CONTENTS MANAGEMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS
A contents management method and system, the contents management method including: generating contents; and transmitting the generated contents to a Web server, wherein the Web server receives the contents, stores the contents, manages the contents, and maintains a list of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by a terminal.
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This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2007-10267, filed on Jan. 31, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a contents management method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a terminal that generates contents, a Web server that reconstructs contents to be transmitted from a terminal, and a contents management method between a terminal and a Web server.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of digital technologies, the demand for various kinds of digital contents (hereinafter, referred to as “contents”), such as music, movies, photographs, and documents, is increasing. Since users want to constantly use the contents regardless of location, portable digital terminals (such as PDAs, cellular phones, MP3 players, and PMPs) are widely used to receive such contents. The portable digital terminals are provided with various kinds of content generating functions so that the users can use existing contents as well as generate new contents.
Under this environment, since the number and kinds of contents and terminals processing the contents are increasing, managing the contents has become more difficult. Furthermore, since the contents may be separately distributed to individual terminals, searching for and obtaining desired contents at a desired time becomes more difficult.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technology to efficiently manage the contents for use at these portable digital terminals.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAspects of the present invention provide a method and apparatus that can efficiently manage contents for use by portable digital terminals.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a contents management method, the contents management method including: generating contents; and transmitting the generated contents to a Web server, wherein the Web server receives the contents, stores the contents, manages the contents, and maintains a contest list of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by a terminal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a contents management method, the contents management method including: receiving contents from a terminal; storing the contents; and managing and classifying the received contents according to attributes of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the terminal.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal, the terminal including: a contents generation unit to generate contents; and a communication unit to transmit the generated contents to a Web server, wherein the Web server receives the contents, stores the contents, manages the contents, and maintains a contest list of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by a terminal.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a Web server, the Web server including: a network connection unit to receive contents from a terminal; a storage units to store the received contents; and a contents reconstruction unit to manage and to classify the received contents according to attributes of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the terminal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing contents, the system including: a terminal including: a contents generation unit to generate contents, and a communication unit to transmit the generated contents; and a Web server including: a network connection unit to receive the generated contents from the terminal, a storage unit to store the received contents, and a contents reconstruction unit to manage and to classify the received contents in a content list according to attributes of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the terminal.
Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
The terminal 110 generates contents. According to aspects of the present invention, the contents represent data objects including at least one of audio data, video data, and text data. For example, the contents may include photographs, music, motion pictures, e-mails, electronic books, schedules, messages, and memos. However, it is understood that the types of the contents are not limited thereto.
The terminal 110 can transmit the generated contents to the Web server 120. According to an aspect of the present invention, the terminal 110 may transmit the contents to the Web server 120 automatically (such as when the contents are generated) without a user manipulation or request.
The terminal 110 may be a portable digital apparatus, such as a cellular phone, a digital camera, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a notebook computer, a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), or a MP3 player. However, it is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, the terminal 110 may also be a fixed digital apparatus, such as a digital TV, a desktop computer, or a set-top box.
The Web server 120 stores the contents transmitted from the terminal 110 and reconstructs the contents according to a predetermined criterion. The reconstruction of the contents classifies and manages the contents so that the user can easily access the contents.
The contents stored in the Web server 120 can be provided to the terminal 110 again. The Web server 120 can also provide the contents to another terminal 130, which belongs to the user (user A) or another user that has a right to access the contents. Furthermore, the user (userA) of the terminal 110 can provide the contents to a terminal 140 of another user (user B). An operation in which the Web server 120 provides the contents to a specified terminal can be performed when the corresponding terminal requests the contents or the operation. However, according to other aspects of the present invention, the operation in which the Web server 120 provides the contents to the specified terminal may be automatically performed even if the corresponding terminal does not request the contents or the operation.
Other terminals 130 and 140 can also generate contents and transmit the generated contents to the Web server 120. That is, the terminal 130 and the terminal 140 can perform the same operation that is performed by the terminal 110. However, for convenience of explanation, in the embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal 110 generates the contents and transmits the generated contents to the Web server 120. Hereinafter, the operations performed by the terminal 110 and the Web server 120 according to aspects of the present invention will be described.
