Patent Publication Number: US-2011072361-A1

Title: Communication apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-217918, filed Sep. 18, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a communication apparatus that displays a screen functioning as a starting point of the user&#39;s operation (“home screen”). 
     BACKGROUND 
     Communication apparatuses such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and Personal Computers (PC) typically have a function of displaying a screen from which the user can start operation (a home screen) on a display. Today, more and more of these communication apparatuses are equipped with a touch panel, and design of a UI utilizing a touch panel and having excellent user operability is an issue in developing apparatuses by manufacturers. Particularly in the design of a UI of the home screen, how easily users can call a desired function is one of primary design goals. 
     Meanwhile, in development of element technology for application to communication apparatuses, active research and development have been conducted on algorithms for recommending certain functions to users based on terminal position information, user&#39;s operation history, time, information obtained from networks, and the like. For example, a “recommendation engine,” which is a process implementing an algorithm for recommending certain features to a user, is capable of outputting applications stored within the communication apparatus, a telephone call accompanied by registered contact information (e.g., personal data of a peer such as a telephone number, mail address saved in an address book, or a URL of a blog site), composition of an e-mail message, web browsing on a browser, and web access information (e.g., a URL and a title of a website). 
     As a device to recommend functions to a user, an electric appliance controller is proposed that can autonomously and automatically control the operation of an appliance or the like ahead of the user&#39;s action without requiring setting or operation by the user, for example (see Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-273395)). This electric appliance controller comprises: an input/output terminal for outputting an instruction from the user and displaying the result of executing the instruction; an input/output unit for giving an instruction to the input/output terminal and inputting the result of execution; a communication control unit for communicating with electric appliances; an operation control unit for controlling operation of each of the electric appliances; a date/time managing unit for managing time information; an electric-appliance information managing unit for managing electric appliance information; an operation-history information managing unit for managing operation history information for each of the electric appliances; and a database managing unit for centrally managing a database in which electric appliance information and operation history information are stored. 
     It is preferred to reduce a number of operation steps required for calling functions on a home screen of a communication apparatus. Such function is, for example, to open an application or a file frequently used by the user, to make a telephone call based on contact information (e.g., personal data of a peer such as a telephone number or a mail address saved in an address book), to compose a mail message, or to connect to and browse the website of web access information (e.g., a URL and a title of the website). To reduce the steps, such a scheme has been adopted that provides shortcuts for such applications/files, contact information, and access information in the form of icons or widgets (accessory software operating on a desktop) on the home screen. And shortcut icons and widgets can be laid out on the home screen by the user as convenient for him/her based on a premise that the user performs setting operations. However, these schemes have a problem of taking time and trouble for the user to configure icons and widgets on the home screen. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic external perspective view showing an example of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the features of the communication apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a software configuration of the communication apparatus for displaying a home screen; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of a recommendation list generating process of the communication apparatus; 
         FIG. 5  is a subroutine flowchart showing a procedure of an application/file list generating process of the communication apparatus in step S 105  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a subroutine flowchart showing a procedure of a web list generating process of the communication apparatus in step S 107  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a subroutine flowchart showing a procedure of a contact list generating process of the communication apparatus in step S 109  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of the home screen display process of the communication apparatus; 
         FIGS. 9A and 9B  are explanatory diagrams briefly showing an example of screens in the procedure of the home screen display process of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart showing another example of a procedure of the home screen display process of the communication apparatus; and 
         FIGS. 11A to 11D  are explanatory diagrams briefly showing an example of screens in the procedure of the home screen display process of  FIG. 10 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to one embodiment, a communication apparatus includes a storage unit, a generating unit, and a display unit. The storage unit is configured to store operation history each time an operation is performed. The generating unit is configured to retrieve operation history information from the storage unit. And the generating unit is also configured to generate recommended information based on the operation history information. The display unit displays a home screen as a starting point of operation so that the home screen contains the recommended information generated by the generating unit. 
     Hereinbelow, a description will be given of the communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. 
     An embodiment of the communication apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The communication apparatus is described by taking as an example a communication apparatus  1  equipped with a display on which the user can input data by touching a screen with a finger or the like (a touch screen) and having a function of generating and displaying a home screen as the starting point of the user&#39;s operation based on input on the display. 
