CONTACT DIRECTORIES

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to contact cards, and more particularly relates to association of at least one contact card of a user with at least one contact directory that the user forms part of so as to enable contacts of the at least one contact directory to view the associated at least one contact card and take appropriate actions accordingly.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

[0003] Even with the fast growing mobile phone technology and mobile applications market, contact management is still not efficient and is hard to manage or fix. Although applications such as True Caller are helpful, they do not take care of privacy concerns and also do not fix contacts to ensure that the contacts are always accurate, and only such contact information that is the contact owner (also referred to as user in the instant disclosure) intends to share with different contacts is actually visible to such contacts. For instance, existing systems do not allow for a user to share different contact information with business professionals when compared to confirmation information shared with family or friends, making all the contact information being shared by a user as static for each and every contact that the user is connected to.

[0004] Currently, there exists no solution tocontrol how and what contact information is being shared by a user with different contacts that he/she is connected with through one or more contact directories (also commonly referred to as phone books). No solution also exists for enabling a member/contact of a contact directory to automatically discover updated contact information of a user who is also a member of the contact directory as and when the user updates his/her contact information (also referred to have contact attributes (such as first name, last name, email address, URL, social media identified s), date of birth, etc) along with their respective values).

[0005] There is therefore is a need in the art for a more efficient system and mechanism to handle how and what contact information is shared by a user with different contacts that he/she is connected with through one or more contact directories (also referred to as phone books).

[0006] All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.

[0007] In some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.

[0008] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of "a," "an," and "the" includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0009] The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. "such as") provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.

[0010] Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all groups used in the appended claims.

SUMMARY

[0011] The present disclosure is directed towardsassociation of at least one contact card (CC) of a user with at least one contact directory (CD) that the user forms part of so as to enable contacts of the at least one CD to view the associated at least one CC and take appropriate actions accordingly. Such association of CC with CD enables a narrowcast engine to be created for targeted and intended discovery of the CC by one or more users that form part of and/or are associated with the CD.

[0012] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates toa system for associating a first contact card (CC) of a first user with a first contact directory (CD), wherein the system can include a non-transitory storage device having embodied therein one or more routines operable to facilitate association of the first CC of the first user with the first CD, and one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory storage device and operable to execute the one or more routines. The one or more routines can include, in a non-limiting manner,a CC to CD association module and an associated CC transmission module, wherein the CC to CD association module, when executed by the one or more processors, can associate the first CC of the first user with the first CD that the first user forms part of, wherein the first CC is selected from a plurality of CCs of the first user, and wherein the first CD is selected from a plurality of CDs that the first user forms part of. The associated CC transmission module, when executed by the one or more processors, can transmit the first CC of the first user to each member that forms part of the first CD in a manner such that each member of the first CD is able to view the first CC tagged against contact information of the first user that the member stores.

[0013] Tagging, in the context of the present disclosure, should be interpreted as any representation that can enable a member of the first CC to view the first CC alongwith or alongside the contact information/entry that the member has for the first user. In an instance, such representation can be a merged view representation showing both the first CC and the originally stored contact information of the first user in a merged manner, for instance, as presented in International PCT Patent Application PCT/IB2016/055271. [0014] In an aspect, the contact information of the first user that is stored by each member may not be modified automatically by the first CC. In another aspect on the other hand, at least a part of the contact information of the first user that is stored by each member may be modified/updated/overwritten automatically by the first CC. Such a configuration may be performed based on preferences/settings done by each member of a CD as so how the member wishes to treat the respective first CC.

[0015] In an aspect, the first CC can be associated with two or more CDs, while in another aspect, the two or more CC can be associated with the first CD. In yet another aspect, any modification performed by the first user on the first CC can create an updated first CC that may be automatically re-associated with the first CD.

[0016] In an aspect, a first member who is not a part of the first CD at the time of association of the first CC with the first CD but subsequently becomes a part of the first CDis able to view/discover the first CC against contact information stored for the first user sooner he/she becomes part of the first CD. In an aspect, the view is a merged view that enables the member to view the contact information stored for the first and the first CC in a merged manner.

