JP2004355230A - Information communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable communication terminal capable of transmitting a plurality of data contents without burdening a receiver and having an e-mail function with excellent convenience and confidentiality is provided.
In an information communication terminal provided with an e-mail function capable of attaching various data, a storage unit for storing various data and related information as needed, and an electronic mail from the storage unit. An input operation unit for designating data to be attached; an accompanying data extracting unit for extracting accompanying data associated with the specified data from the storage unit based on the related information; A synthesis processing unit 4 for creating data.
By designating the data, the synthesized data is created from the specified data and the associated data associated therewith, and the synthesized data is automatically attached to the e-mail.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information communication terminal having an e-mail function, such as a mobile phone and a PDA, and more particularly to an information communication terminal capable of transmitting an e-mail attached with various data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, information communication terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs having an e-mail function have been widely used. The e-mail function can send an e-mail body consisting of text data created using an e-mail creation application to the destination terminal, and can also attach data other than the e-mail body to an e-mail and send it. it can. In an information communication terminal of this kind, various data such as character information, image information, or audio information stored in a memory of the terminal in advance can be attached.
[0003]
As described above, the function of attaching data to the body of the mail includes, for example, transmitting the captured image information to the body of the mail by using an information communication terminal having an imaging unit such as a camera-equipped mobile phone. Some of them have a function and a function of transmitting position information plotted on a map by attaching it to a mail text or a header by an information communication terminal equipped with GPS (Patent Document 1).
Also, the e-mail function can attach two or more data, and can transmit a plurality of data to the destination simultaneously with the body mail.
[0004]
However, when attaching a plurality of data, it takes a long time to create an e-mail, which is inconvenient, and there is a fear that wrong data may be attached, so that confidentiality is poor. In addition, an e-mail with a plurality of data attached has a large capacity and takes a long time to transmit and receive, and a terminal having a small display such as a mobile phone or a PDA cannot display the attached data at the same time. .
Therefore, a method of combining a plurality of selected data and then attaching the data to the body of the mail or a method of attaching a plurality of associated data to the body of the mail and transmitting the combined data on the receiving terminal and displaying the combined data And so on.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-262337
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the method of attaching after data combination, the combining process must be performed before creating the mail, and if it becomes necessary to attach the combined data during the creation of the mail, the mail creation operation must be temporarily interrupted.
Also, in the method of combining and displaying data after receiving an email, the receiving terminal needs to have a combining processing function, and in order to grasp the entire data, all of the attached data must be opened. However, it lacks versatility and lacks convenience.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, the present invention, in order to solve such a problem,
In information communication terminals equipped with an e-mail function that can attach various data,
Storage means for storing various data and their related information;
Designation means for designating data to be attached to an email from the storage means;
A combination processing unit that extracts accompanying data associated with the specified data from the storage unit based on the related information, and creates combined data from the designated data and the accompanying data.
The combined data is attached to an electronic mail by designating the data.
[0008]
Further, as another invention, in an information communication terminal having an e-mail function capable of attaching various data,
Storage means for storing various data and their related information;
Designation means for designating data to be attached to an email from the storage means;
Combining processing means for extracting accompanying data associated with the specified data from the storage means based on the related information, and creating combined data from the designated data and the accompanying data;
Selecting means for selecting at least one data to be attached to an e-mail among the combined data, the designated data and the accompanying data,
The selected data is attached to an e-mail.
[0009]
Further, the invention is characterized in that at least one of the designated data and the accompanying data can be attached together with the combined data attached to the electronic mail.
Further, when there are a plurality of the accompanying data, the combining processing means can select the accompanying data to be combined with the designated data.
Further, before the creation of the e-mail, there is provided means for setting whether or not to operate the combination processing means.
[0010]
Further, the present invention is characterized in that it comprises means for selecting whether or not to operate the synthesizing processing means at the time of creating the e-mail, and in this case, when selecting not to operate the synthesizing processing means, Preferably, at least one of the designated data and the accompanying data can be attached to an electronic mail.
Furthermore, in these inventions, one of the designation data and the accompanying data is image information, and the other is position information.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified, and are merely illustrative examples. Not just.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a combining process according to the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, a mobile communication terminal that transmits and receives e-mail via a wireless line such as a mobile phone and a PDA will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and information communication that transmits and receives e-mail via a wired line such as a personal computer It is also applicable to terminals.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication terminal 1 according to the present embodiment includes a storage unit 2, an accompanying data extraction unit 3, a synthesis processing unit 4, a synthesis processing execution determination unit 5, an imaging unit 6, The input operation unit 7, the display unit 8, the wireless communication unit 9, the GPS receiving unit 10, the time counting unit 11, the time calculating unit 12, the position calculating unit 13, the place name specifying unit 14, and control these. And a control unit 15 that performs the control.
