US20160037016A1 - System and method for sharing images using an image upload menu - Google Patents
System and method for sharing images using an image upload menu Download PDFInfo
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- US20160037016A1 US20160037016A1 US14/885,430 US201514885430A US2016037016A1 US 20160037016 A1 US20160037016 A1 US 20160037016A1 US 201514885430 A US201514885430 A US 201514885430A US 2016037016 A1 US2016037016 A1 US 2016037016A1
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- image
- communication device
- photo
- camera
- mobile communication
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
- H04N1/21—Intermediate information storage
- H04N1/2166—Intermediate information storage for mass storage, e.g. in document filing systems
- H04N1/2179—Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries
- H04N1/2187—Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries with image input from a plurality of different locations or from a non-central location, e.g. from one or more users
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
- G06F16/50—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of still image data
- G06F16/51—Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
- G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
- G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
- G06F16/958—Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
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- G06F17/3028—
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
- H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
- H04N1/00204—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
- H04N1/00244—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server with a server, e.g. an internet server
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
- H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
- H04N1/00281—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal
- H04N1/00307—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal with a mobile telephone apparatus
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
- H04L65/10—Architectures or entities
- H04L65/1059—End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to systems and methods for sharing images using an image upload module.
- the images may be stored in available memory on the communication device, and viewed on a display provided on the communication device.
- the available memory on the communication device may be limited, and a user may not be able to capture and store new images in the communication device without deleting images or other files already stored in memory.
- the user may want to share the images with other users.
- the ability to easily add descriptive information and location information about the images may be desirable.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of various components that may be found in a handheld mobile communication device
- FIG. 2 is an illustrative example of a handheld mobile communication device that may provide an operating environment
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative example of a network environment in which various embodiments may be practiced
- FIGS. 4A to 4K are screen captures of illustrative user interfaces in accordance with various embodiments.
- FIG. 5B is a flowchart of an illustrative method for sharing images using an image upload module in accordance with an embodiment.
- the present invention relates generally to systems and methods for sharing images using an upload menu.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative handheld mobile communication device 100 .
- the communication device 100 may comprise a number of components, including a main processor 102 which controls the overall operation of communication device 100 .
- Communication functions, including data and voice communications, may be performed through a communication subsystem 104 .
- the communication subsystem 104 may receive messages from and send messages to a wireless network 200 .
- the main processor 102 may also interact with additional subsystems such as a random access memory (RAM) 106 , a flash memory 108 , a display 110 , an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 112 , a data port 114 , a keyboard 116 , a trackball 117 , a speaker 118 , a microphone 120 , short-range communications 122 , a GPS subsystem 124 , a camera module 126 , and associated camera logic 128 .
- RAM random access memory
- the display 110 and the keyboard 116 may be used for both communication-related functions, such as entering a text message for transmission over the network 200 , and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list.
- the trackball 117 may be used for various navigation functions, such as navigating through a graphical user interface (GUI) menu displayed on display 110 .
- GUI graphical user interface
- the trackball 117 may also be configured with a secondary actuation feature, such as allowing a user to depress the trackball, to allow selection of a highlighted item.
- the GPS subsystem 124 may include a GPS antenna to receive signals transmitted by a minimum number of in-view GPS satellites required to acquire accurate latitude and longitude coordinates.
- the GPS system may also be operatively connected to the main processor 102 to pass the acquired latitude and longitude coordinates to one or more software applications 134 , and to store the latitude and longitude coordinates as may be required into flash memory 108 or RAM 106 . If the GPS antenna is not able to receive a signal from a sufficient number of in-view GPS satellites (e.g. because of buildings, bridges, or other obstructions, or because the communication device 100 is being used indoors), it may not be possible to acquire the GPS coordinates.
- the camera module 126 may be adapted to capture an image through a lens onto a light sensitive image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor array or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor array.
- the camera lens may be a fixed focus lens, or a variable focus lens with or without zoom features and controlled by camera logic 128 to focus an image onto the CCD or CMOS sensor array.
- the size and pixel density of the CCD or CMOS sensor array may be suitably selected for the image resolution required for a particular application.
- Camera logic 128 may also control the camera lens aperture and/or shutter speed by incorporating a suitable light exposure meter.
- Image capture using camera module 126 may initiated by a user controlling a dedicated camera shutter, or a context dependent programmable button or key (on keyboard 116 , for example) that may act as a camera shutter button.
- the image may then be processed by camera logic 128 into a suitable digital image file format such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF), Bit Mapping (BMP), different variations on these standard image file formats, or a vendor proprietary RAW image format.
- JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
- TIFF Tagged-Image File Format
- BMP Bit Mapping
- the image file format may allow for the addition of image meta-data to an image file in an industry standards exchangeable image file format (EXIF), or in some vendor proprietary meta-data format.
- EXIF industry standards exchangeable image file format
- the image file may then be stored in available device storage such as RAM 106 or flash memory 108 , and displayed on display 110 .
- available device storage such as RAM 106 or flash memory 108
- the captured image may be transmitted from communications device 100 to an Image Repository.
- operating system software used by the main processor 102 is typically stored in a persistent store such as flash memory 108 .
- a persistent store such as flash memory 108 .
- the operating system, specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as the RAM 106 , for processing by main processor 102 .
- the communication device 100 may send and receive communication signals over the wireless network 200 after required network registration or activation procedures have been completed.
- Network access may be associated with a subscriber or user of the communication device 100 .
- the communication device 100 may be a battery-powered device and may include a battery interface 132 for receiving one or more rechargeable batteries 130 .
- the battery 130 may be a smart battery with an embedded microprocessor.
- the battery interface 132 is coupled to a regulator (not shown), which assists the battery 130 in providing power V+ to the communication device 100 .