       FIG. 1  is schematic external perspective view showing an example of the communication apparatus  1 . The communication apparatus  1  has a rectangular, board-like housing  10  as depicted in  FIG. 1 . On one side of the housing  10 , there are provided a touch screen  11  for displaying data as well as allowing data to be input by touching, a speaker  12  for outputting sound, and a microphone  13  for inputting sound. 
     The touch screen  11  is a display having both a display function to display screen data and an input function to accept input of an instruction by detecting a position of a contact on the screen made by the user with a finger or a dedicated pen. The touch screen  11  is formed by arranging multiple elements for detecting a contact on a surface of a display and further overlaying a transparent sheet on the elements, for example. The touch screen  11  can sense a touch by a pressure-sensitive method which is based on sensing a change in pressure, a capacitive method which is based on sensing an electrical signal utilizing capacitance, or any other method. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the features of the communication apparatus  1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the communication apparatus  1  comprises a main control unit  20 , power-supply circuit unit  21 , an operational-input control unit  22 , a display control unit  23 , an audio control unit  24 , a communication control unit  25 , and a storage unit  26 , which are interconnected by a bus to be able to communicate with each other. 
     The main control unit  20  has a Central Processing Unit (CPU), being responsible for overall control on the communication apparatus  1  as well as display of a home screen described below and execution of various other computations and controls. The power-supply circuit unit  21  has a power source (e.g., a battery), and switches powering on/off of the communication apparatus  1 , according to a certain input from the touch screen  11  for example. While the communication apparatus  1  is powered on, the power-supply circuit unit  21  supplies electrical power to components from the power source to make the communication apparatus  1  operable. 
     The operational-input control unit  22  has an input interface to the touch screen  11 , and upon detecting a contact on the touch screen  11 , generates a signal indicating the position of the contact and sends the signal to the main control unit  20 . Having received the signal, the main control unit  20  performs any of various processes according to the signal. The display control unit  23  has a display interface to the touch screen  11 , and generates screen display data and makes the data displayed on the touch screen  11  under the control of the main control unit  20 . 
     The audio control unit  24  generates an analog audio signal from sound collected by the microphone  13  and converts the signal to a digital audio signal under the control of the main control unit  20 . Having derived the digital audio signal, the audio control unit  24  converts the digital audio signal into an analog audio signal and outputs the signal from the speaker  12  as sound under the control of the main control unit  20 . 
     The communication control unit  25  has an antenna  25   a  and applies inverse spectrum spreading to a signal received via the antenna  25   a  from a base station to reconstruct original data under the control of the main control unit  20 . The data can be sent to the audio control unit  24  to be output from the speaker  12 , or sent to the display control unit  23  to be displayed on the touch screen  11 , or recorded in the storage unit  26 , according to instructions from the main control unit  20 . Upon receiving audio data collected by the microphone  13 , data input via the touch screen  11 , or data stored in the storage unit  26 , the communication control unit  25  performs spectrum spreading on the data and sends the encoded data to the base station via the antenna  25   a  under the control of the main control unit  20 . 
     The storage unit  26  comprises a ROM (Read Only Memory), hard disk, or non-volatile memory for storing processing programs and data necessary for processing performed by the main control unit  20 , a RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing data used during processing by the main control unit  20 , and the like. A processing program for use when the main control unit  20  performs a home-screen display process described below is stored in the ROM, for example. 
     The storage unit  26  has also stored therein contact information  26   a  registered in an address book, application icon information  26   b  indicating icons for identifying application programs executed on the communication apparatus  1 , home screen information  26   c  indicating various types of information for generating a home screen, user-operation history information  26   d  indicating the history of the user&#39;s operations on the communication apparatus  1 , and recommendation list information  26   e  which includes lists of information items to be recommended to the user (recommended information). 
     The contact information  26   a  is address book information, representing information on combinations of a person&#39;s name with a picture of his face, telephone number, mail address, and a URL of his/her website (e.g., a blog). 
     The application icon information  26   b  is information that associates identification information for individual application programs  31  (to be explained in detail hereinafter with  FIG. 3 ) with icon information, for example. An icon is associated with each application program  31 , such as a telephone application program  31  and a mailing application program  31 . 
