Patent Publication Number: US-2011078180-A1

Title: Information acquiring terminal apparatus, and method and recording medium storing an information acquisition

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to an information acquiring terminal apparatus, and, more particularly, to an information acquiring terminal apparatus that acquires information through a line that charges depending on a communication distance and a communication time, a method for the information acquisition, and a recording medium storing the information acquisition to be executed by a computer. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     An information acquiring terminal apparatus is known, which acquires information through a line that charges on the basis of a given charging system based on at least one of a communication distance and a communication time. Such an information acquiring terminal apparatus accesses an information providing terminal apparatus, a server, etc., (hereinafter “partner apparatus”) retaining information to acquire, in other words, desired information through the line to communicate with the partner apparatus, thus acquires the desired information. 
     A technique has been disclosed, according to which, in the case of acquiring electronic information via a communication network, when a user inputs data corresponding to information on an electronic information source provider to send a distribution request to the provider, a data processor disposed on the communication network system receives the distribution request temporarily, analyzes data requested by the distribution request, and sends access information for communication with the provider back to the user. 
     In some cases, a communication partner to an information acquiring terminal apparatus, that is, a partner apparatus retaining and providing desired information is distant from the information acquiring terminal apparatus, and the volume of information to acquire is large to make a communication time longer. In such cases, a longer communication distance or communication time leads to a problem that using a line that charges based on at least one of a communication time and a communication distance may result in a higher charge amount. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention was conceived in view of the circumstances, and it is therefore the object of the preset invention to provide an information acquiring terminal apparatus capable of determining information to acquire based on an acquisition condition including a condition on a charge amount in information acquisition. 
     According to a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the object, (a) an information acquiring terminal apparatus that acquires information through a line that charges on the basis of a given charge system based on at least one of a communication distance and a communication time includes (b) an acquisition subject attribute setting portion that sets the attribute of information to acquire depending on input by a user, (c) acquisition condition setting portion that sets an acquisition condition including a condition on a maximum charge amount at information acquisition depending on input by the user, (d) an acquisition subject determining portion that based on a communication condition in the case of acquiring each acquisition candidate information matching an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion, determines each acquisition candidate information satisfying the acquisition condition to be acquisition subject information, and (e) an acquiring portion that acquires the acquisition subject information through the line. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention, (a) an information acquiring method of acquiring information through a line that charges on the basis of a given charge system based on at least one of a communication distance and a communication time includes (b) an acquisition subject attribute setting step of setting the attribute of information to acquire depending on input by a user, (c) an acquisition condition setting step of setting an acquisition condition including a condition on a maximum charge amount at information acquisition depending on input by the user, (d) an acquisition subject determining step of determining each acquisition candidate information satisfying the acquisition condition to be acquisition subject information, based on a communication condition in the case of acquiring each acquisition candidate information matching an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion, and (e) an acquiring step of acquiring the acquisition subject information through the line. 
     According to a third aspect of the present invention, (a) an information recording medium stores an information acquiring program that causes a computer to acquire an information through a line that charges on the basis of a given charge system based on at least one of a communication distance and a communication time. The information acquiring program causes the computer to function as (b) an acquisition subject attribute setting portion that sets the attribute of information to acquire depending on input by a user, (c) an acquisition condition setting portion that sets an acquisition condition including a condition on a maximum charge amount at information acquisition depending on input by the user, (d) an acquisition subject determining portion that based on a communication condition in the case of acquiring each acquisition candidate information matching an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion, determines each acquisition candidate information satisfying the acquisition condition to be acquisition subject information, and (e) an acquiring portion that acquires the acquisition subject information through the line. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an explanatory diagram of an example of connection of an information acquiring terminal apparatus of the present invention via a communication line; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram for explaining an example of a configuration of the information acquiring terminal apparatus of  FIG. 1  and a schematic of functions of a control portion incorporated in the information acquiring terminal apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  is an explanatory diagram of an example of display made on a touch panel display of the information acquiring terminal when an attribute is set by an acquisition subject attribute setting portion; 
         FIG. 4  is an explanatory diagram of an example of display made on the touch panel display of the information acquiring terminal when an acquisition condition is set by an acquisition condition setting portion; 
         FIG. 5  is an explanatory diagram of an example of an acquisition condition/attribute table having stored therein an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion and acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion; 
         FIG. 6  is an explanatory diagram of an example of an image quality table that defines image qualities which are image properties; 
         FIG. 7  depicts an example of an acquisition candidate information table indicating management information given by extraction of acquisition candidate information by an acquisition candidate information extracting portion and calculation of a charge amount as a communication condition by a communication condition calculating portion; 
         FIG. 8  depicts an example of an acquisition subject table indicating a list of images that are determined to be acquisition subject by an acquisition subject determining portion; 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation carried out by the information acquiring terminal apparatus of the present information; 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation in a management information acquiring routine executed as a management information acquiring process of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation in an acquisition subject determining routine executed as an acquisition subject determining process of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation in a download charge amount calculating routine executed as a download charge amount calculating process of  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation in an image acquiring routine executed as an image acquiring process of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 14  is a block diagram for explaining an example of a configuration of the information acquiring terminal apparatus of  FIG. 1  according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a schematic of functions of a control portion incorporated in the information acquiring terminal apparatus, and is a diagram corresponding to the diagram of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 15  is a block diagram for explaining an example of a configuration of a management information retaining terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention and a schematic of functions of a control portion incorporated in the management information retaining terminal; 
         FIG. 16  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation by the image acquiring terminal and the management information retaining terminal as the management information acquiring process in the flowchart of  FIG. 9  according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 17  is an explanatory diagram of another example of display made on the touch panel display of the information acquiring terminal when an attribute is set by an acquisition subject attribute setting portion, and is a diagram corresponding to the diagram of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  depicts a working example of an information acquiring terminal apparatus  16  (also simply referred to as “information acquiring terminal  16 ”) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the information acquiring terminal  16  is connected to a line  14  to be capable of information transmission/reception. The information acquiring terminal  16  is thus able to acquire management information on acquirable information, etc., from a management information retaining terminal apparatus  17  (also simply referred to as “management information retaining terminal  17 ”), which is another terminal also connected to the line  14  to be capable of information transmission/reception, via the line  14 , and to acquire information retained by an information retaining terminal apparatus  18  (also simply referred to as “information retaining terminal  18 ”) also connected to the line  14  to be capable of information transmission/reception, from the information retaining terminal  18  based on the management information. While three information retaining terminals  18   a ,  18   b , and  18   c  are depicted in  FIG. 1 , the information retaining terminal  18  is not limited in number, thus may be provided as a single terminal or a plurality of terminals. In this specification, the information retaining terminals  18   a ,  18   b , and  18   c  are represented simply as information retaining terminal  18  when the information retaining terminals  18   a ,  18   b , and  18   c  are not distinguished from each other. In the following embodiment, image data (image file) in a file format of image, etc., (e.g., JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), PNG (Portable Network Graphics), and GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is used as an equivalent to information of this embodiment. In this embodiment, therefore, information retained by the information retaining terminal  18  and acquired by the information acquiring terminal  16  is an image, but the present invention is not limited by this definition. 
