Information processing system, hand held cellular phone, and information processing method

Abstract

An information processing system comprises an information providing medium that stores electronic parts capable of reading information in an electromagnetic or optical manner, the information providing medium parts being attached to an entity in order to provide information associated with the entity; a hand held terminal device having an information read function that reads information from the information providing medium electronic parts in an electromagnetic or optical manner and record the information; and an information processing unit for retrieving reading and processing the information recorded in the hand held terminal device; wherein the information providing medium is inconspicuously attached to the entity. In this manner, the information can be recorded into the hand held terminal for later use by a user. In this way, in a case where an information user attempts to obtain information associated with an entity, such as commodity or advertising material, the information can be electronically recorded momentously and processed.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An information processing system comprising:
 an information providing medium attached to an object, said information providing medium having an IC chip for storing information corresponding to the object and a first antenna connected to the IC chip; and   a cellular phone having a second antenna configured for electro-magnetically interacting with the first antenna to obtain the information when the cellular phone is made close to the information providing medium, means for storing the obtained information in the cellular phone, an information reading unit for processing the information into an audible or visible form, a first means for representing the processed information, and means for transmitting the stored information to additional devices.   
     
     
       2. An information processing system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said representing means is a display for displaying the processed information. 
     
     
       3. An information processing system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said object is an advertising poster. 
     
     
       4. The information processing system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an information processing unit, remote from the cellular phone, having means for receiving the stored information from the cellular phone, means for processing the received information into an audible or visible form, and a second means for representing the processed information.   
     
     
       5. The information processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the means for transmitting and receiving the stored information comprises an electrically conductive cable connecting the cellular phone and the information processing unit. 
     
     
       6. The information processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the means for transmitting and receiving the stored information comprises an RS23C interface. 
     
     
       7. The information processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the means for transmitting and receiving the stored information comprises a USB interface. 
     
     
       8. The information processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the second means for representing the processed information has a higher resolution than the first means. 
     
     
       9. The information processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the information processing unit further comprises means for connecting to the Internet. 
     
     
       10. The information processing system of  claim 1 , wherein said object is a product. 
     
     
       11. The information processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the cellular phone further comprises means to wirelessly supply power to the information providing medium. 
     
     
       12. A cellular phone comprising:
 a telephone function;   means for reading information stored in an information providing medium attached to an object, said information providing medium having an IC chip storing the information corresponding to the object, and a first antenna connected to the IC chip, said reading means having a second antenna configured for electro-magnetically coupling the first antenna to obtain the first information when the cellular phone is made close to the information providing medium;   means for processing the information into an audible or visible form; and   means for representing the processed information.   
     
     
       13. The cellular phone of  claim 12 , further comprising means for transmitting the stored information to additional devices. 
     
     
       14. An information processing method comprising:
 reading first information stored in an information providing medium attached to an article or material when a cellular phone is made close to the information providing medium, the reading being performed by electro-magnetically coupling between a first antenna: connected with an IC chip included in the information providing medium and a second antenna implemented in the cellular phone; processing the information into audible or visible form on the cellular phone; representing the processed information on the cellular phone; transmitting the information to an additional device; processing the information into audible or visible form on the additional device; and representing the processed information on the additional device.   
     
     
       15. An information reading device comprising:
 a first antenna configured to electro-magnetically interact with a second antenna on an information providing medium and receive first information including location information from the information providing medium when the first antenna is placed close to the second antenna;   a storage unit configured to store the first information received from the information providing medium; and   a representing unit configured to represent second information which is received based on the location information included in the first information stored in the storage unit,   wherein the information reading device is a cellular phone.    
     
     
       16. The information reading device according to claim 15, wherein the information reading device has a telephone function.  
     
     
       17. The information reading device according to claim 15, wherein the information providing medium is attached to an object; and
 the first information is corresponding to the object.    
     
     
       18. The information reading device according to claim 17, wherein the object is an advertising poster.  
     
     
       19. The information reading device according to claim 15, further comprises an information process unit configured to process the first information stored in the storage unit.  
     
     
       20. The information reading device according to claim 19, wherein the information process unit processes the first information into an audible or visible form.  
     