[0017] In an aspect, said plurality of CDs can include any or a combination of private and/or shared CDs, wherein each shared CD can be crowd sourced in a manner so as to discover new contacts automatically based on actions of multiple contacts that are already a part of the shared CD.

[0018] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates todiscovering a first contact card (CC) of a first user, wherein the system includes a non-transitory storage device having embodied therein one or more routines operable to facilitate discovery of the first CC of the first user by a first member, and one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory storage device and operable to execute the one or more routines. The one or more routines can include a user CC receive module and a CC tagging module, wherein the user CC receive module, when executed by the one or more processors, enables the first member to discover the first CC of the first user from a first CD that the first member and the first user form part of, wherein the first user can associate the first CC with the first CD to enable the first CC to be sent to all members of the first CD. The CC tagging module, when executed by the one or more processors, tags the first CC against contact information of the first user that is stored by the first member. [0019] In an aspect, if the first member is not a part of the first CD at the time when the first user associates the first CC with the first CD, the first member discovers the first CC sooner he/she becomes a part of the first CD.

[0020] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for associating a first contact card (CC) with a first contact directory (CD), wherein the method can include the steps of associating, by one or more processors that form part of a computing device, the first CC of a first user with the first CD that the first user forms part of, wherein the first CC is selected from a plurality of CCs of the first user, and wherein the first CD is selected from a plurality of CDs that the first user forms part of; and transmitting, by the one or more processors, the first CC of the first user to each member that forms part of the first CD in a manner such that each member of the first CD is able to view the first CC tagged against contact information of the first user that the member stores.

[0021] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for discovering a first contact card (CC) of a first user, wherein the method can include the steps of enabling,by one or more processors that form part of a computing device, the first member to discover the first CC of the first user from a first CD that the first member and the first user form part of, wherein the first user associates the first CC with the first CD to enable the first CC to be sent to all members of the first CD; and tagging, by the one or more processors, the first CC against contact information of the first user that is stored by the first member, wherein if the first member is not a part of the first CD at the time when the first user associates the first CC with the first CD, the first member discovers the first CC sooner he/she becomes a part of the first CD.

[0022] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary scenario showing multiple CD's of a user and how each contact of a given CD can view the user contact information.

[0024] FIG. IB illustrates how multiple contact cards (CCs) can be created by each user.

[0025] FIG. 2A illustrates exemplary functional modules at user end in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [0026] FIG. 2B illustrates exemplary functional modules at contact/member end in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates an example showing how CC of a user is associated with each entry of the user across one or more contacts that form part of a CD that the user has associated the CC with, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

[0029] Each of the appended claims defines a separate invention, which for infringement purposes is recognized as including equivalents to the various elements or limitations specified in the claims. Depending on the context, all references below to the "invention" may in some cases refer to certain specific embodiments only. In other cases it will be recognized that references to the "invention" will refer to subject matter recited in one or more, but not necessarily all, of the claims.

[0030] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of "a," "an," and "the" includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0031] All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. "such as") provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.

[0032] Various terms as used herein are shown below. To the extent a term used in a claim is not defined below, it should be given the broadest definition persons in the pertinent art have given that term as reflected in printed publications and issued patents at the time of filing. [0033] The present disclosure is directed towardsassociation of at least one contact card (CC) of a user with at least one contact directory (CD) that the user forms part of so as to enable contacts of the at least one CD to view the associated at least one CC and take appropriate actions accordingly. Such association of CC with CD enables a narrowcast engine to be created for targeted and intended discovery of the CC by one or more users that form part of and/or are associated with the CD.

[0034] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates toa system for associating a first contact card (CC) of a first user with a first contact directory (CD), wherein the system can include a non-transitory storage device having embodied therein one or more routines operable to facilitate association of the first CC of the first user with the first CD, and one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory storage device and operable to execute the one or more routines. The one or more routines can include, in a non-limiting manner, a CC to CD association module and an associated CC transmission module, wherein the CC to CD association module, when executed by the one or more processors, can associate the first CC of the first user with the first CD that the first user forms part of, wherein the first CC is selected from a plurality of CCs of the first user, and wherein the first CD is selected from a plurality of CDs that the first user forms part of. The associated CC transmission module, when executed by the one or more processors, can transmit the first CC of the first user to each member that forms part of the first CD in a manner such that each member of the first CD is able to view the first CC tagged against contact information of the first user that the member stores.