A communication method that is used by the terminal 110 to access the Web server 120 varies according to a communication environment of the terminal 110 and/or the Web server 120. An example is shown in
When the terminal 110 is located at an office or at home, for example, the terminal 110 can connect to the Internet 210 on the basis of WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) network 220. If the terminal 110 is out of a communication range of an access point (AP) 220 at the office or at home, the terminal 110 can be connected to Internet 210 on the basis, for example, of a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network 230. Further, when the terminal 110 is moving at high speed, the terminal 110 can be connected to Internet 210 using, for example, a WiBro (Wireless Broadband Internet) network 240. Specifically, network service providers 224, 234, and 244 that support the connection of individual communication networks 220, 230, and 240 to the Internet 210 can exist, and the terminal 110 can access the Web server 120 through the network service providers 224, 234, and 244.
According to the location of the terminal 110, the terminal 110 may use a plurality of communication methods to access the Web server 120. For example, the terminal 110 can connect to the Internet 210 at home on the basis of both WiFi and CDMA. Accordingly, if a plurality of communication methods can be used to access the Web server 120, the terminal 110 can select one or more communication methods from the plurality of communication methods. The accessing of the Web server 120 by the terminal 110 will now be described with reference to
Next, the terminal 110 determines whether the usable communication method exists in operation S320. If the usable communication method does not exist (operation S320), the terminal 110 informs the user that access to the Web server 120 cannot be performed in operation S330.
Meanwhile, if the usable communication method exists (operation S320), the terminal 110 determines whether a plurality of communication methods exist in operation S340. If a plurality of usable communication methods exist (operation S340), the terminal 110 selects one communication method from the plurality of communication methods according to a prescribed criterion (hereinafter, referred to as a “communication method selection criterion”) in operation S350.
A billing policy of the communication method is an example of the communication method selection criterion. In this case, the terminal 110 can use a communication method having the lowest charge rate from the plurality of communication methods. For example, if Internet communication based on WiFi is charged according to a flat rate and Internet communication based on the CDMA is charged according to an hourly rate, in a communication environment where both the WiFi and CDMA are usable, the WiFi that does not require an additional fee is selected according to the communication method selection criterion. It is understood that, according to other aspects, the terminal 110 does not necessarily compare and analyze the fees of the individual communication methods. For example, if a priority is set in advance for the individual communication methods on the basis of respective communication fees, manually, or other characteristics (such as signal strength), the terminal 110 can select a communication method to be used according to the set priority. Here, the priority can be set by the user or a manufacturer of the terminal.
A communication condition is another example of the communication method selection criterion. In this case, the terminal 110 can select a communication method having a lowest traffic from the plurality of usable communication methods or a communication method having a strongest connection intensity to a repeater (for example, the intensity of a signal to be cyclically transmitted from the repeater). Moreover, is it understood that other communication method selection criterions may be used.
Once the communication method is selected (operation S350), the terminal 110 accesses the Web server 120 using the selected communication method in operation S360. Meanwhile, if a single usable communication method exists (operation S340), the terminal 110 can access the Web server 120 using the corresponding communication method in operation S360.
When accessing the Web server 120, the terminal 110 may, although not necessarily, transmit predetermined authentication information to the Web server 120. The authentication information is information to authenticate the user of the terminal 110 and may include, for example, a user ID and a password. It is understood that other or additional information may be used to authenticate the user, such as an identifier of the terminal 110 (for example, an MAC address of the terminal 110). The Web server 120 identifies and authenticates the user of the terminal 110 through the authentication information transmitted from the terminal 110. To this end, the user may register the authentication information in the Web server 120 in advance. The registration of the authentication information can be performed in a similar manner to a subscription process to a Web site. However, it is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto.
When the terminal 110 can communicate with or access the Web server 120, the terminal 110 can transmit the generated contents to the Web server 120. The transmitting of the generated contents will now be described with reference to
Referring to
As such, the terminal 110 directly creates the contents using the functions provided therein to generate the contents. However, aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, according to other aspects of the present invention, the terminal 110 may generate the contents by receiving the contents from another apparatus or network and/or modifying the received contents, thereby creating new contents. Furthermore, according to another example, the terminal 110 may connect to a portable storage device (such as a multimedia card, an SD card, or a memory stick) and acquire contents stored in the portable storage device, wherein the acquired contents can be handled as the contents generated by the terminal 110. Alternatively, the terminal 110 can receive a short message from another terminal, and the received short message can be handled as the contents generated by the terminal 110.
After generating the contents (operation S410), the terminal 110 transmits the generated contents to the Web server 120 in operation S420.