- the battery 130 may be used to power all components and modules in the communication device 100 , including the camera module 126 and associated camera logic 128 .
- the main processor 102 in addition to its operating system functions, enables execution of various software applications 134 on the communication device 100 .
- the software applications 134 may include a messaging application 136 .
- the messaging application 136 can be any suitable software program that allows a subscriber or user of the communication device 100 to send and receive wireless text communications. Various alternatives exist for the messaging application 136 as is well known to those skilled in the art. Messages that have been sent or received by the user are typically stored in local storage such as flash memory 108 of the communication device 100 , or in some other suitable storage element in the communication device 100 . In an alternative embodiment, some of the sent and received messages may be stored remotely from the communication device 100 such as in a data store of an associated host system that the communication device 100 communicates with.
- the messaging application 136 may include a Message List user interface that is configured to allow a user to see a list of message objects (i.e. email messages) in a convenient list form. This will be described in detail further below.
- the software applications 134 may also include a GPS map application 146 for providing geographic navigation, and location coordinates for geotagging objects.
- GPS map application 146 may be configured to operatively connect to GPS subsystem 124 to receive GPS latitude and longitude coordinates for a current position of the communication device 100 .
- GPS map application 146 may also store scalable maps of various geographic regions in order to show the current position of communication device 100 on the map.
- the GPS map application 146 may be configured to obtain latitude and longitude location coordinates by allowing a user to select a position on the GPS map.
- communication device 100 may execute an Image Applications Module 148 that may be operatively integrated with camera module 126 , camera logic 128 , main processor 102 , RAM 106 , display 110 and various other modules and components to provide various image application functions for the images captured by the camera module 126 .
- Image Applications Module may include various sub modules such as an Image Upload Module 148 B, an Image Resizing Module 148 C, a Message Integration Module 148 D, and an Image Geotagging Module 148 E. These various sub modules may interact with each other, and with other application modules such as the messaging application 136 , Internet browser module 138 , address book module 142 , GPS map module 146 , etc. in order to perform various functions.
- Image Applications Module 148 and its sub modules will be described in more detail further below.
- the communication device 100 may further include a device state module 140 , an address book 142 , a Personal Information Manager (PIM) 144 , and various other modules 150 . Additional software applications may also be loaded onto the communication device 100 through at least one of the wireless network 200 , the auxiliary I/O subsystem 112 , the data port 114 , the short-range communications subsystem 122 , or other device subsystem 124 .
- PIM Personal Information Manager
- the communication device 100 may include a display 110 , a keyboard 116 , and other input or navigation means such as a trackball 117 .
- the display 110 may be configured to display various screens allowing the user of device 100 to view screen outputs from the various software applications 134 , including the image applications 148 .
- Display 110 may also be configured to provide a touch-sensitive screen input in response to a prompt or query displayed on display 110 .
- the communication device 100 may further include a camera lens that may be used to capture an image as described above with reference to FIG. 1 .
- the integrated camera 126 may provide a camera lens 127 on the back of the communication device 100 , such that a user may use the display 110 as a camera viewfinder for framing an image.
- network environment 300 may include a device server 310 operatively connected to the handheld mobile communication device 100 via a wireless carrier network 320 .
- An Internet Service Provider (ISP) server 330 may also be provided in the network environment 300 such that a user of device 100 may access the Internet 340 from the device 100 .
- ISP Internet Service Provider
- the Internet 340 may provide access to an Image Repository 360 .
- Membership to use the Image Repository 360 may be free, or may be by paid subscription, for example.
- the Image Repository 360 may also be accessible by a third party 350 that has membership to the Image Repository 360 .
- the Image Repository 360 may be accessed from other handheld mobile communication devices 100 B within wireless carrier network 320 , or from other compatible communication devices 100 C with access to Internet 340 .
- FIGS. 4A to 4K shown are illustrative user interfaces in accordance with various embodiments.
- FIG. 4A shown is an illustrative integrated camera user interface screen 400 A displaying an illustrative image “IMG00027” captured by the integrated camera (e.g. by camera module 126 and camera logic 128 as previously described).
- the camera user interface 400 A may include icons such a “camera mode” icon 402 A, a “delete image” icon 404 A, a “crop image” icon 406 A, a “mail image” icon 408 A, and an “images folder” icon 410 A.
- a camera user interface screen 400 B now including a “Send . . . ” pop-up menu 402 B.
- the “Send . . . ” pop-up menu 402 B includes a number of menu options including “Send as Email” 404 B, “Send as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)” 406 B, and “Send To (Image Repository)” 408 B (e.g. where the Image Repository may be an online image repository such as FlickrTM, for example).
- Send . . . ” options will be described in more detail further below.
- FIG. 4C shows a user interface screen 400 C with a context menu 402 C that may also provide the “Send . . . ” menu options as described above, including “Send to (Image Repository)” 408 C.
- This context menu 402 C may be another one of several ways in which the “Send to (Image Repository)” option may be accessed, and will be discussed in more detail further below.
- FIG. 4D shown is a user interface screen 400 D with an option settings menu 402 D for the “Send to (Image Repository)” option in which records of images uploaded to an Image Repository may be integrated into a Message List.
- the Message List may be a chronological listing of different types of objects that may include, for example, email messages, message status reports, telephone call records, etc. This Message List integration will be described in more detail further below.
- FIG. 4E shown is a user interface screen 400 E with a “Send to (Image Repository)” window 408 E in which a number of text entry fields are provided to allow the user to add descriptive information, such as “Title”, “Description”, and “Tags”.
- the “Send to (Image Repository)” window may include various other options such as a geographic “Location” field 430 D, a “Privacy” setting 432 D, and an image “Resize to” setting 434 D.