[0035] Tagging, in the context of the present disclosure, should be interpreted as any representation that can enable a member of the first CC to view the first CC alongwith or alongside the contact information/entry that the member has for the first user. In an instance, such representation can be a merged view representation showing both the first CC and the originally stored contact information of the first user in a merged manner, for instance, as presented in International PCT Patent Application PCT/IB2016/055271.

[0036] In an aspect, the contact information of the first user that is stored by each member may not be modified automatically by the first CC. In another aspect on the other hand, at least a part of the contact information of the first user that is stored by each member may be modified/updated/overwritten automatically by the first CC. Such a configuration may be performed based on preferences/settings done by each member of a CD as so how the member wishes to treat the respective first CC. [0037] In an aspect, the first CC can be associated with two or more CDs, while in another aspect, the two or more CC can be associated with the first CD. In yet another aspect, any modification performed by the first user on the first CC can create an updated first CC that may be automatically re-associated with the first CD.

[0038] In an aspect, a first member who is not a part of the first CD at the time of association of the first CC with the first CD but subsequently becomes a part of the first CD is able to view/discover the first CC against contact information stored for the first user sooner he/she becomes part of the first CD. In an aspect, the view is a merged view that enables the member to view the contact information stored for the first and the first CC in a merged manner.

[0039] In an aspect, said plurality of CDs can include any or a combination of private and/or shared CDs, wherein each shared CD can be crowd sourced in a manner so as to discover new contacts automatically based on actions of multiple contacts that are already a part of the shared CD.

[0040] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates todiscovering a first contact card (CC) of a first user, wherein the system includes a non-transitory storage device having embodied therein one or more routines operable to facilitate discovery of the first CC of the first user by a first member, and one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory storage device and operable to execute the one or more routines. The one or more routines can include a user CC receive module and a CC tagging module, wherein the user CC receive module, when executed by the one or more processors, enables the first member to discover the first CC of the first user from a first CD that the first member and the first user form part of, wherein the first user can associate the first CC with the first CD to enable the first CC to be sent to all members of the first CD. The CC tagging module, when executed by the one or more processors, tags the first CC against contact information of the first user that is stored by the first member.

[0041] In an aspect, if the first member is not a part of the first CD at the time when the first user associates the first CC with the first CD, the first member discovers the first CC sooner he/she becomes a part of the first CD.

[0042] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for associating a first contact card (CC) with a first contact directory (CD), wherein the method can include the steps of associating, by one or more processors that form part of a computing device, the first CC of a first user with the first CD that the first user forms part of, wherein the first CC is selected from a plurality of CCs of the first user, and wherein the first CD is selected from a plurality of CDs that the first user forms part of; and transmitting, by the one or more processors, the first CC of the first user to each member that forms part of the first CD in a manner such that each member of the first CD is able to view the first CC tagged against contact information of the first user that the member stores.

[0043] In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for discovering a first contact card (CC) of a first user, wherein the method can include the steps of enabling,by one or more processors that form part of a computing device, the first member to discover the first CC of the first user from a first CD that the first member and the first user form part of, wherein the first user associates the first CC with the first CD to enable the first CC to be sent to all members of the first CD; and tagging, by the one or more processors, the first CC against contact information of the first user that is stored by the first member, wherein if the first member is not a part of the first CD at the time when the first user associates the first CC with the first CD, the first member discovers the first CC sooner he/she becomes a part of the first CD.