The storage unit 2 indicates the entire storage unit represented by a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and stores a control program of the mobile communication terminal 1, various data, and the like. Further, as necessary, related information in which various data such as image information and character information and associated data related thereto are stored.
Based on the related information, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 described later, a related information table including the various data and the accompanying data related thereto can be stored in a database.
[0013]
The accompanying data extraction unit 3 searches for and extracts whether there is accompanying data related to certain data, and performs a search based on the related information stored in the storage unit 2. As a method for extracting the accompanying data, for example, it is performed using the related information tables shown in FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of data association referred to as related information. The image information stored in a predetermined column of the table and the position information and the time information corresponding to each image information are used as associated data. , And identification information and data storage location information for identifying each are stored in each row. The table is updated by acquiring information such as position information and time at the time when the image was taken when the image is acquired by taking an image or the like in the imaging unit 6, and updating the table by storing the information. You.
Using this, when certain image information is specified, first search in the column of "image information", specify the row in which the image information is stored, and then enter a column for each information in that row. By looking at, it is possible to detect whether or not there is accompanying data in the designated image information.
As the position information, as described later, the name of a prefecture or a municipal name may be specified and stored, the acquired latitude and longitude may be stored as it is, or the position of the terminal itself may be displayed on the map image. The illustrated data may be stored.
[0014]
The combination processing unit 4 performs a combination process such as image combination when the combination process determination unit 5 determines that the combination process is to be performed. As an example, a case of “combining ancillary data having the content“ Tokyo ”with photographic image data” will be described. For example, a predetermined area is set to black for a pixel (pixel) of the specified photographic image data and “Tokyo” The processing such as combining the photographic image data with accompanying data such as "Tokyo" by forming the character "To".
Further, the synthesizing process execution determination unit 15 determines whether or not to perform a synthesizing process such as image synthesis, and determines whether related associated data exists, whether the user has instructed the synthesizing process, And so on.
[0015]
As the imaging unit 6, a CCD camera or the like for taking a photograph or the like can be used.
The input operation unit 7 is, of course, used for a normal telephone call with an input key, a scroll key, or the like, but is also used for selecting a combination process or performing imaging with an imaging unit.
The display unit 8 can use an LCD or the like, and is used for displaying captured image data, instructing a user, and displaying information.
The wireless communication unit 9 transmits and receives normal voice and e-mail.
[0016]
The GPS receiving unit 10 receives satellite waves transmitted from GPS satellites, and can acquire information on the latitude and longitude of the own terminal, time, and the like.
The time clock unit 11 is used by the mobile communication terminal 1 to measure time and the like by itself, and is configured by an RTC (real time clock) or the like. The time is calculated based on information obtained from a satellite or the like.
The position calculator 13 calculates the latitude and longitude based on information obtained from the GPS satellites or the like. The place name specifying unit 14 specifies a place name or the like from the latitude and longitude calculated by the position calculation unit 13, and performs processing such as that described in the related information table of FIG. It specifies the place name.
[0017]
FIG. 4 is an example of a table referred to when a place name is stored as position information in the table shown in FIG. 3, and is a table showing the correspondence between the place name and the latitude and longitude. In this table, prefecture information in which position information such as a latitude and longitude range for each prefecture is associated with a predetermined column is stored in each row, and a latitude and longitude range and the like for each city and town corresponding to each prefecture information are stored. Is stored in each row, and identification information and data storage location information are given to each row.
When an image is acquired by performing photographing in the photographing unit 6 or the like, the GPS acquiring unit 10 is started, and a method of associating a place name with position information is based on information acquired by the GPS acquiring unit 10. The calculator 13 calculates the latitude and longitude. To which prefecture the latitude / longitude belongs is first checked against the prefecture information, and the name of the prefecture is specified. Next, for the column having the same prefecture information as the specified prefecture name, the municipal name is specified by performing a search on the municipal information column at the preceding latitude and longitude. Then, after specifying the place name in this way, it is stored in the row of the position information of the column of the image information acquired this time. In FIG. 4, if country information is further provided, it is possible to correspond to countries all over the world, and if address information is provided, more detailed address correspondence becomes possible.
Further, the data such as the time measured by the time counting unit 11, the data such as the time calculated by the time calculating unit 12, and the data of the latitude and longitude calculated by the position calculating unit 13 are also used for the imaging. It is also possible to store the image data in the storage unit 2 in association with the image data obtained when the image was captured by the unit 6.