     The home screen information  26   c  is information on webpage icons for use on the home screen, for example. Webpage icons are icons associated with various URLs. A webpage icon may be generated and stored in the storage unit  26   c  at the time of access from the communication apparatus  1  to a webpage or at the time of generating a home screen. Also, the webpage icons include a default icon that can be used for any URL. 
     The operation history information  26   d  is information associating operations with their details and date/time, for example. This information is recorded each time the communication apparatus  1  is operated by the user. The details of operation may be activation of a camera application program  31 , viewing of a webpage on a web browser  31 , activation of an application program  31  for playing a video, viewing or editing of a text or image file stored in the storage unit  26 , originating or receiving a telephone call, sending or receiving an e-mail, or the like. For originating/receiving of a telephone call and sending/receiving of an e-mail, a number to call or a destination address may be included as the operation history information corresponding to the operation. 
     The recommendation list information  26   e  is information for display as recommended information on the home screen, including a recommended-application/file list  26   f , a recommended-web-access list  26   g , and a recommended-contact list  26   h . The recommended-application/file list  26   f  is a list of recommended application programs or files. The recommended-web-access list  26   g  is a list of recommended websites. The recommended-contact list  26   h  is a list of recommended communication actions, listing pairs of a contact information (including a personal data of a peer) and a communication action. 
     The communication apparatus  1  has functions of starting display on the touch screen  11  and generating and displaying a home screen on the touch screen  11  when the terminal  1  is powered up or when the terminal  1  returns from a screen non-display mode (a mode in which display on the touch screen  11  is disabled for power saving) to a normal mode (a mode in which display on the touch screen  11  is active), for example. The home screen is a screen from which the user&#39;s operation starts, containing shortcut buttons for various application programs  31 . 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a software configuration of the communication apparatus  1  for displaying the home screen. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the communication apparatus  1  includes a home screen display application  30 , which is an application program for generating and displaying a home screen, and various other application programs  31  for implementing telephone, mailing, and web functions. The communication apparatus  1  realizes various functions through execution of these application programs  30  and  31  by the main control unit  20 . 
     The communication apparatus  1  also has an application event generating unit  32 . The application event generating unit  32  generates an event in response to input of data via the touch screen  11  and notifies the application programs  30  and  31  of the event. Upon receiving the event, the home screen display application  30  and/or other application program  31  perform processing corresponding to the event. 
     The communication apparatus  1  also has a recommended-information generating unit  33  that selects information to be recommended to the user (recommended information) under the control of the home screen display application  30  and notifies the home screen display application  30  of the selected information. The recommended-information generating unit  33  includes an operation information recording unit  34  and a recommendation engine  35 . 
     The operation information recording unit  34  obtains details of a user operation from application programs  30  and  31  and records them in the storage unit  26  as user-operation history information  26   d  when the application programs  30  and  31 , such as calling, mailing, web browsing, camera, and gaming functions, have been operated by the user. 
     Upon receiving notification from an interval timer  38  on each elapse of a certain time period, the recommendation engine  35  generates and updates recommendation list information  26   e  based on user-operation history information  26   d . When generating the recommendation list information  26   e , the recommendation engine  35  gets the current time from a clock unit  36 , which keeps track of the current time, or obtains the current position of the communication apparatus  1  from a position information acquiring unit  37 . And the recommendation engine  35  selects information to be presented to the user at the current time and position based on some or all of the information obtained. 
     The recommendation engine  35  also retrieves the recommendation list information  26   e  from the storage unit  26  according to instructions from the home screen display application  30 , and sends the information  26   e  to the home screen display application  30 . The home screen display application  30  generates a home screen based on the information supplied by the recommendation engine  35  and displays the generated home screen on the touch screen  11 . 
     When displaying a screen on the touch screen  11  upon startup of the communication apparatus  1  or transition from the screen non-display mode (a power saving mode) to the screen display mode (a normal mode), the home screen display application  30  acquires the latest recommendation list information  26   e  from the recommendation engine  35  and also retrieves contact information  26   a , application icon information  26   b , and home screen information  26   c  from the storage unit  26  to generate a home screen and displays it on the touch screen  11 . Thus, the recommendation engine  35  regularly updates recommended information, and the home screen display application  30  acquires recommended information from the recommendation engine  35  to generate a home screen. This enables the home screen to be rendered in a shorter amount of time. 