[0044] In the context of the present disclosure, shared CD, in an exemplary aspect, relates to a group-sourced CD, wherein contact information of the CD is group-sourced. A CD includes contact information of multiple members of the directory. In some embodiments, all members within a group-sourced CD have access to the contact information of the CD. Specifically, each member of the CDcan add new contacts (add new members) to, remove contacts (remove members) from, and edit contact information of any contact within the CD. In addition, when a new contact is added to a CD, the new contact automatically becomes a member of the CD. The new member is notified of his/her inclusion to the CD. In some embodiments, the new member is provided access to the contact information of other members in the CD, such that the new member can edit his/her own contact information or other members' contact information within the CD. In a shared CD, a first person can add a second contact associated with a second person to the CD, and based on the addition of the second contact to the CD, a notification can be automatically transmitted to a user device associated with the second person, and the second person can be provided with editing rights to all contacts included in the CD, wherein the notification comprises information regarding the CD. The contact list may have been inaccessible by the second person before the second contact was added to the CD.

[0045] In another aspect, private CD, on the other hand, can be a CD that is not shared and hence is privately accessible only to a user that has created the private CD. In an exemplary instance, private CD can be a phonebook that is usually configured on mobile/smart phone of a user. Using the proposed system, many such private CDs can also be configured, if desired, say one for family, another one for office colleagues, another one for clients, and yet another one for club friends, for instance.

[0046] In an embodiment, the present invention relates to sharing of updated contact card(s) by a user and/or the owner of the contact card(s) to members to one or more CDs that the user forms part of, wherein the user of the proposed system can be configured to have one or more contact card(s), each contact card (CC) say for a different purpose or having different information attribute values. For instance, a first CC can be a business card having official email address and office address of the user, and a second CC can be a personal card having personal email address and home address of the user. Any number of CCs can therefore pertain to each user, wherein contact information attributes andcorrespoding values thereof of each card can be updated as and when desired by the owner of the card. In an exemplary implementation, all CCs (each CC can be thought of as a vCard having a .vcf like file format, for instance) pertaining to a given user can be stored and updated in a computing device such as mobile/smart phone of the user.

[0047] In an exemplary implementation, aspects of the present disclosure enable a user having one or more CCs to associate at least one CC with at least one contact directory (CD) that is accessible to the user, wherein each CD can have multiple contacts that the user also forms a part of. For instance, a first CD can be a business CD, a second CD can be a family CD, and a third CD can be a friends CD, wherein, in an exemplary implementation, business CC of a user can be associated by the user with his/her business CD. It is to be appreciated that there is no need for a user to actually title a CC with any specific name/category as all CCs may be configured alike and may just vary in terms of the contact information attributes that it stores and the values corresponding thereto. For instance, contact attribute "email" can have a value of \\ /V/ ;mai i . con; in a family CC, and may have a value of \\ /¾ orp. con; in an official CC.

[0048] Upon association of at least one CC by owner of the CC with at least one CD, each contact (also interchangeably referred to as member hereinafter) that forms part of the at least one CD can be notified about the at least CC and information attribute values contained therein, without actually changing/impacting the corresponding information attribute values that contact may have stored about the user. Based on such association, such a contact/member can easily confirm if the contact information he/she had about the user was accurate and even manually change his/her stored contact information about the user based on the associated CC. Therefore, in an aspect, the associated at least one CC can also be referred to as a "ghost card" that can be associated against each instance of the user in the contacts that form part of the CD.

[0049] In an example, David can have 3 CCs (one for business, one for family, and one for friends) and can be a part of 4 CDs (one or more of which may be shared or private CDs) that are accessible to him. In such a scenario, Davidcan associate his business CC with a first CD that pertains to his business contacts, upon which association, each member/contact that forms part of the first CD can view David's business CC against each entry of David in their respective CD/contact list. Such association can ensure that no information that may previously/originally be stored about David by each member/contact be updated, and the ghost card (business CC) is only logically associated against each entry of David across members of the first CD so that previously stored contact information about David can be verified and updated by the respective contact. Also, such a system would make it very easy for David to simply update his/her CC's going forward, which updation can immediately be reflected across all contacts of one or more CD's to which the updated CC pertains.

[0050] FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary scenario 100 showing multiple CD's of a user and how each contact of a given CD can view the user contact information. As shown, a user 102 such as "David Musk" can have a computing device 104 such as a mobile/smart phone or a tablet PC or a PDA that can store multiple contact directories (CDs) 106-1, 106-2, ..., 106- n (collectively referred to as 106 hereinafter) for the user 102, each contact directory 106 having one or more contacts that the user 102 is connected with. As shown, CD 106-1 can be a business CD, CD 106-2 can be a family CD, and CD 106-n can be a friends CD.