According to the embodiment shown in
Referring to
Information about whether it is a time to transmit the new contents generated by the terminal 110 to the Web server 120 is an example of the contents transmission condition. Specifically, if a time period from midnight to 3 a.m. is set for the contents transmission condition, the terminal 110 compares a current time with the time set for the contents transmission condition and then determines whether the contents transmission condition is satisfied.
A communication method that is to be used by the terminal 110 is another example of the contents transmission condition. In detail, when the terminal 110 is a portable digital apparatus, the position of the terminal 110 frequently changes. As the position of the terminal 110 changes, a communication method that is used by the terminal 110 to access the Web server 120 may also change (as described above with reference to
It is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described examples of the contents transmission condition, and other contents transmission conditions may be used.
If the contents transmission condition is satisfied (operation S510), the terminal 110 determines whether newly generated contents exist in operation S520. Here, the newly generated contents are contents stored in the terminal 110 that have not already been transmitted to the Web server 120.
If the newly generated contents exist (operation S520), the terminal 110 transmits the corresponding contents to the Web server 120 in operation S530. For the contents transmission, the terminal 110 accesses the Web server 120 as described above, for example, with reference to
The meta data can be divided into common information common to all the contents and individual information specific to each of the contents. Examples of the common information include a contents generation position, a contents generation time, and a character related to the contents. Examples of the individual information include a genre, an artist, and an album where the contents are music, and a keyword, a writer, and a genre where the contents are electronic books. It is understood that other types of common information and individual information can exist.
The meta data can be added to the contents on the basis of information input by the user of the terminal 110. However, aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. Alternatively, the meta data may be automatically added to the contents according to functions provided by the terminal 110. For example, the terminal 110 that can confirm the position using information regarding the GPS or base station can automatically add, to the contents, positional information when the contents are generated. Furthermore, the terminal 110 that cyclically receives current time information from the base station or a timer function can add time information at which the contents are generated to the contents as the meta data.
Meanwhile, in order to reconstruct the contents according to the contexts of the contents, the Web server 120 can include a function of analyzing the contents. A technical method of analyzing the contexts may vary according to the types of the contents. For example, when the contents are short messages or schedules, the Web server 120 extracts words from the short messages or the schedules, compares the extracted words with previously recorded words, and subsequently lists the contents in an appropriate category. If the contents are photographs, the Web server 120 extracts a face image from the photograph, analyzes a feature of the extracted face image, and subsequently determines whether a previously registered character exists in the photograph. If the previously registered character exists in the photograph, the Web server 120 can list the photograph in a category related to the corresponding character.
It is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described contents reconstruction methods. The contents reconstruction method may vary according to services that are provided by the Web server 120. Furthermore, the kinds of the attributes as the criterion of the contents reconstruction may also vary according to the embodiments.
The Web server 120 stores the reconstructed contents, and updates the contents list stored therein according to the reconstructed contents in operation S630.
Though not shown in
The contents reconstructed by the Web server 120 can be provided to the terminals 110, 130, and 140 (illustrated in
Upon receiving the request from the terminal 110, the Web server 120 transmits the contents search information stored therein to the terminal 110 in operation S720. The terminal 110 displays the contents search information transmitted from the Web server 120 in operation S730.
The contents search information can be provided in a variety of ways according to a contents reconstruction criterion or reconstruction result. For example, the contents search information can include the contents list, arranged on the basis of at least one attribute. The contents search information shown in
In the contents search information, the search criterion can be modified (for example, an attribute can be added or changed). For example, referring to
The structures of the contents search information shown in
Returning to
Although
The Web server 120 searches contents corresponding to the transmitted search condition transmitted in operation S1020. For example, if a search condition including a keyword “company” is transmitted, the Web server 120 can search contents related to a company. Since the contents stored in the Web server 120 are classified according to the attributes, the contents corresponding to the search condition can be easily searched even though there are a large number of contents to be managed by the Web server 120. Here, among the contents stored in the Web server 120, the contents of the user that uses the terminal 110 or the contents of other users who belong to the same community as the user of the terminal 110 may be included within a search range.
If the contents corresponding to the search condition are found (operation S1020), the Web server 120 transmits the found contents to the terminal 110 in operation S1030.
