Method for deleting data files in an electronic device

Abstract

An electronic device, such as a digital camera, includes a deletion mode whereby a camera/electronic device user can delete captured images or data files that have already been transferred in order to make room in the electronic device or digital camera memory for capturing further images. In one embodiment, a digital camera keeps track of which images have already been transferred to an external storage device and presents those to the user as potential images to be deleted. In another embodiment, the user is presented with a “delete all transferred images” which when selected deletes all the captured images that have already been transferred. In still another embodiment, deletion criteria are used to prioritize which images are deleted first.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising
 An imaging system having a lens and an image sensor; and   a processor coupled to a memory and a communication interface, the memory storing processor-executable instructions, which instructions when executed by said processor, cause said processor to:
 effect storage of a digital image representing light from a scene focused onto the image sensor in the memory; 
 effect transfer of the digital image as stored in the memory via the communications interface to a remote storage device and store in the memory data indicating the transfer of the digital image to the remote storage device; and 
 subsequent to the transfer of the digital image to the remote storage device and an indication that the digital image stored in the memory is to be deleted, delete the digital image as stored in the memory from the memory. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication interface comprises a wireless modem, and said processor effects transfer of the digital image as stored in the memory via a radio frequency (RF) link. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said wireless modem is integrated in said processor. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said wireless modem is included on an SD card. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said instructions, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to delete the digital image as stored in the memory automatically to maintain a predetermined minimum amount of storage space in said memory. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said instructions, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to delete the digital image as stored in the memory in an order with other images stored in the memory and transferred to the remote storage device based on a deletion criterion. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the deletion criterion comprises an age of an image previously transferred to the remote storage device. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the deletion criterion comprises a size of an image previously transferred to the remote storage device. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said instructions, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to present the digital image as stored in the memory for selection to be transferred to the remote storage device. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising a processor, operating according to processor-executable instructions stored in a memory coupled to said processor, effecting storage of a digital image representing light from a scene focused by a lens system onto an image sensor in a memory; subsequent to storing the digital image in the memory and according to a configuration setting established prior to storage of the digital image, the processor effecting transfer of the digital image from the memory to a remote storage device via a communications interface and storing in the memory data indicating the transfer of the digital image to the remote storage device; and, subsequent to the transfer of the digital image to the remote storage device, the processor receiving an indication that the digital image stored in the memory is to be deleted and deleting the digital image as stored in the memory from the memory. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said processor further operates according to said processor-executable instructions stored in said memory to present said digital image on a display. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said processor further operates according to said processor-executable instructions stored in said memory to wake from a low power state at a set time to effect said transfer of said digital image. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said processor further operates according to said processor-executable instructions stored in said memory to wake from a low power state after a set time duration to effect said transfer of said digital image. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said processor further operates according to said processor-executable instructions stored in said memory to maintain a predetermined minimum amount of storage space in said memory by deleting said digital image automatically. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein between effecting transfer of the digital image from the memory to a remote storage and deleting the digital image as stored in the memory from the memory, the processor powering down to a low power mode. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the configuration setting established prior to storage of the digital image determines how captured images are tagged for communication to the remote storage device. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the configuration setting established prior to storage of the digital image is one of a first configuration setting specifying transfer of all captured images to the remote storage device and a second configuration setting specifying transfer of only specific captured images to the remote storage device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the configuration setting established prior to storage of the digital image is a setting requiring user-selection of specific ones of captured images to be communicated to the remote storage device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the deleting the digital image as stored in the memory from the memory is in response to an amount of available storage in the memory. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the deleting the digital image as stored in the memory from the memory is in response to an indication that maintaining captured images in the memory would cause available storage space in the memory to drop below a threshold.