[0051] In an aspect, each contact/member of a CD 106 may have contact information of the user 102 stored in his/her computing device. For instance, as can be seen, business CD 106-1 of user 102 has three contacts, Matthew Brown (312-XXX-YYYY), Michael Drown (412-XXX-YYYY), and Robert Crown (512-XXX-YYYY), wherein Matthew Brown's computing device 108-1 may have contact information of David Musk 102 stored therein with contact information attributes such as first name, last name, phone number, email address, social media handle, Linkedin URL, office landline number, fax number, photo, among other like attributes. Similarly, Michael Drown' s computing device 108-2 may also have contact information attributes for David Musk 102 stored therein, but Robert Crown's computing device 108-3 may not have the contact information for David Musk 102 stored therein and instead may only have access to the CD 106 having the phone number of David Musk 102, using which Robert Crown can store the phone number along with other contact information attribute values for David Musk 102. [0052] FIG. IB illustrates how multiple contact cards (CCs) can be created by each user. As shown, user 102 can create multiple CC's (also interchangeably referred to as vCards or contact information cards or .vcf files) 152, say one CC 152-1 for storing business level contact information, and another CC 152-2 for storing family level contact information, and yet another CC 152-M for storing client level contact information. As seen, each CC 152 can store different information, wherein, for instance, business CC can store official/enterprise email address and fax number, whereas family CC can store personal email address and may not have any fax number at all. It would be appreciated that these are merely examples and any other contact information attribute can be incorporated and any number of CCs can be created by each user in any manner desired, all of which potential embodiments/implementations are therefore well within the scope of the present disclosure. It may also be appreciated that various optimizations may be performed to the process of associating a CC with a CD, and enabling members of the CD to view the CC, all of which optimizations may be used to achieve the same purpose.

[0053] Such association of CC with CD enables a narrowcast engine to be created for targeted and intended discovery of the CC by one or more users that form part of and/or are associated with the CD. Narrowcast engine further enables specific contact information and communication of such information to be shared to desired targeted audience, which enables management of privacy of user information. For instance, the engine enables user A to associate his personal email address and facebook handle only with family CD, and enables the same user A to associate his official email address and work phone number with office CD, making different user information attributes to be associated with different CDs and further enabling change in such attribute field data as and when desired.

[0054] FIG. 2A illustrates exemplary functional modules at user end in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, system 200 of the present disclosure can include a contact card (CC) creation and updation module 202, a contact card (CC) to contact directory (CD) association module 204, and associated contact card (CC) transmission module 206. As shown, CC creation and updation module 202 can be configured to enable a user to create one or more CCs having contact information of the user, wherein each CC can have different contact information attributesand/or values therefore such as values for phone number, first name, last name, fax number, email address(s), social media handle(s), photo, company name, ringtone settings, text tone settings, URL, related names, birthdate, physical address(s), status message, among other like attributes. Such CC's can be accessed and edited/updated by the user any time of his/her convenience. As discussed above, one CC can be, for instance, for business, and another one for personal/family/friends, etc. Each CC may therefore differ from another CC in terms of either the contact attributes that they include or values of the contact attributes they include.

[0055] In another aspect, CC to CD association module 204 can be configured to enable the user to associate at least one CC with at least one CD, wherein each CD can include one or more contacts that the user is connected to. For instance, a business CD can include such contacts/members that are related to the business/profession of the user, whereas a family CD can include such contacts that form part of the family/friends of the user. It should be appreciated that it is easily possible that one or more contacts form part of two or more CDs. Such CDs may be held privately by the user or can be shared with the one or more contacts that form part of the respective CDs so that they can automatically discover their presence across one or more shared CD's and also have the capability of adding more contacts to the respective CDs. In an aspect, association of a CC with at least one CD can either be done manually by the user or can be done automatically. For instance, system of the present disclosure can automatically detect that a given CC is a business level CC and therefore should be associated with a business oriented CD and based on such determination automatically (or upon user authorization/confirmation), associate the CC with the CD. It should be appreciated that such association is logical and not physical, wherein while creating/updating a CC, user can be asked during the creation/updation phase itself if the CC is to be associated with one or more CDs, and the system can also provide a list of available/accessible CDs to choose from. It should further be appreciated that one CC may be associated with one or more CDs, and similarly, each CD may be associated with one or more CC's.