- FIG. 4F shows a user interface screen 400 F with an illustrative “Send to (Image Repository)” window 408 F which may include various options for selecting a geographic location, such as “None” 430 F, a “Where I Am . . . ” option 432 F, an “Enter Address . . . ” option 434 F, a “From Address Book . . . ” option 436 F, and a “Favorites” option 438 F. These various options will be discussed in more detail further below.
- FIG. 4G shown is a user interface screen 400 G with an illustrative “Send to (Image Repository)” screen 408 G with an “Enter Address” pop-up window 440 G.
- a user may fill out one or more of the following fields: Address 442 G, City 444 G, State/Province 446 G, and Country 448 G.
- FIG. 4H shows a user interface 400 H with an illustrative example of an address list 442 H from which a target address 444 H may be selected.
- the corresponding geographic coordinates may be obtained from a GPS mapping application (e.g. GPS map module 146 ). This feature will be described in more detail further below.
- FIG. 4I shown is a user interface screen 400 J with an illustrative list of location “Favorites” 438 J from which a “favorite” location 450 J may be selected for the purposes of obtaining the corresponding geographic coordinates. This feature will be described in more detail further below.
- FIG. 4J shown is a user interface screen 400 K with an illustrative “Send To (Image Repository)” screen 408 K in which the “Where I Am . . . ” option has been selected to obtain the geographic location.
- the device 100 may search for and try to acquire GPS signals using the GPS subsystem 124 , as indicated in pop-up message 460 K.
- FIG. 4K shown is a user interface screen 400 L with an illustrative geographic location menu in which a new location entry 462 L (e.g. “Here @ Mar 14 12:04 a”) has been added.
- a new location entry 462 L e.g. “Here @ Mar 14 12:04 a”
- the use of this geographic location acquired through the “Where I Am . . . ” option will be described in more detail further below.
- FIG. 5B and referring back to FIGS. 4A to 4K as necessary, various embodiments will be described in detail.
- Image Applications Module 148 may include an Image Upload Module 148 B configured to upload images taken by integrated camera module 126 to an Image Repository 360 .
- the Image Upload Module 148 B of photo application 148 may either be installed as communication device 100 is assembled and configured, or may be distributed as an add-on application program downloadable over a wireless carrier network 320 , or by visiting a specified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) on the Internet 340 for example.
- URL Uniform Resource Locator
- image uploading may be performed if there is limited available memory on the communication device 100 , so that the user can clear the device memory as necessary in order to take more images. However, image uploading may also be done if the user wishes to easily share images with other users.
- FIG. 5B is a flowchart of an illustrative method 500 B for sharing images using an image upload module in accordance with an embodiment.
- method 500 B begins, and at block 502 B, awaits the capture of an image using the integrated camera module 126 .
- decision block 504 B method 500 B determines if an image has been captured. If yes, method 500 B may proceed to block 506 B to initiate the Image Upload Module 148 B. If no, method 500 B may loop back to block 502 B.
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may be configured to automatically display an image upload user interface upon capture of an image using the integrated camera module 126 .
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may display a “Send . . . ” menu 402 B from which a “Send To (Image Repository)” menu item 408 B may be selected.
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may also be configured to display send menu 402 B with the “Send To (Image Repository)” menu item 408 B preselected as the default image upload option. With this default option preselected, the user would only need to confirm the selection (e.g. with the click of a trackball 117 or a key from keyboard 116 ) in order to initiate the image upload process.
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may also be accessible from various other menus, such as a context menu 402 C which may be made available when a user selects a predefined context menu button from a particular user interface screen.
- the context menu 402 C may again include a “Send to (Image Repository)” option, as shown, which when selected may open another user interface screen window 408 E, such as is shown in FIG. 4E .
- Image Upload Module 148 B may enter a first “pre-authorization” state, where the Image Upload Module 148 B has been downloaded and installed, but never associated with an account on an Image Repository 360 .
- pre-authorization state no image uploads have been performed, and no successful interaction has occurred with the Image Repository application programming interface (API).
- API Image Repository application programming interface
- the user may have attempted to authorize her account, but would have been unsuccessful as there is no information or “authorization token” on the communication device 100 that is associated with the Image Repository 360 . No personal information is stored in the Image Upload Module 148 B at this time, and will not be until the Image Repository 360 account authorization procedure is successfully completed.
- method 500 B may initiate an account authorization process to gain access to the Image Repository.
- method 500 B may configure the Image Upload Module 148 B to initiate access to an account on the Image Repository 360 .
- a user may initiate an Image Repository 360 account authorization procedure: 1) the user may select a context menu option to “Send To . . . ” the Image Repository 360 ; 2) the user may attempt to check account usage for his Image Repository account; 3) the user may click on an “Enter Authorization Key” menu option from the Image Repository 360 context menu.
- a user interface for account authorization provided on communication device 100 may be configured to interact with the Image Repository 360 to create an authorization token for storage on communication device 100 .
- This authorization token stored on communication device 100 may then be used in every subsequent communication between the Image Repository and the communication device 100 .
- the authorization token may be used to identify which Flickr account the communication device 100 should be interacting with.
- the authorization token may be encrypted using a persistent content encoding function, and may be stored in this encoded form on the communication device 100 .
- method 500 B may configure the Image Upload Module 148 B with the selected image upload settings. All Image Repository application programming interface (API) interactions may then be possible, and all API methods may be called.
- API application programming interface
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may be configured to upload only non-protected image files of a supported image file type (e.g. GIF, JPG, JPEG, PJPEG, TIFF, PNG, RIM_PNG, BMP, WBMP).
- Image files may be protected, for example, if there is an enterprise IT policy not to allow uploads of images from enterprise issued communication devices 100 .
- the Image Upload Module 148 B functionality as described herein may be largely curtailed.
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may be initialized from a “Send To (Image Repository)” menu option located in a context menu.
