Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100204950 | AUTOMATED TEST FOR CONSUMER ELECTRONICS - A method for testing a consumer electronics (CE) product that wirelessly receives user commands from an IR remote control includes obtaining command codes from the remote and correlating the command codes to respective functions. A tester can generate a test script designating the functions but the tester is not required to designate the command codes. In this way, the script can be executed by wirelessly transmitting to the CE product command codes corresponding to the functions designated in the script. During script execution, the CE product is queried for health indicia such as memory usage. The CE product sends the product health indicia to a test computer over a USB debug port. | 08-12-2010 |
20110088064 | Individual internet video link channel - A system and method for establishing and provisioning a new Internet Video Link (IVL) category under user control and utilizing user requests for locating and including preferred video content. The new IVL category will include video content located on a local device as well as video content retrieved from any interne URL provided by a user. The IVL category is built in the background and contains a category as a directory of video content and channels as sub-directories containing subsets of the video content described by the category. The user may also input keywords for use in searching for preferred video content so as to establish a mix of video content concatenated into a single mix channel for use in viewing only those video content items associated with the keywords supplied by the user. Alternatively, the mix channel may be provisioned by locating and mixing together video content that has similar metadata tags associated with the user preferred video content. The user may also receive recommendations for IVL content from other users that is similar to the content preferred by the user. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. | 04-14-2011 |
20110109800 | TV feature highlight - A method carried out on a television receiver device involves at a television receiver/tuner device, carrying out a channel scan to identify available television channels that can be received by the television receiver device; while the channel scan is being carried out: reading a feature highlight video file from a memory; and displaying the feature highlight video file on a television display. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. | 05-12-2011 |
20110191516 | Universal touch-screen remote controller - A remote controller has a control processor and a plurality of client device remote interfaces. A touchscreen display displays a rendering depicting a remote controller user interface having user operable control elements. The processor has associated storage that stores remote controller programs that configure the touchscreen according to a remote control configuration defined by a selected remote controller programs. The processor carries out functions defined in the selected one of the remote controller programs to transmit control commands from one of said client device remote interfaces to a client device upon receipt of input via the touchscreen user interface to implement the command to the client device. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. | 08-04-2011 |
20110277002 | ENABLEMENT OF PREMIUM CONTENT FOR INTERNET VIDEO CLIENT - A device is enabled to display Internet TV by accessing a management server and receiving back from the server a user token and a service list of predefined content servers. A user can select a content server on the service list which causes the device to upload its user token to the management server, which in turn sends back the network path to the content server along with a content server-user-unique service token (SUIT) that the device uses to access the content on the content server, in some embodiments on per-title PPV access, per-content category PPV access, or per-service PPV access. | 11-10-2011 |
20110277003 | ENABLEMENT OF PREMIUM CONTENT FOR INTERNET VIDEO CLIENT - A device is enabled to display Internet TV by accessing a management server and receiving back from the server a user token and a service list of predefined content servers. A user can select a content server on the service list which causes the device to upload its user token to the management server, which in turn sends back the network path to the content server along with a content server-user-unique service token (SUIT) that the device uses to access the content on the content server, in some embodiments on per-title PPV access, per-content category PPV access, or per-service PPV access. | 11-10-2011 |
20110277006 | ENABLEMENT OF PREMIUM CONTENT FOR INTERNET VIDEO CLIENT - A device is enabled to display Internet TV by accessing a management server and receiving back from the server a user token and a service list of predefined content servers. A user can select a content server on the service list which causes the device to upload its user token to the management server, which in turn sends back the network path to the content server along with a content server-user-unique service token (SUIT) that the device uses to access the content on the content server, in some embodiments on per-title PPV access, per-content category PPV access, or per-service PPV access. | 11-10-2011 |
20110296454 | PROVISION OF TV ID TO NON-TV DEVICE TO ENABLE ACCESS TO TV SERVICES - To permit non-TV CE devices to participate in a closed Internet Protocol television (IPTV) program, a non-TV CE device obtains a TV identification upon program registration which it subsequently uses to access content from the IPTV program. | 12-01-2011 |