[0056] In an embodiment, CC to CD association module 204 enables the user to associate a newly created CC (created by means of, for instance, contact card (CC) creation and updation module 202)with at least one CD, or the user may associate an existing CC with at least one CD.

[0057] In another aspect, associated CC transmission module 206 can be configured to enable information pertaining to the CC-CD association to be transmitted to contacts that form part of the respective CD. For instance, in case a first CC is associated with a first CD that has 5 contacts/members, upon such association, each of the 5 contacts can be intimated about such association, wherein such intimation/information can include the CC itself that can be operatively coupled/mapped/tagged against the contact information/entry that the contacts have for the user. Such coupling/tagging may not change/alter any existing/stored information about the user that a contact may have stored, and the contact may only be able to view the associated CC and update/edit his/her contact information.

[0058] In an exemplary aspect, in the proposed architecture, a user can always update an associated CC on his/her mobile device, which updated information/CC can then automatically be updated on computing/mobile devices of contacts that form part of CD to which the CC has been associated by the user.

[0059] FIG. 2B illustrates exemplary functional modules 250 at contact/member end in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. System 250 configured at the contact's computing device can include a user CC receive module 252, a user contact entry to CC tagging module 254, and an updated user CC receive module 256. In an aspect, as mentioned above, user CC receive module 252 can be configured in/on the system/application that is implemented in computing devices of one or more respective contacts that form part of a CD. Module 252 can enable computing device of a first contact to receive a first CC of a user when the user associates the first CC to a CD that the first contact forms part of. Module 254 can enable the computing device of the contact to tag the received first CC against a contact entry for the user (owner of the first CC) in the CD(s) of the contact. Such tagging can help the contact to compare the contact information stored with him/her about the user with the information that forms part of the first CC, and accordingly update/delete/add more information. Updated user CC receive module 256, on the other hand, can enable computing device of the contact to receive updated first CC as and when the user/owner of the first CC makes changes to the first CC on his/her respective mobile/computing device. For instance, if a user "David" changes his personal phone number, he can simply update his CC(s), and all contacts that form part of one or more CDs with which the updated CC(s) are associated can automatically receive the updated CCs tagged against contact information of the David.

[0060] It may be appreciated that functional modules of the system 250 may be executed automatically (without manual intervention required by contacts that form part of one or more CDs) based on association of one or more CC with the one or more CDs by owner of the one or more CC. It should further be appreciated that a contact can always configure the system such that he never receives intimation about such CCs even if they are associated with a CD that he forms part of. Furthermore, it is also possible that, based on configuration/preference for a contact, one or more contact information attribute values that form part of an associated CC of a user are used to update corresponding contact information of the user that is already stored in the computing device of the contact. Any other like potential embodiment making variations in how associated CCs are to be used is well within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0061] It is also to be appreciated that a part of a functional module configured on user's computing device such as mobile phone (shown in FIG. 2A) or of a functional module configured on contacts' computing device such as mobile phone (shown in FIG. 2B) may be implemented on a server/cloud that hosts the backend of the proposed system/application. For instance, once a user associates a CC with a shared CD, although such association may be performed locally on the mobile phone of the user, the step of transmitting the CC to each member of the CD may be performed by a server that stores the shared CD and may also intend storing all such CC's that are associated with one or more CDs. Any other actual implementation of the proposed system is therefore well within the scope of the present dislcosure.

[0062] It is further to be appreciated that a member of a CD may store multple instances of a user across one or more CDs (private and/or shared), and therefore when the user associates a CC with a CD that the member forms part of, all the instances may reflect or be tagged with the assocaited CC.

[0063] In another aspect, exemplary reference may be made to International PCT Application PCT/IB2017/050356, wherein in the present system, a user may be enabled to, using a unique identifier such as his/her phone number, discover all instances of himself across accessible CDs, and then decide which CD's and/or members thereof should be tagged with his/her updated CC(s) so that the members can have the latest (and only the required) contact information about the user.