     The line  14  is the line that charges on the basis of a given charge system based on at least one of a communication time and a communication distance. For example, the public telephone line is equivalent to such a line. On the telephone line, a communication charge (call charge) is levied based on a given charge system depending on the area codes of telephone numbers for a call origin and a call destination, i.e., the distance between an area the call origin belongs to and an area the call destination belongs to and with a communication time. Specifically, for example, the given charge system works in such a way that 8.5 yen is charged for a 3 minutes local call and 84 yen for a 3 minutes long-distance call made across a distance of over 100 km. 
     As depicted in  FIG. 2 , the information acquiring terminal  16  includes a touch panel display  26  that displays a given image and that makes input in response to touch operation by a user, a control portion  28  that carries out various controls including image display control by the information acquiring terminal  16 , a ROM  30  serving as a read-only memory, a RAM  32  serving as a random read/write memory, and a communication portion  36  for carrying out telephone communication (call) with the management information retaining terminal  17  and with the information retaining terminal  18  via the line  14 . 
     As depicted in  FIG. 2 , the touch panel display  26  has a display device  40  serving as a display portion that displays a given image on the touch panel display  26  and a touch panel  42  that makes input when the touch panel display  26  is touched by the user&#39;s finger, an accessory pen (not depicted), etc. The information acquiring terminal  16  also includes a display control portion  44  that controls display of an image (moving images) by the display device  40  and an input control portion  46  that processes input information entered on the touch panel  42 . With the display control portion  44  and the input control portion  46 , the touch panel display  26  carries out image display control and information input control via the display device  40  and the touch panel  42 . 
     The control portion  28  is a so-called microcomputer that causes a CPU or central processing unit to carry out various information processing, based on information stored in the ROM  30  while utilizing a temporary memory function of the RAM  32 . The control portion  28  carries out various controls related to the operation of the information acquiring terminal  16  of this embodiment, such as image display control of causing the touch panel display  26  (display device  40 ) to display a given image via the display control portion  44 , input processing control of processing an input signal that is entered via the input control portion  46  in response to touch operation on the touch panel display  26  (touch panel  42 ), and communication control of controlling communication with the management information retaining terminal  17  and with the information retaining terminal  18  via the communication portion  36  and the line  14 . To carry out such controls, the control portion  28  has such control functions as an acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52 , an acquisition condition setting portion  54 , a management information acquiring portion  56 , an acquisition subject determining portion  58 , and an acquiring portion  64 . These control functions will be described later. 
     The RAM  32  has stored therein information acquiring terminal information  72 , an acquisition condition/attribute table  74 , an image quality table  76 , an acquisition candidate information table  78 , an acquisition subject table  80 , a charge table  82 , acquired information  84 , etc. The information acquiring terminal information  72  is required when the information acquiring terminal  16  communicates with the management information retaining terminal  17  and with the information retaining terminal  18  via the line  14 . For example, the information acquiring terminal information  72  is information on a telephone number, etc., on the line  14  to which the image acquiring terminal  16  is connected. The acquisition condition/attribute table  74  is the table having stored therein the attribute of information to acquire and acquisition conditions at information acquisition that are set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  and the acquisition condition setting portion  54  respectively. The image quality table  76  is the table that expresses acquisition conditions displayed in an classified form on the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 , as specific numerical index ranges. The image quality table  76  of this embodiment represents an instance in which an acquisition condition is an image quality that is the properties of information. The acquisition candidate information table  78  is the table having stored therein acquirable information acquired by the management information acquiring portion  56  and information related to the acquired information. With the acquisition candidate information table  78 , candidates matching acquisition conditions and an acquisition subject attribute are narrowed down to determine acquisition subject information. The acquisition subject table  80  is the table having stored therein at least a list of information that is determined by the acquisition subject determining portion  58  to be information to be actually acquired from the information retaining terminal  18 . The charge table  82  is the table having stored therein the given charge system for charging for a telephone call made via the line  14 . On the charge table  82 , which is not depicted, for example, a charge amount is determined based on a communication time and a communication distance. The acquired information  84  is information itself that is acquired from the information retaining terminal  18  by the acquiring portion  64 . 
     The functions of the control portion  28  will hereinafter be described based on the description of  FIG. 2 . The acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  sets the attribute of information to acquire. In this embodiment, specifically, because information acquired by the information acquiring terminal  16  is an image, the attribute is equivalent to a keyword that is associated with the image as a place of photographing the image or the contents of the image. The attribute is entered by the user through the touch panel  42 , etc. Control operation by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  corresponds to an acquisition subject attribute setting step. 
       FIG. 3  depicts an instance in which attributes are area names represented as prefectural names. The display device  40  of the touch panel display  26  has an input space  90  displaying a list of selectable prefectural names as attribute candidates. When the user is to acquire an image related to Kyoto prefecture, the user touches a part of the touch panel display  26  that displays “Kyoto-fu” with the user&#39;s finger tip or an input touch pen. This causes the touch panel  42  to input selection of the display “Kyoto-fu”, thereby puts the display “Kyoto-fu” in a highlighted state on the display device  40 . Subsequently, by touching an OK button  91  with the finger tip or touch pen, the whole input operation is completed. Hence the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  sets “Kyoto-fu” as the attribute of information to acquire. 
     In  FIG. 2 , the acquisition condition setting portion  54  sets acquisition conditions that are conditions at acquisition of information, i.e., an image. The acquisition conditions include a condition on a charge amount for communication made via the line  14  upon image acquisition, specifically, for example, include a maximum charge amount, and also include the number of images (pieces of picture) to acquire and the properties of images to acquire. Control operation by the acquisition condition setting portion  54  corresponds to an acquisition condition setting step. 
