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Harold Sutherland, San Jose US

Harold Sutherland, San Jose, CA US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20090265416AGGREGATING MEDIA COLLECTIONS BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS OF A SHARING NETWORK UTILIZING BRIDGING - Systems and methods are provided for aggregating a local media collection of a user with one or more shared media collections shared with the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In general, one or more shared media collections shared with the user are first discovered. Optionally, the user may select one or more of the shared media collections for aggregation with the local media collection of the user. The shared media collections selected by the user, or alternatively all of the shared media collections, are then aggregated with the local media collection of the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In one embodiment, bridging of users is provided to expand the sharing of media collections beyond those having direct relationships with the sharing user.10-22-2009
20090265417AGGREGATING MEDIA COLLECTIONS TO PROVIDE A PRIMARY LIST AND SORTED SUB-LISTS - Systems and methods are provided for aggregating a local media collection of a user with one or more shared media collections shared with the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In general, one or more shared media collections shared with the user are first discovered. Optionally, the user may select one or more of the shared media collections for aggregation with the local media collection of the user. The shared media collections selected by the user, or alternatively all of the shared media collections, are then aggregated with the local media collection of the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. The aggregate media collection is provided as a primary list including an entry for each unique media item in the aggregate media collection. Sorted sub-lists are utilized to populate the primary list.10-22-2009
20090265418PRUNING AN AGGREGATE MEDIA COLLECTION - Systems and methods are provided for aggregating a local media collection of a user with one or more shared media collections shared with the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In general, one or more shared media collections shared with the user are first discovered. Optionally, the user may select one or more of the shared media collections for aggregation with the local media collection of the user. The shared media collections selected by the user, or alternatively all of the shared media collections, are then aggregated with the local media collection of the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. The aggregate media collection of the user may then be pruned or filtered based on user preferences of the user.10-22-2009
20090265426METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AGGREGATING MEDIA COLLECTIONS BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS OF A SHARING NETWORK - Systems and methods are provided for aggregating a local media collection of a user with one or more shared media collections shared with the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In general, one or more shared media collections shared with the user are first discovered. Optionally, the user may select one or more of the shared media collections for aggregation with the local media collection of the user. The shared media collections selected by the user, or alternatively all of the shared media collections, are then aggregated with the local media collection of the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user.10-22-2009
20100017455CUSTOMIZED MEDIA BROADCAST FOR A BROADCAST GROUP - Methods and systems are provided for delivering a customized media broadcast to a social group of users referred to as a broadcast group. In general, a broadcast group including a number of users is identified. User profiles of the users forming the broadcast group are obtained and aggregated to provide a group profile for the broadcast group. More specifically, in one embodiment, the users forming the broadcast group are weighted, and the user profiles of the users are then aggregated according to the weights assigned to the corresponding users to provide the group profile of the broadcast group. A customized media broadcast is then delivered to the users forming the broadcast group based on the group profile of the broadcast group.01-21-2010
20100070490SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED SMART PLAYLISTS WITH AGGREGATED MEDIA COLLECTIONS - A method and system are disclosed for providing a smart playlist in a media sharing system. In one embodiment, a user of a user device participates in a media sharing system wherein a media collection of the user is aggregated with one or more shared media collections to provide an aggregate media collection of the user. The user device of the user obtains a playlist definition for a smart playlist. Based on the playlist definition, the smart playlist is populated from the aggregate media collection of the user.03-18-2010
20100070537SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A PERSONALIZED UNIVERSAL CATALOG OF MEDIA ITEMS - A system and method are provided for maintaining personalized metadata for media items in a media sharing system. In one embodiment, an aggregation function operates to aggregate one or more remote shared media collections with a media collection of a user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In addition, personalized metadata is maintained for media items in the media collection of the user, media items shared with the user and included in the aggregate media collection, and media items previously shared with the user. Thus, the personalized metadata for a media item is available whether the media item is a media item included in the media collection of the user, a media item shared with the user from a remote shared media collection, or a media item previously shared with the user.03-18-2010
20100082135ACTIVITY INDICATORS IN A MEDIA SHARING SYSTEM - A system and method are provided for generating and displaying one or more indicators indicative of a level of activity within a media sharing system. In one embodiment, with respect to a user participating in the media sharing system, an indicator representative of an activity level of a media collection shared by the user in the media sharing system may be generated and presented to the user. In addition or alternatively, indicators representative of activity levels of media collections shared by other users participating in the media sharing system may be generated and presented to the user. Still further, in addition or alternatively, indicators representative of activity levels with respect to playlists in the media sharing system may be generated and presented to the user.04-01-2010
20100094934SOURCE INDICATORS FOR ELEMENTS OF AN AGGREGATE MEDIA COLLECTION IN A MEDIA SHARING SYSTEM - A system and method are disclosed for providing source indicators for one or more elements of an aggregate media collection of a user in a media sharing system. In one embodiment, a local media collection of a user is aggregated with one or more shared media collections hosted by corresponding user devices of other users participating in the media sharing system to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. Via a Graphical User Interface (GUI), for each element of at least a subset of elements of the aggregate media collection, one or more source indicators are presented in association with the element to identify a source or sources of the element in the media sharing system. The elements of the aggregate media collection include at least a subset of media items in the aggregate media collection, playlists including media items from the aggregate media collection, or both.04-15-2010
20100094935COLLECTION DIGEST FOR A MEDIA SHARING SYSTEM - A system and method are disclosed for providing a collection digest summarizing a shared media collection for presentation to a user. In one embodiment, a user device of a user joins a media sharing system including the user device and one or more other users devices, each associated with a sharing user and hosting a shared media collection of the sharing user. The user device obtains a collection digest from at least one of the other user devices that summarizes the shared media collection hosted by the at least one of the other user devices and presents the collection digest to the user. The collection digest may be used to assist the user in determining whether to access the shared media collection.04-15-2010