Method of distributing contact and calendar records

1. A method of distributing contact or calendar information in a multi-component system, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records, wherein at least one of the contact or calendar records contains at least one field and at least one directive;

for the at least one of the contact or calendar records, designating at least one remote component device of the multi-component system to which one or more fields of the at least one field is to be distributed, wherein the designation is based on the at least one directive corresponding to the at least one of the contact or calendar records;

wherein the at least one directive is data that indicates properties about that at least one of the contact or calendar records, including which remote component device the record should be distributed to;

determining a transmission method for transmitting the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device by automatically analyzing a physical location and known capabilities of the designated at least one remote component device;

automatically distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device using the determined transmission method;

initiating an update of at least one of contact or calendar records maintained locally on the designated at least one remote component device based on the one or more fields distributed to the designated at least one remote component device; and

initiating a rearrangement of a display order of the contacts or calendar records maintained locally on the designated at least one remote component device based at least in part on the analyzed physical location of the designated at least one remote component device and present locations of the at least one of the contact or calendar records so that more geographically proximate contacts or calendar records are listed before less geographically proximate contacts or calendar records.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one contact or calendar record that contains group information.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining group information that is based on geographical information.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining group information that is based on time of day information.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

buffering the contact or calendar data for pre-distribution processing prior to initiating distribution.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pre-distribution processing includes virus scanning.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pre-distribution processing includes message integrity checking.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein designating at least one remote component device of the multi-component system includes designating at least one remote component device that uses an operating system, file format or other technical stand different than that used by at least one other remote component device.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

formatting the one or more fields according to the operating system, file format or other technical standard to be readable by the at least one remote component device prior to the automatically distributing.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising formatting the one or more fields according to the operating system, file format or other technical standard to be readable by the at least one remote component device after being received by the remote component device.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one directive that includes rules pertaining to group information used for distribution.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a user with the option to accept or reject local storage of the one or more fields at the at least one remote component device.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one contact record that contains contact data related to an individual.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one field that represents a single unit of data corresponding to an individual.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically distributing at least the field includes distributing the field via the Internet.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically distributing at least the field includes distributing the field via wireless network.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program instructions, which, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform:

instructions for maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records, wherein at least one of the contact or calendar records contains at least one field and at least one directive;

instructions for designating, for the at least one of the contact or calendar records, at least one remote component device of the multi-component system to which one or more fields of the at least one field is to be distributed, wherein the designation is based on the at least one directive corresponding to the at least one of the contact or calendar records;

wherein the at least one directive is data that indicates properties about that at least one of the contact or calendar records, including which remote component device the record should be distributed to;

instructions for determining a transmission method for transmitting the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device by automatically analyzing a physical location and known capabilities of the designated at least one remote component device;

instructions for automatically distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device using the determined transmission method;

instructions for initiating an update of at least one of contact or calendar records maintained locally on the designated at least one remote component device based on the one or more fields distributed to the designated at least one remote component device; and

instructions for initiating a rearrangement of a display order of the contacts or calendar records maintained locally on the designated at least one remote component device based at least in part on the analyzed physical location of the designated that at least one remote component device and present locations of the at least one of the contact or calendar records so that more geographically proximate contacts or calendar records are listed before less geographically proximate contacts or calendar records.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions for maintaining the plurality of contact or calendar records include instructions for maintaining at least one contact or calendar record that contains group information.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions for maintaining the plurality of contact or calendar records include instructions for maintaining group information that is based on geographical information.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions for maintaining the plurality of contact or calendar records include instructions for maintaining group information that is based on time of day information.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , further comprises instructions for virus message integrity checking to occur prior to automatically distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , further comprising:

instructions for buffering the contact or calendar data for pre-distribution processing prior to distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22 , further comprises instructions for virus screening to occur prior to automatically distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions for designating include instructions for designating at least one remote component device that uses an operating system, file format or other technical standard different that that used by at least one other remote component device.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24 , further comprising instructions for formatting the one or more fields according to the operating system, file format or other technical standard to be readable by the at least one remote component device prior to distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24 , further comprising instructions for formatting the one or more fields according to the operating system, file format or other technical standard to be readable by the at least one remote component device after being received by the remote component device.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions for maintaining the plurality of contact or calendar records include instructions for maintaining at least one directive that includes rules pertaining to group information that is used for distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , further comprising:

instructions for providing a user with the option to accept or reject local storage of the one or more fields at the at least one remote component device.

29. A method of distributing contact or calendar information in a multi-component system, the method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records, wherein at least one of the contact or calendar records contains at least one field and at least one directive;

for the at least one of the contact or calendar records, designating at least one remote component device of the multi-component system to which one or more fields of the at least one field is to be distributed, wherein the designation is based on the at least one directive corresponding to the at least one of the contact or calendar records;

wherein the at least one directive is data that indicates properties about that at least one of the contact or calendar records, including which remote component device the record should be distributed to;

determining a transmission method for transmitting the one or more of the fields to the designated at least one remote component device by automatically analyzing a physical location and known capabilities of the designated at least one remote component device;

automatically distributing the one or more fields to the designated at least one remote component device using the determined transmission method;

initiating an update of at least one of contact or calendar records maintained locally on the at least one remote component device based on the one or more fields distributed to the designated at least one remote component device;

determining an instant physical location of the at least one remote component device via a global positioning system; and

initiating a rearrangement of a display order of the contacts or calendar records maintained locally on the designated at least one remote component device based at least in part on the determined instant physical location of the designated at least one remote component device and present locations of the at least one of the contact or calendar records so that more geographically proximate contacts or calendar records are listed before less geographically proximate contacts or calendar records.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one contact or calendar record that contains group information.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining group information that is based on geographical information.

32. The method of claim 30 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining group information that is based on time or day information.

33. The method of claim 29 , wherein designating at least one remote component device of the multi-component system includes designating at least one remote component device that uses an operating system, file format or other technical standard different than that used by at least one other remote component device.

34. The method of claim 33 , further comprising:

formatting the one or more fields according to the operating system, the format or other technical standard to be readable by the at least one remote component device prior to the automatically distributing.

35. The method of claim 33 , further comprising formatting the one or more fields according to the operating system, file format or other technical standard to be readable by the at least one remote component device after being received by the remote component device.

36. The method of claim 29 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one directive that includes rules pertaining to group information used for distribution.

37. The method of claim 29 , further comprising:

providing a user with the option to accept or reject local storage of the one or more fields at the at least one remote component device.

38. The method of claim 29 , wherein maintaining a plurality of contact or calendar records includes maintaining at least one contact record that contains contact data related to an individual.