Although
According to an aspect of the present invention, the Web server 120 can automatically transmit the contents transmitted from the terminal 110 to another terminal 130 of the user that uses the terminal 110. For example, the Web server 120 can transmit e-mails, schedules, and memos to a PDA, transmit music to an MP3 player, and transmit photographs and motion pictures to a PMP or a digital TV.
Furthermore, the user can set contents to be transmitted and a terminal to which the contents are transmitted. Accordingly, the user can register, in the Web server 120, an identifier (for example, a MAC address) of the terminal 130 and the types of the contents to be transmitted to the terminal 130. The Web server 120 can transmit the contents to the corresponding terminal 130 with reference to the information.
In order to allow the Web server 120 to automatically transmit the contents to the terminal 130 even though the terminal 130 does not request the contents, the terminal 130 must be connected to a network, such as the Internet, though which the terminal 130 can connect to the Web server 120. When the terminal 130 is a fixed digital apparatus (such as a digital TV, a set-top box, or a desktop computer), the terminal 130 can constantly be connected to the network. Meanwhile, when the terminal 130 is a portable digital apparatus (such as an MP3 player, a cellular phone, a PDA, and a PMP), the terminal 130 can be irregularly connected to the network.
If the terminal 130 is connected to the network, the Web server 120 can immediately transmit the contents received from the terminal 110 to the terminal 130. Meanwhile, if the terminal 130 is not connected to the network, the Web server 120 can transmit the contents to the terminal 130 once the terminal 130 connects to the network. Then, when the terminal 130 is connected to the network, the Web server 120 can transmit the contents received from the terminal 110 to the terminal 130.
In order to allow the Web server 120 to automatically transmit the contents to the terminal 130, the address of the terminal 130 on the network (for example, an IP address) is needed. To this end, when connected to the network, the terminal 130 can transmit, to the Web server 120, information that the terminal 130 is connected to the network. This information can include a network address allocated to the terminal 130 (for example, an IP address). Accordingly, the Web server 120 can automatically transmit the required contents to the terminal 130.
Referring to
The communication unit 1110 transmits contents, data, and information to the Web server 120, and receives contents, data, and information from the Web server 120. To access the Web server 120, the communication unit 1110 can transmit authentication information (for example, a user ID and password or MAC address of the terminal 110) to the Web server 120. When the user inputs or requests that the authentication information be transmitted, the communication unit 1110 transmits the authentication information to the web server 120. However, according to other aspects of the present invention, the communication unit 1110 can transmit the authentication information to the Web server 120 without a user request.
The communication unit 1110 does not necessarily directly communicate with the Web server 120. As described above with reference to
The contents generation unit 1120 generates the contents according to a user's request. Although the contents generation unit 1120 is shown as a single block in
The storage unit 1130 stores the contents generated by the contents generation unit 1120 and contents, data, and information received from the Web server 120 through the communication unit 1110. To this end, the storage unit 1130 can include a memory, such as a flash memory, a hard disk, a ROM, or a RAM.
The contents execution unit 1140 executes the contents stored in the storage unit 1130. Here, the contents stored in the storage unit 1130 may be the contents generated by the contents generation unit 1120 or the contents received from the Web server 120. Moreover, if the contents are executed, the user can use the contents. In order to execute different types of contents, the contents execution unit 1140 can include at least one sub-contents execution unit (not shown). For example, the contents execution unit 1140 can include a text viewer that outputs memos or schedules, and a media player that plays motion pictures or music, although not limited thereto.
The display unit 1150 displays the contents to be executed by the contents execution unit 1140 or displays a user interface, such as the contents search information, transmitted from the Web server 120 or generated by the terminal 110 based on the contents search information.
The user input unit 1160 receives user inputs. That is, the user can request to execute the contents, request to generate the contents, or request the Web server 120 to search the contents through the user input unit 1160, although not limited thereto. To this end, the user input unit 1160 can manipulation devices, including buttons, a touch pad, a touch screen, or a jog switch.
The control unit 1170 performs the operations to select a communication method to be used by the communication unit 1110 (operations S310, S320, S340, and S350 illustrated in
The network connection unit 1210 receives contents, data, and information from the terminal 110, and transmits contents, data, and information to the terminal 110. It is understood that the network connection unit 1210 does not necessarily directly communicate with the terminal 110. As described above with reference to
The authentication unit 1220 identifies and authenticates the user of the terminal 110 using authentication information (for example, the user ID and password or the MAC address of the terminal 110) transmitted from the terminal 110. Further, the authentication unit 1220 may manage authentication information of other users belonging to the same community as the user of the terminal 110, together with the authentication information of the user of the terminal 110. Furthermore, the authentication unit 1220 can manage identification information of another terminal 130 of the user who uses the terminal 110 and the types of the contents to be automatically transmitted to the other terminal 130.
