Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100042638 | APPARATUS, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR SYNCHRONIZING DATA SOURCES - A method is provided for synchronizing data sources. The method includes receiving at least first and second data tables. The data tables have one or more mutually similar fields and one or more dissimilar fields from one another. First normalized, second normalized, and intermediate data tables are stored, each including respective first normalized, second normalized, and intermediate data table fields that each correspond to the mutually similar fields of the first and second data tables. The first normalized data table is at least partially populated with corresponding entries from the first data table and the second normalized data table is at least partially populated with corresponding entries in the second data table. Intermediate data table entries are respectively replaced with corresponding inconsistent data entries of the first and second normalized data tables. An apparatus and a computer program product for accomplishing the above method are also provided. | 02-18-2010 |
20100137028 | ENHANCED INTERFACE FOR MOBILE PHONE - A docking station may provide an enhanced user interface for mobile communication devices. In one particular implementation, a device may include a base unit configured to provide connections to one or more user interface devices and an interface for connecting to a mobile phone, where the base unit connects the mobile phone to the one or more user interface devices to provide an enhanced interface for the mobile phone. | 06-03-2010 |
20100171756 | DYNAMIC LOCATION-BASED MAPPING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A graphical mapping system configured to display mapping information on a handheld device is disclosed. The system includes an image map database configured to store map data for a plurality of geographic areas, which is useful for generating graphical maps. The system further includes a vector map database configured to store vector map data, which is useful for generating vector “overlays” that correspond to the graphical maps. In response to a mapping request from a handheld device, a set of image mapping data and a corresponding set of vector mapping data, both associated with a given geographic location, are retrievable. | 07-08-2010 |
20100322393 | VOICEMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVER LOAD BALANCING - A device receives, from a management server, an optimal number of threads, generates a dynamic thread based on the optimal number of threads, and retrieves, from a message store, a message based on the dynamic thread and when the message store is not empty. The device receives a binding from a voicemail server associated with a voicemail user, generates a notification based on the retrieved message and based on the binding, and provides the notification to a user device associated with the voicemail user. | 12-23-2010 |
20110038467 | VOICEMAIL SERVER MONITORING/REPORTING VIA AGGREGATED DATA - A device receives, from a voicemail server, log information associated with voicemail transactions performed by the voicemail server, and determines data elements, of the log information, to be aggregated. The device also aggregates the determined data elements of the log information, determines a time period to provide the aggregated log information to a database for storage, and provides the aggregated log information to the database at the determined time period. | 02-17-2011 |
20110154399 | CONTENT RECOMMENDATION ENGINE - A method may include determining a program currently being displayed for a user to watch and selecting a program to recommend to the user based on the program currently being displayed by the user and based on an availability of the program to recommend. The method may include displaying an indication of the recommended program to the user. | 06-23-2011 |
20120117599 | THUMBNAIL PUBLICATION - A video service provider system may include one or more devices. The one or more device may receive thumbnails of programs that are currently airing on a group of television channels and match the received thumbnails with metadata. The metadata may include information relating to at least one of the television channels or the programs. The one or more devices may further provide, to a remote device, a set of thumbnails, of the captured thumbnails, and the metadata matching the set of thumbnails. The remote device may make the set of thumbnails and the metadata available to a user. | 05-10-2012 |
20120215437 | METHOD, SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR PROVIDING LOCATION BASED SERVICES - Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing location based services are provided. Embodiments may include storing locations for a plurality of users of a telecommunication environment and contact lists of associated users for the plurality of users. Embodiments may also include providing the locations of the associated users for a first user based on a request from the first user. The request may further include providing locations for associated users who are located within an area of interest. The area of interest may be defined by a particular distance from the first user or by a point of interest of the first user. The locations of the users may be determined based on the locations of communication devices of the users including an identified receiving communication device for each user. | 08-23-2012 |
