JP2006185441A - E-mail transmitting/receiving system, navigation system and automobile equipped with navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance convenience of positional information in such a way for attaching positional information regarding a plurality of places to an e-mail for transmission, and for acquiring more detailed information from the attached positional information. <P>SOLUTION: A WWW server 21 acquires the positional information (position names, position coordinates, addresses, telephone numbers, zip codes and additional information describing the places) with respect to the plurality of places by accessing a positional coordinate data base 22, a content data base 23 and a user data base 24 according to retrieval conditions from user terminals 30, 31, displays the acquired positional information on a web page, creates the e-mail according to instructions from the user terminals 30, 31, adds the positional information about the plurality of places acquired from the data bases 22-24 to the e-mail for transmission. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is equipped with an e-mail transmission / reception system, a navigation apparatus, and a navigation apparatus that provide various services to a sender and a receiver by automatically attaching position information about an arbitrary location to an e-mail and transmitting the e-mail. It relates to automobiles.

  Conventionally, a map image database is constructed on a server on the Internet, and the map image database is searched using any address, zip code, station name, spot name, etc. as a keyword, and a map image centered on the corresponding position coordinates is provided. Service to be provided. A user can obtain a map image of a desired place by inputting the address, zip code, station name, spot name (position name), and the like as keywords using a WWW (World Wide Web) browser.

  Further, as an extension of the above service, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-259390, after searching for a map image, text information such as an e-mail address or mail body of an arbitrary destination is input, and a web page A technology is disclosed in which a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a web page where the map image can be browsed is automatically described in an e-mail by pressing the upper transmission button and transmitted from the web page. The recipient who has received the e-mail can start up the WWW browser and browse the specified map image by instructing (clicking) the URL described in the e-mail.

Also, for example, if there is an address or the like in the e-mail, the map image database is automatically searched using the address as a keyword, and the URL of a web page that allows browsing of the map image is attached to the e-mail. A technique for transmitting is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-53278

  However, the above-described conventional technique is very inconvenient because only one place can be described in the e-mail, and a plurality of places cannot be described. Moreover, since the usage of the transmitted information is limited to browsing on a web page and printing out the page, there is a problem that convenience is poor. Further, there is a problem that the URL of the map image and text information input by the sender himself / herself at the time of transmission can only be described in the mail body to be transmitted, and the information transmission is insufficient.

  In addition, there is a problem that a method for referring to information other than the mail text input by the sender is limited to browsing a web page with a WWW browser. Furthermore, since the e-mail to be transmitted is transmitted in one format, there is a problem that it cannot be displayed on a device that receives an e-mail in a different format, such as a car navigation device, and is not convenient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and can transmit position information regarding a plurality of places attached to an e-mail and acquire more detailed information from the attached position information. An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail transmission / reception system, a navigation device, and a vehicle equipped with the navigation device, which can improve the convenience of position information.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, in the invention described in claim 1, an electronic mail created on a web page provided by a communication center is transmitted and received between communication terminals provided in a mobile station or a fixed station. In the e-mail transmission / reception system, mail creating means for creating an e-mail to be transmitted, position information storage means provided on the communication center side for storing a plurality of position information, and stored in the position information storage means Position information adding means for adding at least one position information of the plurality of position information to the e-mail created by the mail creating means is provided. In this invention, the position information adding means adds at least one or more pieces of position information among the plurality of position information stored in the position information storage means to the electronic mail created by the mail creating means. Therefore, it is possible to attach the location information regarding a plurality of places to the e-mail and transmit it, and to acquire more detailed information from the attached location information. Therefore, the convenience of position information can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to the first aspect, the position information storage means stores a plurality of position information set by a sender. In the present invention, at least one or more pieces of position information among a plurality of pieces of position information set by the sender are added to the e-mail created by the mail creating means. Therefore, a plurality of pieces of position information stored in advance by the sender can be attached to the e-mail, and more detailed information can be acquired from the attached position information. Therefore, the convenience of position information can be improved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to the first aspect, the position information storage means stores a plurality of pieces of position information set by the communication center side. In the present invention, at least one or more pieces of position information among a plurality of pieces of position information set by the communication center are added to the e-mail created by the mail creating means. Therefore, a plurality of location information prepared on the communication center side can be attached to the e-mail, and various services can be enjoyed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the mail creating means creates an electronic mail in a readable format according to the communication terminal on the receiver side. It is characterized by. In the present invention, an e-mail is created in a format that can be read by a communication terminal on the receiver side. Therefore, even if the communication terminal on the receiving side is a personal computer or a car navigation device, the electronic mail can be read by each terminal.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the position information adding means attaches the electronic mail to the electronic mail in response to a request from the communication terminal on the receiver side. In addition, it is characterized by comprising position information registration means for storing at least one or more pieces of position information in the position information storage means. In the present invention, position information of a plurality of places attached to the received electronic mail is stored in the position information storage means. Therefore, the attached position information can be reused, and the convenience of the position information can be improved.