     As depicted in  FIG. 4 , the display device  40  of the touch panel display  26  has input spaces  92   a  and  92   b  for inputting the number of images and a maximum charge amount as acquisition conditions, respectively, and a selection space  92   c  for selectively inputting an image quality as image properties. The user inputs the desired number of images and the maximum charge amount to the input spaces  92   a  and  92   b , respectively. This input operation is carried out by, for example, written character recognition on the touch panel  42  or use of a keyboard, etc., displayed on the touch panel display  26 . A desired image quality is selected from the selection space  92   c . This image quality selection is carried out in the same manner as attribute selection of  FIG. 3 . When an OK button  93  is touched with the finger tip or touch pen, the whole input operation is completed. Hence the acquisition condition setting portion  54  sets acquisition conditions depending on input contents. In the example of  FIG. 4 ,  5  is entered as the number of images, 400 is entered as the maximum charge amount, and Standard is selected as the image quality. 
     The acquisition condition/attribute table  74  depicted in  FIG. 5  is stored in the RAM  32 , as described above. On the acquisition condition/attribute table  74  of this embodiment, the area as the attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  is recorded as “Kyoto-fu”, and the number of images, the maximum charge amount, and the image quality as the acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion  54  are recorded as “5”, “400”, and “Standard”, respectively. 
     In this embodiment, as described referring to  FIG. 4 , image quality representing the properties of information is classified into three categories of “Economy”, “Standard”, and “Fine”, from which one category of image quality is selected. In this case, each of the categories “Economy”, “Standard”, and “Fine” is defined by a specific resolution, the number of colors, etc. The image quality table  76  depicted in  FIG. 6  is stored in the RAM  32 . On the image quality table  76  of  FIG. 6 , classified three categories of image quality are defined by, for example, image resolutions in dpi (dot per inch) units. 
     In  FIG. 2 , the management information acquiring portion  56  acquires management information on acquirable information. In this embodiment, management information includes an ID for an image as acquirable information, i.e., image ID, a file name, an area as an attribute, a file size (photograph size), resolution, information on a method of connection to the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image, that is, specifically, information on a telephone number for the information retaining terminal  18 , and a thumbnail image. In other words, this management information is the information indicating what image each information retaining terminal  18  retains. The management information acquiring portion  56  sends a management information acquisition request to the management information retaining terminal  17  via the line  14 , and receives management information sent back from the management information retaining terminal  17  in response to the acquisition request to store the received management information temporarily in the RAM  32 . In this embodiment, management information is accumulated in the management information retaining terminal  17 . Preferably, the management information retaining terminal  17  may send an inquiry to each information retaining terminal  18  about its retained information, for example, at predetermined intervals to update management information retained by the management information retaining terminal  17 . 
     The acquisition subject determining portion  58  determines acquisition subject information from management information acquired by the management information acquiring portion  56 , based on an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  and acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion  54 . Specifically, the acquisition subject determining portion  58  extracts a combination of images satisfying the attribute and the acquisition conditions from images included in the management information, and determines the extracted images to be acquisition subject images. The acquisition subject determining portion  58  has functional elements of an acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  and a communication condition calculating portion  62 . Control operation by the acquisition subject determining portion  58  corresponds to an acquisition subject determining step. 
     The acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  extracts an image whose attribute matches the attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  from acquirable images in the management information acquired by the management information acquiring portion  56 , as acquisition candidate information. In this embodiment, the area as the attribute is “Kyoto-fu”, so that an image whose attribute matches the attribute “Kyoto-fu” in the management information is extracted as acquisition candidate information. Not only the acquirable image in the management information that has the attribute matching the attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52 , but an image whose attribute is similar to the set attribute at a predetermined given similarity level may also be extracted as acquisition candidate information. 
     The communication condition calculating portion  62  calculates a communication condition for each acquisition candidate information extracted by the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60 , for a case where the information acquiring terminal  16  acquires each acquisition candidate information from the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the acquisition candidate information via the line  14 . The communication condition includes a charge amount levied at acquisition of each acquisition candidate information, and, in this embodiment, the charge amount is used as the communication condition. Specifically, the communication condition calculating portion  62  calculates a charge amount depending on a communication time and a communication distance, referring to the charge table  82  stored in the RAM  32 , for each acquisition candidate information. The communication time is calculated from a transmission time, which is computed from the file size of each acquisition candidate information included in the management information and the known transmission rate of the communication portion  36  (e.g., 56 kbps), and a known negotiation time required by the communication portion  36  for negotiation. The communication distance is determined by applying the area code of the telephone number for the information acquiring terminal  16 , the telephone number being the information acquiring terminal information  72  stored in the RAM  32 , and the area code of the telephone number for each information retaining terminal  18  retaining each acquisition candidate information included in the management information, to the charge table  82 . In this manner, the communication condition calculating portion  62  calculates a charge amount at information acquisition for each acquisition candidate information that is extracted by the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  as information to acquire whose attribute matches the set attribute. 
     The acquisition candidate information table  78  depicted in  FIG. 7  is stored in the RAM  32 . The acquisition candidate information table  78  has stored therein pieces of information included in management information, such as image IDs that are IDs for acquirable images, file names, areas as attributes, file sizes (photograph sizes), resolution, information on a method of connection to the information retaining terminals  18  retaining the images, that is, specifically, information of telephone numbers for the information retaining terminals  18 , and thumbnail images. For an image not including a thumbnail image, not “thumbnail image” but “none” is entered in a thumbnail space  78   b  to indicate the absence of a thumbnail image. 
     In this embodiment, as stated above, the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  extracts an image to acquire having an attribute of “Kyoto-fu”. The acquisition candidate information table  78  of  FIG. 7 , therefore, does not include an image having an attribute not entered as “Kyoto-fu” in an attribute space  78   a . The acquisition candidate information table  78  of  FIG. 7  is provided with an amount space  78   c , in addition to spaces for management information on each image, and a charge amount as a communication condition that is calculated by the communication condition calculating portion  62  is entered in the amount space  78   c.    
     The acquisition subject determining portion  58  determines a combination of images satisfying acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion  54  to be acquisition subject images, referring to the acquisition candidate information table  78  of  FIG. 7 . Specifically, in this embodiment, acquisition conditions are stored in the acquisition condition/attribute table of  FIG. 5 . The acquisition subject determining portion  58  thus determines a combination of images satisfying acquisition conditions of an image quality of “Standard”, the number of images of 5, and being acquirable within a charge amount range of 400 yen to be acquisition subject images, referring to the acquisition candidate information table  78  of  FIG. 7 . The determined combination of images are stored in the acquisition subject table  80 . 
     The acquisition subject table  80  of  FIG. 8  is stored in the RAM  32 . In this embodiment, the acquisition information determining portion  58  determines 5 images with photograph IDs of “PH 100002 ”, “PH 100007 ”, “PH 100008 ”, “PH 100009 ”, and “PH 1000010 ” to be acquisition information. The acquisition subject table  80  of  FIG. 8  has stored therein not only image IDs for acquisition subject images but also telephone numbers for information retaining terminals  18  retaining the images. These telephone numbers are extracted from the acquisition candidate information table  78 , temporarily stored management information, etc. 