20110296464 | CONTENT ALERT UPON AVAILABILITY FOR INTERNET-ENABLED TV - Internet application use and execution in an IPTV system is separated from the television to eliminate the Internet application learning curve and at the same time preserve a viewing experience. | 12-01-2011 |
20120023532 | SERVING FROM A THIRD PARTY SERVER TO A CONTROL DEVICE A WEB PAGE USEFUL FOR CONTROLLING AN IPTV CLIENT WITH NON-PUBLIC ADDRESS - An IPTV may be controlled in part by a second user consumer electronic (CE) device using a web page served from a third party server even though the third party server cannot function as a proxy to the IPTV. | 01-26-2012 |
20120030701 | CONTROL OF IPTV USING SECOND DEVICE - An IPTV may be controlled in part by a second user consumer electronic (CE) device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or laptop computer. The IPTV obtains system credentials from a management server to access multiple content servers, and the second CE device can browse Internet content available to the IPTV by accessing a proxy server, which coordinates with the management server and content serves to obtain necessary credentials and information for the second CE device. | 02-02-2012 |
20120065979 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TEXT TO SPEECH CONVERSION - A system and method for text to speech conversion. The method of performing text to speech conversion on a portable device includes: identifying a portion of text for conversion to speech format, wherein the identifying includes performing a prediction based on information associated with a user. While the portable device is connected to a power source, a text to speech conversion is performed on the portion of text to produce converted speech. The converted speech is stored into a memory device of the portable device. A reader application is executed, wherein a user request is received for narration of the portion of text. During the executing, the converted speech is accessed from the memory device and rendered to the user, responsive to the user request | 03-15-2012 |
20120068918 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONIC READER OPERATION - Methods and apparatus are provided for operation of an electronic reader. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting a user command to initiate playback of the digital text, detecting a playback setting for the digital text based on the user command, displaying a first portion of the digital text by the electronic reader, and updating the display of the digital text by the electronic reader, wherein a second portion of the digital text is automatically displayed based on the playback setting for the digital text. | 03-22-2012 |
20120068925 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GESTURE BASED CONTROL - Methods and apparatus are provided for gesture based control of a device. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting a first position sensor signal, the first position sensor signal detected by a first sensor, and detecting a second position sensor signal, the second position sensor signal detected by a second sensor, wherein the second position sensor signal is based on position of the second sensor relative to the first sensor. The method may further include generating a control signal for a device based on the first and second position sensor signals, wherein the first and second position sensor signals are generated based on user positing of the first and second sensors. The method may further include transmitting the control signal to the device. | 03-22-2012 |
20120069496 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEVICE STABILIZATION - Methods and devices are provided for stabilizing devices. In one embodiment, a device stabilizer comprises a housing, a mounting structure for an electronic device, the mounting structure supported by the housing and configured to secure an electronic device and a dampening element configured to stabilize motion of the mounting structure with respect to the housing. The device stabilizer may further include a counteracting element configured to control the arrangement of the mounting structure within the housing. | 03-22-2012 |
20120070805 | Text-to-Touch Techniques - Text-to-touch techniques, in accordance with embodiment of the present technology, include apparatuses and methods for receiving content including textual portions and non-textual portions. The textual portions include letters, select words, numbers and punctuation having recognized Braille codes. The non-textual portions may include metadata, graphics, formatting, decorations, hyperlinks, radio buttons, submit buttons, check boxes, windows, icons, fields and/or the like. The systems and methods convert the textual portion to Braille codes and select non-textual portions to haptic feedback. The Braille code may then be output to a user. In addition, the haptic feedback associated with various Braille codes may also be output to the user along the associated Braille codes. | 03-22-2012 |
20120072494 | SOCIAL NETWORKING MANAGEMENT SERVER - A social media management server (MS) provides a single authentication point for a client device to log in to multiple social networking accounts. Through the MS, the client device can pull social networking updates to it or have them pushed to the client device. Also, the MS provides a set of APIs for all enabled client devices to interact with social networking sites/services. The MS updates APIs between itself and the social networking sites/services without changing the APIs between itself and client devices in that only mandatory changes in the MS-to-social networking servers APIs are propagated to the APIs between the MS and client devices to reduce the API update requirements on the client side. | 03-22-2012 |
