquid crystal. 12. The additional display module according to claim 9, wherein an extension slot of the portable terminal is directly connected to a CPU built in the portable terminal. 13. The additional display module according to claim 12, wherein said portable terminal is a handheld computer. 14. The additional display module according to claim 13, wherein said transmitting / receiving device comprises an infrared transmitting / receiving device.