     The acquiring portion  64  receives an image determined to be an acquisition subject image by the acquisition subject determining portion  58 , from the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image via the line  14 . Specifically, for example, to acquire each image corresponding to each image ID stored in the acquisition subject table  80  of  FIG. 8 , the acquiring portion  64  makes a telephone call to the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image corresponding to the image ID by entering the telephone number of the information retaining terminal  18 . The acquiring portion  64  then sends a request for transmission of the image corresponding to the image ID to the information retaining terminal  18  connected to the acquiring portion  64  via the line  14  that is the telephone line, and receives the incoming image transmitted from the information retaining terminal  18 . The received image is stored in the RAM  32  as the acquired information  84 . This process is repeated on each acquisition subject image to complete acquisition of acquisition subject images. Control operation by the acquiring portion  64  corresponds to an acquiring step. 
     In this embodiment, a configuration of the management information retaining terminal  17  is not particularly specified when the management information retaining terminal  17  is capable of storing management information and transmitting the management information to the information acquiring terminal  16  via the line  14  in response to a request from the information acquiring terminal  16 . Likewise, a configuration of the information retaining terminal  18  is not particularly specified when the information retaining terminal  18  is capable of storing information and transmitting the information to the information acquiring terminal  16  via the line  14  in response to a request from the information acquiring terminal  16 . 
     A schematic of the control operation by the information acquiring terminal apparatus  16  of this embodiment will be described referring to  FIG. 9 . At step S 1  corresponding to the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  (hereinafter, “step” will be omitted), the CPU sets the attribute of an image to acquire (desired image). This setting is carried out by, for example, receiving input by a user on the touch panel  26 . 
     At S 2  corresponding to the acquisition condition setting portion  54 , the CPU sets acquisition conditions at image acquisition. These acquisition conditions include a condition on a maximum charge amount in communication carried out via the line upon acquiring an image. This acquisition condition setting is carried out by, for example, receiving input by the user on the touch panel  26 . 
     At S 3  corresponding to the management information acquiring portion  56  and the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  of the acquisition subject determining portion  58 , the CPU executes a management information acquiring routine for acquiring management information retained by the management information retaining terminal  17  via the line  14 . This management information includes information of an image that is information acquirable via the line  14 , such as an image ID that is an ID for the image, a file name, an area as an attribute, a file size (photograph size), resolution, information on a method of connection to the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image, that is, specifically, information of a telephone number for the information retaining terminal  18 , and a thumbnail image. The acquired management information is saved in the RAM  32 , etc., of the information acquiring terminal  16 . 
     An example of control operation in the management information acquiring routine will be described referring to  FIG. 10 . At SA 1 , the CPU establishes communication between the communication portion  36  of the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  via the line  14 . Specifically, since the line  14  is the public telephone line in this embodiment, a call is made to the management information retaining terminal  17  by entering its telephone number to put the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  in a state where they are able to transmit/receive information to/from each other. 
     At SA 2 , the CPU acquires management information of an image that is information acquirable via the line  14 , using the line  14  used at SA 1 . When transmission of the management information from the management information retaining terminal  17  to the information acquiring terminal  16  is completed, SA 3  follows, at which the CPU disconnects the line  14  establishing connection between the management information retaining terminal  17  and the information acquiring terminal  16 . In the management information acquiring routine of  FIG. 10 , SA 1  and SA 3  correspond to the management information acquiring portion  56 . 
     At SA 4 , the CPU carries out image extraction from the management information acquired at SA 2 , based on the attribute of the image set at S 1  of  FIG. 9 , i.e., contents stored in the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 . Specifically, the CPU carries out work of extracting only the acquirable image included in the management information acquired at SA 2  that has an attribute matching or similar at a given similarity level to the attribute of the image set at S 1 . Because the attribute of an image is a prefectural name representing a place of photographing, etc., in this embodiment, being similar in attribute at a given similarity level portion, for example, an instance of inclusion of the name of a prefecture neighboring the attribute prefecture or a prefecture belonging to the same region the attribute prefecture belongs to. When a general name is used as an attribute, wavering in expression or another name representing the same concept is included as similarity in attribute. At step SA 4 , an image extracted from the management information is acquisition candidate information. 
     At SA 5 , the CPU stores the management information extracted at SA 4  in the acquisition candidate information table  78 . In the management information acquiring routine of  FIG. 10 , SA 4  and SA 5  correspond to the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  of the acquisition subject determining portion  58 . 
     In  FIG. 9 , at S 4  corresponding to the acquisition subject determining portion  58 , the CPU executes an acquisition subject determining routine for determining an acquisition subject image.  FIG. 11  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation in the acquisition subject determining routine. 
     At SB 1 , the CPU executes a download charge amount (charge amount) calculating routine. In the download charge amount (charge amount) calculating routine, a communication condition for each image extracted at SA 4  and stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78  at SA 5  is calculated for a case where the information acquiring terminal  16  acquires each image from the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image via the line  14 . 
     An example of control operation in the download charge amount calculating routine will be described referring to  FIG. 12 . This control operation corresponds to the communication condition calculating portion  62  of the acquisition subject determining portion  58 . At SC 1 , the CPU reads in management information on one image from the acquisition candidate information table  78 . 
     At SC 2 , the CPU calculates a charge amount (communication charge) for communication at acquisition of the image corresponding to the management information read in at SC 1 , based on the management information read in at SC 1  and the information acquiring terminal information  72  stored in advance. Specifically, based on the area codes of the telephone numbers for the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image and the information acquiring terminal  16 , a charge system applied to communication between both terminals  18  and  16  via the line  14  is selected from the charge table  82 . Based on a time required for transmission/reception that is calculated from a prestored communication rate in communication between both terminals  18  and  16  via the line  14  and the file size of the image and on an experimentally precalculated time required for such communication preparation as negotiation between both terminals  18  and  16  via the line  14 , a communication time between the point of connection and the point of disconnection of the line  14  is calculated. Hence a charge amount corresponding to the communication time is calculated based on the selected charge system. 
     At SC 3 , the CPU enters the charge amount as an acquisition condition calculated at SC 2  in the amount space  78   c  on the acquisition candidate information table  78 . 
     At SC 4 , the CPU determines whether an image not subjected to the processes at SC 1  to SC 3  is present among images stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78 . When the processes at SC 1  to SC 3  are carried out on not all of images stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78 , the determination at step SC 4  gives a conclusion YES. As a result, the processes at SC 1  to SC 3  are carried out on an image not subjected to the processes at SC 1  to SC 3  yet. When the processes at SC 1  to SC 3  are carried out on all of the images stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78 , the determination at step SC 4  gives a conclusion NO, in which case the routine comes to an end. 