  In the invention according to claim 6, in the e-mail transmission / reception system for transmitting / receiving e-mail provided by the communication center between the communication terminals provided in the mobile station or the fixed station, mail creation for creating an e-mail to be transmitted Means, position information storage means provided on the communication center side for storing position information of a plurality of places, and position information of a plurality of places stored in the position information storage means are created by the mail creation means And a location information adding means that can be added to the received e-mail.

  According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to the sixth aspect, the position information storage means stores position information of a plurality of places set by a sender.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to the sixth aspect, the location information storage means stores a plurality of location information set by the communication center.

  In the invention according to claim 9, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, the mail creating means creates an email in a readable format corresponding to the communication terminal on the receiver side. It is characterized by that.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception system according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, the location information adding means attaches to the electronic mail in response to a request from the communication terminal on the receiver side. It is characterized by comprising position information registration means for storing the position information of a plurality of places in the position information storage means.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in a navigation device that transmits and receives an e-mail created on a web page provided by a communication center, a mail creating means for creating an e-mail to be transmitted is provided on the communication center side. Position information adding means capable of adding position information of a plurality of places stored in position information storage means for storing position information of a plurality of places to the e-mail created by the mail creating means. It is characterized by.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, a mail server provided on the communication center side is accessed to receive an e-mail in its own format. The navigation route is set according to the information regarding the position information of the plurality of places when there is information regarding the position information of the plurality of places.

  The navigation device according to claim 13 further comprises a destination set button for setting a navigation route in accordance with information on positional information of the plurality of places when the electronic mail is received in the navigation device according to claim 12. It is characterized by.

  A fourteenth aspect of the invention is an automobile equipped with the navigation device according to the eleventh to thirteenth aspects.

  According to the present invention, the position information adding means adds at least one position information among the plurality of position information stored in the position information storage means to the e-mail created by the mail creating means. As a result, location information on multiple locations can be attached to an e-mail and sent, more detailed information can be acquired from the attached location information, and the convenience of location information is improved. The advantage that it can be made is obtained.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
A. Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a map database center 10 is a center for carrying out a map search and display service on the Internet, and includes a map server 11, a map database 12, and a position coordinate database 22, which are WWW servers. The map database 12 stores position information (coordinate information) on the map, for example, latitude and longitude information, and a map image corresponding to the position information. The map image is configured in a plurality of hierarchical structures according to the scale. That is, a plurality of scale map images are prepared, such as a map image of the whole of Japan and a map image of a prefecture level. The position coordinate database 22 stores position information (coordinate information) corresponding to the station name and address.

  The map server 11 searches the position coordinate database 22 in accordance with designations and instructions from the user terminals 30 and 31, searches and acquires a corresponding map image from the map database 12, and the user terminal 30 via the Internet 13. , 31.

  The map information providing site 20 is a WWW site, and is an information providing system on the Internet that provides multimedia information such as character information, image information, and voice information using hypertext (such as HTML). The map information providing site 20 includes a WWW server 21, a content database 23, and a user database 24.

  The WWW server 21 accesses the content database 23 and the user database 24 in accordance with the search conditions from the user terminals 30 and 31, thereby acquiring position information corresponding to the search conditions and displaying it on the web page. A function for creating an e-mail according to instructions from 30, 31 and adding the position information acquired from the databases 23 and 24 to the e-mail and sending it to the designated e-mail address (mail server) Have. Here, the position information indicates spot information (position name), position coordinates, address, telephone number, postal code, and additional information describing the location. Details of the content database 23 and the user database 24 will be described later.