[0018]
In the above description of the present portable communication terminal 1, the time data is acquired by the time measuring unit 11 or the time calculating unit 12. However, the time data may be acquired from the base station via the wireless communication unit 9. The information may be obtained from an external device such as a personal computer by connecting through an external interface (not shown).
The place name data such as country and place name is also acquired from the place name specifying unit 14, but may be acquired from a base station or the like via the wireless communication unit 9 or via an external interface (not shown). It may be obtained from outside.
[0019]
Further, in the above description, the location data such as latitude / longitude or country or place name is used as the accompanying data representing the location. However, the data is graphical data in which the location is marked with an arrow or the like on a map. Is also good. In this case, the map data is stored in the storage unit 2, and by referring to the position data of the latitude and longitude obtained from the position calculation unit 13 or the outside, the synthesis processing is performed on the map data corresponding to the latitude and longitude. An arrow or the like may be written in the part 4. The map data may be obtained from an external network or the like via a base station, or may be obtained from outside via an external interface or the like.
As described above, when the accompanying data is an image such as map data, the map data may be simply superimposed on the designated image data when the combining is performed by the combining processing unit 4. Will be difficult to see. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the map data to overwrite the corners of the image data, or to line up and form one image, and then compress the data size. It is possible to cope with a case where the data size that can be attached to an e-mail is limited.
[0020]
Next, a processing flow in the portable communication terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a processing flow in a case where the combined data is attached at the time of creating an e-mail. In such processing, first, when the input operation unit 7 is operated on the mobile communication terminal 1 to start the e-mail function, If the control unit 15 determines that an e-mail is being created (S20), it determines whether there is an instruction to attach the data A specified by the input operation unit 7 to the mail (S21). ). When there is an instruction to attach the data A, the accompanying data extracting unit 3 determines whether or not there is the accompanying data B associated with the data A (S22). The combining processing execution determining unit 5 determines whether to perform the combining processing, and the combining processing unit 4 is activated to combine the data A and the accompanying data B to create combined data C (S23). Next, the combined data C is attached to the e-mail as attached data (S24), and the e-mail is transmitted via the wireless communication unit 9.
On the other hand, if the control unit 15 determines that the accompanying data B does not exist, only the data A is attached to the electronic mail as attached data (S25), and the electronic mail is transmitted via the wireless communication unit 9. I do.
[0021]
One embodiment in which the composite data C is attached to an e-mail according to this operation flow will be specifically described with reference to FIG. (A) shows a part of the data stored in the storage unit 2 before the combining process, and (b) shows data stored after the combining process. The storage unit 2 stores a location name acquired by the location calculation unit 13 and the location name identification unit 14 based on the data A, which is image information of the image captured by the imaging unit 6, and information acquired from the GPS reception unit 10. Data B, which is information, is stored. These data are related based on the related information in a related information table as shown in FIG.
Then, when the data A is designated by the input operation unit 7 during the creation of the e-mail by the terminal user (S20) (S21), the data B is extracted by the accompanying data extraction unit 3 (S22). The combining processing unit 4 combines these data to create data C (S23), stores it in the storage unit 2 in a state where it is associated with the data A, and attaches it to an e-mail as needed ( S24).
[0022]
At this time, as a method of synthesizing the position information (data B) with the captured image information (data A), for example, the following method can be mentioned.
When the position information is character data, the position information is first converted into image information (generally, a bitmap format), and the captured image information is converted into a character corresponding to the position information in the bitmap format. A method of rewriting only the dots of the captured image information corresponding to the existing dots (pixels) can be used.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process for attaching combined data and creating an e-mail after data designation. In this process, the data A is designated by the input operation unit 7 (S40), and when it is determined that the electronic mail creation is selected by the control unit 15 (S41), the accompanying data extraction unit 3 It is determined whether or not there is accompanying data B associated with the specified data A (S42). If there is the accompanying data B, the combining process execution determining unit 5 determines whether to perform the combining process, and the combining processing unit 4 is activated to combine the data A and the accompanying data B to perform the combined data C. Is created (S43). Next, the combined data C is attached to the electronic mail as attached data (S44). On the other hand, when the control unit 15 determines that the accompanying data B does not exist, the combining processing unit 4 does not operate, and attaches only the data A to the electronic mail as the attached data (S45).
Then, a mail creation screen is displayed on the display unit 8 with the data A or the combined data C already attached (S46).