     In  FIG. 11 , at SB 2 , the CPU initializes a variable “TEMP total amount” representing a total charge amount in the acquisition subject determining routine to set the variable to 0. At SB 3 , the CPU initializes a variable “TEMP total number of images” representing the number of images (number of files) to acquire in the routine to set the variable to 0. 
     At SB 4 , the CPU reads out management information on one image from the acquisition candidate information table  78 . 
     At SB 5 , the CPU determines whether a condition on the image quality of the image is specified as an acquisition condition at image acquisition, referring to the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 . When the image quality is specified as the acquisition condition, that is, when the condition on the image quality is stored in the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 , the determination at step SB 5  gives a conclusion YES, in which case SB 6  is carried out. When the image quality is not specified as the acquisition condition, SB 7  is carried out. 
     At SB 6 , the CPU determines whether an image quality stored in the management information on the image read at SB 4  satisfies the specified condition on the image quality. In this determination, for example, to which of three categories of image quality stored in the image quality table  76  the image quality is equivalent is determined based on the resolution entered in the resolution space  78   d  of the acquisition candidate information table  78 , and then whether the determined image quality matches an image quality stored in the acquisition condition/attribute table  74  is determined. When the image quality stored in the management information on the image read at SB 4  satisfies the specified condition on the image quality, the determination at step SB 6  gives a conclusion YES, in which case SB 7  is carried out. When the image quality stored in the management information on the image read at SB 4  does not satisfy the specified condition on the image quality, the determination at step SB 6  gives a conclusion NO, in which case the image corresponding to the management information read at SB 4  is not determined to be an acquisition subject image. As a result, SB 12  is carried out. 
     At SB 7 , the CPU adds a charge amount entered in the amount space  78   c  (see  FIG. 7 ), which is included in the management information read at SB 4 , to the variable “TEMP total amount”. At SB 8 , 1 is added to the variable “TEMP total number of images”. These processes correspond to calculation of a total charge amount and the total number of images to acquire in a case when acquiring images which corresponds to the management information read at SB 4 . 
     At SB 9 , the CPU determines whether the variable “TEMP total amount” exceeds a maximum charge amount (specified amount) set as an acquisition condition. The maximum charge amount is stored, for example, in the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 , thus acquired by referring thereto. When the variable “TEMP total amount” exceeds the maximum charge amount, the determination at step SB 9  gives a conclusion YES, in which case the image of which the management information is read at SB 4  is not added to acquisition subject images, and the flowchart comes to an end. 
     At SB 10 , the CPU determines whether the variable “TEMP total number of images” exceeds the number of images to acquire set as an acquisition condition. The number of images to acquire is stored, for example, in the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 , thus acquired by referring thereto. When the variable “TEMP total number of images” exceeds the number of images to acquire, the determination at step SB 10  gives a conclusion YES, in which case the image of which the management information is read at SB 4  is not added to acquisition subject images, and the flowchart comes to an end. 
     At SB 11 , the CPU adds the image of which the management information is read at SB 4  to acquisition subject images. Specifically, in this embodiment, for the image of which the management information is read at SB 4 , the image ID and a telephone number for the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image are stored in the acquisition subject table  80 . 
     At SB 12 , the CPU determines whether an image not subjected to the processes at SB 4  to SB 11  is present among images stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78 . When the image not subjected to the processes at SB 4  to SB 11  is present among the images stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78 , the determination at step SB 12  gives a conclusion YES, in which case the processes are carried out on the image not subjected to the processes at SB 4  to SB 11  yet. When all of the images stored in the acquisition candidate information table  78  are subjected to the processes at SB 4  to SB 11 , the determination at step SB 12  gives a conclusion NO, in which case the routine comes to an end. 
     In  FIG. 9 , at S 5  corresponding to the acquiring portion  64 , the CPU carries out an image acquiring routine for acquiring an acquisition subject image.  FIG. 13  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation in the image acquiring routine. 
     At SD 1 , the CPU sorts images on the acquisition subject table  80 , which is a list of acquisition subject images made in the acquisition subject determining routine of  FIG. 12 , by telephone numbers for the information retaining terminals  18  retaining the images. This allows acquisition of a plurality of images through one time of connection of the line  14  in the case of acquiring a plurality of images from the same information retaining terminal  18 , which will be described later, thus enables a charge amount reduction in the case of charging for each line connection. 
     At SD 2 , when one image is selected from the acquisition subject table  80 , the CPU reads in an image ID for the image and a telephone number for the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image. At SD 3 , the CPU establishes communication between the communication portion  36  of the information acquiring terminal  16  and the information retaining terminal  18  via the line  14 . Specifically, a call is made by entering the telephone number read at SD 2 , which puts the information acquiring terminal  16  and the information retaining terminal  18  in a state where they are able to transmit/receive information to/from each other via the line  14  that is the public telephone line. 
     At SD 4 , the CPU causes the information acquiring terminal  16  to acquire the image with the image ID read at SD 2  from the information retaining terminal  18 . Specifically, for example, the information acquiring terminal  16  sends an image transmission request to the information retaining terminal  18 , using the image ID read at SD 2 , and the information retaining terminal  18  transmits the requested image to the information acquiring terminal  16  in response to the transmission request. The image acquired at step SD 4  is stored in the RAM  32 , etc., of the information acquiring terminal  16  as the acquired information  84 . 
     At SD 5 , the CPU determines whether an image not subjected to the acquiring process at SD 3  and SD 4  is present among images stored in the acquisition subject table  80 . When the image not subjected to the acquiring process at SD 3  to SD 4  is present among the images stored in the acquisition subject table  80 , the determination at step SD 5  gives a conclusion YES, in which case SD 7  and the ensuing steps are carried out. When all of the images stored in the acquisition subject table  80  have been subjected to the acquiring process at SD 3  and SD 4 , the determination at step SD 5  gives a conclusion NO, in which case SD 6  is carried out. 
     At SD 6  that is carried out when the determination at SD 5  gives a conclusion NO, the CPU disconnects the line  14 , which is connected at SD 3 , and then ends the routine. 
     At SD 7  that is carried out when the determination at SD 5  gives a conclusion YES, the CPU selects another image not subjected to the process at SD 3  and SD 4  yet from the acquisition subject table, and reads in an image ID for the image and a telephone number for the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image. 