20120252529 | ENHANCED INTERFACE FOR MOBILE PHONE - A docking station may provide an enhanced user interface for mobile communication devices. In one particular implementation, a device may include a base unit configured to provide connections to one or more user interface devices and an interface for connecting to a mobile phone, where the base unit connects the mobile phone to the one or more user interface devices to provide an enhanced interface for the mobile phone. | 10-04-2012 |
20130288746 | ENHANCED INTERFACE FOR MOBILE PHONE - A docking station may provide an enhanced user interface for mobile communication devices. In one particular implementation, a device may include a base unit configured to provide connections to one or more user interface devices and an interface for connecting to a mobile phone, where the base unit connects the mobile phone to the one or more user interface devices to provide an enhanced interface for the mobile phone. | 10-31-2013 |
20130318191 | TIME-BASED DATA CACHING - A system is configured to receive, by a first server, a request, from a user device, for a first record stored by a cache associated with the first server, determine, a first timestamp associated with the first record, determine that the first record is invalid based on the first timestamp, and determine, based on determining that the first record is invalid, whether the first record is out of date with respect to a corresponding second record stored by a second server by comparing a second timestamp of the first record with a timestamp of the second record. The system is further configured to update the first record with information from the second record to form an updated first record when the first record is out of date, and to send the updated first record to the user device associated with the request. | 11-28-2013 |
20140019752 | ENCRYPTION-BASED SESSION ESTABLISHMENT - A first server is configured to receive a first token from a user device, determine whether the first token is valid, request the user device to provide a set of credentials to a second server, based on determining that the first token is invalid, and receive a first response from the user device. The first response may include information identifying whether the user device is authenticated to communicate with the first server. The first server is further configured to send the first response to a third server. The third server may generate a second response to indicate authentication of the user device to communicate with the first server. The first server is further configured to receive the second response from the third server, generate a second token, based on receiving the second response, and send the second token to the user device. | 01-16-2014 |
20140123180 | Methods and Systems for Facilitating Remote Control of a Television by a Support Technician - An exemplary method includes a remote support management system 1) receiving a television support request from a user of a television, 2) generating, in response to the television support request, a ticket identifier associated with the television support request, and 3) facilitating, in accordance with the ticket identifier, remote control of the television by a support technician by way of a computing device associated with the support technician. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 05-01-2014 |
20150025935 | CONTENT TRIAL USAGE VIA DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY PLATFORM - A content distribution platform receives a respective trial time window for each of multiple items of digital content stored at the content distribution platform, and offers one of the items of the digital content to multiple customers during the respective trial time window. The content distribution platform tracks, during the respective trial time window, usage of the one of the plurality of items of digital content by one or more of the multiple customers. The content distribution platform generates, based on the tracked usage, a first usage report for the one of the multiple items of digital content at expiration of the respective trial time window | 01-22-2015 |
20150046938 | METADATA VALIDATION - A method includes receiving a video content metadata entry. The method also includes accessing video content metadata validation rules. The method further includes determining whether the video content metadata entry is valid based on the video content metadata validation rules. The video content metadata entry is reported as a valid video content metadata entry in response to a determination that the video content metadata entry is valid. The method also includes reporting the video content metadata entry as an invalid video content metadata entry in response to a determination that the video content metadata entry is invalid. | 02-12-2015 |
20150074413 | AUTOMATIC CONTENT PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION - A method and system relate to receiving, by a network device, information associated with a client device; determining, by the network device, that the client device is authorized to access digital content associated with a content provider; and forwarding, by the network device, authentication data to the content provider. The authentication data includes, for example, information identifying the client device, and an indication that the client device is authorized to access the digital content. The content provider enables the client device to access the digital content based on the authentication data. | 03-12-2015 |