- the context menu may be accessible from various software applications 134 to provide “Send As . . . ” or “Send To . . . ” menu options when the user clicks the corresponding context menu button on communication device 100 .
- the menu options may include “Send As Email” and “Send As SMS”, and “Send To (Image Repositories)”.
- method 500 B may configure the Image Upload Module 148 B to allow the user to specify the viewing privileges required to view any images uploaded by the user to the Image Repository 360 .
- the user may specify that the uploaded images are for the private use of the user only.
- the user may specify that the images may be shared within a defined group of users, or shared with all other Image Repository users.
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may be available from a number of different applications, such as a camera application (for accessing and controlling the camera module 126 ), an image file explorer (for reviewing image files stored on communication device 100 ), an email attachment service (for including image files as email attachments), and possibly other software applications 134 provided on communication device 100 .
- a camera application for accessing and controlling the camera module 126
- an image file explorer for reviewing image files stored on communication device 100
- an email attachment service for including image files as email attachments
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may be associated with image files themselves, and not with any specific software application 134 .
- the authorization token may be stored on the communication device 100 until explicitly deleted by the user. If a user has decided that he or she no longer wants the communication device 100 to be able to interact with the Image Repository 360 , this may be accomplished by selecting an “Authorization Token Delete” option from a context menu, for example. Upon selecting the “Authorization Key Delete” option, the authorization key may be removed from the communication device 100 , effectively disassociating the communication device 100 from the Image Repository 360 account. Further interaction with the Image Repository 360 may then be prevented without activation of a new Image Repository 360 account. If an attempt is made to activate a new account, the account authorization process described above may be initiated once again.
- the Image Upload Module 148 B may be configured to provide users with the ability to add descriptive information to an image before uploading.
- the descriptive information may include a title, a caption, tag words or phrases, or other information that may be associated with the image.
- entering [“Snow Storm” Waterloo Cold] in a “Tag” field may result in the following tags: a) Snow Storm; b) Waterloo; c) Cold.
- the descriptive information may be stored together with the image on local storage on the communication device 100 , and may also be uploaded with the image and stored on an Image Repository 360 to be accessed by the user (or by other users with appropriate viewing privileges).
- method 500 B may configure the Image Upload Module 148 B to provide a user interface to allow a user to add descriptive information about an image to be uploaded. Method 500 B may then proceed to block 518 B, where upon receiving user instructions, the image may be uploaded using the selected upload settings.
- the user's image uploads to the Image Repository account may be recorded on the communication device 100 in a Message List, as will be discussed in detail further below.
- a unique identification token may be saved with each Message List object associated with the Image Repository 360 , so that the unique identification token may be used in a URL linking to an image file stored in the Image Repository 360 .
- the unique identification token may be stored with it to keep a pointer to the image stored in the Image Repository 360 .
- method 500 B may configure the Image Upload Module 148 B to obtain a URL link to each uploaded image, thus associating the unique identification token with each uploaded image. Method 500 B may then end.
- Deactivating an Image Repository account may not necessarily remove the user's upload history (e.g. as recorded in a Message List). Rather, the upload history may be configured to persist in the Message List on the communication device 100 , until deleted by the user. Account deactivation may also occur if a second communication device 100 is associated with the Image Repository 360 account. In this case, the first communication device 100 may automatically be deactivated.
- a method of uploading an image file to an image repository from a mobile handheld communications device having an integrated camera comprising: upon determining capture of an image using the integrated camera, automatically initiating an image upload module; configuring the image upload module to display an image upload user interface having user selectable image upload settings; and upon receiving user instructions, uploading the image file to the image repository with the selected image upload settings.
- the method further comprises preselecting default upload settings in the image upload user interface.
- the method further comprises initiating account authorization for the communications device to access the image repository.
- the method further comprises associating the image upload module only with non-protected image files of a specified image type.
- the method further comprises providing as one of the user selectable upload settings viewing privileges for the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- the method further comprises configuring the image upload module to provide a descriptive field in the image upload user interface for allowing a user to add descriptive information about the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- the method further comprises configuring the image upload module to obtain a URL link to the uploaded image file.
- a system for uploading an image file to an image repository from a mobile handheld communications device having an integrated camera comprising: means for automatically initiating an image upload module upon determining capture of an image using the integrated camera; means for configuring the image upload module to display an image upload user interface having user selectable image upload settings; and means for uploading the image file to the image repository with the selected image upload settings upon receiving user instructions.
- system further comprises means for preselecting default upload settings in the image upload user interface.
- system further comprises means for initiating account authorization for the communications device to access the image repository.
- system further comprises means for associating the image upload module only with non-protected image files of a specified image type.
- system further comprises means for providing as one of the user selectable upload settings viewing privileges for the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- system further comprises means for configuring the image upload module to provide a descriptive field in the image upload user interface for allowing a user to add descriptive information about the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- system further comprises means for configuring the image upload module to obtain a URL link to the uploaded image file.
- data processor readable medium storing data processor code that when loaded onto a mobile handheld communications device adapts the device to perform the methods as described above.
Abstract
Description
- The present invention is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/589,410 filed Aug. 20, 2012, which was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/754,749 filed May 29, 2007. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.
- A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
- The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for sharing images using an image upload module.
- Recent advances with handheld wireless communication devices have resulted in the introduction of integrated cameras capable of capturing images at a resolution sufficient for many consumer applications. Once captured, the images may be stored in available memory on the communication device, and viewed on a display provided on the communication device. However, the available memory on the communication device may be limited, and a user may not be able to capture and store new images in the communication device without deleting images or other files already stored in memory. As well, while the user may enjoy the images on the communication device, the user may want to share the images with other users. However, there may be carrier network restrictions on transmission bandwidth. Also, if the images are to be shared, the ability to easily add descriptive information and location information about the images may be desirable.
