Patent attributes
Via a graphical user interface, a user can select multiple different services (e.g., remote repositories such as websites) having contact information associated with the user's contacts (e.g., friends, Internet buddies, friends of friends, acquaintances, etc.). Based on the selection of multiple services, the contact information manager communicates with the multiple services over a network to retrieve the contact information associated with the user's friends (i.e., contacts). The retrieved contact information can specify identities of the multiple contacts as well as different communication modes (e.g., phone, e-mail, addresses information, whereabouts information, etc.) for communicating with the user's contacts. The contact information manager processes the contact information from the multiple services and initiates display of the contact information in a unified listing. Accordingly, via the contact information manager, a user can more efficiently manage contact information obtained from multiple disparate locations over a network.
