Starfish Software, Inc.

Nokia Corporation

Sonia Lee

Philippe Richard Kahn

Gregor Paul Freund

Xiang Fu

Eric O Bodnar

An electronic Personal Information Manager (PIM) including a calendar/scheduling system with an EarthTime&#x2122; module is described. In operation, the system tracks different types of times: 'local' time, 'home' time, and &#x201c;remote&#x201d; time. Home time is the time zone of where the user typically spends most of his or her time; this is usually the time zone for the user's home office. Local time is the time for the locality where the user is located physically at any particular instance in time. &#x201c;Remote&#x201d; time represents the time zones of the other individuals (i.e., other than the user). The system may show events and appointments in the user's own &#x201c;local&#x201d; time (or other user-selected type of time), regardless of where the user is presently located. Using these three types of time (i.e., &#x201c;local&#x201d; time, &#x201c;home&#x201d; time, and &#x201c;remote&#x201d; time), the system provides improved interface and methods for scheduling and managing activities, such a phone conference, across multiple time zones.

System and methods for scheduling and tracking events across multiple time zones

An electronic Personal Information Manager (PIM) including a calendar/scheduling system with an EarthTime&trade; module is described. In operation, the system tracks different types of times: &ldquo;local&rdquo; time, &ldquo;home&rdquo; time, and &ldquo;remote&rdquo; time. Home time is the time zone of where the user typically spends most of his or her time; this is usually the time zone for the user's home office. Local time is the time for the locality where the user is located physically at any particular instance in time. &ldquo;Remote&rdquo; time represents the time zones of the other individuals (i.e., other than the user). The system may show events and appointments in the user's own &ldquo;local&rdquo; time (or other user-selected type of time), regardless of where the user is presently located. Using these three types of time (i.e., &ldquo;local&rdquo; time, &ldquo;home&rdquo; time, and &ldquo;remote&rdquo; time), the system provides improved interface and methods for scheduling and managing activities, such a phone conference, across multiple time zones.

Graphic user interface for an electronic device for a display screen

An electronic Personal Information Manager (PIM) including a calendar/scheduling system with an EarthTime.TM. module is described. In operation, the system tracks different types of times: 'local' time, 'home' time, and 'remote' time. Home time is the time zone of where the user typically spends most of his or her time; this is usually the time zone for the user's home office. Local time is the time for the locality where the user is located physically at any particular instance in time. 'Remote' time represents the time zones of the other individuals (i.e., other than the user). The system may show events and appointments in the user's own 'local' time (or other user-selected type of time), regardless of where the user is presently located. Using these three types of time (i.e., 'local' time, 'home' time, and 'remote' time), the system provides improved interface and methods for scheduling and managing activities, such a phone conference, across multiple time zones.

System and methods for scheduling and tracking events across multiple

Information Management System and methods providing an improved user interface (UI) are described. In particular, the present invention provides a specialized region of the user interface which comprises a world or 'landscape' which is a core representation or view of the user's own data. To render the landscape with representations of the data most important to the user, the system, at runtime, actually examines the underlying data which has been stored by the user. The system then dynamically alters the user interface at runtime to include representations of information which is important to the user. In operation, the system presents an interface comprising a background bitmap and further comprises diverse objects which are 'plugged into' the background. Each object which is plugged in is typically a completely separate object which represents particular user data which is of interest to a currently logged-on user. Multiple background bitmaps or landscapes are provided so that a user may select a preferred representation of his or her 'world' (e.g., family), including selecting completely different landscape environments (e.g., office). The system automatically adapts the objects placed on the landscape for the particular background setting which the user has chosen. Based on the user's actual data, the system regenerates the appropriate objects which are plugged into the landscape for representing the user's own data.

Information management system with user data-based user interface

System and methods are described for efficient storage and processing of non-uniform data records. An exemplary embodiment includes a Databank system having a Database Engine, a Database Engine API (Application Program Interface), a Databank Engine, a Databank Engine Class Interface, and a Databank (storage). The Databank storage itself comprises a Descriptor Table (Form Definition) and a Data Repository. The Descriptor Table comprises a plurality of field descriptors for characterizing user information stored in the Databank. The Data Repository, on the other hand, stores the actual data from the non-uniform data records. It comprises 'static' fields and a 'dynamic' field. The static fields store core fields necessary for characterizing each data record (irrespective of what type of information a given data record stores). User data are stored in a structured, pre-defined manner using logical fields (or 'subfields') of the dynamic field. The system correctly interprets the dynamic contents based on the information stored in the descriptors. Methods are described for storing and retrieving information from the Databank in a manner which is transparent to clients, thus allowing the Databank subsystem to easily replace existing storage subsystems.

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Scotts Valley, CA, United States of America

Sonia Lee