Patent Application

App. No. 11/959,140

Abstract

Claims (74)

1 . A method for synching online address book sources for a vehicle user, the method comprising:

receiving, at a server, at least two different user selected destination entries from at least two different destination entry systems in selective communication with the server; and

consolidating the destination entries received from the destination entry systems into a personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

2 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the at least two different destination entry systems is an Internet-enabled program, and wherein the method further comprises:

inputting a destination entry at the Internet-enabled program;

inputting account verification information at the Internet-enabled program; and

transmitting the destination entry from the Internet-enabled program to the server.

3 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

contacting a user; and

inquiring whether the user wants to upload one or more destination entries from an email address book or an electronic device address book to the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

4 . The method as defined in claim 3 wherein if the user wants to upload the one or more destination entries, the method further comprises inquiring as to which destination entry system the user prefers to interact with.

5 . The method as defined in claim 3 wherein if the user wants to upload the one or more destination entries, the method further comprises:

receiving a user selected destination entry; and

incorporating the user selected destination entry into the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

6 . The method as defined in claim 5 wherein the user selected destination entry is received in a form selected from an email, an audio message, a textual message, or combinations thereof.

7 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether two or more of the received user selected destination entries correspond to a same location;

evaluating the two or more received user selected destination entries for geo-coded information; and

selecting, for the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book, one of the two or more received user selected destination entries including more inclusive geo-coded information.

8 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, at the server, an additional user selected destination entry; and

determining whether to incorporate the additional user selected destination entry into the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

9 . The method as defined in claim 8 , further comprising:

determining that the additional user selected destination entry corresponds to an existing user selected destination entry in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book;

determining which of the existing user selected destination entry and the additional user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information; and

if the additional user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information, replacing the existing user selected destination entry with the additional user selected destination entry.

10 . The method as defined in claim 8 , further comprising:

determining that additional user selected destination entry corresponds to an existing user selected destination entry in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book;

determining which of the existing user selected destination entry and the additional user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information; and

if the existing user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information, maintaining the existing user selected destination entry in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

11 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

querying a destination entry system having an other online address book associated with a user for at least one additional user selected destination entry; and

uploading the at least one additional user selected destination entry to the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

12 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

recognizing that a user of the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book has at least one other online address book;

contacting the user; and

inquiring whether the user wants to synchronize the at least one other online address book with the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

13 . The method as defined in claim 12 wherein if the user wants to synchronize the address books, the method further comprises:

querying a destination entry system associated with the at least one other online address book for then-current contents of the at least one other online address book; and

consolidating the then-current contents of the at least one other online address book with contents of the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

14 . The method as defined in claim 13 , further comprising providing the consolidated personalized online and vehicle accessible address book to at least one of a vehicle associated therewith, a predetermined electronic device, or a predetermined destination entry system.

15 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request for navigation instructions to a user selected destination entry stored in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book; and

transmitting the navigation instructions to a vehicle of a user associated with the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

16 . The method as defined in claim 15 wherein prior to transmitting the navigation instructions, the method further comprises retrieving the navigation instructions from a telematics unit in the vehicle.

17 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the at least two different destination entry systems is a navigation system integral to a telematics unit of a vehicle of a user associated with the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

18 . The method as defined in claim 17 , further comprising downloading the destination entry received from the navigation system to an other telematics unit of an other vehicle associated with the user.

19 . A system for synching online address book sources for a vehicle user, the system comprising:

at least two different destination entry systems;

a server in selective communication with the at least two different destination entry systems and configured to receive at least two different user selected destination entries from the at least two different destination entry systems; and

means for consolidating the destination entries received from the destination entry systems into a personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

20 . The system as defined in claim 19 , further comprising:

means for determining whether two or more of the received user selected destination entries correspond to a same location;

means for evaluating the two or more received user selected destination entries for geo-coded information; and

means for selecting, for the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book, one of the two or more received user selected destination entries including more inclusive geo-coded information.

21 . The system as defined in claim 19 wherein the server is configured to receive additional user selected destination entries, and wherein the system further comprises:

means for determining that an additional user selected destination entry corresponds to an existing user selected destination entry in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book;

means for determining which of the existing user selected destination entry and the additional user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information;

means for replacing the existing user selected destination entry with the additional user selected destination entry if the additional user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information; and

means for maintaining the existing user selected destination entry in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book if the existing user selected destination entry has more inclusive geo-coded information.

22 . The system as defined in claim 19 , further comprising an in-vehicle telematics unit in operative communication with the server and configured to receive the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book from the server.

23 . The system as defined in claim 19 , further comprising:

means for receiving a request for navigation instructions to a user selected destination entry stored in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book;

means for generating or retrieving the requested navigation instructions; and

means for transmitting the generated navigation instructions to a vehicle of a user associated with the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

24 . The system as defined in claim 19 , further comprising a call center at which the server is located.

25 . A system for synching online address book sources for a vehicle user, the system comprising:

an Internet-enabled destination entry system;

an in-vehicle destination entry system;

a call center, including:

a server that is in selective communication with the Internet-enabled destination entry system and the in-vehicle destination entry system, and that is configured to selectively receive user selected destination entries from each of the Internet-enabled destination entry system and the in-vehicle destination entry system; and

an evaluation system for determining if two or more of the received user selected destination entries are the same, extracting geo-coded information from each of the received user selected destination entries if they are the same, and generating a single user selected destination entry that corresponds to the same received user selected destination entries and includes at least some of the extracted geo-coded information; and

a personalized online and vehicle accessible address book including multiple entries, at least one of which is the single user selected destination entry.

26 . The system as defined in claim 25 wherein two or more of the received user selected destination entries are the same, and wherein the evaluation system is configured to select one of the two or more received user selected destination entries having more inclusive geo-coded information as an entry in the personalized online and vehicle accessible address book.

Assignments (13)