- What is needed is an improved system and method for uploading images.
- In the figures which illustrate exemplary embodiments:
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of various components that may be found in a handheld mobile communication device; -
FIG. 2 is an illustrative example of a handheld mobile communication device that may provide an operating environment; -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative example of a network environment in which various embodiments may be practiced; -
FIGS. 4A to 4K are screen captures of illustrative user interfaces in accordance with various embodiments; and -
FIG. 5B is a flowchart of an illustrative method for sharing images using an image upload module in accordance with an embodiment. - As noted above, the present invention relates generally to systems and methods for sharing images using an upload menu.
- In an illustrative embodiment, the invention may be practiced with a handheld mobile communication device in a wireless operating environment. Shown in
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative handheldmobile communication device 100. Thecommunication device 100 may comprise a number of components, including amain processor 102 which controls the overall operation ofcommunication device 100. Communication functions, including data and voice communications, may be performed through acommunication subsystem 104. Thecommunication subsystem 104 may receive messages from and send messages to awireless network 200. - The
main processor 102 may also interact with additional subsystems such as a random access memory (RAM) 106, aflash memory 108, adisplay 110, an auxiliary input/output (I/O)subsystem 112, adata port 114, akeyboard 116, atrackball 117, aspeaker 118, amicrophone 120, short-range communications 122, aGPS subsystem 124, acamera module 126, and associatedcamera logic 128. - Some of the subsystems of the
communication device 100 may perform communication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may provide “resident” or on-device functions. By way of example, thedisplay 110 and thekeyboard 116 may be used for both communication-related functions, such as entering a text message for transmission over thenetwork 200, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list. Thetrackball 117 may be used for various navigation functions, such as navigating through a graphical user interface (GUI) menu displayed ondisplay 110. Thetrackball 117 may also be configured with a secondary actuation feature, such as allowing a user to depress the trackball, to allow selection of a highlighted item. - The
GPS subsystem 124 may include a GPS antenna to receive signals transmitted by a minimum number of in-view GPS satellites required to acquire accurate latitude and longitude coordinates. The GPS system may also be operatively connected to themain processor 102 to pass the acquired latitude and longitude coordinates to one ormore software applications 134, and to store the latitude and longitude coordinates as may be required intoflash memory 108 orRAM 106. If the GPS antenna is not able to receive a signal from a sufficient number of in-view GPS satellites (e.g. because of buildings, bridges, or other obstructions, or because thecommunication device 100 is being used indoors), it may not be possible to acquire the GPS coordinates. - The
camera module 126 may be adapted to capture an image through a lens onto a light sensitive image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor array or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor array. The camera lens may be a fixed focus lens, or a variable focus lens with or without zoom features and controlled bycamera logic 128 to focus an image onto the CCD or CMOS sensor array. The size and pixel density of the CCD or CMOS sensor array may be suitably selected for the image resolution required for a particular application.Camera logic 128 may also control the camera lens aperture and/or shutter speed by incorporating a suitable light exposure meter. Image capture usingcamera module 126 may initiated by a user controlling a dedicated camera shutter, or a context dependent programmable button or key (onkeyboard 116, for example) that may act as a camera shutter button. - Once captured by the CCD or CMOS sensor array, the image may then be processed by
camera logic 128 into a suitable digital image file format such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF), Bit Mapping (BMP), different variations on these standard image file formats, or a vendor proprietary RAW image format. The image file format may allow for the addition of image meta-data to an image file in an industry standards exchangeable image file format (EXIF), or in some vendor proprietary meta-data format. - The image file may then be stored in available device storage such as
RAM 106 orflash memory 108, and displayed ondisplay 110. As will be described in detail further below, in order to minimize consumption of potentially scarce memory resources oncommunications device 100, the captured image may be transmitted fromcommunications device 100 to an Image Repository. - Still referring to
FIG. 1 , operating system software used by themain processor 102 is typically stored in a persistent store such asflash memory 108. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operating system, specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as theRAM 106, for processing bymain processor 102. - The
communication device 100 may send and receive communication signals over thewireless network 200 after required network registration or activation procedures have been completed. Network access may be associated with a subscriber or user of thecommunication device 100. - The
communication device 100 may be a battery-powered device and may include abattery interface 132 for receiving one or morerechargeable batteries 130. In some embodiments, thebattery 130 may be a smart battery with an embedded microprocessor. Thebattery interface 132 is coupled to a regulator (not shown), which assists thebattery 130 in providing power V+ to thecommunication device 100. Thebattery 130 may be used to power all components and modules in thecommunication device 100, including thecamera module 126 and associatedcamera logic 128. - The
main processor 102, in addition to its operating system functions, enables execution ofvarious software applications 134 on thecommunication device 100. A subset ofsoftware applications 134 that control basic device operations, including data and voice communication applications, will normally be installed on thecommunication device 100 during its manufacture. - The
software applications 134 may include amessaging application 136. Themessaging application 136 can be any suitable software program that allows a subscriber or user of thecommunication device 100 to send and receive wireless text communications. Various alternatives exist for themessaging application 136 as is well known to those skilled in the art. Messages that have been sent or received by the user are typically stored in local storage such asflash memory 108 of thecommunication device 100, or in some other suitable storage element in thecommunication device 100. In an alternative embodiment, some of the sent and received messages may be stored remotely from thecommunication device 100 such as in a data store of an associated host system that thecommunication device 100 communicates with. In an embodiment, themessaging application 136 may include a Message List user interface that is configured to allow a user to see a list of message objects (i.e. email messages) in a convenient list form. This will be described in detail further below. - The
