Communication channel indicators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10225389-B2
Application number	US-77090607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2007
Priority date	Jun 29, 2007
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

A method includes providing at least one entity icon on a screen of a device, providing at least one visual indicator corresponding to a communication channel associated with the at least one entity, where the visual indicator that corresponds to an active communication channel is different from the visual indicator that corresponds to an inactive communication channel, opening a entity application by selecting an entity icon, moving the entity icon and releasing the entity icon, and opening a communication link with the selected entity by selecting the visual indicator corresponding to an active communication channel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing at least one entity icon on a screen of a device, wherein each entity icon is associated with a respective contact entity, wherein each of the at least one entity icons is associated with a plurality of communication channels, each communication channel associated with the respective contact entity and a visual indicator, wherein at least one of the communication channels is associated with a third party hosting service for sharing information with other entities by the respective contact entity;
providing, for each entity icon, presence data of the respective contact entity;
providing, in response to selection of a particular entity icon, at least one visual indicator corresponding to an active communication channel and at least one visual indicator corresponding to an inactive communication channel, each visual indicator indicating activity of the respective associated contact entity using the communication channel, and wherein at least one of the visual indicators indicates a level of activity by having a varied appearance according to the level of activity on a respective associated third party hosting service, wherein the visual indicators for active communication channels and inactive communication channels are provided for display simultaneously and distinct from one another, and each visual indicator of an entity icon has a communication channel that is different from a communication channel of other ones of the visual indicators of that entity icon;
and
opening a communication link associated with the selected entity icon in response to receiving a selection of a visual indicator associated with the selected entity icon corresponding to an active communication channel.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an indication of the level of activity associated with the contact entity of the entity icon comprises varying at least one attribute of the at least one entity icon on the display of the device, the at least one attribute being varied to correspond to a non-binary level of activity associated with each contact entity.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising varying a rotational speed of each of the at least one entity icon on the display in dependence on the level of activity associated with a respective communication application.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after opening a communication application expanding each communication mode to provide more detail on the communication channel.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising active communication channel extending from an upper area of the entity icon.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting a visual indicator in order to open an active communication channel.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising, after the visual indicator is selected, displaying recent activity in the opened communication mode and dimming other communication channels to a background of the display.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an entity identifier adjacent to a corresponding entity icon, the entity identifier configured to remain in a horizontal orientation relative to a display orientation.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising holding the entity identifier in a fixed horizontal orientation relative to the display orientation, the entity identifier configured to move with a respective entity icon about the display.

10. A user interface comprising:
a memory; and
a controller configured, responsive to execution of instructions stored by the memory, to:
present at least one entity icon, wherein each entity icon is associated with a respective contact entity, wherein each of the at least one entity icons is associated with a plurality of communication channels, each communication channel associated with the respective contact entity and a visual indicator, wherein at least one of the communication channels is associated with a third party hosting service for sharing information with other entities by the respective contact entity,
present, for each entity icon, presence data of the respective contact entity,
in response to selection of a particular entity icon, present simultaneously at least two visual indicators associated with the at least one entity icon, at least one of the at least two visual indicators corresponding to an active communication channel associated with the at least one entity icon, and at least one of the at least two visual indicators corresponding to an inactive communication channel associated with the at least one entity icon, each visual indicator indicating activity of the respective associated contact entity using the communication channel, and wherein at least one of the visual indicators indicates a level of activity by having a varied appearance according to the level of activity on a respective associated third party hosting service, wherein a visual indicator for an active communication channel is different than a visual indicator for an inactive communication channel and each visual indicator of an entity icon has a communication channel that is different from a communication channel of other ones of the visual indicators of that entity icon,
and
present a selection link associated with each visual indicator, the activation of which will couple a contact entity associated with a respective entity icon to the respective communication channel.

11. The user interface of claim 10 where the controller is further configured to present a selectable link associated with the at least one entity icon, a selection of which will provide detailed information related to the contact entity and each associated communication channel.

12. An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
a memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
provide at least one entity icon on a screen of a device, wherein each entity icon is associated with a respective contact entity, wherein each of the at least one entity icons is associated with a plurality of communication channels, each communication channel is associated with the respective contact entity and a visual indicator, wherein at least one of the communication channels is associated with a third party hosting service for sharing information with other entities by the respective contact entity;
provide, for each entity icon, presence data of the respective contact entity;
provide, in response to selection of a particular entity icon, at least one visual indicator corresponding to an active communication channel and at least one visual indicator corresponding to an inactive communication channel, each visual indicator indicating activity of the respective associated contact entity using the communication channel, and wherein at least one of the visual indicators indicates a level of activity by having a varied appearance according to the level of activity on a respective associated third party hosting service, wherein the visual indicators for active communication channels and inactive communication channels are provided for display simultaneously and distinct from one another, and each of the visual indicators of an entity icon corresponds to a mode of communication that is different from a channel of communication of other ones of the visual indicators of that entity icon;
and
open a communication link to a contact entity associated with the selected entity icon over a communication channel in response to receiving selection of a visual indicator corresponding to an active communication channel.

13. A computer program product sto

Assignees

• Lindberg Phillip John
• Niemela Sami Johannes
• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Lindberg Phillip John
• Niemela Sami Johannes

Classifications

• H04M2207/18

  wireless networks · CPC title

• H04M2201/42

  Graphical user interfaces · CPC title

• H04M1/27475

  using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations · CPC title

• H04M3/42374

  where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server · CPC title

• H04M2250/22

  including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector · CPC title