20150074706 | AUTOMATED CONTENT INGESTION - A method includes receiving, from a content provider, content for processing and information identifying at least one of advertisements or promotional material to include with the content. The method also includes processing the content into a number of different formats, inserting the advertisements or promotional material into the processed content. The method further includes providing an indication to the content provider that the content has been processed and receiving, from the content provider, an approval or disapproval of the processed content. | 03-12-2015 |
20150081847 | BROADCAST/MULTICAST OFFLOADING AND RECOMMENDING OF INFRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES BASED ON USAGE TRACKING - A method, a device, and a storage medium having instructions stored thereon to obtain usage data that indicates a usage of a downloading service and a streaming service of programs, in which the programs are provided to user devices via unicast delivery. The usage data is analyzed to determine whether a multicast offloading or a broadcast offloading is to be invoked on behalf of a program designated for unicast delivery. Additionally, a method, a device, and a storage medium obtain usage data, analyze the usage data, and generate a recommendation for an infrastructural change of a content delivery network based on the analysis. | 03-19-2015 |
20150095509 | ADAPTIVE BUFFERS FOR MEDIA PLAYERS - A system and method relate to determining am initial buffer size associated with a buffer and modifying the initial buffer size when jitter is detected. The initial buffer size may be determined and modified based on a maximum initial buffer size, and the maximum initial buffer size may be determined based on delays associated with storing data to the buffer. For example, the maximum initial buffer size may correspond to a quantity of data that can be stored to the buffer during a maximum acceptable buffering delay. The maximum acceptable buffering delay may be identified by determining drop rates associated with different buffering delays and selecting, as the maximum acceptable buffering delay, one of the buffering delays associated with a maximum acceptable drop rate. | 04-02-2015 |
20150113058 | DISTRIBUTION AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF A SOCIAL MEDIA ENVIRONMENT - A system is configured to receive, from a first client device, a request to join a social media environment in which a second client device is participating; provide, to the first client device, information regarding media content associated with the social media environment and a number of playback positions from which to begin playback of the media content; receive, from the first client device, information selecting a playback position for the media content; provide, to the first client device, the media content via the social media environment beginning at the selected playback position; monitor interactions with the social media environment by the first client device and the second client device; detect a change of state for the social media environment; and provide, to the second client device, information associated with the change of state for the social media environment. | 04-23-2015 |
20150120875 | PROCESSING OVER-THE-TOP CONTENT FOR IMPROVED INITIAL DELIVERY - A device receives information associated with over-the-top (OTT) content associated with a user of the device. The device retrieves, from an OTT content delivery system, an address a playback position, and a manifest file associated with the OTT content, where the manifest file identifies chunks of content associated with the OTT content. The device retrieves, from the OTT content delivery system, one or more chunks, of the chunks of content associated with the OTT content, based on the address, the playback position, and the manifest file, where the one or more chunks are fewer than all of the chunks. The device stores the one or more chunks in the memory, receives an instruction to play the OTT content after the one or more chunks are stored, and plays the one or more chunks, based on the instruction, while simultaneously obtaining remaining chunks of the OTT content. | 04-30-2015 |
20160127865 | Method, System, and Computer Program Product for Providing Location Based Services - Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing location based services are provided. Embodiments may include storing locations for a plurality of users of a telecommunication environment and contact lists of associated users for the plurality of users. Embodiments may also include providing the locations of the associated users for a first user based on a request from the first user. The request may further include providing locations for associated users who are located within an area of interest. The area of interest may be defined by a particular distance from the first user or by a point of interest of the first user. The locations of the users may be determined based on the locations of communication devices of the users including an identified receiving communication device for each user. | 05-05-2016 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20140289773 | THUMBNAIL PUBLICATION - A video service provider system may include one or more devices. The one or more device may receive thumbnails of programs that are currently airing on a group of television channels and match the received thumbnails with metadata. The metadata may include information relating to at least one of the television channels or the programs. The one or more devices may further provide, to a remote device, a set of thumbnails, of the captured thumbnails, and the metadata matching the set of thumbnails. The remote device may make the set of thumbnails and the metadata available to a user. | 09-25-2014 |