software applications 134 may also include aGPS map application 146 for providing geographic navigation, and location coordinates for geotagging objects.GPS map application 146 may be configured to operatively connect toGPS subsystem 124 to receive GPS latitude and longitude coordinates for a current position of thecommunication device 100.GPS map application 146 may also store scalable maps of various geographic regions in order to show the current position ofcommunication device 100 on the map. As well, theGPS map application 146 may be configured to obtain latitude and longitude location coordinates by allowing a user to select a position on the GPS map. - Still referring to
FIG. 1 ,communication device 100 may execute anImage Applications Module 148 that may be operatively integrated withcamera module 126,camera logic 128,main processor 102,RAM 106,display 110 and various other modules and components to provide various image application functions for the images captured by thecamera module 126. Image Applications Module may include various sub modules such as an Image UploadModule 148B, anImage Resizing Module 148C, aMessage Integration Module 148D, and anImage Geotagging Module 148E. These various sub modules may interact with each other, and with other application modules such as themessaging application 136,Internet browser module 138,address book module 142,GPS map module 146, etc. in order to perform various functions.Image Applications Module 148 and its sub modules will be described in more detail further below. - The
communication device 100 may further include adevice state module 140, anaddress book 142, a Personal Information Manager (PIM) 144, and variousother modules 150. Additional software applications may also be loaded onto thecommunication device 100 through at least one of thewireless network 200, the auxiliary I/O subsystem 112, thedata port 114, the short-range communications subsystem 122, orother device subsystem 124. - Now referring to
FIG. 2 , shown is an illustrative front view of a handheldmobile communication device 100 that may provide a suitable operating environment. As shown, thecommunication device 100 may include adisplay 110, akeyboard 116, and other input or navigation means such as atrackball 117. Thedisplay 110 may be configured to display various screens allowing the user ofdevice 100 to view screen outputs from thevarious software applications 134, including theimage applications 148.Display 110 may also be configured to provide a touch-sensitive screen input in response to a prompt or query displayed ondisplay 110. Thecommunication device 100 may further include a camera lens that may be used to capture an image as described above with reference toFIG. 1 . In an embodiment, theintegrated camera 126 may provide acamera lens 127 on the back of thecommunication device 100, such that a user may use thedisplay 110 as a camera viewfinder for framing an image. - Now referring to
FIG. 3 , shown is a schematic block diagram of anillustrative network environment 300 in which various embodiments of the invention may be practiced. As shown,network environment 300 may include adevice server 310 operatively connected to the handheldmobile communication device 100 via awireless carrier network 320. An Internet Service Provider (ISP)server 330 may also be provided in thenetwork environment 300 such that a user ofdevice 100 may access theInternet 340 from thedevice 100. - In an embodiment, the
Internet 340 may provide access to anImage Repository 360. Membership to use theImage Repository 360 may be free, or may be by paid subscription, for example. TheImage Repository 360 may also be accessible by athird party 350 that has membership to theImage Repository 360. As well, theImage Repository 360 may be accessed from other handheld mobile communication devices 100B withinwireless carrier network 320, or from other compatible communication devices 100C with access toInternet 340. - Now referring to
FIGS. 4A to 4K , shown are illustrative user interfaces in accordance with various embodiments. First, referring toFIG. 4A , shown is an illustrative integrated camerauser interface screen 400A displaying an illustrative image “IMG00027” captured by the integrated camera (e.g. bycamera module 126 andcamera logic 128 as previously described). As shown, thecamera user interface 400A may include icons such a “camera mode”icon 402A, a “delete image”icon 404A, a “crop image”icon 406A, a “mail image”icon 408A, and an “images folder”icon 410A. - Referring to
FIG. 4B , shown is a camerauser interface screen 400B now including a “Send . . . ” pop-upmenu 402B. In this illustrative example, the “Send . . . ” pop-upmenu 402B includes a number of menu options including “Send as Email” 404B, “Send as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)” 406B, and “Send To (Image Repository)” 408B (e.g. where the Image Repository may be an online image repository such as Flickr™, for example). These “Send . . . ” options will be described in more detail further below. -
FIG. 4C shows auser interface screen 400C with acontext menu 402C that may also provide the “Send . . . ” menu options as described above, including “Send to (Image Repository)” 408C. Thiscontext menu 402C may be another one of several ways in which the “Send to (Image Repository)” option may be accessed, and will be discussed in more detail further below. - Now referring to
FIG. 4D , shown is auser interface screen 400D with anoption settings menu 402D for the “Send to (Image Repository)” option in which records of images uploaded to an Image Repository may be integrated into a Message List. The Message List may be a chronological listing of different types of objects that may include, for example, email messages, message status reports, telephone call records, etc. This Message List integration will be described in more detail further below. - Now referring to
FIG. 4E , shown is auser interface screen 400E with a “Send to (Image Repository)”window 408E in which a number of text entry fields are provided to allow the user to add descriptive information, such as “Title”, “Description”, and “Tags”. Furthermore, the “Send to (Image Repository)” window may include various other options such as a geographic “Location”field 430D, a “Privacy” setting 432D, and an image “Resize to” setting 434D. These various settings and features will be discussed in more detail further below. -
FIG. 4F shows auser interface screen 400F with an illustrative “Send to (Image Repository)”window 408F which may include various options for selecting a geographic location, such as “None” 430F, a “Where I Am . . . ”option 432F, an “Enter Address . . . ”option 434F, a “From Address Book . . . ”option 436F, and a “Favorites”option 438F. These various options will be discussed in more detail further below. - Now referring to
FIG. 4G , shown is auser interface screen 400G with an illustrative “Send to (Image Repository)”screen 408G with an “Enter Address” pop-upwindow 440G. For example, in order to obtain geographic coordinates by address, a user may fill out one or more of the following fields:Address 442G,City 444G, State/Province 446G, andCountry 448G. Alternatively,FIG. 4H shows auser interface 400H with an illustrative example of anaddress list 442H from which atarget address 444H may be selected. With the specification of an address, or the selection of a target address from a list, the corresponding geographic coordinates may be obtained from a GPS mapping application (e.g. GPS map module 146). This feature will be described in more detail further below. - Now referring to