The contents reconstruction unit 1230 reconstructs the contents received from the terminal 110. For example, when the contents are music files, the contents reconstruction unit 1230 can classify the music files on the basis of the genre, the artist, and the album with reference to meta data in the music file. When the contents are electronic books, the contents reconstruction unit 1230 can classify the electronic books according to the keyword, the writer, and the genre by referring to meta data in the electronic books or by analyzing the context of the electronic books. When the contents are schedule files, the contents reconstruction unit 1230 can classify the schedule files according to title, date, and content. When the contents are e-mails, the contents reconstruction unit 1230 can classify the e-mail according to transmission time, title, importance, and attachments. These contents reconstruction methods are just examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, the contents reconstruction unit 1230 can analyze various attributes of the contents and reconstruct (or reorganize) the contents according to the attributes of the contents, as described above, for example, with reference to
The storage unit 1240 stores the contents received from the terminal 110. The storage unit 1240 may store the contents in a storage area that is allocated to a user authenticated by the authentication unit 1220 (a user of a terminal from which the contents are transmitted). The storage area may be logically or physically separated from storage areas allocated to other users.
The contents list management unit 1250 manages a contents list including information regarding the contents stored in the storage unit 1240. If the storage unit 1240 stores new contents, the contents list management unit 1250 updates the contents list to include information regarding the newly stored contents. The information regarding the contents in the contents list can be acquired from the contents reconstruction unit 1230. It is understood that the contents list managed by the contents list management unit 1250 may be divided such that there exists a plurality of contents lists, each corresponding to a user. Furthermore, the contents list management unit 1250 can manage the contents search information that is used to provide a user interface in the terminal 110 to search the contents. The contents search information includes the contents list. When transmitted to the terminal 110, the contents search information can be displayed as a user interface.
The control unit 1260 searches the contents stored in the storage unit 1240 and analyzes request messages transmitted by the terminal 110. Moreover, the control unit 1260 can identify a terminal to which the contents or the contents search information are transmitted through information managed by the authentication unit 1220. In addition, the control unit 1260 can control the operations of the individual components of the Web server 120 such that the Web server 120 can appropriately perform the required operations described above with reference to
The operations of the components of each of the terminal 110 and the Web server 120 that have been described with reference to
The components of each of the terminal 110 and the Web server 120 that have been described with reference to
Aspects of the present invention can also be embodied as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable recording medium. Also, codes and code segments to accomplish the present invention can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system or computer code processing apparatus. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Aspects of the present invention may also be realized as a data signal embodied in a carrier wave and comprising a program readable by a computer and transmittable over the internet.
According to the contents management method and apparatus of aspects of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. First, the contents can be more efficiently managed. Second, a user can more conveniently use the contents.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A contents management method for a portable terminal, the contents management method comprising:
- generating contents in the portable terminal; and
- automatically transmitting the generated contents to a Web server,
- wherein the Web server receives the contents, stores the contents, manages the contents, classifies the contents according to attributes of the contents, and maintains a content list of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the portable terminal.
2. The contents management method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the contents comprises:
- transmitting the generated contents to the Web server when a contents transmission condition is satisfied.
3. The contents management method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the contents transmission condition is a prescribed time or a prescribed time range such that the generated contents are transmitted to the Web server if a current time is the prescribed time or within the prescribed time range, or a prescribed communication method for communicating with the Web server such that the generated contents are transmitted to the Web server if a current communication method with the Web server is the prescribed communication method.
4. The contents management method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the contents comprises:
- searching for one or more usable communication methods;
- selecting the one or more usable communication methods from a plurality of usable communication methods according to a selection criterion; and
- transmitting the generated contents to the Web server on the basis of the selected one or more usable communication methods.
5. The contents management method as claimed in claim 4, wherein:
- a priority value is allocated to each of the one or more usable communication methods; and
- the selection criterion is based on the priority values or a communication condition.
6. The contents management method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the priority values are allocated according to a billing policy of each of the one or more usable communication methods.
7. The contents management method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the communication condition includes at least one of a connection intensity to a repeater and a degree of traffic.