[0024]
According to these processing flows, it is not necessary to prepare the combined data before transmitting the combined data, and the convenience is improved. In addition, there is no fear of attaching incorrect accompanying data, and confidentiality is improved. Further, since a plurality of data contents can be notified by one data, the data amount is reduced, and the data communication usage fee of the user can be reduced. Furthermore, the contents of a plurality of data can be grasped only by opening one data, and the convenience of the transmission partner can be improved. Even when the receiving terminal does not have a combining function, the user can browse the combined data. Note that even when the receiving terminal has a combining function, the combining data is not required, so that the combined data can be easily viewed.
[0025]
FIG. 7 shows a processing flow when it is possible to select the attachment of the related data consisting of the designated data A or the accompanying data B in the processing flow of FIG. After performing the processes (S20 to S24) until C is attached, a selection screen for "Would you like to attach related data?" Is displayed on the display unit 8 (S26). Next, when the input operation unit 7 instructs to attach the data A or the accompanying data B stored in the storage unit 2 (S27), the display unit 8 displays "1: only data A, 2: accompanying data. B: 3: Both data A and B are displayed (S28). Then, the controller 15 determines what is selected (S29). If 1 is selected, the data A is attached to the e-mail (S30). If 2 is selected, the associated data B is added. Is attached (S31), and when 3 is selected, data A and accompanying data B are attached (S32).
[0026]
Note that the process in the case where the attachment of the related data is selectable can be applied to the process of attaching the composite data C before creating the mail as shown in FIG. After at least one of the data A and the accompanying data B is selected and attached, an electronic mail creation screen can be displayed.
According to this processing, even when the user wants to attach at least one of the data A and the associated data including the associated data B together with the combined data C, it is possible to respond by an easy operation. And the convenience of the user can be improved.
[0027]
FIG. 8 shows a processing flow in a case where the execution of the combining process is set before the creation of the e-mail. The combining process function of performing the combining process by the combining process determination unit 5 before creating the mail is ON. When it is detected (S40), the control unit 15 determines that a mail is being created (S41), and determines whether there is an instruction to attach the data A specified by the input operation unit 7 to the mail. Is determined (S42). When there is an instruction to attach the data A, the accompanying data extracting unit 3 determines whether or not there is the accompanying data B associated with the data A in the storage unit 2 (S43). If there is, the combining processing unit 4 combines the data A and the accompanying data B to create combined data C (S44). Next, the combined data C is attached to the electronic mail as attached data (S45).
On the other hand, when the control unit 15 determines that the accompanying data B does not exist, only the data A is attached to the electronic mail as the attached data (S46).
[0028]
When the synthesis processing execution determination unit 5 detects that the synthesis processing function is set to OFF, only the designated data A may be attached.
According to this, for a user who does not need the data synthesizing function at all, or for a user whose use frequency of the data synthesizing function changes with time or time, the execution / non-execution of the data synthesizing function is performed at a stage before creating the mail. It can be easily selected, and the convenience of the user is improved.
[0029]
FIG. 9 shows a processing flow in a case where execution of the combining process is selected at the time of mail creation. In this process, the control unit 15 first determines whether or not an electronic mail is being created (S50), and when there is an instruction to attach the data A by the input operation unit 7 (S51), the specified data A The associated data extracting unit 3 searches for the associated associated data B (S52). If the associated data B exists, the display section 8 indicates "Attached data B exists. Do you want to synthesize? Is displayed (S53), the synthesizing process execution determination unit 5 determines which of the ON / OFF of the synthesizing process function has been selected (S54). If the combination processing function is ON, the combination processing unit 4 creates combined data C from the data A and the accompanying data B (S55), and attaches the combined data C to the e-mail (S56).
[0030]
On the other hand, if the control unit 15 determines that the accompanying data B does not exist, or if the combination processing function is set to OFF, only the data A is attached to the electronic mail as attached data (S57).
According to this process, it is possible to select whether or not to combine data at a stage during the creation of the mail and before the execution of the data combining process, and further improvement of convenience for the user can be realized. It becomes.
[0031]
FIG. 10 shows a processing flow when the synthetic data is not created and the attachment of the related data is selectable. In this process, the control unit 15 determines that a mail is being created (S60), and determines that there is an instruction to attach the data A specified from the storage unit 2 by the input operation unit 7 ( (S61) If it is determined that the associated data B related to the data A is present (S62), the display section 8 indicates that "the associated data B is present. Do you want to synthesize? Is displayed (S63). Next, when it is detected by the synthesis processing execution determination section 5 that the synthesis processing function ON for executing the synthesis processing is selected (S64), the synthesis processing section 4 synthesizes the data A and the accompanying data B. To create the combined data C (S65), and attach the combined data C to the e-mail (S66).