FIG. 4I , shown is auser interface screen 400J with an illustrative list of location “Favorites” 438J from which a “favorite”location 450J may be selected for the purposes of obtaining the corresponding geographic coordinates. This feature will be described in more detail further below. - Now referring to
FIG. 4J , shown is auser interface screen 400K with an illustrative “Send To (Image Repository)”screen 408K in which the “Where I Am . . . ” option has been selected to obtain the geographic location. In order to determine the current location, thedevice 100 may search for and try to acquire GPS signals using theGPS subsystem 124, as indicated in pop-upmessage 460K. - Now referring to
FIG. 4K , shown is a user interface screen 400L with an illustrative geographic location menu in which a new location entry 462L (e.g. “Here @ Mar 14 12:04 a”) has been added. The use of this geographic location acquired through the “Where I Am . . . ” option will be described in more detail further below. - Now referring to
FIG. 5B , and referring back toFIGS. 4A to 4K as necessary, various embodiments will be described in detail. - In an embodiment,
Image Applications Module 148 may include an Image UploadModule 148B configured to upload images taken byintegrated camera module 126 to anImage Repository 360. The Image UploadModule 148B ofphoto application 148 may either be installed ascommunication device 100 is assembled and configured, or may be distributed as an add-on application program downloadable over awireless carrier network 320, or by visiting a specified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) on theInternet 340 for example. As mentioned earlier, image uploading may be performed if there is limited available memory on thecommunication device 100, so that the user can clear the device memory as necessary in order to take more images. However, image uploading may also be done if the user wishes to easily share images with other users. -
FIG. 5B is a flowchart of anillustrative method 500B for sharing images using an image upload module in accordance with an embodiment. As shown,method 500B begins, and atblock 502B, awaits the capture of an image using the integratedcamera module 126. Next, atdecision block 504B,method 500B determines if an image has been captured. If yes,method 500B may proceed to block 506B to initiate the Image UploadModule 148B. If no,method 500B may loop back to block 502B. - In an embodiment, at
block 508B, the Image UploadModule 148B may be configured to automatically display an image upload user interface upon capture of an image using the integratedcamera module 126. For example, as illustrated above inFIG. 4B , the Image UploadModule 148B may display a “Send . . . ”menu 402B from which a “Send To (Image Repository)”menu item 408B may be selected. - In another embodiment, the Image Upload
Module 148B may also be configured to displaysend menu 402B with the “Send To (Image Repository)”menu item 408B preselected as the default image upload option. With this default option preselected, the user would only need to confirm the selection (e.g. with the click of atrackball 117 or a key from keyboard 116) in order to initiate the image upload process. - In an alternative embodiment, as shown in
FIG. 4C , the Image UploadModule 148B may also be accessible from various other menus, such as acontext menu 402C which may be made available when a user selects a predefined context menu button from a particular user interface screen. Thecontext menu 402C may again include a “Send to (Image Repository)” option, as shown, which when selected may open another userinterface screen window 408E, such as is shown inFIG. 4E . - The operation of the Image Upload
Module 148B will now be described in more detail. In an embodiment, the operation of Image UploadModule 148B may enter a first “pre-authorization” state, where the Image UploadModule 148B has been downloaded and installed, but never associated with an account on anImage Repository 360. In this pre-authorization state, no image uploads have been performed, and no successful interaction has occurred with the Image Repository application programming interface (API). In this state, the user may have attempted to authorize her account, but would have been unsuccessful as there is no information or “authorization token” on thecommunication device 100 that is associated with theImage Repository 360. No personal information is stored in the Image UploadModule 148B at this time, and will not be until theImage Repository 360 account authorization procedure is successfully completed. Thus, atblock 510B,method 500B may initiate an account authorization process to gain access to the Image Repository. - At
block 510B,method 500B may configure the Image UploadModule 148B to initiate access to an account on theImage Repository 360. By way of example, there may be a number of ways in which a user may initiate anImage Repository 360 account authorization procedure: 1) the user may select a context menu option to “Send To . . . ” theImage Repository 360; 2) the user may attempt to check account usage for his Image Repository account; 3) the user may click on an “Enter Authorization Key” menu option from theImage Repository 360 context menu. - In an illustrative embodiment, a user interface for account authorization provided on
communication device 100 may be configured to interact with theImage Repository 360 to create an authorization token for storage oncommunication device 100. This authorization token stored oncommunication device 100 may then be used in every subsequent communication between the Image Repository and thecommunication device 100. As an illustrative example, if the Image Repository is Flickr, the authorization token may be used to identify which Flickr account thecommunication device 100 should be interacting with. The authorization token may be encrypted using a persistent content encoding function, and may be stored in this encoded form on thecommunication device 100. - Next, at
block 512B, once acommunication device 100 has a valid authorization token to upload images to theImage Repository 360,method 500B may configure the Image UploadModule 148B with the selected image upload settings. All Image Repository application programming interface (API) interactions may then be possible, and all API methods may be called. - As an illustrative example of upload settings, the Image Upload
Module 148B may be configured to upload only non-protected image files of a supported image file type (e.g. GIF, JPG, JPEG, PJPEG, TIFF, PNG, RIM_PNG, BMP, WBMP). Image files may be protected, for example, if there is an enterprise IT policy not to allow uploads of images from enterprise issuedcommunication devices 100. In the case of a protected image, the Image UploadModule 148B functionality as described herein may be largely curtailed. - As noted earlier, the Image Upload
Module 148B may be initialized from a “Send To (Image Repository)” menu option located in a context menu. The context menu may be accessible fromvarious software applications 134 to provide “Send As . . . ” or “Send To . . . ” menu options when the user clicks the corresponding context menu button oncommunication device 100. By way of example, the menu options may include “Send As Email” and “Send As SMS”, and “Send To (Image Repositories)”. - Next, at
block 514B,method 500B may configure the Image UploadModule 148B to allow the user to specify the viewing privileges required to view any images uploaded by the user to theImage Repository 360. For example, the user may specify that the uploaded images are for the private use of the user only. Alternatively, the user may specify that the images may be shared within a defined group of users, or shared with all other Image Repository users. - In an embodiment, the Image Upload