     With respect to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.  4  to  7 .A, a procedure for the main control unit  20  to perform a recommendation list generating process to periodically generate and update the recommendation list information  26   e  under control of the recommendation engine  35  will be described. It is assumed that the interval timer  38  notifies the recommendation engine  35  of expiration of the timer at certain time intervals. 
     The main control unit  20  determines whether power-off has been ordered or not (S 101 ). The main control unit  20  determines that power-off is ordered when a certain operation is done on the touch screen  11 , for example. If power-off has been ordered (YES at S 101 ), the main control unit  20  powers off the communication apparatus  1  (S 102 ). 
     If power-off has not been ordered (NO at S 101 ), the main control unit  20  determines whether the user-operation history information  26   d  has been updated or not or whether the interval timer  38  has expired or not (S 103 ). If the user-operation history information  26   d  has not been updated and the interval timer  38  has not expired (NO at S 103 ), the procedure returns to step S 101 . 
     If the user-operation history information  26   d  has been updated or the interval timer  38  has expired (YES at S 103 ), the main control unit  20  generates and updates the recommended-application/file list  26   f  (S 105 ). The procedure for the main control unit  20  to generate the application/file list is described with the flowchart shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     The main control unit  20  first derives a list of frequently used application programs or files from the user-operation history information  26   d  stored in the storage unit (S 201 ). The main control unit  20  then stores a recommended-application/file list  26   f  that is based on the list derived at step S 201  in the storage unit  26  (S 203 ). The recommended-application/file list  26   f  stored here may be the list derived at step S 201  itself or a list created by re-sorting or modifying the list based on data acquired from the clock unit  36  and the position information acquiring unit  37 . 
     The main control unit  20  generates and updates the recommended-web list  26   g  (S 107 ). The procedure for the main control unit  20  to generate the web list is described with the flowchart shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     The main control unit  20  first derives a list of frequently accessed URLs from the user-operation history information  26   d  stored in the storage unit  26  (S 301 ). The main control unit  20  then stores the list derived at step S 301  in the storage unit  26  as the recommended-web list  26   g  (S 303 ). The recommended-web list  26   g  stored here may be the list derived at step S 301  itself or a list created by re-sorting or modifying the list using data acquired from the clock unit  36  and the position information acquiring unit  37 . 
     The main control unit  20  generates and updates the recommended-contact list  26   h  (S 109 ). The procedure for the main control unit  20  to generate the contact list is described with respect to the flowchart shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     The main control unit  20  first derives a list of telephone numbers, mail addresses, and web access sites with which communication have been frequently performed from the user-operation history information  26   d  stored in the storage unit  26  (S 401 ). The main control unit  20  then checks the telephone numbers, mail addresses, and web access sites acquired at step S 401  against the contact information  26   a , and stores information combining them with corresponding contact information in the storage unit  26  as the recommended-contact list  26   h  (S 403 ). The recommended-contact list  26   h  stored here may be the output at step S 401  itself but may instead be a list created by re-sorting or modifying the output based on data acquired from the clock unit  36  and the position information acquiring unit  37 . 
     In this manner, the communication apparatus  1  regularly updates the recommendation list information  26   e  by repeating the processes at steps S 101  to S 109 . Upon transition from the non-display mode to the display mode, the communication apparatus  1  uses the recommendation list information  26   e  to generate a home screen and displays it on the touch screen  11 . 
     The procedure for the communication apparatus  1  to display the home screen is described with respect to the flowchart shown in  FIG. 8  and the diagrams illustrating screens displayed in the procedure of the home screen display process of  FIG. 8  shown in  FIGS. 9A and 9B .  FIG. 9A  is explanatory diagrams showing the home screen, and  FIG. 9B  is explanatory diagrams showing an all-function display screen. 
     The main control unit  20  performs a home screen display process under the control of the home screen display application  30 . It is assumed that no screen is being displayed on the touch screen  11  at the beginning. The main control unit  20  determines whether screen display has been ordered or not (S 501 ). The main control unit  20  determines that screen display has been ordered if the user has touched the touch screen  11  so that the terminal  1  will return from the screen non-display mode to the normal mode, for example. If screen display has not been ordered (NO at S 501 ), the main control unit  20  proceeds to wait. 