  The user terminals 30 and 31 receive services from the map database center 10 and the map information providing site 20 using a WWW browser. In the present embodiment, the user terminals 30 and 31 connect to the map information providing site 20 using a WWW browser, browse web pages provided by the WWW server 21 of the map information providing site 20, and perform various operations on the web pages. The location information regarding the desired location is acquired by selecting an appropriate option or inputting a search condition, and the acquired location information is attached to a specific destination from the web page to the WWW server 21. Can send an e-mail.

  The mail server 32 includes a first mail server 32a in which the user terminal is a personal computer or the like, and a device that receives an e-mail in a format different from that of the personal computer other than the personal computer (this embodiment). Then, it is comprised from the 2nd mail server 32b which uses a car navigation apparatus as a user terminal. The mail server 32 includes a virtual mailbox for each mail address, stores the transmitted email in the corresponding mailbox according to the destination mail address, and accesses the user (receiving side). ), The e-mail addressed to the user stored in the corresponding mailbox is transmitted to the corresponding user terminal.

  The car navigation device 33 is mounted on a car and displays a map image stored in its own storage medium (CD-ROM or DVD-ROM) on the display unit, as well as the speed and direction of travel of the car. The vehicle position is displayed in real time on the map image. The car navigation device 33 can access the Internet and send and receive e-mails. Since the format of the e-mail in the car navigation device 33 is different from that of a normal personal computer or the like, the car navigation device 33 accesses the e-mail server 32b provided exclusively for the car navigation device and uses the e-mail in its own format. Receive emails. In addition, when there is information regarding position information (a plurality of places) described in the received e-mail, the car navigation device 33 can set a navigation route according to the position information. It has become.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the map information providing site 20 described above. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a data configuration in the position coordinate database 22, the content database 23, and the user database 24. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a data configuration in user information in the user database 24. As shown in FIG. First, in FIG. 2, the WWW server 21 (see FIG. 1) includes a processing unit 40, an e-mail creation / transmission unit 41, and a communication I / F unit 42. The processing unit 40 includes a memory and a CPU (not shown), and implements the function by loading a program for realizing the function of the processing unit itself into the memory (storage medium) and executing the program. That is, the processing unit 40 transmits a predetermined web page (corresponding hypertext) to the user terminal via the Internet in accordance with an access from the user, or in accordance with an instruction input from the user to the web page. The web page is controlled to search the content database 23 and the user database 24 and to display the search result on the user terminal.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the content database 23 associates spot names (landmarks such as facilities, amusement parks, amusement parks, stores, and building names) with positional information and additional information related to the spots. I remember it. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the user database 24 includes a user ID (usually an email address) for identifying the user, a password indicating that the service is a registered user, and user information described later. Are stored in correspondence. The user information is information registered (stored) in advance by the user himself / herself. As shown in FIG. 4A, one or more spot names, as shown in FIG. It consists of course information including multiple spots that can be used. The spot name is registered with a category name so that it can be classified by category.

  Therefore, the WWW server 21 can acquire the position information and additional information corresponding to the spot name from the spot name by accessing the content database 23. Furthermore, the WWW server 21 can acquire a plurality of spots and courses (including a plurality of spots) registered in advance by the user by accessing the user database 24. Needless to say, if the spot name is known, position information and additional information corresponding to the spot name can be acquired from the content database 23.

  The e-mail creating / transmitting unit 41 creates an e-mail from text information such as an e-mail address of the other party input by the user and a mail body on the web page for e-mail creation by the processing unit 40, and The e-mail is automatically attached with the spot name, its position information, additional information, and the URL of a web page where the map image of the place where the spot exists can be browsed, and transmitted from the communication I / F unit 42. . The communication I / F unit 42 is an interface with a communication line such as the Internet 13, and transmits a web page (HTML) or an e-mail according to the control of the processing unit 40. Further, the web page creation unit 43 uses hypertext (such as HTML) to allow the receiver to receive a map image corresponding to the location information of the spot indicated by the spot name described in the e-mail, the weather at the location, and the like. A detailed information web page linked with the URL of another web page is created so that it can be referred to.

B. Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail. Here, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are functional block diagrams for explaining the operation of the present embodiment. FIGS. 7 to 18 are conceptual diagrams showing the transition of web pages for searching for location information and creating / transmitting e-mail according to the present embodiment.