Module 148B may be available from a number of different applications, such as a camera application (for accessing and controlling the camera module 126), an image file explorer (for reviewing image files stored on communication device 100), an email attachment service (for including image files as email attachments), and possiblyother software applications 134 provided oncommunication device 100. Thus, as will be appreciated, the Image UploadModule 148B may be associated with image files themselves, and not with anyspecific software application 134. - In an embodiment, the authorization token may be stored on the
communication device 100 until explicitly deleted by the user. If a user has decided that he or she no longer wants thecommunication device 100 to be able to interact with theImage Repository 360, this may be accomplished by selecting an “Authorization Token Delete” option from a context menu, for example. Upon selecting the “Authorization Key Delete” option, the authorization key may be removed from thecommunication device 100, effectively disassociating thecommunication device 100 from theImage Repository 360 account. Further interaction with theImage Repository 360 may then be prevented without activation of anew Image Repository 360 account. If an attempt is made to activate a new account, the account authorization process described above may be initiated once again. - In an embodiment, the Image Upload
Module 148B may be configured to provide users with the ability to add descriptive information to an image before uploading. The descriptive information may include a title, a caption, tag words or phrases, or other information that may be associated with the image. As an illustrative example, entering [“Snow Storm” Waterloo Cold] in a “Tag” field may result in the following tags: a) Snow Storm; b) Waterloo; c) Cold. In an embodiment, the descriptive information may be stored together with the image on local storage on thecommunication device 100, and may also be uploaded with the image and stored on anImage Repository 360 to be accessed by the user (or by other users with appropriate viewing privileges). The descriptive information may be optional, and if not provided by the user, need not be stored or displayed. Thus, atblock 516B,method 500B may configure the Image UploadModule 148B to provide a user interface to allow a user to add descriptive information about an image to be uploaded.Method 500B may then proceed to block 518B, where upon receiving user instructions, the image may be uploaded using the selected upload settings. - In another embodiment, the user's image uploads to the Image Repository account may be recorded on the
communication device 100 in a Message List, as will be discussed in detail further below. In this case, a unique identification token may be saved with each Message List object associated with theImage Repository 360, so that the unique identification token may be used in a URL linking to an image file stored in theImage Repository 360. Until the Message List object is deleted, the unique identification token may be stored with it to keep a pointer to the image stored in theImage Repository 360. Thus, atblock 520B,method 500B may configure the Image UploadModule 148B to obtain a URL link to each uploaded image, thus associating the unique identification token with each uploaded image.Method 500B may then end. - Deactivating an Image Repository account may not necessarily remove the user's upload history (e.g. as recorded in a Message List). Rather, the upload history may be configured to persist in the Message List on the
communication device 100, until deleted by the user. Account deactivation may also occur if asecond communication device 100 is associated with theImage Repository 360 account. In this case, thefirst communication device 100 may automatically be deactivated. - Thus, in an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of uploading an image file to an image repository from a mobile handheld communications device having an integrated camera, comprising: upon determining capture of an image using the integrated camera, automatically initiating an image upload module; configuring the image upload module to display an image upload user interface having user selectable image upload settings; and upon receiving user instructions, uploading the image file to the image repository with the selected image upload settings.
- In an embodiment, the method further comprises preselecting default upload settings in the image upload user interface.
- In another embodiment, the method further comprises initiating account authorization for the communications device to access the image repository.
- In another embodiment, the method further comprises associating the image upload module only with non-protected image files of a specified image type.
- In another embodiment, the method further comprises providing as one of the user selectable upload settings viewing privileges for the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- In another embodiment, the method further comprises configuring the image upload module to provide a descriptive field in the image upload user interface for allowing a user to add descriptive information about the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- In another embodiment, the method further comprises configuring the image upload module to obtain a URL link to the uploaded image file.
- In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for uploading an image file to an image repository from a mobile handheld communications device having an integrated camera, comprising: means for automatically initiating an image upload module upon determining capture of an image using the integrated camera; means for configuring the image upload module to display an image upload user interface having user selectable image upload settings; and means for uploading the image file to the image repository with the selected image upload settings upon receiving user instructions.
- In an embodiment, the system further comprises means for preselecting default upload settings in the image upload user interface.
- In another embodiment, the system further comprises means for initiating account authorization for the communications device to access the image repository.
- In another embodiment, the system further comprises means for associating the image upload module only with non-protected image files of a specified image type.
- In another embodiment, the system further comprises means for providing as one of the user selectable upload settings viewing privileges for the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- In another embodiment, the system further comprises means for configuring the image upload module to provide a descriptive field in the image upload user interface for allowing a user to add descriptive information about the image file to be uploaded to the image repository.
- In another embodiment, the system further comprises means for configuring the image upload module to obtain a URL link to the uploaded image file.
- In another aspect of the invention, there is provided data processor readable medium storing data processor code that when loaded onto a mobile handheld communications device adapts the device to perform the methods as described above.
- While illustrative embodiments have been described above, it will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made. More generally, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.
Claims (20)
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US10560597B2 (en) | 2020-02-11 |
US20230144158A1 (en) | 2023-05-11 |
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