20150134724 | ESTABLISHMENT AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF A VIRTUAL THEATER BASED ON TRANSACTION INFORMATION AND PLAYBACK PREFERENCE INFORMATION - A device may receive a request to establish a virtual theater. The device may provide, to multiple user devices, information regarding a transaction and one or more playback options for the virtual theater. The transaction may relate to establishing the virtual theater. The device may receive, from the multiple user devices, playback preference information based on the one or more playback options. The device may establish the virtual theater based on receiving the playback preference information and based on providing the information regarding the transaction. The device may provide, to the multiple of user devices, media content via the virtual theater based on the playback preference information. | 05-14-2015 |
20150150038 | VIDEO CONTENT PROTECTION - A method includes receiving, by a client device associated with a particular user, product details for video content including a purchase option identifier (ID) for the video content from a video service provider. The method includes requesting, by the client device based on a single sign on (SSO) protected call, a playback uniform resource locator (URL) for the video content from an orchestration layer associated with the video service provider. The method also includes receiving the playback URL, an entitlement ID associated with the particular user for the video content, and the encrypted content. The method includes obtaining a digital rights management (DRM) license for the encrypted content based on the entitlement ID, and decrypting and playing the video content based on DRM rules associated with the video content. | 05-28-2015 |
20150186368 | COMMENT-BASED MEDIA CLASSIFICATION - A system and method relate to identifying comments associated with digital content and submitted by one or more users. The comments are parsed to determine terms included in the comments. The respective classifications associated with the comments are determined based on the terms, and at least one classification of the digital content may be identified based on the respective classifications associated with the comments. In one implementation, the classification of the digital content is determined based on identifying comments associated with a portion of the digital content, and identifying a particular classification associated with at least a threshold number of the comments associated with the portion. | 07-02-2015 |
20150186947 | DIGITAL CONTENT RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON USER COMMENTS - A method and system relate to receiving first comments, associated with first digital content, that are submitted by a first user, and determining an opinion of the first user with respect to the first digital content based on the one or more first comments. Determining the opinion of the first user with respect to the first digital content includes parsing the one or more first comments to determine a term included in the one or more first comments, and determining the opinion based on the term. The first user is clustered with second users who share the first users opinion regarding the first digital content. Second digital content, liked by at least one of the second users and have accessed by the first user, are identified, and a recommendation identifying the second digital content is presented for display to the first user. | 07-02-2015 |
20150208120 | PREDICTIVE STORAGE OF BROADCAST CONTENT - A server device may determine content prediction parameters associated with multiple items of content; generate respective content prediction aggregate scores for each of the multiple items of content based on the content prediction parameters. A particular content prediction aggregate score, associated with a particular content, may be generated based on content prediction parameters associated with the particular content. The server device may generate a content prediction instruction; and may provide the content prediction instruction to cause the user device to receive and store a portion of the particular item of content. | 07-23-2015 |
20150237384 | TEMPORARY STORAGE OF RECORDED CONTENT ON A CLOUD STORAGE SERVER - A server device may receive, from a user device, a request to store a unique copy of particular content, associated with a particular user; store, in a storage device associated with the server device, the unique copy of the particular content; determine a set of attributes of the particular content; determine a set of criteria based on which the unique copy of the particular content should be provided to the user device, the determining being based on one or more attributes, of the set of attributes of the particular content; determine that the set of criteria have been met; output, based on determining that the set of criteria have been met, the unique copy of the particular content to the user device; and delete the unique copy of the particular content from the storage device after outputting the particular content to the user device. | 08-20-2015 |