     If screen display has been ordered (YES at S 501 ), the main control unit  20  generates a user-configurable area (S 503 ).  FIG. 9A  shows an example of the home screen. As shown in  FIG. 9A , a user-configurable area  41  is provided on a display area  40  of the touch screen  11 . The user-configurable area  41  is an area containing shortcut buttons to start application programs  31  pre-selected by the user. In the user-configurable area  41 , there are arranged application shortcut buttons  41   a  for application programs  31  having mailing or web browsing functions, for example, a search engine widget  41   b , an RSS (RDF Site Summary) reader  41   c , a SNS (Social Networking Service) widget  41   d , and so on. A default layout in the user-configurable area  41  may be preset at the time of shipment. 
     The main control unit  20  retrieves the recommended-application/file list  26   f  and generates a recommended-application/file area  42  based on the list (S 505 ). In this process, the main control unit  20  retrieves icons corresponding to the application programs or files contained in the list from the application icon information  26   b . And the main control unit  20  arranges shortcut buttons for starting the application programs or files in the recommended-application/file area  42  in the form of icons  42   a.    
     The main control unit  20  retrieves the recommended-web list  26   g  and generates a recommended-web area  43  based on the list (S 507 ). In this process, the main control unit  20  acquires icons corresponding to the URLs contained in the list from the home screen information  26   c , and arranges shortcut buttons for accessing the URLs in the recommended-web area  43  in the form of icons  43   a . When the home screen information  26   c  does not include an icon corresponding to a URL, the main control unit  20  acquires and arranges the default icon from the home screen information  26   c.    
     The main control unit  20  retrieves the recommended-contact list  26   h  and generates a recommended-contact area  44  based on the list (S 509 ). In this process, the main control unit  20  acquires icons corresponding to the contacts contained in the list (e.g., icons representing images identifying contacts) from the contact information  26   a , and also retrieves icons representing telephone, e-mail, and web access functions from the application icon information  26   b . The main control unit  20  arranges icons  44   a  that are combinations of an icon representing a contact and an icon indicating a communication action as shortcut buttons for starting various communication actions. When the contact information  26   a  contains no contact for telephone or e-mail, or no website provider, a shortcut button for the missing communication action is desirably not be displayed in the recommended-contact area  44 . 
     The main control unit  20  arranges the user-configurable area  41 , the recommended-application/file area  42 , the recommended-web area  43 , and the recommended contact area  44  generated respectively at steps S 503 , S 505 , S 507 , and S 509  on the home screen, and displays the home screen on the display area  40  of the touch screen  11  as shown in  FIG. 9A  (S 511 ). Hereinafter, the recommended-application/file area  42 , recommended-web area  43 , and recommended-contact area  44  will be generically called recommendation areas. 
     Also as shown in  FIG. 9A , an all-function display button  45  is provided on the display area  40  of the touch screen  11 . When the user selects the all-function display button  45 , an all-function display screen  46  appears.  FIG. 9B  illustrates an example of the all-function display screen  46 . As shown in  FIG. 9B , the all-function display screen  46  contains shortcut buttons  46   a  for activating each of all functions provided by the communication apparatus  1 , such as camera and mailing functions. 
     When the default icon was used at step S 507 , the main control unit  20  accesses a URL for which the default icon was used after completion of display of the various areas on the home screen, to acquire a web icon for the website and stores the icon in the storage unit  26  as home screen information  26   c  (S 513 ). Thereby, the icon stored at step S 513  can be used next time a shortcut button for accessing the URL should be displayed. 
     The descriptions above showed an example of extracting items to be displayed in recommendation areas based on their frequency of use. This is not limitative, however: items that have been recently used may be preferentially extracted, or a list acquired from the recommendation engine  35  may be used as it is, or the list may be re-sorted or sorted out using data obtained from the clock unit  36  and the position information acquiring unit  37 . 
     The descriptions above showed an example of displaying recommendation areas as a part of the home screen when the communication apparatus  1  displays the home screen on the touch screen  11 . This is not limitative, however: the user-configurable area  41  and a recommendation button  47  (to be explained in detail hereinafter with  FIG. 10  and  FIGS. 11A to 11D ) for displaying recommendation areas  42 ,  43 , and  44  may be displayed on the home screen, and the recommendation areas  42 ,  43 , and  44  may be displayed when the recommendation button  47  is selected by the user. 