[0064] In another aspect, taking exemplary reference of International PCT Application PCT/IB2017/050356, CC can be generated/created either manually by a user by selecting/entering contact information attributes and values thereof that would form part of the CC, or can be generated/created by first discovering all contact information about himself across all accessible CDs (private CDs and/or shared CDs) using a unique identifier such as his/her phone number, and then, once all the information has been discovered and presented to the user, the user can select which contact information can be used for which CC. CC's can also be created automatically based on one or more lables that the user may define beforehand. For instance, a user can pre-configure that a business CC should be created automatically based on contact information attributes that have the label of Work/Business such as Work email address, Work Phone number, etc. Once one or more CCs are created automatically, they may be manually verified by the user to confirm that each CC has the intended contact information attributes and values thereof. It may also be possible that post creation of a CC, as and when a user discovers new contact information of himself/herself, CCs having the same contact information attributes are updated automatically or after user authorization. It would be appreciated that contact information discovery based CC creation, or manual creation of CCs, are only exemplary implementation, and any other means that a user might implement/configure to generate/modify/update CC is well within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0065] It is also be to be appreciated that before tagging a CC of a user to contact information of the user that is stored by a member of a CD (that the CC has been associated with), persmission of such tagging may be asked from the member.

[0066] In an exemplary embodiment, it is possible for a first user to search for contact card of a second user/contact even if the number of the second user is not stored by the first user in any CD that the first user is associated with. Such an implementation may be possible when the second user has associated his/her CC with a CD that the first user is associated with, in which case although the first user has not stored the number/contact information of the second user, by virtue of the CC being associated to the CD that the first user forms part of or is associated with, the first user is able to search for the CC of the second user.

[0067] In an aspect, as mentioned above, the present disclosure can be implemented in crowd-sourced contact directories. In such crowd-sourced CDs, when a first user signs up with the proposed system, the system discovers all CDs that store instances of the first user (based, for instance, on the phone/mobile number of the first user) and notify, to the first user, all CDs that the first user forms part of or is associated with.

[0068] In another instance and exemplary implementation, in case of a private CD, if a user A has shared his CC with a private client CD having instance/number of user B, when user B signs up with the system, by virtue of him being a part of the private CD, he is sent the CC of the user A. Being a private CD, he may not be shared the private CD per se.

[0069] In yet another aspect, CC of a user can include one or more digital objects that may have executable instructions. For instance, along with conventional contact information that is stored in the CC such as first name, last name, email address, fax number, etc, one or more digital objects such as, for instance, work calendar of the user can also be shared in the CC. Similarly, a doctor may have an appointment application that can be associated with his CC so that users/patients can see his schedule in real-time when the doctor associates the CC with a patient CD, for instance. An entity such as Dominos™ may also, for instance, share their menu, store locator, reservation application, or a customer service bot as part of their CC. Any other bot (including a personal secretary) may also be associated by the user as part of the CC. Digital objects (DOs) may also include applications such as loyalty points that are associated, for instance, by an Airlines to one or more of its customers. DOs may further include an IVR interface, wait time, account balance (say by Tally™), and authentication based applications, etc and any other executable or static application is well within the scope of the present invention.

[0070] In an aspect, the above-proposed narrowcast engine when combined with digital objects on a CC enables a reverse CRM for users. For example, when a user who uses a particular airline opens a CC of the airline (which may be discovered on his/her phone), hemay get automatic access to his loyalty points, ticket status, seat booking, ticket cancellation/upgrade facilities, among other features, which would not be visible to other users. In effect, different contacts having different CCs become a commonplace to access different CRMs (Customer Relationship Management) of different companies. Therefore, the narrowcase engine enables a reverse CRM for users at large. This also enables a strong technical effect by virtue of enabling users to control their information which typically otherwise exists only with the service provider (such as airline).