20120072502 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAY DEVICE CHARACTER INPUT - Methods and apparatus are provided for providing character input to a display device. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting a user selection of an application which allows for character input by a user, launching a receiver application by the display device, and detecting a transmission from a user device by a messenger application of the display device, the transmission indentifying at least one graphical character based on user operation of a user device. The method may further include displaying the at least one graphical character. | 03-22-2012 |
20120075529 | TECHNIQUES FOR DISPLAYING DATA ON A SECONDARY DEVICE WHILE DISPLAYING CONTENT ON A TELEVISION - Embodiments are directed toward displaying data on a secondary device while display content on a television include creating a set of user interface rules and a plurality of user interface objects. The secondary device may be a smart phone, cellular phone, personal digital assistant, handheld gaming device, game console, netbook, ebook reader, tablet computers, laptop computer, portable music player, portable video player or the like. The data may be metadata about the content presented on the display. | 03-29-2012 |
20120079532 | TECHNIQUES FOR DEVELOPING A TELEVISION USER INTERFACE FOR A SECONDARY DEVICE - Techniques for developing a television user interface for a secondary device include creating a set of user interface rules and a plurality of user interface objects. The set of user interface rules are applied to the plurality of user interface objects to create a mapping between the inputs and output of the user interface of the secondary device to television remote control commands. | 03-29-2012 |
20120079533 | TECHNIQUES FOR DEVELOPING A CUSTOMIZED TELEVISION USER INTERFACE FOR A SECONDARY DEVICE - Techniques for developing a television user interface for a secondary device include selecting a set of user interface rules from one or more pre-defined user interface rules, and selecting a set of user interface objects from one or more pre-defined user interface objects. The set of user interface rules are applied to the set of user interface objects to create a mapping between the inputs and outputs of a user interface of the secondary device to television remote control commands. | 03-29-2012 |
20120084634 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANNOTATING TEXT - Methods and apparatus are provided for annotating text displayed by an electronic reader application. In one embodiment a method includes detecting user selection of a graphical representation of text displayed by a device, displaying a window based on the user selection, the window including a selectable element for the user to annotate displayed text associated with the user selection. The method may further include detecting a user selection of a selectable element to record audio data based on the window, initiating audio recording based on the user selection to record audio data, and storing recorded audio data by the device as an annotation to the user selected text. | 04-05-2012 |
20120096497 | RECORDING TELEVISION CONTENT - A method, in one embodiment, can include a server receiving data from a television via a communication medium. The data includes an identifier of a television channel that the television is tuned to. In addition, the server transmits a token to the television via the communication medium. Furthermore, the television transmits the token to a cloud storage via the communication medium. Moreover, the cloud storage stores a live broadcast television video from the television channel. | 04-19-2012 |
20120112986 | WEB BROWSER AS SECOND DISPLAY CONTROL DEVICE - Systems and methods for creating and employing software to handle the playback of media, especially video, in browsers that, in addition to or instead of playing the media in the browser, may use the second display protocols to instruct a separate display device to play the media. The software can of any type that can transmit the content or specify a network location of the content item for subsequent playback to a content playback device. In one implementation, the software may be in the form of a browser plug-in or in the form of an application that the browser is configured to use for the playback of selected media types. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117183 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR USE IN PROVIDING ACCESS THROUGH A SECONDARY DEVICE TO SERVICES INTENDED FOR A PRIMARY DEVICE - Some embodiments provide methods of providing access to services comprise: receiving, from over a distributed network, a request from a secondary device to access an account; confirming authorization to access the account; identifying one or more primary devices registered with and corresponding to the account in response to confirming authorization to access to the account, where the one or more primary devices are multimedia playback devices; receiving, from the secondary device, a selection of a first primary device of the one or more primary devices, where the first primary device is separate and distinct from the secondary device; identifying services available to the first primary device and configured to be utilized through the first primary device; and providing access, through the secondary device, to the identified services. