System and method for communicating presence status

1. A method of operating a mobile device comprising:

obtaining a physiological measurement associated with a user of the mobile device;

determining a first presence status indicative of a first emotional state using the physiological measurement;

determining a second presence status indicative of a second emotional state using the same physiological measurement;

incorporating the first presence status and the second presence status into one of a plurality of presence states used by a messaging application;

displaying at least one of the first and second presence states with the presence status indicative of the emotional state in a user interface for the messaging application on the mobile device; and

providing the first presence status to a first group of contacts to have the first group of contacts display the presence state with the first presence status indicative of the first emotional state and providing the second presence status to a second group of contacts to have the second group of contacts display the presence state with the second presence status indicative of the second emotional state.

2. The method of claim 1 , the first group of contacts being associated with personal contacts, and the second group of contacts being associated with professional contacts.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a presence status indicator on the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 , the physiological measurement being obtained from a physiological sensor coupled to the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 , the physiological measurement being obtained from a physiological sensor in an external device coupled to the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising computing a presence value using the physiological measurement, and using the presence value to generate the presence status.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a presence status from a remote device and displaying the presence status from the remote device on the mobile device, the presence status from the remote device being associated with a physiological measurement for a user of the remote device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first presence status is selected from less than a range of emotional states that can be provided using the second presence status.

9. A method of operating a remote device communicably connectable to a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a first presence status from the mobile device indicative of a first emotional state of a user of the mobile device and generated for a first group of contacts of the mobile device, the first presence status having been generated using a physiological measurement associated with the user of the mobile device and incorporated into one of a plurality of presence states used by a messaging application, the first presence status and first emotional state being different than a second presence status and second emotional state determined using the same physiological measurement and having been sent to a second group of contacts of the mobile device; and

displaying the presence state with the first presence status indicative of the first emotional state on the remote device in a user interface for the messaging application.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising initiating a media item associated with the received presence status.

11. The method of claim 9 , the first group of contacts being associated with personal contacts, and the second group of contacts being associated with professional contacts.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising displaying a presence status indicator on the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 9 , the presence status having been generated using a presence value computed by the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising computing another presence status indicative of an emotional state using a physiological measurement associated with a user of the remote device, and sending the other presence status from the remote device to the mobile device.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions for:

obtaining a physiological measurement associated with a user of the mobile device;

determining a first presence status indicative of a first emotional state using the physiological measurement;

determining a second presence status indicative of a second emotional state using the same physiological measurement;

incorporating the first presence status and the second presence status into one of a plurality of presence states used by a messaging application;

displaying at least one of the first and second presence states with the presence status indicative of the emotional state in a user interface for the messaging application on the mobile device; and

providing the first presence status to a first group of contacts to have the first group of contacts display the presence state with the first presence status indicative of the first emotional state and providing the second presence status to a second group of contacts to have the second group of contacts display the presence state with the second presence status indicative of the second emotional state.

16. A mobile device comprising a processor, memory, and a communication module, the memory comprising computer executable instructions for:

obtaining a physiological measurement associated with a user of the mobile device;

determining a first presence status indicative of a first emotional state using the physiological measurement;

determining a second presence status indicative of a second emotional state using the same physiological measurement;

incorporating the first presence status and the second presence status into one of a plurality of presence states used by a messaging application;

displaying at least one of the first and second presence states with the presence status indicative of the emotional state in a user interface for the messaging application on the mobile device; and

providing the first presence status to a first group of contacts to have the first group of contacts display the presence state with the first presence status indicative of the first emotional state and providing the second presence status to a second group of contacts to have the second group of contacts display the presence state with the second presence status indicative of the second emotional state.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions for:

receiving a first presence status from the mobile device indicative of a first emotional state of a user of the mobile device and generated for a first group of contacts of the mobile device, the first presence status having been generated using a physiological measurement associated with the user of the mobile device and incorporated into one of a plurality of presence states used by a messaging application, the first presence status and first emotional state being different than a second presence status and second emotional state determined using the same physiological measurement and having been sent to a second group of contacts of the mobile device; and

displaying the presence state with the first presence status indicative of the first emotional state on the remote device in a user interface for the messaging application.

18. A remote electronic device comprising a processor, memory, and a communication module, the memory comprising computer executable instructions for:

receiving a first presence status from the mobile device indicative of a first emotional state of a user of the mobile device and generated for a first group of contacts of the mobile device, the first presence status having been generated using a physiological measurement associated with the user of the mobile device and incorporated into one of a plurality of presence states used by a messaging application, the first presence status and first emotional state being different than a second presence status and second emotional state determined using the same physiological measurement and having been sent to a second group of contacts of the mobile device; and

displaying the presence state with the first presence status indicative of the first emotional state on the remote device in a user interface for the messaging application.