     
       21. The information reading device according to claim 15, wherein the information reading device is configured to run in a first mode or a second mode; and
 the information reading device is configured to receive the first information in the first mode.    
     
     
       22. The information reading device according to claim 21, further comprises:
 an input unit, a mode of the information reading device switching from the first mode to the second mode according to an operation on the input unit.    
     
     
       23. The information reading device according to claim 22, wherein the input unit is a touch panel on the representing unit.  
     
     
       24. The information reading device according to claim 23, wherein the first antenna is configured to electro-magnetically interact with the second antenna via a carrier signal configured to have a frequency of 13.56 MHz.  
     
     
       25. The information reading device according to claim 15, further comprises a communication unit configured to connect to Internet.  
     
     
       26. The information reading device according to claim 15, wherein the representing unit is a display.  
     
     
       27. The information reading device according to claim 15, further comprises an input unit, the information reading device being enabled to communicate with the information providing medium according to an operation on the input unit.  
     
     
       28. The information reading device according to claim 27, wherein the input unit is a touch panel on the representing unit.  
     
     
       29. The information reading device according to claim 28, wherein the representing unit is a display.  
     
     
       30. The information reading device according to claim 29, wherein the first antenna is configured to electro-magnetically interact with the second antenna via a carrier signal configured to have a frequency of 13.56 MHz.  
     
     
       31. The information reading device according to claim 15, wherein the first antenna electro-magnetically interacts with the second antenna by using a carrier signal having a frequency of 13.56 MHz.  
     
     
       32. An information reading method comprising:
 receiving electro-magnetically by a first antenna of a cellular phone first information including location information from an information providing medium which comprises a second antenna when the first antenna is placed close to the second antenna;   storing the first information received from the information providing medium; and   representing second information which is received based on the location information included in the first information stored in the storage unit.    
     
     
       33. The information reading method according to claim 32, wherein the cellular phone is configured to run in a first mode or a second mode; and further comprising:
 receiving the first information in the first mode,   switching from the first mode to the second mode according to an operation on an input unit of the cellular phone,   wherein the input unit is a touch panel on the representing unit.    
     
     
       34. The information reading method according to claim 33, wherein the receiving electro-magnetically by the first antenna of the cellular phone further comprises:
 the first antenna electro-magnetically interacting via a carrier signal having a frequency of 13.56 MHz with the second antenna.    
     
     
       35. The information reading method according to claim 32, further comprises:
 communicating by the cellular phone with the information providing medium according to an operation on an input unit of the cellular phone,   wherein the input unit is a touch panel on the representing unit, and   wherein the representing unit is a display.    
     
     
       36. The information reading method according to claim 35, wherein the receiving electro-magnetically by the first antenna of the cellular phone further comprises:
 the first antenna electro-magnetically interacting via a carrier signal having a frequency of 13.56 MHz with the second antenna.    
     
     
       37. A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable program that, if executed by a processor of a computer, causes the processor to execute the steps of:
 receiving electro-magnetically by a first antenna of a cellular phone first information including location information from an information providing medium which comprises a second antenna when the first antenna is placed close to the second antenna;   storing the first information received from the information providing medium; and   representing second information which is received based on the location information included in the first information stored in the storage unit.    
     
     
       38. The non-transitory recording medium according to claim 37, wherein the cellular phone is configured to run in a first mode or a second mode; and the processor further executes:
 receiving the first information in the first mode,   switching from the first mode to the second mode according to an operation on an input unit of the cellular phone,   wherein the input unit is a touch panel on the representing unit.    
     
     
       39. The information reading medium according to claim 38, wherein the receiving electro-magnetically by the first antenna of the cellular phone further comprises:
 the first antenna electro-magnetically interacting via a carrier signal having a frequency of 13.56 MHz with the second antenna.    
     
     
       40. The non-transitory recording medium according to claim 37, the processor further executes:
 communicating by the cellular phone with the information providing medium according to an operation on an input unit of the cellular phone,   wherein the input unit is a touch panel on the representing unit, and   wherein the representing unit is a display.    
     
     
       41. The information reading medium according to claim 40, wherein the receiving electro-magnetically by the first antenna of the cellular phone further comprises:
 the first antenna electro-magnetically interacting via a carrier signal having a frequency of 13.56 MHz with the second antenna.