20150264408 | EXTENDED, HOME, AND MOBILE CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS - A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium provide an extended content delivery network service in which user devices are configured as extended content delivery network devices that download and/or stream programs to other users of the extended content delivery network service. Additionally, a method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium provide an in-home media server device that stores programs in a same format as a format of the programs stored in a content delivery network, and provide an error correction service in which a portion of a program including an error, initially received via a multicast or broadcast transmission, is replaced with a corrected portion of the program via a unicast transmission. Still further, a method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium provide a mobile extended content delivery network device that downloads or streams programs to other users of the extended content delivery network service. | 09-17-2015 |
20150302743 | REAL-TIME TRAFFIC REPORTING BASED ON RATE OF CHANGE OF TRAFFIC DELAYS - A device may receive location information associated with mobile devices. The location information may identify locations associated with the mobile devices. The device may determine speed information associated with the mobile devices. The speed information may identify speeds associated with the mobile devices. The device may identify a traffic segment to be analyzed, and may determine a length of the traffic segment based on the location information and the speed information. The device may calculate a traffic delay associated with the traffic segment based on the length and the speed information. The device may calculate a rate of change of the traffic delay based on calculating the traffic delay, and may provide traffic information based on the rate of change of the traffic delay. The traffic information may identify an expected traffic delay at a future point in time. | 10-22-2015 |
20150312648 | MOBILE DEVICE CONTROLLED DYNAMIC ROOM ENVIRONMENT USING A CAST DEVICE - A mobile device analyzes data associated with media handled by a cast device connected to a display device. The mobile device causes control signals to be sent, via the one or more communication interfaces, to one of multiple different devices in a room to change an operational parameter associated with the one of the multiple different devices. | 10-29-2015 |
20150319509 | MODIFIED SEARCH AND ADVERTISEMENTS FOR SECOND SCREEN DEVICES - A method, performed by a computer device, may include receiving a search query from a second screen device and determining that a video asset is being streamed to a first screen device associated with the second screen device. The may further include modifying the search query based on one or more keywords associated with the video asset, based on determining that the video asset is being streamed to the first screen device; obtaining search results based on the modified search query; and providing the obtained search results to the second screen device. | 11-05-2015 |
20160057191 | MOBILE-TO-MOBILE STREAMING OF REAL-TIME CONTENT FOR PRESENTATION BY AN OUTPUT DEVICE - A content providing device may receive an indication to stream real-time content. The real-time content may include content captured by the content providing device. The content providing device may identify a dynamic content address, associated with the content providing device, to be used by a content receiving device to access the real-time content. The dynamic content address may identify an address of the content providing device from which the real-time content is to be streamed. The content providing device may provide the dynamic content address. The content providing device may receive, from the content receiving device, a request to access the real-time content, via the dynamic content address, based on providing the dynamic content address. The content providing device may stream the real-time content to the content receiving device, using the dynamic content address, based on receiving the request. | 02-25-2016 |
20160057460 | PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION SERVICE - A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium provide for receiving data that indicates programs available to users, wherein the programs include linear television programs, video-on-demand programs, and pay-per-view programs; determining, by the network device, a popularity value for each program; comparing, by the network device, each popularity value with a threshold popularity value; determining, by the network device, whether each popularity value satisfies the threshold popularity value; assigning, by the network device, each program associated with each popularity value that satisfies the threshold popularity value to multicast delivery based on the determining, wherein one or more programs assigned to multicast delivery include one or more of a video-on-demand program or a pay-per-view program; and multicasting each program assigned to multicast delivery. | 02-25-2016 |
20160066025 | IN-HOME SMART VIDEO CACHE - A method, performed by a computer device, may include determining one or more frequently watched television channels associated with a customer's account. The method may further include obtaining content associated with the one or more frequently watched television channels via multicast transmission units from a video serving office associated with a television services provider; converting the multicast transmission units into video segments playable by a media playing device; storing the video segments in a cache associated with the computer device; detecting a selection of a television channel associated with the obtained content made via the media playing device; and providing the stored video segments to the media playing device, in response to detecting the selection of the television channel associated with the obtained content. | 03-03-2016 |