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117586 | EMPLOYMENT OF MULTIPLE SECOND DISPLAYS TO CONTROL IPTV CONTENT - Disclosed are systems and methods to enable a multiple users browsing content offerings on multiple devices to have their selections played by a content playback device using its own authentication credentials. The users can then continue to browse the content offerings on their multiple second displays without interrupting the content that is playing on the main content playback device. The method is an architecture design and implementation that allows users to navigate, browse, and search content offerings on a second display such as a smart phone, PC, laptop, tablet, internet appliance, or any other device with a capability to couple to a network. Concurrently, while a user is using the content playback device, another user can perform browsing activities on a second display and send a media selection to a primary content playback device of the user's choice for queueing and/or playback. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117587 | SECOND DISPLAY SUPPORT OF CHARACTER SET UNSUPPORTED ON PLAYBACK DEVICE - Systems and methods are provided to allow users to browse services, content items, or the like using the language that is generally most familiar to them, and in particular ones that are not available on an IPTV. Thus, users can browse content offerings on the second display in a language and font set that are personalized to themselves, and they may further send the content item to the IPTV for playback. The disclosed systems and methods provide a way for a group of users to exploit individual “second displays” to view, browse, and navigate content or data service offerings, by service providers, e.g., internet network services, in a preferred language and using preferred fonts, especially one not supported by a content playback device, on behalf of a content playback device, e.g., IPTV, the same having authenticated credentials for playback of such content, and then arrange for a selected content item or items to be played back on the content playback device. The second displays serve as a visual aid to the IPTV, but generally do not require additional investment by the user because the same make use of a device, e.g., a smartphone, laptop computer, tablet computer, an internet appliance, a desktop computer, etc., which most users would already have in their possession. Such a second display is a significant complement to an IPTV because of the second display's strength in supported languages and character font sets, data entry, processing power, and user experience in content management. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117588 | METHOD AND DEVICE TO CONTROL IPTV SETTINGS FROM A SECOND DISPLAY - Systems and methods for allowing a user to control IPTV settings from a second display, e.g., on an external device. In one implementation, such settings include brightness, volume, parental controls, input controls, language, clock, zip code etc. On-screen preview, wherever applicable, is also available when changing settings using the second display. This allows the user to change the settings of the TV without disturbing the TV screen. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117590 | DEVICE REGISTRATION PROCESS FROM SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods to implement a technique for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows the user to conveniently register and manage their IPTV device directly from a second display device instead of going to a separate registration website. A typical current situation requires the user to either leave the living room for the PC which is inconvenient or perform the registration directly on the IPTV which often has a poor input interface. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, or a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like. After registration, certain convenient follow-up features can be implemented, such as directly selecting the device for browsing, or inheritance of configurations of other available devices for the newly-registered device. | 05-10-2012 |
20120167137 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED SOCIAL NETWORKING - A system for sending content between a TV (e.g. IPTV or the like) and a website. The system includes an interface server and a TV that includes display, processor and an interface module for communicating with the interface server. The system also has programming executable on the interface server for coupling the server to a social networking website, providing a graphical user interface (e.g. in the form of an app) on the social networking site for linking to said TV, and sending content from the social networking site to the TV. The system also has programming executable on the TV processor for displaying a notification that content has been received; and displaying the content upon selection by a user. | 06-28-2012 |
20120206317 | DEVICE AFFILIATION PROCESS FROM SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows the user to conveniently affiliate their IPTV devices with various service providers and manage such affiliations directly from a second display device instead of going to a separate affiliation website. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like. | 08-16-2012 |
