Contact image selection and association method and system for mobile device

1. A method of associating a sub-image with a contact record on a mobile device, the mobile device having a memory containing the contact record and at least one image file, the image file containing image data for rendering an image, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving user selection of the at least one image file for association with the contact record;

rendering the image on the user interface and overlaying a cropping shape;

cropping the image in accordance with a position of the cropping shape to produce a sub-image;

encoding the sub-image in accordance with a predefined image format to produce a sub-image file;

storing the sub-image file in association with the contact record,

wherein the step of encoding includes encoding the sub-image based upon a predefined default image encoding parameter, and wherein the step of encoding further includes determining whether the size of the sub-image file exceeds a predefined maximum file size and, if so, selecting a modified image encoding parameter corresponding to a reduced quality image and re-encoding the sub-image using the modified image encoding parameter.

2. The method claimed in claim 1 , further including a step of transmitting the sub-image file to a remote server in an over-the-air synchronization process to update a corresponding contact record located at the remote server.

3. The method claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predefined image format comprises a lossy image format and wherein said predefined default image encoding parameter comprises a predefined default image quality factor, and wherein said modified image encoding parameter comprises a reduced quality factor.

4. The method claimed in claim 3 , wherein the steps of determining, selecting and re-encoding are repeated until either the resulting sub-image file meets the predefined maximum file size or the reduced quality factor reaches a predefined minimum quality factor.

5. The method claimed in claim 1 , further including a first step of receiving said predetermined maximum file size from a host server over a wireless network.

6. The method claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predefined image format comprises a loss-less image format, wherein predefined default image encoding parameter comprises a predefined default colour depth, and wherein said modified image encoding parameter comprises a reduced colour depth.

7. The method claimed in claim 6 , wherein the steps of determining, selecting and re-encoding are repeated until either the resulting sub-image file meets the predefined maximum file size or the reduced colour depth reaches a predefined minimum colour depth.

8. The method claimed in claim 1 , wherein the steps of rendering and overlaying further include panning the image on the user interface in response to received input signals from a user input device, thereby modifying the position of the cropping shape in the image.

9. The method claimed in claim 8 , further including a step of zooming the image within the user interface in response to a zoom command input from the user input device.

10. The method claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step of cropping is performed in response to a user crop instruction input via a user input device.

11. A mobile device configured for associating a picture sub-image with a contact record, comprising:

a display capable of rendering a user interface;

a memory containing the contact record and at least one image file, the image file containing image data for rendering an image;

a user input device for receiving user selection of the at least one image file for association with the contact record;

a cropping module for rendering the image on the user interface and overlaying a cropping shape, and cropping the image in accordance with a position of the cropping shape to produce a sub-image;

an image encoder for encoding the sub-image in accordance with a predefined image format based upon a predefined image encoding parameter to produce a sub-image file; and

a component for determining whether the size of the sub-image file exceeds a predefined maximum file size and, if so, selecting a modified image encoding parameter corresponding to a reduced quality image and configuring said image encoder to re-encode the sub-image using the modified image encoding parameter, wherein said memory stores said sub-image in association with the contact record.

12. The mobile device claimed in claim 11 , further comprising a communications subsystem and device sync agent for transmitting the sub-image file to a remote server in an over-the-air synchronization process to update a corresponding contact record located at the remote server.

13. The mobile device claimed in claim 11 , wherein the predefined image format comprises a lossy image format, wherein the predefined default image encoding parameter comprises a predefined default image quality factor, and wherein the modified image encoding parameter comprises a reduced quality factor.

14. The mobile device claimed in claim 13 , wherein said component is configured to iteratively reduce the quality factor and re-encode the sub-image until either the sub-image meets the predefined maximum file size or the reduced quality factor reaches a predefined minimum quality factor.

15. The mobile device claimed in claim 11 , wherein said memory stores configuration data received from a host server via a wireless network, and

wherein said configuration data defines said predetermined maximum file size.

16. The mobile device claimed in claim 11 , wherein the predefined image format comprises a loss-less image format, wherein the predefined default image encoding parameter comprises a predefined colour depth, and wherein the modified image encoding parameter comprises a reduced colour depth.

17. The mobile device claimed in claim 16 , wherein said component for determining is configured to iteratively reduce the colour depth and re-encode the sub-image until either the sub-image meets the predefined maximum file size or the reduced colour depth reaches a predefined minimum colour depth.

18. The mobile device claimed in claim 11 , wherein said cropping module is configured to pan the image on the user interface in response to received input signals from the user input device, thereby modifying the position of the cropping shape in the image.

19. The mobile device claimed in claim 18 , wherein said cropping module is further configured to zoom the image within the user interface in response to a zoom command input from the user input device.

20. The mobile device claimed in claim 11 , wherein said cropping module is configured to crop the image in response to a user crop instruction input via said user input device.

21. A computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium having encoded thereon computer-readable instructions executable by a processor of a mobile electronic device for causing the mobile electronic device to associate a sub-image with a contact record on the mobile device, the mobile device having a memory containing the contact record and at least one image file, the image file containing image data for rendering an image, the computer-readable instructions comprising:

instructions for rendering the image on the user interface and overlaying a cropping shape;

instructions for cropping the image in accordance with a position of the cropping shape to produce a sub-image;

instructions encoding the sub-image in accordance with a predefined image format to produce a sub-image file;

instructions for storing the sub-image file in association with the contact record,

wherein the instructions for encoding include instructions for encoding the sub-image based upon a predefined default image encoding parameter, and wherein the instructions for encoding further include instructions for determining whether the size of the sub-image file exceeds a predefined maximum file size and, if so, selecting a modified image encoding parameter corresponding to a reduced quality image and re-encoding the sub-image using the modified image encoding parameter.