Many electronic devices such as desktop computers or mobile stations including simple cellular telephones, smart telephones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptop computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth capabilities, include PIM applications with address book functionality for storing and viewing address book data records in a graphical user interface. The information for contacts such as names, addresses, contact phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses and other data can be saved in a respective address book data record and is viewable in a graphical user interface. Such applications are useful for maintaining contact information.
With many portable electronic devices such as cellular telephones, smart telephones, and wireless PDAs, address book data records can be created and saved using an address book application at the portable electronic device. Thus, address book data records can be created and saved using an address book application at the portable electronic device. Address book data records can also be created and saved on another electronic device such as a desktop or laptop computer, using a PIM service application on or accessed by the desktop or laptop computer. These address book data records can be synchronized or transferred to the portable electronic device by wired or wireless connection. Thus, the address book data records are stored at both the desktop computer and at the portable electronic device such that the address book data records at the electronic device mirror those at the desktop computer. This permits convenient viewing of the address book data records using the respective address book application at either the portable electronic device or the desktop computer and provides a backup for storage of address book data records to help reduce the chance of loss of address book data records.
In some cases, users choose to keep different PIM data records in different PIM service accounts depending on the nature of the data record. For example a user may choose to store all business-related address book data records using a calendar application at an enterprise computer while all personal-related time-dependent events are stored in an alternate address book application, for example using an online PIM service account such as those offered by Google™ or Yahoo!™. Some of these online PIM service accounts permit the user to transfer PIM data records from the online PIM service account to the portable electronic device and vice versa. Unfortunately, when address book data records are transferred from any of these services to the portable electronic device, all address book data records on the device can be deleted or all the address book data records are indiscriminately merged on the portable electronic device. If merged, multiple sets of address book data are displayed and are indistinguishable on the portable electronic device. Later synchronization with, for example, the enterprise (desktop) computer results in transfer of all personal PIM records (originating from the online PIM service account) to the desktop computer, thereby merging both personal and business related PIM data records.
It would be advantageous to improve management of storage of address book data records at the portable electronic device.