  First, when the user accesses the WWW server 21 through the user terminal 30, the web page (homepage) shown in FIG. 7 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 by the WWW server 21 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the first web page, as shown in FIG. 7, three items, “Select from spot name”, “Select from map”, and “Select from My clip” are displayed as a method of selecting a place to search.

  Here, when the user selects “select from spot names”, for example, the web page shown in FIG. 8 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 by the WWW server 21 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the web page shown in FIG. 8, an input box 50 for inputting a spot name and a “search” button 51 for starting a search using the input spot name as a keyword are displayed. When the user inputs a spot name to be searched for in the input box 50 and presses the “search” button 51, the WWW server 21 searches the content database 23 using the spot name input in the input box 50 as a keyword. Then, position information and additional information corresponding to the spot name are acquired from each.

  Next, the WWW server 21 transmits the web page shown in FIG. 9 to the user terminal 30 together with the position information and additional information corresponding to the input spot name, and is displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the web page shown in FIG. 9, the search character string (“ramen” in the illustrated example) 52 is the spot name input by the user, and the number of spots including the character string that matches the spot name (45 in the illustrated example) 53. , And the matched spot name and additional information 54 are displayed. In addition, “select” buttons 55, 55,..., 55 for selecting a spot name are displayed for each spot name. The user selects the spot name from the web page shown in FIG. 9 by pressing the “select” button 55 corresponding to the desired spot name. If the number of matches is large and cannot be displayed on one screen, other information can be viewed by operating the scroll bar displayed on the side of the web page.

  Next, in the web page shown in FIG. 7, when the user selects “select from a map”, for example, the web page shown in FIG. 10 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 by the WWW server 21 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. Is done. In the web page shown in FIG. 10, a map display area 56 for displaying a map image, an input box 57 for instructing which map to display, and a map display using the input address or station name as keywords. A “redisplay map” button 58 for updating a map image to be displayed in the area 56 is displayed. In addition, input boxes 59, 60, 61 are also displayed at the bottom of the web page shown in FIG. 10 in order to attach a spot name, address, and telephone number to the position (coordinates) selected by the user.

  In the map display area 56, a move button 62 for moving a map image displayed in the map display area is displayed, and a scale selection button 63 for instructing a scale is displayed. . When the user inputs an address or a station name, a map image is displayed in the map display area 56. The user moves the desired location to the center of the map display area 56 with the move button 62, changes the scale appropriately with the scale selection button 63, and then presses the “decide” button 64. A map showing the desired location is determined.

  Next, in the web page shown in FIG. 7, when the user selects “Select from My Clips”, the web page shown in FIG. 11 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 by the WWW server 21 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. Is done. In the web page shown in FIG. 11, two items “Send My Spot” and “Send My Course” are further displayed as search methods for searching.

  Here, when the user selects, for example, “Send My Spot”, the WWW server 21 accesses the user database 24 and acquires a pre-registered spot name from the corresponding user data from the user ID of the user. In addition, the content database 23 is accessed to acquire position information and additional information corresponding to the spot name. In order to display these information, the web page shown in FIG. 12 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the web page shown in FIG. 12, the spot name registered corresponding to the user, the position information that is detailed information of the spot name, and additional information are displayed. Each spot name is displayed with check boxes 65, 65, 65 for selecting the spot name. The user selects one or more spot names by checking a check box 65 corresponding to the spot name to be transmitted. That is, a plurality of spot names can be selected.

  Further, the spot names stored in the user database 24 can be classified by category names (see FIG. 4A). By selecting a category from the pull-down box 66, the spot name is assigned to a specific category. Only the name of the spot to which it belongs can be displayed on the web page of FIG. In the illustrated example, since “all spots” is selected, the names of all registered spots are displayed. After checking the desired spot name check box 65, the user presses a “send spot” button 67 or a “send category” button 68. The “Send Spot” button 67 is pressed when the selected spot name is transmitted by e-mail, and the “Send Category” button 68 is selected when all the spot names of the displayed category are transmitted by e-mail. Pressed.

  Next, when the user selects, for example, “Send My Course”, the WWW server 21 accesses the user database 24 and obtains a previously registered course name from the corresponding user data from the user ID of the user. To do. Further, in order to display the course name, the web page shown in FIG. 13 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the web page shown in FIG. 13, the course name registered corresponding to the user is displayed. Further, “select” buttons 70, 70, 70, 70 for selecting a course name are displayed for each course name. The user selects the course name by pressing the “select” button 70 corresponding to the desired course name from the web page shown in FIG.