20120206423 | SEAMLESS TRANSITION BETWEEN DISPLAY APPLICATIONS USING DIRECT DEVICE SELECTION - Transitioning between display applications, including: retrieving a device identifier when a first device is selected using a first display application running on a second device; enabling the first display application to launch a second display application using the device identifier of the first device, launching the second display application customized to automatically select the first device, wherein the automatic selection of the first device using the device identifier allows to bypass a device selection process. Keywords include seamless transition and direct device selection. | 08-16-2012 |
20120209874 | DIRECT SEARCH LAUNCH ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods to implement a technique for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows the native application on the second display to directly launch the second display application with a requested search term so that the user is immediately brought to a search page with relevant search results. The search term may be derived from the native application which in turn derives from the context of the IP TV. Such a context could be metadata from a currently playing BD from a BD player or TV channel. The second display application may be a web application or a native remote controller application. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, or a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like. | 08-16-2012 |
20120209961 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN TRACKING PLAYBACK OF MEDIA STREAMS WHILE IN STAND-BY MODE - Some embodiments provide methods, systems and apparatuses for use in managing playback of content. Some of these methods comprise: maintaining, at a playback device, a first media stream in a stand-by mode; continuing to acquire, from over a distributed network while in the stand-by mode, one or more index files of the first media stream, where the one or more index files identify a plurality of media files of the first media stream configured to be played back at the playback device, while not acquiring the media files of the first media stream while the first media stream is in the stand-by mode; and tracking the one or more index files relative to a playback timing f the first media stream while in the stand-by mode, where the playback timing continues to increment while the first media stream is in the stand-by mode. | 08-16-2012 |
20120209972 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO REMOVE OUTDATED OR ERRONEOUS ASSETS FROM FAVORITES OR RECENTLY-VIEWED LISTS - Systems and methods for creating and employing software to handle the playback of media, especially video, in browsers that, in addition to or instead of playing the media in the browser, may use second display protocols to instruct a separate display device to play the media. In one implementation, the software may be in the form of a web or other application. In particular, systems and methods are provided that describe ways to clean up bad assets from favorites or recently-viewed lists. In one implementation, systems and methods are provided that use an erroneous asset report from one user to fix other users' associated lists. In another implementation, the systems and methods employ data about defunct services, both local and global, to remove assets from those services from one or more user lists. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210224 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO ADD AN ASSET AS A FAVORITE FOR CONVENIENT ACCESS OR SHARING ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Systems and methods for creating and employing software to handle the playback of media, especially video, in browsers that, in addition to or instead of playing the media in the browser, may use second display protocols to instruct a separate display device to play the media. In one implementation, the software may be in the form of a web or other application. The application or server infrastructure maintains a list of favorite content items and is configured to filter the list to include only those content items, or services with such content items, available for play back on a selected content playback device. In this way, favorite content items and services are made accessible using any second display registered with the user account. Such lists of favorites may be shared with other second displays. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210225 | SYNCHRONIZATION OF FAVORITES AND/OR RECENTLY VIEWED LISTS BETWEEN REGISTERED CONTENT PLAYBACK DEVICES - Systems and methods for creating and employing software to handle the playback of media, especially video, in browsers that, in addition to or instead of playing the media in the browser, may use second display protocols to instruct a separate display device to play the media. The software can of any type that can transmit the content or specify a network location of the content item for subsequent playback to a content playback device. In one implementation, the software may be in the form of a web browser or other application that is configured to use for the playback of selected media types. The browser maintains a list of favorite and/or recently viewed services and content items and is configured to filter the list to include only those content items, or services with such content items, available for play back on the separate content playback device. In this way, favorite content items and services and/or recently viewed content items and services are made accessible using the second display on any content playback device registered with the user. