Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090288112 | INSERTING ADVANCE CONTENT ALERTS INTO A MEDIA ITEM DURING PLAYBACK - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing advance content alerts during playback of a media item. In one embodiment, advance content alerts are inserted into the media item during playback. In general, while playing a media item, the media player identifies upcoming content for which the user desires an advance content alert. In response, the media player generates an advance content alert and inserts the advance content alert into the media item during playback. The user may then take an action in response to the advance content alert. In one embodiment, the user may provide input via a remote control of the media player or a mobile device registered with the media player in order to cause a desired action to be taken by the media player in response to the advance content alert. | 11-19-2009 |
20090288131 | PROVIDING ADVANCE CONTENT ALERTS TO A MOBILE DEVICE DURING PLAYBACK OF A MEDIA ITEM - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing advance content alerts during playback of a media item. In one embodiment, the advance content alerts are provided to a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, of an associated user. More specifically, a user registers his or her mobile device with a media player and configures the types of content for which the user would like to receive advance content alerts. Thereafter, during playback of a media item, the media player identifies upcoming content for which the user desires an advance content alert. In response, the media player generates an advance content alert and sends the advance content alert to the mobile device of the user via, for example, a local wireless communication link. | 11-19-2009 |
20090292819 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADAPTIVE SEGMENT PREFETCHING OF STREAMING MEDIA - Systems and methods are provided for obtaining look-ahead segments for a streaming media item during playback such that the viewer can easily skip to the look-ahead segments without experiencing any substantial interruption or delay in playback. In general, a streaming media source begins streaming a media item to a streaming media client for playback. In one embodiment, the streaming media client selects one or more segments of the media item as one or more look-ahead segments to prefetch from the streaming media source. Then, while the media item is being streamed to the streaming media client for playback, the streaming media client prefetches the one or more look-ahead segments of the media item from the streaming media source. The look-ahead segments are thereafter utilized to enable the viewer to skip ahead in playback without experiencing a substantial interruption or delay in playback. | 11-26-2009 |
20090313546 | AUTO-EDITING PROCESS FOR MEDIA CONTENT SHARED VIA A MEDIA SHARING SERVICE - The present invention relates to providing automatic or programmatic editing of video items. More specifically, in the preferred embodiments, an auto-editing function is provided for performing auto-editing of video items shared via a video sharing service. | 12-17-2009 |
20100077435 | System and method for smart trick mode display - A system and method for smart trick mode display which is aware of content and metadata, user context and user interests, and selects frames to display during trick mode that may be of interest to the user, and filters frames that the user might not wish to see even inadvertently. More specifically, the media system and method for smart trick mode display analyzes a recorded video content during a trick mode playback of the recorded video; and identifies segments of the content that are least one of interest to the user or should not be displayed to the user. The system may then select keyframes or a short sub-segment of the segment of interest to the user and then either displays the keyframes or sub-segments in a manner so as to catch the user's attention, or specifically not display any keyframes or sub-segments having content that the user does not wish to see. | 03-25-2010 |
20100088726 | AUTOMATIC ONE-CLICK BOOKMARKS AND BOOKMARK HEADINGS FOR USER-GENERATED VIDEOS - A system and method are disclosed for processing a video item to automatically provide or recommend bookmarks and bookmark headings for the video item. In one embodiment, the video item is first logically segmented into a number of segments. For each segment of the video item, a bookmark linking to a start of the segment of the video item is generated. In addition, audio and/or video content of each segment of the video item is processed in order to generate one or more recommended headings, or titles, for the corresponding bookmark. Information identifying the recommended bookmarks and bookmark headings may then be returned to an owner of the video item. The owner may then provide user input accepting, modifying, or rejecting the bookmarks and bookmark headings. Based on the user input from the owner, the bookmarks and bookmark headings for the video item are finalized and stored. | 04-08-2010 |
20100094627 | AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION OF TAGS FOR USER GENERATED CONTENT - A method and system for automatically identifying tags for a media item. An audio track associated with a media item is analyzed. References to individuals in the audio track are compared to known acquaintances of a user. Matches are identified as potential tags. Duplicate matches can be presented to the user for resolution. | 04-15-2010 |