  When any one of the course names is selected, the WWW server 21 accesses the user database 24 to acquire the spot name (one or more) registered in advance for the selected course name. In order to display the spot name, the web page shown in FIG. 14 is transmitted to the user terminal 30 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the web page shown in FIG. 14, the spot name registered in the selected course name is displayed. In this case, a plurality of spot names may be used. In other words, by selecting one course name, a plurality of spot names are selected.

  When the location to be transmitted by e-mail is determined by any of the above-described selection methods “select from spot name”, “select from map”, and “select from My clip”, the WWW server 21 causes the web page shown in FIG. Is transmitted to the user terminal 30 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. The web page shown in FIG. 15 is a screen for creating an e-mail, and includes an input box 80 for inputting a destination (destination) mail address, an input box 81 for inputting an e-mail title, and an e-mail. An input box 82 for inputting the mail text is displayed. Further, a spot name indicating the selected place and additional information related to the spot are also displayed. The user presses a “send” button 83 after inputting a destination e-mail address, title, and text in accordance with the web page shown in FIG. When changing the attached spot name when sending by e-mail, enter a new spot name in the input box 84 and press the “change” button 85 on the web page shown in FIG. By doing so, the spot name can be changed.

  When the “Send” button 83 is pressed on the web page of FIG. 15, the web page shown in FIG. 17 is sent to the user terminal 30 by the WWW server 21 and displayed by the WWW browser of the user terminal 30. In the web page shown in FIG. 17, the input content is displayed in order to confirm the content input on the web page of FIG. The web page also displays a “return” button 86 for correcting the input content and a “send” button 87 for sending an e-mail. When the user presses a “return” button 86 to correct the content of the e-mail, the user is returned to the web page shown in FIG.

  When the user presses the “Send” button 87, the WWW server 21 creates an e-mail according to the above content by the e-mail creation / transmission unit 41 and sends it via the communication I / F unit 42 as shown in FIG. To the mail server 32 on the Internet. In addition to the mail text, one or more selected spot names (or course names), spot position information indicated by the spot names, and additional information regarding the spots are added to the e-mail. The spot name is linked to a URL for accessing a detailed information web page, which will be described later. When the user (recipient) who opens the e-mail clicks the spot name, the WWW browser uses the detailed information web page. The page can be accessed.

  At this time, if the destination mail address is for a user who sends and receives electronic mail using a personal computer, the WWW server 21 creates an electronic mail 60 in a format for a personal computer as shown in FIG. Then send. For example, the electronic mail 60 is stored in the mail server 32a. On the other hand, if the destination mail address is that of a user who sends and receives e-mails using the car navigation device, as shown in FIG. 6, an e-mail 61 in a format for the car navigation device is created and sent. To do. The electronic mail 61 is stored in, for example, the mail server 32b.

  Further, the WWW server 21 uses the hypertext (HTML or the like) by the web page creation unit 43 to display a map image corresponding to the location information of the spot indicated by the spot name described in the e-mail and the weather at the location. The detailed information web page linked with the URL of another web page is created so that the recipient can refer to the web page. Also in this case, a normal personal computer detailed information web page 70 and a car navigation device detailed information web page 71 are created in accordance with the mail address of the transmission destination. When the transmission of the e-mail is completed, the WWW server 21 notifies the user that the transmission is completed on the screen shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the above-described e-mail recipient will be described. Here, FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram for explaining the operation for the received electronic mail. First, an operation when an electronic mail is received by a user terminal such as a normal personal computer will be described. When a user accesses a mail server (in this case, the mail server 32a shown in FIG. 1) to receive an e-mail using a user terminal such as a personal computer (for example, the user terminal 31 in FIG. 1). The mail server transmits the email stored in the mailbox to the user terminal 31 according to the email address of the accessed user.

  When the user opens an e-mail received by the e-mail software, the e-mail displays at least one spot name, additional information of the spot indicated by the spot name, and the like in addition to the mail body. When the user clicks an arbitrary spot name, a WWW browser is activated, and a detailed information web page managed by the WWW server 21 according to the URL linked to the spot name as shown in FIG. 70 will be accessed. The detailed information web page 70 includes a map information web page 80 for displaying a map image corresponding to the position information of the spot indicated by the clicked spot name, and a weather forecast for displaying the weather at the location. A web page 81 is linked. Therefore, a user who has received an e-mail can refer to detailed information related to the spot, a map image, weather, and the like by simply clicking a spot name on the e-mail. Further, the information on the detailed web page 70, the map information web page 80, and the weather forecast web page 81 can be registered in the user database 24 by the position information registration means.