     At SD 8 , the CPU determines whether the telephone number read at SD 7  is identical with a telephone number read immediately before, i.e., a telephone number for a connection destination currently connected via the line  14 . When the telephone number read at SD 7  is identical with the telephone number for the current connection destination, the determination at step SD 8  gives a conclusion YES, in which case SD 4  is carried out to acquire the image selected at SD 7 . When a plurality of images are acquired from the information retaining terminal  18  that is the same connection destination, therefore, the line  14  as established connection is not disconnected, so that no reconnection of the line  14  occurs. When the telephone number read at SD 7  is not identical with the telephone number for the current connection destination, the determination at step SD 8  gives a conclusion NO, in which case SD 9  is carried out. 
     At SD 9 , the CPU disconnects the connected line  14 . Following disconnection of the line  14 , SD 3  is carried out to establish connection to the information retaining terminal  18  with the telephone number read at SD 7 , which is a connection destination different from the previous connection destination. 
     According to the embodiment, when an image is acquired through the line  14  that charges on the basis of a given charge system based on at least one of a communication distance and a communication time, the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  sets the attribute of the image to acquire depending on input by the user, and the acquisition condition setting portion  54  sets acquisition conditions including a maximum charge amount at image acquisition depending on input by the user. Based on a charge amount as a communication condition in the case of acquiring each acquisition candidate information matching the attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52 , the acquisition subject determining portion  58  determines the acquisition candidate information satisfying the acquisition condition to be an acquisition subject image. The acquiring portion  64  acquires the acquisition subject image through the line  14 . This allows acquisition of the image satisfying the attribute as well as the acquisition conditions including the maximum charge amount. 
     According to the embodiment, the communication conditions include a charge amount that is calculated on the basis of a given charge system stored in the charge table  82  that is based on at least one of a communication distance in communication for acquiring acquisition candidate information and a communication time calculated from a communication rate and the size of the acquisition candidate information. Based on whether a charge amount in communication for acquiring each acquisition candidate information satisfies a condition on the maximum charge amount included in the acquisition conditions, therefore, the acquisition subject determining portion  58  determines whether or not to determine the acquisition candidate information to be an acquisition subject image. This allows acquisition of the image satisfying the attribute as well as the acquisition conditions including the maximum charge amount. 
     According to the embodiment, the acquisition conditions determined by the acquisition condition setting portion  54  include at least one of the number of information files, i.e., number of images, and an image quality as information properties. This allows acquisition of the image that satisfies the attribute as well as the acquisition conditions including at least one of the number of images and the image quality in addition to the maximum charge amount. 
     According to the embodiment, an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  is a place name that is associated information associated in advance with an image. This allows acquisition of the image that satisfies the attribute as a place name associated in advance with the image as well as the acquisition conditions including the maximum charge amount in image acquisition. 
     According to the embodiment, the acquisition subject determining portion  58  has the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  that extracts an image whose attribute matches an attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  from acquirable images stored in advance, as acquisition candidate information, and a communication condition calculating portion  62  that calculates a communication condition including a charge amount in the case of acquiring each acquisition candidate information based on a given charge system stored in advance. This allows acquisition of the image that satisfies the attribute associated in advance with the image as well as the acquisition conditions including the maximum charge amount, based on management information that is a list of acquirable images stored in the information acquiring terminal apparatus  16  and on the given charge system stored as the charge table  82 . 
     A second embodiment of the present invention will then be described. In the following description, the portion common to both first and second embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numeral and omitted in further explanation. 
       FIG. 14  corresponds to  FIG. 2  of the first embodiment. Comparing  FIG. 2  with  FIG. 14  reveals a difference that the information acquiring terminal  16  of this embodiment does not include the charge information calculating portion  56  and the acquisition subject determining portion  58  but includes a management information acquisition instructing portion  102  and an acquisition subject management information acquiring portion  104 . 
     The management information acquisition instructing portion  102  transmits the attribute of an image to acquire set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  and acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion  54  to the management information retaining terminal  17 , which will be described later. The management information acquisition instructing portion  102  then instructs the management information retaining terminal  17  to transmit management information on an image satisfying the attribute and acquisition conditions among images acquirable via the line  14 , i.e., acquisition subject management information back to the information acquiring terminal  16 . In this process, information required by an acquisition subject determining portion  122  of the management information retaining terminal  17  to be described later, such as a telephone number for the information acquiring terminal  16  that is the information acquiring terminal information  72  stored in the RAM  32  of the information acquiring terminal  16 , is also transmitted. 
     The acquisition subject management information acquiring portion  104  acquires the acquisition subject management information that is transmitted back from the management information retaining terminal  17  based on the instruction given to the management information retaining terminal  17  by the management information acquisition instructing portion  102 . The acquired acquisition subject management information is saved in the acquisition candidate information table  78  of the RAM  32 . 
     In the first embodiment, the management information retaining terminal  17  stores management information therein and is capable of transmitting the management information to the information acquiring terminal  16  via the line  14  in response to a transmission request from the information acquiring terminal  16 . According to the second embodiment, in contrast, the management information retaining terminal  17  has such functions as described later, thus having a configuration, for example, as depicted in  FIG. 15 . 
     As depicted in  FIG. 15 , the management information retaining terminal  17  includes a control portion  110  that carries out various controls by the management information retaining terminal  17 , a ROM  112  serving as a read-only memory, a RAM  114  serving as a random read/write memory, and a communication portion  116  for carrying out telephone communication (call) with the information acquiring terminal  16  or with the information retaining terminal  18  via the line  14 . 
     Like the control portion  28  of the information acquiring terminal  16 , the control portion  110  is a so-called microcomputer that causes a CPU or central processing unit to carry out various information processing, based on information stored in the ROM  112  while utilizing a temporary memory function of the RAM  114 . The control portion  110  carries out various controls related to the operation of the management information retaining terminal  17  of this embodiment. To carry out such controls, the control portion  110  has such control functions as a communication condition/attribute receiving portion  120 , an acquisition subject determining portion  122 , and an acquisition subject management information transmitting portion  128 . These control functions will be described later. 
     The RAM  114  has stored therein management information  92 , a charge table  94 , etc. The management information  92  is similar to the management information of the first embodiment, being the information on an image that is acquirable information. Specifically, the management information  92  includes an ID for an acquirable image, i.e., image ID, a file name, an area as an attribute, a file size (photograph size), resolution, information on a method of connection to the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the image, that is, specifically, information of a telephone number for the information retaining terminal  18 , and a thumbnail image. The charge table  94  is the table having stored therein the given charge system that is applied when telephone communication is carried out via the line  14 . With the charge table  94 , which is not depicted, a charge amount can be determined based on, for example, a communication time and a communication distance. The charge table  94  is similar to the charge table  82  stored in the RAM  32  of the information acquiring terminal  16  of the first embodiment. 
