Visual representation of contact location

Abstract

A method for visually representing information on a display of a portable electronic device includes receiving location coordinates from at least one other portable electronic device, plotting a visual identifier on a map and displaying the map on the display of the portable electronic device. The position of the visual identifier corresponds to the location coordinates received from the at least one other portable electronic device, which correspond to an actual location of the at least one other portable electronic device. The appearance of the visual identifier is selected to depict the status of the user of the at least one other portable electronic device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A portable electronic device comprising:
 a processor, 
 a display device, a communication interface and a memory storing; 
 a processor; and 
 a memory coupled to the processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the processor, wherein the memory stores a contact list comprising one or more groups and storing meeting data associated with a given group of the one or more groups, the meeting data including a meeting start time, the processor configured to, and wherein the programming instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the portable electronic device to: 
 receive, using the communication interface at the portable electronic device, respective locations of a plurality of other portable electronic devices and respective status data associated with the plurality of other portable electronic devices, wherein each of the plurality of plurality of other portable electronic devices are associated with the given group in the contact list stored in the memory; process the respective status data to distinguish between, and wherein a user of the portable electronic device is authorized to receive the respective locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices, wherein the status data includes manually set status data and automatically set status data, wherein the manually set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being manually set to a status; and, 
 render , at the display device, a map comprising: respective visual identifiers at respective positions corresponding to the respective locations of each of the plurality of other portable electronic devices; and, respective indicators of the respective status data adjacent the respective visual identifiers, a first subset of the respective indicators comprising a first indicator indicative that the respective status data associated with the first subset was manually set, and a second subset of the respective indicators comprising a second indicator indicative that the respective status data associated with the second subset was automatically set; and, at the meeting start time, render the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators on the map only for the plurality of other portable electronic devices associated with the given group. 
 
     
     
       2. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the automatically set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being unresponsive to one or more of calls and messages. 
     
     
       3. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the automatically set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being unresponsive to one or more of calls and messages for a given period of time. 
     
     
       4. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to filter the respective locations of the plurality of portable electronic devices and the respective status data associated with the plurality of portable electronic devices according to the given group of the one or more groups; and render the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators on the map only for the plurality of portable electronic devices associated with the given group. 
     
     
       5. The device of  claim 1 , wherein processor is further configured to, at the meeting start time, render, at the map, only the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators of the plurality of portable electronic devices associated with a respective meeting. 
     
     
       6. A method, comprising:
 at a device comprising: a processor, a display device, a communication interface and a memory storing a contact list comprising one or more groups and storing meeting data associated with a given group of the one or more groups, the meeting data including a meeting start time, 
 receiving, at the processor, using the communication interface device, respective locations of a plurality of other portable electronic devices and respective status data associated with the plurality of other portable electronic devices, wherein a user of the device is authorized to receive the respective locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices; processing, at the processor, the respective status data to distinguish between, wherein the status data includes manually set status data and automatically set status data, wherein the manually set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being manually set to a status; and, 
 rendering, at the display device, a map comprising: respective visual identifiers at respective positions corresponding to the respective locations of each of the plurality of other portable electronic devices; and, respective indicators of the respective status data adjacent the respective visual identifiers, a first subset of the respective indicators comprising a first indicator indicative that the respective status data associated with the first subset was manually set, and a second subset of the respective indicators comprising a second indicator indicative that the respective status data associated with the second subset was automatically set; and, at the meeting start time, rendering the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators on the map only for the plurality of other portable electronic devices associated with the given group. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the automatically set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being unresponsive to one or more of calls and messages. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the automatically set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being unresponsive to one or more of calls and messages for a given period of time. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising: filtering the respective locations of the plurality of portable electronic devices and the respective status data associated with the plurality of portable electronic devices according to the given group of the one or more groups; and rendering the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators on the map only for the plurality of portable electronic devices associated with the given group. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising, at the meeting start time, rendering, at the map, only the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators of the plurality of portable electronic devices associated with a respective meeting. 
     
     
       11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, wherein execution of the computer program is for by a processor causes a device to perform operations comprising:
 at a the device comprising: a processor, a display device, a communication interface and a memory storing a contact list comprising one or more groups and storing meeting data associated with a given group of the one or more groups, the meeting data including a meeting start time, 
 receiving, at the processor, using the communication interface, device respective locations of a plurality of other portable electronic devices and respective status data associated with the plurality of other portable electronic devices, wherein a user of the device is authorized to receive the respective locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices; processing, at the processor, the respective status data to distinguish between, wherein the status data includes manually set status data and automatically set status data, wherein the manually set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being manually set to a status; and, 
 rendering, at the display device, a map comprising: respective visual identifiers at respective positions corresponding to the respective locations of each of the plurality of other portable electronic devices; and, respective indicators of the respective status data adjacent the respective visual identifiers, a first subset of the respective indicators comprising a first indicator indicative that the respective status data associated with the first subset was manually set, and a second subset of the respective indicators comprising a second indicator indicative that the respective status data associated with the second subset was automatically set; and, at the meeting start time, render the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators on the map only for the plurality of other portable electronic devices associated with the given group. 
 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the automatically set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being unresponsive to one or more of calls and messages. 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the automatically set status data is indicative of a respective portable electronic device being unresponsive to one or more of calls and messages for a given period of time. 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising filtering the respective locations of the plurality of portable electronic devices and the respective status data associated with the plurality of portable electronic devices according to the given group of the one or more groups; and rendering the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators on the map only for the plurality of portable electronic devices associated with the given group. 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising, at the meeting start time, rendering, at the map, only the respective visual identifiers and the respective indicators of the plurality of portable electronic devices associated with a respective meeting. 
     
     
       16. The portable electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a Global Positioning System chip, and wherein the location received from the respective locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices are determined using Global Positioning System technology. 
     
     
       17. The portable electronic device of claim 1, further comprising mapping software, and wherein the map is generated using the mapping software. 
     
     
       18. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the status comprises at least one of: busy, not available, typing, or available. 
     
     
       19. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the location and the status are updated at regular intervals or in response to user input. 
     
     
       20. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the respective locations correspond to actual locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices. 
     
     
       21. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the locations are received in response to requests for location information from the device. 
     
     
       22. The method of claim 6, wherein the device further comprises a Global Positioning System chip, and wherein the location received from the respective locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices are determined using Global Positioning System technology. 
     
     
       23. The method of claim 6, wherein the device further comprises mapping software, and wherein the map is generated using the mapping software. 
     
     
       24. The method of claim 6, wherein the status comprises at least one of: busy, not available, typing, or available. 
     
     
       25. The method of claim 6, wherein the location and the status are updated at regular intervals or in response to user input. 
     
     
       26. The method of claim 6, wherein the respective locations correspond to actual locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices. 
     
     
       27. The method of claim 6, wherein the locations are received in response to requests for location information from the device. 
     
     
       28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the device further comprises a Global Positioning System chip, and wherein the location received from the respective locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices are determined using Global Positioning System technology. 
     
     
       29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the device further comprises mapping software, and wherein the map is generated using the mapping software. 
     
     
       30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the status comprises at least one of: busy, not available, typing, or available. 
     
     
       31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the location and the status are updated at regular intervals or in response to user input. 
     
     
       32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the respective locations correspond to actual locations of the plurality of other portable electronic devices.