[0071] FIG. 3 illustrates an example 300 showing how CC 304 of a user 302 is associated with each entry of the user across one or more contacts that form part of a CD 306 that the user 302 has associated the CC 304 with, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, user 302 can have three CC's 304-1, 304-2, and 304-3, one for business, one for family, and one for clients respectively. Upon creation of the desired CC's 304, user 302 can associate a CC 304 with at least one CD 306 (selected from one or more available CD's 306-1, 306-2, and so on). Based on such association, each contact of the CD 306 can be intimated about the associated CC 304 in a manner such that the contact can view the associated 304 against the entry of the user in his/her contact directory. In case the contact has not stored in the phone number of the user 302, whenever the contact stores the number in the future, the associated CC 304 can be shown against the newly stored contact information of the user. Such a CC can therefore also be referred to as a ghost card that can only be viewed by one or more contacts but cannot be edited/changed. Also, such a ghost card/CC of a user can also not be automatically used to, by default, update the already stored contact information of the user in the contact directory of the contact. Such updation settings may however be changed based on preferences of the user and/or of the contact. [0072] In an aspect, it should be appreciated that instead of associating a CC with a CD, owner/user of the CC can always associate the CC with individual contacts as well instead of associating with the complete CD, wherein such contacts may or may not be part of the CD.

[0073] In another exemplary implementation, a user can be given an opportunity to create a shared CC that can then be shared with a list of users (that includes user B and C). The system can then detect, on its own, if the user has a one degree connection (that is if the User A has his contact stored in User B), and accordingly makes available the shared Card. If user C does not have a contact of User A, it does not get to see User A card. Further User A can make changes and the card is automatically updated with the list of Users. Further, the card is only virtually merged with the contact A in User B's device. Therefore, any changes by User B are contained to his device while the User B gets to view a comprehensive View that includes the information of the card.

[0074] Further, in an alternate embodiment, user A may have multiple cards with different information that may be shared with different list of users each. Any one card may be shared with multiple lists. The users are provided with a client application that links to a cloud service that allows such syncing to happen.

[0075] In another embodiment, the CC may be updated with additional information that may be then automatically be made visible to the viewers using the discovery engine.

[0076] In onther embodiment the discovery engine may have different rules before the discovery of cards is enabled.

[0077] In another embodiment the contact cards may be linked or merged with existing contacts stored on the device.

[0078] In another embodiment the CC also contants one of custom data elements, line status, location, device properties, security suthorizations, contextual information etc.

[0079] In another embodiment the CC card has ability to access a data sync channel that enables the card to show live executable objects to enable digital interaction.

[0080] In an embodiment, all contacts related to User A are fetched from the DB of contacts containing data of all Users having a insignia of User A contact details. The user A then updates the relevant contacts with the respective CC that needs to be shown to the colletors of those contacts containing User A information. The CC are then synced back to the respective collectors for their view. The User A may continue to update/ add or delete information on the cards that get synced to the respective users. The CC may be added af a footer or directly merged into the contacts thet were retrieved from different Users that were pertaining to user A. [0081] In onther embodiment the CC share may be done by the server by adding the CC information to the respective contacts of other users.

[0082] In another embodiment the CC is added as an additional contact directly in the phonebooks of other users, wherein the matching or rules are applied at the end user devices.

[0083] It would be appreciated that the present invention has an exponential impact, wherein, for instance, when a new user registers with the proposed system, he may have for instance, 10 CDs, each storing 60 different contacts/members, wherein when such 10 CDs are shared with the proposed system, all 600 contacts/members are notified of new contact information that is stored in the 10 CDs about themselves, based on which their corresponding CCs may be updated, which update would then automatically trigger updation of the CCs that all the other members have of them through prior association of the updated CC with one or more CDs. For example, a new user A may register with the proposed system and have 600 contacts in 10 CDs, all of which 600 contacts are then notified about new contact information may be available. One such contact B may, for example, discover that user A stored a specific Linkedln™ URL of contact B, based on which business CC of contact B may automatically/manually be updated, and which updation may then update the business CC of contact B in all contacts/members of all CDs that the contact B has associated business CC with. Such ripple effect is exponential and ensures, in real-time that all the contact information in associated CCs are updated in real-time, and that each member of a CD has access to the latest and correct contact information of other contacts/members.

[0084] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.