  Next, an operation when the car navigation device 33 receives an e-mail will be described. When a user accesses a mail server (in this case, the mail server 32b shown in FIG. 1) to receive an e-mail using the car navigation device 33, the mail server follows the accessed user's mail address. The e-mail stored in the mailbox is transmitted to the car navigation device 33.

  When the user uses e-mail software (navigation mail), a list of received e-mails is displayed as shown in FIG. For each received e-mail, the e-mail title ("Tonight are you free?", "Test"), the sender's e-mail address, and the date of receipt are displayed for each e-mail received. The Also, a delete button 90 is prepared, and the user can delete any e-mail by checking the check box 91 of the e-mail to be deleted and pressing the delete button 90.

  When the user instructs (clicks) the title of the electronic mail to be read, the contents of the electronic mail, that is, the mail text (“Let's go here”) is displayed as shown in FIG. In the screen of FIG. 21, a reply button 92 for immediately replying to the sender of the e-mail and a delete button 93 for deleting the displayed e-mail are prepared. If spot information (spot name, additional information) is added to the e-mail by the above-described processing, a message indicating that the spot information is attached is displayed at the bottom of the e-mail text.

  When the user designates (clicks) the mark 94 below the message to confirm the attached spot information, the screen shown in FIG. 22 is displayed. The spot name attached to the e-mail and the additional information of the spot indicated by the spot name are displayed on the screen of FIG. According to this embodiment, a plurality of spot names can be attached to an e-mail. In this screen, the check box 95 corresponding to each spot name is checked and the destination set button 96 is pressed, so that the position information indicating the position of the attached spot name is the course setting in the navigation device 33. Set as destination. Therefore, the user can set a course according to the spot information attached to the e-mail.

  Further, in the case of an e-mail attached with only one spot name, additional information of the spot name is displayed in the text as shown in FIG. Also in this case, when the destination set button 97 is pressed, position information indicating the position of the attached spot name is set as a course setting destination in the navigation device 33. A reply button 98 for immediately replying to the sender of the e-mail and a delete button 99 for deleting the displayed e-mail are also provided.

  In the case of an e-mail with a course name attached, as shown in FIG. 24, a message indicating that course information is attached is displayed at the bottom of the body of the e-mail. The destination set button 100 for setting the attached course as a destination is prepared on the screen. In addition, a reply button 101 for immediately replying to the sender of the e-mail and a delete button 102 for deleting the displayed e-mail are also provided.

  When the user presses the destination set button 97, a screen shown in FIG. 25 is displayed. The course name attached to the e-mail is displayed on the screen of FIG. In this screen, by checking the check box 103 corresponding to each spot name and pressing the destination set button 104, the position information indicating the position of the spot name corresponding to the attached course name is displayed in the navigation device. 33 is set as a course setting destination. Therefore, the user can set a course according to the course information attached to the e-mail.

  FIG. 26 is a conceptual diagram showing a screen for replying to the sender of the received e-mail. On the reply screen, a standard sentence to be described in the mail body of the reply e-mail is designated with a radio button, and a method for attaching position information can be selected. As position information attachment methods, a method of attaching and returning the current position information obtained by the car navigation device 33, a method of attaching and returning the destination position information set in the car navigation device 33, and car navigation There are a method of attaching and returning position information at an arbitrary point selected from the map of the device 33, and a method of returning without attaching position information.

C. Other Embodiments Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the content database 23 stores additional information corresponding to the spot name. In addition to this, the course (including a plurality of spots) set on the service providing side is registered, When the user selects a spot name (or My course) for transmission by attaching to an e-mail, the course registered in the content database 23 by the service providing side may be selected.