     The functions of the control portion  110  will hereinafter be described referring to  FIG. 15 . The communication condition/attribute receiving portion  120  receives the attribute of an image to acquire set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  and acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion  54 . The received attribute and acquisition conditions are temporarily stored in the RAM  114 , etc. 
     In the same manner as the acquisition subject determining portion  58  of the first embodiment does, the acquisition subject determining portion  122  determines acquisition subject information from the management information  92  stored in the RAM  114 , based on the attribute and acquisition conditions received by acquisition condition/attribute receiving portion  120 . Specifically, the acquisition subject determining portion  122  extracts a combination of images satisfying the attribute and acquisition conditions from images included in the management information  92 , and determines the extracted images to be acquisition subject images. The acquisition subject determining portion  122  has functional elements of an acquisition candidate information extracting portion  124  and a communication condition calculating portion  126 . 
     In the same manner as the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  of the first embodiment does, the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  124  extracts an image whose attribute matches the attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  of the information acquiring terminal  16  and received by the acquisition condition/attribute receiving portion  120  from acquirable images in the management information  92 , as acquisition candidate information. In the same manner as in the first embodiment, when an area as the attribute is “Kyoto-fu”, an image whose attribute matches the attribute “Kyoto-fu” in the management information is extracted as acquisition candidate information. Not only the acquirable image in the management information having the attribute matching the attribute set by the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52  but an image having an attribute similar to the attribute set at a predetermined given similarity level may also be extracted as acquisition candidate information. 
     In the same manner as the communication condition calculating portion  62  of the first embodiment does, the communication condition calculating portion  126  calculates a communication condition for each acquisition candidate information extracted by the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  124 , for a case where the information acquiring terminal  16  acquires each acquisition candidate information from the information retaining terminal  18  retaining the acquisition candidate information via the line  14 . The communication condition includes a charge amount levied at acquisition of each acquisition candidate information, and, in this embodiment, the charge amount is used as the communication condition. Specifically, the communication condition calculating portion  126  calculates a charge amount depending on a communication time and a communication distance, referring to the charge table  94  stored in the RAM  114 , for each acquisition candidate information. The communication time is calculated from a transmission time computed from the file size of each acquisition candidate information included in the management information and the known transmission rate of the communication portion  36  (e.g., 56 kbps) of the information acquiring terminal  16  and from a known negotiation time required by the communication portion  36  for negotiation. The communication distance is determined by applying the area code of the telephone number for the information acquiring terminal  16 , which is the information acquiring terminal information  72  stored in the RAM  32  of the information acquiring terminal  16 , and the area code of the telephone number for each information retaining terminal  18  retaining each acquisition candidate information included in the management information, to the charge table  94 . In this manner, the communication condition calculating portion  126  calculates a charge amount levied at information acquisition for each acquisition candidate information that is extracted by the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  124  as information to acquire whose attribute matches the set attribute. 
     In this embodiment, for the management information  92  stored in the RAM  114 , the acquisition candidate information table  78  is provided, for example, in such manner as depicted in  FIG. 7  to indicate the management information given as a result of extraction of acquisition candidate information by the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  124  and calculation of a charge amount as a communication condition by the communication condition calculating portion  94 . The acquisition candidate information table  78  made in this manner is stored temporarily in the RAM  114 . 
     In the same manner as the acquisition subject determining portion  58  of the first embodiment does, the acquisition subject determining portion  122  determines a combination of images satisfying acquisition conditions set by the acquisition condition setting portion  54  of the information acquiring terminal  16  and received by the acquisition condition/attribute receiving portion  120  to be acquisition subject images, referring to the acquisition candidate information table  78  of  FIG. 7 . Specifically, in this embodiment, the case of acquisition conditions being stored in the acquisition condition/attribute table of  FIG. 5  is considered, as in the first embodiment. The acquisition subject determining portion  122  thus determines a combination of images satisfying acquisition conditions of an image quality of “Standard”, the number of images of 5, and being acquirable within a charge amount range of 400 yen to be acquisition subject images, referring to the acquisition candidate information table  78  of  FIG. 7 . The determined combination of images are stored in the same manner as the acquisition subject table  80  of  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 8  depicts an example of the acquisition subject table indicating a list of images that are determined to be acquisition subject images by the acquisition subject determining portion  58 . The acquisition subject table is stored temporarily in the RAM  114 . 
     The acquisition subject management information transmitting portion  128  transmits the acquisition subject table for images determined to be acquisition subject images by the acquisition subject determining portion  122 , to the information acquiring terminal  16 . 
       FIG. 16  is a flowchart for explaining an example of control operation carried out by the image acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  for determining an acquisition subject image in this embodiment. The flowchart of  FIG. 16  is executed as a management information acquiring routine in place of the management information acquiring routine of  FIG. 10  corresponding to S 3  and S 4  of the flowchart of  FIG. 9  of the first embodiment. 
     At SA 11  and SA 21 , the CPU of the information acquiring terminal  16  and that of the management information retaining terminal  17  establish communication between the communication portion  36  of the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  via the line  14 . Specifically, since the line  14  is the public telephone line in this embodiment, a call is made to the management information retaining terminal  17  by entering its telephone number to put the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  in a state where they are able to transmit/receive information to/from each other. 
     At SA 12  corresponding to the management information acquisition instructing portion  102  of the information acquiring terminal  16 , the CPU of information acquiring terminal  16  transmits the attribute of an image to acquire and acquisition conditions that are set at SA 1  and SA 2  of  FIG. 9 , in which transmission the line  14  of which connection is established at SA 1  is used. The attribute and acquisition conditions are received by the acquisition condition/attribute receiving portion  102  of the management information retaining terminal  17 . 
     At SA 22  corresponding to the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  124  of the acquisition subject determining portion  122 , the CPU of the management information retaining terminal  17  carries out image extraction from the management information  92  stored in the RAM  114 , etc., based on the attribute of the image transmitted at S 12  and received by the management information retaining terminal  17 , i.e., contents stored in the acquisition condition/attribute table  74 . Specifically, the CPU carries out work of extracting only the acquirable image included in the management information  92  that has an attribute matching or similar at a given similarity level to the attribute of the image transmitted at S 12  and received by the management information retaining terminal  17 . Because the attribute of an image is a prefectural name representing a place of photographing, etc., in this embodiment, being similar in attribute at a given similarity level portion, for example, an instance of inclusion of the name of a prefecture neighboring the attribute prefecture or a prefecture belonging to the same region the attribute prefecture belongs to. When a general name is used as an attribute, wavering in expression or another name representing the same concept is included as similarity in attribute. Management information extracted at step SA 22  is stored temporarily in the RAM  114 , etc., as the acquisition candidate information table. 