20100145643 | USER-CONTROLLED APPLICATION-BASED POWER MANAGEMENT - A user-controlled application-based power management function is provided for a battery-operated device. In general, for each of a number of applications of the battery-operated device, a power management function enables a user of the battery-operated device to provide a usage parameter for the application defining a desired amount of usage of the application for each of one or more tasks. For each task, the power management function determines an estimated amount of battery life that is sufficient to provide the desired amount of usage of the application for the task and determines whether the estimated amount of battery life is available. If the estimated amount of battery life is available, the power management function allocates an amount of battery life corresponding to the estimated amount of battery life to the application for the task. | 06-10-2010 |
20100198862 | HANDLING CROWD REQUESTS FOR LARGE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS - A system and method are provided for processing a request for crowd data for a large geographic area. In one embodiment, a central system, which includes one or more servers, operates to obtain current locations for users of mobile devices and form crowds of three or more users based on the current locations of the users. In order to provide access to crowd data for crowds for a large geographic area, the central system receives a request for crowd data from a requesting device, establishes a bounding region for the request, and identifies one or more starting points within the bounding region for the request. Crowds are identified, crowd data for the crowds is generated, and the crowd data is returned to the requesting device in an iterative manner for a series of two or more outwardly radiating, concentric geographic regions centered at the one or more starting points. | 08-05-2010 |
20100199295 | Dynamic video segment recommendation based on video playback location - A system and method for dynamically providing video segment recommendations to a user based on video metadata, current playback position within the video, and/or the user's previous viewing history or patterns. The system/method also provides the user with a simple mechanism to enable/disable receipt of these recommendations with the click of a button within the display interface. | 08-05-2010 |
20120041672 | AUTOMATED SOCIAL ROUTING - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing automated social routing. In general, a starting point and a stopping point are obtained from a requesting user. A desired number of recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point are then programmatically generated for the requesting user by dynamically selecting physical waypoints for the recommended routes based on one or more routing factors including one or more social routing factors. | 02-16-2012 |
20120046068 | AUTOMATICALLY PERFORMING USER ACTIONS BASED ON DETECTED CONTEXT-TO-USER-ACTION CORRELATIONS - A system and method are provided for automatically performing user actions at a device based on a context of the user device. In one embodiment, user actions taken by a user of a user device and corresponding contexts of the user device at times at which the user actions were taken are monitored to detect context-to-user-action correlations. Each context-to-user-action correlation defines a context of the user device and a user action historically taken by the user of the user device for when the device is in that context. Subsequently, a current context of the user device is obtained and compared to the stored context-to-user-action correlations to identify a matching context-to-user-action correlation. The user device then automatically performs the user action that is correlated to the current context as defined by the matching context-to-user-action correlation. | 02-23-2012 |
20120046936 | System and method for distributed audience feedback on semantic analysis of media content - A system and computer implemented method of distributed audience feedback of media content in real time or substantially real time, including: semantically analyzing, at a semantic speech analysis engine, media content from a media program and identifying relevant topic data; distributing, at a topic data publisher, the identified relevant topic data to an audience of the media program; collecting, at a server, audience opinions on the identified relevant topic data; and processing the collected audience opinions. Other embodiments are disclosed. | 02-23-2012 |
20120047119 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING AND NAVIGATING ANNOTATED HYPERLINKS BETWEEN VIDEO SEGMENTS - Systems and methods are provided for linking and playing media content from one or more media items. Linking items may be stored with a plurality of other linking items and associated with one or more media items. The linking items define media fragments within the media items and media segments linked to the media items. By selecting linking items associated with a particular media item, a user can dynamically select the media segments linked to the media item. | 02-23-2012 |