  In the embodiment described above, the memory (storage medium) loaded with the program for realizing the function of the processing unit 40 is a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or the like. It refers to a storage device such as a portable medium or a hard disk built in a computer system. Furthermore, the program is held for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory (RAM) inside a computer system that becomes a server or client when the program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Including things.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

  The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already memorize | stored in the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure by embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the more detailed structure of a map information provision site. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the data structure in the position coordinate database 22, the content database 23, and the user database 24. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the data structure in the user information of the user database 24. It is a functional block diagram for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of mail transmission of this embodiment. It is a functional block diagram for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of mail transmission of this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (homepage) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (selected from a spot name) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (selected from a spot name) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (selected from a map) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (selected from My clip) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (Send My spot) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (Send My course) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (Send My course) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (mail preparation) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (change of a spot name) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (mail confirmation) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the web page (mail transmission completion) provided by the WWW server by this embodiment. It is a functional block diagram for demonstrating the operation | movement after mail reception of this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of an electronic mail display (mail list) with the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of an electronic mail display (mail text: spot) with the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of an electronic mail display (spot list) with the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of an electronic mail display (mail text) with the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of an electronic mail display (mail text: course) in the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of an electronic mail display (course list) with the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the setting of the reply mail in the car navigation apparatus by this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Map Database Center 11 Map Server 12 Map Database 13 Internet 20 Map Information Providing Site (Communication Center)
21 WWW server (location information registration means)
22 position coordinate database 23 content database 24 user database (position information storage means)
30, 31 user terminal 32 mail server 32a mail server for personal computer 32b mail server for car navigation device 33 car navigation device 40 processing unit 41 e-mail creation and transmission unit (mail creation means, location information addition means)
42 communication I / F unit 43 web page creation unit 60 e-mail for personal computer 61 e-mail for car navigation device 70 detailed information web page for personal computer 61 detailed information web page for car navigation device 80 map information web page 81 weather forecast web page

Claims (14)

In an e-mail transmission / reception system that transmits / receives an e-mail created on a web page provided by a communication center between communication terminals provided in a mobile station or a fixed station,
An email creation means for creating an email to be sent;
Position information storage means provided on the communication center side for storing a plurality of position information;
Position information adding means for adding at least one position information among the plurality of position information stored in the position information storage means to the e-mail created by the mail creating means. E-mail sending and receiving system.   The e-mail transmission / reception system according to claim 1, wherein the location information storage unit stores a plurality of location information set by a sender.   The e-mail transmission / reception system according to claim 1, wherein the position information storage means stores a plurality of position information set by the communication center.   The e-mail transmission / reception system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the e-mail creating unit creates an e-mail in a readable format according to a communication terminal on the receiver side.   In response to a request from a communication terminal on the receiver side, the information processing apparatus includes position information registration means for storing in the position information storage means at least one piece of position information attached to an e-mail by the position information adding means. The e-mail transmission / reception system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, In an e-mail transmission / reception system that transmits / receives an e-mail provided by a communication center between communication terminals provided in a mobile station or a fixed station,
An email creation means for creating an email to be sent;
Position information storage means provided on the communication center side for storing position information of a plurality of places;
An e-mail transmission / reception system comprising: position information adding means capable of adding position information of a plurality of locations stored in the position information storing means to an e-mail created by the mail creating means.   The e-mail transmission / reception system according to claim 6, wherein the position information storage unit stores position information of a plurality of places set by a sender.   The e-mail transmission / reception system according to claim 6, wherein the position information storage unit stores position information of a plurality of places set by the communication center.   9. The e-mail transmission / reception system according to claim 6, wherein the e-mail creating unit creates an e-mail in a readable format according to a communication terminal on the receiver side.   In response to a request from a communication terminal on the receiver side, a location information registration unit is provided that stores location information of a plurality of places attached to an e-mail by the location information addition unit in the location information storage unit. The electronic mail transmission / reception system according to claim 6, wherein: In a navigation device for sending and receiving e-mail provided by a communication center,
An email creation means for creating an email to be sent;
Position information addition that can be added to the e-mail created by the mail creating means with the position information of the plurality of places stored in the position information storage means provided on the communication center side and storing the position information of the plurality of places And a navigation device.   When an e-mail in its own format is received by accessing a mail server provided on the communication center side, and information relating to position information of any of a plurality of locations exists in this e-mail, The navigation device according to claim 11, wherein a navigation route is set according to information related to position information.   13. The navigation device according to claim 12, further comprising a destination set button for setting a navigation route according to information on positional information of the plurality of places when the electronic mail is received. An automobile equipped with the navigation device according to claim 11.

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