     At SA 23  corresponding to the communication condition calculating portion  126  of the acquisition subject determining portion  122 , the CPU of the management information retaining terminal  17  executes an acquisition subject determining routine for determining an acquisition subject image. In this acquisition subject determining routine, the same operation as the operation described referring to the flowchart of  FIG. 11  of the first embodiment is carried out. While the acquisition subject determining routine corresponds to the communication condition calculating portion  62  of the information acquiring terminal  16  in the first embodiment, the routine corresponds to the communication condition calculating portion  126  of the management information retaining terminal  17  in the second embodiment. Through the operation at step SA 23 , an acquisition subject table is made, which is a list of images determined to be acquisition subject images. This acquisition subject table corresponds to acquisition subject management information of this embodiment. 
     At SA 24  corresponding to the acquisition subject management information transmitting portion  128 , the CPU of the management information retaining terminal  17  transmits the acquisition subject table made at SA 23 , i.e., an acquisition subject managing portion to the information acquiring terminal  16 . 
     At SA 13  corresponding to the acquisition subject management information acquiring portion  104 , the CPU of the information acquiring terminal  16  receives the acquisition subject management information transmitted at SA 24  to store the acquisition subject management information in the RAM  32  as the acquisition subject table  80 . 
     At SA 14  and SA 25 , the CPU of the information acquiring terminal  16  and that of the management information retaining terminal  17  disconnect the line  14  of which connection is established at SA 11  and SA 21 . 
     According to the second embodiment, which offers an effect in addition to the effect of the first embodiment, the management information  92  is stored in the RAM  114  of the management information retaining terminal  17  to allow the management information retaining terminal  17  to determine an acquisition subject image. As a result, processes carried out by the information acquiring terminal  16  are reduced. 
     While the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail referring to the drawings, the present invention is also applicable in other modes. 
     For example, while attribute input using the touch panel display is carried out at the acquisition subject attribute setting portion  52 , a graphical interface utilizing graphic may be used in place of such a character-based interface as depicted in  FIG. 3  for selection from a list of candidates displayed as character strings in carrying out attribute input.  FIG. 17  depicts an example of a graphical interface to be used. In this example, when an attribute is selected from prefectural names in the same manner as in the embodiments, a portion corresponding to a prefecture as a desired attribute to specify is touched on a map of Japanese displayed on the display device  40  of the touch panel display  26 , and the touch panel  42  recognizes selection of the touched prefecture. 
     In the first embodiment, the configuration of the management information retaining terminal  17  is not particularly specified when the management information retaining terminal  17  is capable of storing management information and transmitting the management information to the information acquiring terminal  16  via the line  14  in response to a request from the information acquiring terminal  16 , and the configuration of the information retaining terminal  18  is not particularly specified when the information retaining terminal  18  is capable of storing information and transmitting the information to the information acquiring terminal  16  via the line  14  in response to a request from the information acquiring terminal  16 . The management information retaining terminal  17  and the information retaining terminal  18 , however, may be provided as such a terminal that combines all or any two of three functions equivalent to the information acquiring terminal  16 , the management information retaining terminal  17 , and the information retaining terminal  18 . This applies to the first embodiment and also to the second embodiment. 
     In the embodiments, the RAM  32  and the RAM  114  are used as information storage portion in the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17 , but the information storage portion are not limited to the RAMs  32  and  114 . A hard disc drive, etc., may be used as such a storage portion. 
     While management information is stored in the management information retaining terminal  17  in the embodiments, a mode of storage of management information is not limited to this. The management information may be stored in advance in the RAM  32  of the information acquiring terminal  16 . This mode of storage makes communication with the management information retaining terminal  17  unnecessary. 
     In the embodiments, when a maximum charge amount, the number of images, and an image quality are set as acquisition conditions, the acquisition information determining portion  58  and  122  acquire images having an image quality set within a range satisfying the maximum charge amount in the set number of the images. A mode of image acquisition, however, is not limited to this. For example, when trying to acquire images having a set image quality in the set number of the images results in excess over the maximum charge amount, the images may be acquired in less number or other images having lower resolution may be acquired. 
     While the attribute of an image is selected from prefectural names in the embodiments, the attribute is not limited to prefectural names but may be selected as any form of relevant information that allows more accurate setting of the attribute of an image to acquire. For example, relevant information may be geographical information other than prefectural names that corresponds to the image, such as a place of photographing the image, time-related information corresponding to the image, such as a place of photographing the image and a season, or evaluative information, such as an evaluation of the image. 
     In the embodiments, the communication condition calculating portion  62  and  126  each calculates a charge amount as a communication condition for an image that is extracted as an acquisition candidate by each of the acquisition candidate information extracting portion  60  and  124 . A mode of communication condition calculation is not limited to this. Specifically, for example, a communication condition may be calculated for every image entered in management information as an acquirable image. 
     In the embodiments, communication between the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  is carried out using the line  14  in the same manner as communication between the information acquiring terminal  16  and the information retaining terminal  18  is carried out. A mode of communication is, however, not limited to this. Communication between the information acquiring terminal  16  and the management information retaining terminal  17  may be carried out not using the line  14  that charges depending on a communication distance and a communication time but, for example, using such a communication network as LAN. 
     While image qualities classified by resolution in the dpi unit are used as information properties in the embodiments, a method of representing image qualities is not limited to this. For example, representing image qualities is not limited to the case of  FIG. 6  where three categories of image quality are used, and a unit other than the dpi unit may be used for representing image qualities. A file size (capacity), an image size (number of dots), a compression rate (compressibility), etc., may be used in place of or in addition to an image quality. When electronic data other than an image is used as information defined in the present invention, a file size (capacity), an image size (number of dots), a compression rate (compressibility), etc., may be used in place of an image quality, or an index representing the properties of the information may be used in place of or in addition to the file size, image size, compression rate, etc. 
     In the acquisition candidate determining routine in the embodiment, when acquisition candidates are read in one by one from the acquisition candidate information table to determine the acquisition candidates to be acquisition subject images, whether a total charge amount and the specified number of images satisfy preset acquisition conditions is determined (SB 4  to SB 12  of  FIG. 11 ). The acquisition candidate determining routine, however, is not limited to this mode. For example, the acquisition candidate determining routine may be carried out in such a manner that combinations of images made up of acquisition candidates included in the acquisition candidate information tables are set, a total charge amount and the total number of images are calculated for each combination of images, and a combination of images satisfying acquisition conditions are determined to be acquisition subject images. 
     Although not specifically exemplified, the present invention may variously be implemented in any modified or altered manner without departing from the spirit thereof.