20120047143 | SPARSE PROFILE AUGMENTATION USING A MOBILE AGGREGATE PROFILING SYSTEM - Systems and methods are provided for augmenting a user profile of a subject user. In general, the user profile of the subject user is augmented based on aggregate profile data for a group of users relevant to a current location of the subject user. In one embodiment, the group of users is a crowd of users currently located at a location that is relevant to the current location of the subject user. In another embodiment, the group of users is a number of users historically, or previously, located at locations relevant to the current location of the subject user. | 02-23-2012 |
20120063603 | HOME THEATER COMPONENT FOR A VIRTUALIZED HOME THEATER SYSTEM - The present disclosure relates to a Wide Area Network (WAN) based home theater system. In one embodiment, a home theater at a subscriber premises includes multiple home theater components, which include multiple audio playback components and a video playback component. Each home theater component is enabled to receive data from and send data to a virtualized home theater service via a WAN. In operation, each home theater component receives an appropriate media content stream for the home theater component from the virtualized home theater service via the WAN and provides playback of the media content stream according to the absolute playback timestamps for the media content stream. | 03-15-2012 |
20120066711 | VIRTUALIZED HOME THEATER SERVICE - The present disclosure relates to a Wide Area Network (WAN) based home theater system. In one embodiment, a home theater at a subscriber premises includes multiple home theater components, which include multiple audio playback components and a video playback component. Each home theater component is enabled to receive data from and send data to a virtualized home theater service via a WAN. In operation, the virtualized home theater service processes multimedia content to provide a separate content stream for each home theater component. The virtualized home theater service also provides absolute playback timestamps for the media content streams. The absolute playback timestamps are preferably provided to substantially synchronize playback of the media content streams by the home theater components as well as to accommodate for network delays. | 03-15-2012 |
20120117221 | PREVIEW-BASED CONTENT MONITORING AND BLOCKING SYSTEM - Systems and methods are disclosed for enabling an administrator to monitor and control usage of media content in a locale. In one embodiment, the locale includes one or more media devices that have access to media content from one or more local and/or remote content sources. Usage data defining usage of the media content by a user is obtained. A pattern including two or more media segments consumed by the user is detected based on the usage data and one or more predefined pattern detection rules. The administrator is then enabled to review the pattern and choose whether to block usage. Usage of at least one of the media segments included in the pattern is then blocked at the one or more media devices at the locale in response to the administrator choosing to block usage of the at least one of the media segments included in the pattern. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117585 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING CONTENT RESTRICTIONS TO RENDERERS IN IDENTIFIED NETWORK VIEWING AREAS - A media broker includes a communication interface communicatively coupling the media broker to one or more media storage devices and one or more renderers and a controller associated with the communication interface adapted to transmit a request for location information to one or more renderers, receive location information from each of the one or more renderers and determine, based upon the received location information, one or more viewing areas each comprising at least one of the one or more renderers. And then applying the media restrictions assigned to the renderers in those viewing areas, while still allowing media storage devices detected in any viewing area to record media of any rating. | 05-10-2012 |
20130340014 | Home Theater Component For A Virtualized Home Theater System - The present disclosure relates to a Wide Area Network (WAN) based home theater system. In one embodiment, a home theater at a subscriber premises includes multiple home theater components, which include multiple audio playback components and a video playback component. Each home theater component is enabled to receive data from and send data to a virtualized home theater service via a WAN. In operation, each home theater component receives an appropriate media content stream for the home theater component from the virtualized home theater service via the WAN and provides playback of the media content stream according to the absolute playback timestamps for the media content stream. | 12-19-2013 |
20140223468 | Preview-Based Content Monitoring And Blocking System - Systems and devices are disclosed for monitoring and controlling usage of media content by blocking usage of media segments. In one embodiment, usage data defining usage, or consumption, of the media content is obtained. A pattern in media segments in the media content based on the usage data is detected when the media segments satisfy at least one defined criterion and are consumed at least a predefined threshold amount. Usage of at least one of the media segments is blocked. In one embodiment, one or more additional media segments accessible to the one or more media devices that are similar to the at least one of the one or more media segments for which usage is blocked at the one or more media devices is identified. Usage of at least one of the one or more additional media segments at the one or more media devices is blocked. | 08-07-2014 |