Providing information to users based on context

Abstract

Selecting and providing context information relevant to a user at a particular time and location. Input parameters such as a location and time are selected. Context information is obtained for the selected location and time based on the input parameters. Exemplary input parameters include a user activity history, user content such as calendar appointments, social networking data, and a state of a computing device of the user (e.g., as collected by sensors of the computing device). The computing device of the user presents the obtained context information to the user at the selected location and time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a memory area associated with a mobile computing device of a user, said memory area storing context information for the user; and   a processor programmed to:
 determine a location of the mobile computing device; 
 filter the context information for the user based on the determined location; 
 identify one or more contacts proximate to the mobile computing device; 
 promote, based on the filtered context information, at least one of the identified contacts over other contacts for display in an application available on the mobile computing device; and 
 provide, when displaying the contacts in the application, an ordered list of communication channels for each of the contacts. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to order the list of communication channels based on a frequency of use of the communication channels. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to organize the contacts based a current status of each of the contacts or based on a relationship of each of the contacts with the user. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to change a status or mode of the mobile computing device based on the filtered context information. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to propose a category for each of the contacts based on a communication history of the user. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the category is one of a work contact, a family contact, or a friend contact. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the identified contacts is more proximate, to the computing device of the user, compared to the other contacts. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 identifying a location of a computing device of a user;   filtering context information for the user based at least on the identified location;   identifying one or more contacts proximate to the computing device;   promoting, based on the filtered context information, at least one of the identified contacts over other contacts in an application available on the computing device; and   providing, when displaying the contacts in the application, an ordered list of communication channels for each of the contacts.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising ordering the list of communication channels based on a frequency of use of the communication channels. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one of the identified contacts is more proximate, to the computing device of the user, compared to the other contacts. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein identifying the location of the computing device comprises identifying the location where the computing device is expected to be at a future time. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising providing the filtered context information to the user at a time corresponding to the future time. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising organizing the contacts based on a current status of each of the contacts or based on a relationship of each of the contacts with the user. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 defining a mobility pattern of the computing device; and   determining preferences of the user using the defined mobility pattern.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising displaying, to the user, the filtered context information in an order of expected relevance based on preferences of the user. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising proposing a category for each of the contacts based on a communication history of the user. 
     
     
         17 . A computer storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform operations comprising:
 determining a location of a computing device of a user;   filtering context information for the user based at least on the determined location;   identifying one or more contacts proximate to the computing device;   promoting, based on the filtered context information, at least one of the identified contacts over other contacts in an application executing on the computing device; and   providing, when displaying the contacts in the application, an ordered list of communication channels for each of the contacts.   
     
     
         18 . The computer storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the processor further performs operations comprising ordering the list of communication channels based on a frequency of use of the communication channels. 
     
     
         19 . The computer storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the processor further performs operations comprising organizing the contacts based on a current status of each of the contacts or based on a relationship of each of the contacts with the user. 
     
     
         20 . The computer storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the processor further performs operations comprising proposing a category for each of the contacts based on a communication history of the user.