[0032]
On the other hand, if it is detected that the combination processing function OFF has been selected (S64), the display section 8 displays the message "Attach accompanying data B together? Is displayed (S67). Then, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to attach the accompanying data B (S68). If there is an instruction, both the data A and the accompanying data B are attached to the e-mail.
When there is no accompanying data of the data A (S62) and when there is no instruction to attach the accompanying data B (S68), only the data A is attached to the e-mail (S70).
According to such processing, even when the user does not desire the combining processing, it is possible to select whether or not to attach the accompanying data together with the designated data. Thereby, even when the user wants to attach the accompanying data together with the data specified by the user, it is possible to attach the attached data by an easy operation, and since these can be selected at the time of attaching the data, the attaching process according to the demand of the user becomes possible. .
[0033]
FIG. 11 shows a processing flow when the attached data can be selected. According to this processing, the control unit 15 is in the process of creating an e-mail (S80), there is an instruction to attach the data A specified by the input operation unit 7 (S81), and the accompanying data extraction unit 3 When the existence of the accompanying data B of the data A is determined (S82), the display section 8 displays "1: data A only, 2: composite data C only, 3: data A and composite data C". Then, what is selected is determined (S84).
At this time, when 1 is selected, only data A is attached to the e-mail (S89), and when 2 is selected, composite data C is created from data A and accompanying data B (S89). Only the composite data C is attached to the electronic mail (S90). If No. 3 is selected, the data A is attached to the e-mail (S85), the combined data C is created from the data A and the accompanying data B (S86), and the combined data C is attached together with the data A. (S87).
[0034]
With this processing, it is possible to select the data to be attached, such as data specified by the user at the mail creation stage, accompanying data, combined data, and a combination thereof, all at once. As a result, the user can determine at once the combination of the attached data and the combination including the combined data at the mail creation stage, and the convenience of the user is improved.
Note that, in the processing flow of FIGS. 7 to 11, only the case where the attachment process is performed at the time of creating an e-mail corresponding to FIG. 5 has been described, but after performing the attachment process by specifying data as shown in FIG. The present invention is also applicable to the case of creating an e-mail.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of data contents are combined and attached to an e-mail, it is possible to avoid an increase in capacity and to solve a problem at the time of transmission.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a combining process according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a related information table stored in a storage unit.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table storing position information.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of attaching synthetic data when creating an e-mail.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing for attaching combined data and creating an e-mail after data designation.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process in which attachment of related data is selectable.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process for setting execution of a combining process before creating a mail.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of selecting execution of a combining process when creating a mail.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process in which synthetic data is not created and the attachment of related data is selectable.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing for enabling selection of attached data.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Mobile communication terminal
2 Storage unit
3 Associated data extraction unit
4 Composition processing section
5 Composition processing execution determination unit
6 Imaging unit
10 GPS receiver
13 Position calculation unit
14 place name identification department
15 Control unit

Claims (8)

In information communication terminals equipped with an e-mail function that can attach various data,
Storage means for storing various data and their related information;
Designation means for designating data to be attached to an email from the storage means;
A combination processing unit that extracts accompanying data associated with the specified data from the storage unit based on the related information, and creates combined data from the designated data and the accompanying data.
An information communication terminal, wherein the combined data is attached to an electronic mail according to the designation of the data. In information communication terminals equipped with an e-mail function that can attach various data,
Storage means for storing various data and their related information;
Designation means for designating data to be attached to an email from the storage means;
Combining processing means for extracting accompanying data associated with the specified data from the storage means based on the related information, and creating combined data from the designated data and the accompanying data;
Selecting means for selecting at least one data to be attached to an e-mail among the combined data, the designated data and the accompanying data,
An information communication terminal, wherein selected data is attached to an e-mail. 3. The information communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the designated data and the accompanying data can be attached together with the combined data attached to the electronic mail. 3. The information communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein when there are a plurality of the accompanying data, the combining processing means can select the accompanying data to be combined with the designated data. 3. The information communication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting whether or not to operate the combining processing means before creating the electronic mail. 3. The information communication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting whether or not to operate the combining processing means when the electronic mail is created. 7. The information communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the designated data and the accompanying data can be attached to an e-mail when the user selects not to operate the combining processing unit. 3. The information communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein one of the designation data and the accompanying data is image information and the other is position information.

Images