8. The contents management method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
- transmitting a request for contents search information to the Web server;
- receiving the contents search information including the contents list from the Web server; and
- generating a user interface to guide a search of the contents in the content list.
9. The contents management method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
- transmitting a search condition to the Web server, wherein the Web server searches the content list for contents according to the search condition; and
- receiving the searched contents or a list of the searched contents from the Web server.
10. A computer readable recording medium encoded with the method of claim 1 and implemented by a computer.
11. A contents management method of a Web server, the contents management method comprising:
- receiving contents in the Web server from a portable terminal;
- storing the contents; and
- managing and classifying the received contents according to attributes of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the portable terminal,
- wherein the portable terminal generates the contents and automatically transmits the contents to the Web server.
12. The contents management method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the managing and the classifying of the contents comprises:
- analyzing meta data of the contents; and
- classifying the contents according to the analyzed meta data.
13. The contents management method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the managing and the classifying of the contents comprises:
- analyzing contexts of the contents; and
- classifying the contents according to the analyzed contexts.
14. The contents management method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:
- updating a contents list corresponding to a user of the portable terminal according to the managing and the classifying of the contents.
15. The contents management method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:
- receiving a request for contents search information from the portable terminal; and
- transmitting the contents search information including the contents list to the portable terminal.
16. The contents management method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the contents search information is information for generating a user interface to guide a search of the contents in the contents list.
17. The contents management method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:
- transmitting the contents to another terminal.
18. The contents management method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:
- receiving a search condition from the portable terminal;
- searching a content list corresponding to the managed and classified contents for contents according to the received search condition; and
- transmitting the searched contents to the portable terminal.
19. A computer readable recording medium encoded with the method of claim 11 and implemented by a computer.
20. A portable terminal comprising:
- a contents generation unit to generate contents; and
- a communication unit to automatically transmit the generated contents to a Web server,
- wherein the Web server receives the contents, stores the contents, manages the contents, classifies the contents according to attributes of the contents, and maintains a content list of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the terminal.
21. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 20, further comprising:
- a control unit to control the communication unit to transmit the generated contents according to whether a contents transmission condition is satisfied.
22. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 21, wherein the contents transmission condition is a prescribed time or a prescribed time range such that the control unit controls the communication unit to transmit the generated contents to the Web server if a current time is the prescribed time or within the prescribed time range, or a prescribed communication method for communication with the Web server such that the control unit controls the communication unit to transmit the generated contents to the Web server if a current communication method with the Web server is the prescribed communication method.
23. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:
- a control unit to select for one or more usable communication methods from a plurality of usable communication methods according a selection criterion and to transmit the generated contents to the Web server on the basis of the one or more usable communication methods.
24. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 23, wherein a priority value is allocated to each of the one or more usable communication methods, and the selection criterion is based on the priority values or a communication condition.
25. The portable terminal as claimed in claim 20, wherein the communication unit transmits a request for contents search information to the Web server and receives the contents search information including the contents list from the Web server, such that a user interface to guide a search of the contents in the content list is generated.
26. A Web server to manage contents, the Web server comprising:
- a network connection unit to receive contents from a portable terminal;
- a storage unit to store the contents; and
- a contents reconstruction unit to manage and to classify the received contents according to attributes of the contents so that the contents are easily accessible by the portable terminal,
- wherein the portable terminal generates the contents and automatically transmits the contents to the Web server.
27. The Web server as claimed in claim 26, wherein the contents reconstruction unit analyzes meta data of the contents and classifies the contents according to the analyzed meta data.
28. The Web server as claimed in claim 26, wherein contents reconstruction unit analyzes contexts of the contents and classifies the contents according to the analyzed contexts.
29. The Web server as claimed in claim 26, further comprising:
- a contents list updating unit to update a contents list corresponding to a user of the portable terminal according to the managed and classified contents,
- wherein the network connection unit receives a request for contents search information from the portable terminal and transmits the contents search information including at least one the contents list and information for generating a user interface to guide a search of the contents in the contents list to the portable terminal.
30. The Web server as claimed in claim 29, wherein the network connection unit receives a request from the portable terminal for contents selected from the user interface, and transmits the selected contents to the portable terminal.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 12, 2007
Publication Date: Jul 31, 2008
Applicant: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon-si)
Inventor: Young-ho RHEE (Seoul)
Application Number: 11/854,157
International Classification: H04L 12/58 (20060101);