     The procedure of a home screen display process for the communication apparatus  1  to arrange recommendation areas on the home screen according to instructions from the user through the recommendation button  47  or the like and display the home screen is described with respect to the flowchart shown in  FIG. 10  and the diagrams illustrating screens displayed in the procedure of the home screen display process of  FIG. 10  shown in  FIGS. 11A to 11D . 
     It is assumed that at the beginning the user-configurable area  41  is being displayed in the display area  40  on the touch screen  11  as shown in  FIG. 11A . The main control unit  20  determines whether the recommendation button  47  has been selected or not (S 601 ). If the recommendation button  47  has not been selected (NO at S 601 ), the main control unit  20  proceeds to wait. 
     If the recommendation button  47  has been selected (YES at S 601 ), the main control unit  20  generates a first recommendation area (S 603 ). The first recommendation area may be any of the above-described recommendation areas, which may be a preset one or frequently used one. It is assumed that the first recommendation area is the recommended-application/file area  42 . Here, the recommended-application/file area  42  is generated in the manner described at step S 505 , the recommended-web area  43  is in the manner described at step S 507 , and the recommended-contact area  44  is in the manner described at step S 509 . 
     The main control unit  20  displays the recommendation area generated at step S 603  on the display area  40  of the touch screen  11  (S 605 ). The recommended-application/file area  42  is displayed in the display area  40  of the touch screen  11  as depicted in  FIG. 11B , for example. 
     The main control unit  20  determines whether area switching has been ordered by the user or not (S 607 ). The main control unit  20  determines that area switching is ordered if switching is requested through a predetermined operation by the user, e.g., the surface of the touch screen  11  is rubbed for a predetermined time period or longer. If area switching has not been ordered (NO at S 607 ), the main control unit  20  proceeds to wait. 
     If area switching has been ordered (YES at S 607 ), the main control unit  20  generates a second recommendation area (S 609 ). The second recommendation area is a recommendation area different from the first recommendation area. In this example, the second recommendation area is the recommended-web area  43  (see  FIG. 11C ) or the recommended-contact area  44  (see  FIG. 11D ), for example. Here, the recommended-application/file area  42  is generated in the manner described at step S 505 , the recommended-web area  43  is in the manner described at step S 507 , and the recommended-contact area  44  is in the manner described at step S 509 . 
     The main control unit  20  displays the recommendation area generated at step S 609  on the display area  40  of the touch screen  11  (S 611 ). When the second recommendation area is the recommended-web area  43 , for example, the recommended-web area  43  is shown in the display area  40  of the touch screen  11  as depicted in  FIG. 11C . When the second recommendation area is the recommended-contact area  44 , for example, the recommended-contact area  44  is shown in the display area  40  of the touch screen  11  as depicted in  FIG. 11D . 
     The communication apparatus  1  thus acquires the latest output from the recommendation engine  35  at the time of screen display (when the communication apparatus  1  is started up or returns from screen non-display mode), and provides the latest information on application/files, telephone calling, e-mail composition, and web browsing with contact information, and websites based on the output of the recommendation engine  35  as icons on the screen of the touch screen  11 . 
     At the same time, to preserve traditional usability, the communication apparatus  1  provides the user-configurable area  41  to display icons preselected by the user, a link icon for an all-function display screen associated with all functions of the communication apparatus  1  (i.e., the all-function display button  45 ), and areas in which shortcuts are automatically set up based on recommendation output (i.e., the recommendation areas  42 ,  43 , and  44 ). 
     In addition, in consideration of practical utility, the recommendation areas are organized by purpose, such as the recommended-application/file area  42 , recommended-web area  43 , and recommended-contact area  44 . These areas may also be implemented in widgets. Layout of the recommendation areas is desirably user configurable. The recommendation areas are desirably configured to allow the user to see less recommended shortcut buttons by scrolling on the screen with a finger. 
     According to the communication apparatus  1  according to this embodiment, a home screen with excellent user operability can be displayed by acquiring and displaying the latest recommended information on the screen at the start of screen display. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel apparatuses described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the apparatuses described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions. 
     For example, while the communication apparatus  1  has been illustrated for description of the embodiment, this is not limitative and the present invention is applicable to any communication apparatus that is capable of displaying a home screen, such as a mobile phone, PHS (Personal Handy phone System), PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), MID (Mobile Internet Device), portable music player, portable video camera, and portable gaming machine.