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210226 | METHOD TO PLAYBACK A RECENTLY-PLAYED ASSET VIA A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods are provided to implement a technique for using a second display with a content playback device. In one implementation, this feature allows users to replay or resume playback of a recently-played asset directly via a second display. Knowledge of the recently-played asset could come from a second display or from a content playback device such as an IPTV. The recently-played list may be specific to the user account, a user profile within the user account, or the content playback device. In this way, the user is able to retrieve the asset on all their content playback devices, not only on the content playback device on which the asset was originally played. In some implementations, the second display may be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, a laptop or tablet PC, or the like. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210238 | DIRECT SERVICE LAUNCH ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods to implement a technique for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows a user to directly launch a service when launching a second display application. In this way, the user is saved the trouble of having to search for the desired service in a list of services, reducing the difficulties of the systems disclosed above. The second display application may be a web application or a native remote controller application. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, or a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210241 | REMOVAL OF UNAVAILABLE SERVICES AND/OR CONTENT ITEMS FROM A LIST OF FAVORITE AND/OR RECENTLY VIEWED SERVICES AND/OR CONTENT ITEMS ASSOCIATED WITH A USER ACCOUNT - Software is provided to handle the playback of media in browsers that in addition may use second display protocols to instruct a separate display device to play the media. The software can transmit the content or specify a network location of the same for subsequent playback on a content playback device. The software may be in the form of a web browser or other application that is configured for the playback of selected media types. The browser maintains a list of favorite and/or recently viewed services and content items and is configured to filter the list to eliminate those content items or services which are no longer available. In this way, favorite content items and services and/or recently viewed content items and services, as available to the user, are made accessible using the second display. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210245 | PERSONALIZED SECOND DISPLAY BROWSING EXPERIENCE DUE TO MULTIPLE SESSION FEATURE - Systems and methods are provided to allow users to browse services, content items, or the like using a personalized user interface. Thus, for example, users can browse content offerings on the second display in a language and font set that are personalized to themselves. Users may also browse offerings that match a parental ratings setting, and use a background image and layout of their choice. The second displays generally do not require additional investment by the user because the same make use of a device, e.g., a smartphone, laptop computer, tablet computer, an internet appliance, a desktop computer, etc., which most users would already have in their possession. Such a second display is a significant complement to an IPTV because of the second display's strength in supported languages and character font sets, flexible user interface, data entry, processing power, and user experience in content management. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210276 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO STORE A SERVICE OR CONTENT LIST FOR EASY ACCESS ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods are provided for using a second display with a content playback device. This feature allows the user to permanently store a service, menu location, or content list, e.g., a category of assets within a service, as a shortcut for easy access in the future. The shortcut could be accessed in a list of shortcuts or could be specifically added to a section on the main screen so that the user can navigate to the service, menu location, or content list from anywhere in a second display application in just a single click. The user can also name the shortcut so that the same may be found by search tools. Such systems and methods may be particularly advantageous when a user normally only visits a few services in a long list of available services on a regular basis. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210343 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT PLAYBACK USING MULTIPLE IPTV DEVICES - An apparatus and method for resuming playback of media content from more than one Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) device. The playback of a media asset or media content typically contains an asset ID and a start time. Based on the architecture of a second display device (e.g., a second IPTV device) the IPTV system determines the identity of an account and its associated IPTV devices. When a user pauses an asset, the system sends the asset identification (ID) and the stop time to a server operatively coupled to the system. The next time (within a predefined duration) the user requests the same asset ID, the pause time and the asset ID are returned. Using the pause time and the asset ID, the user can resume playback of the asset. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210344 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING VIDEO CONTENT - An apparatus and method for manipulating video content that includes accessing, from a server, a list of one or more Internet Protocol television (IPTV) devices and selecting an IPTV device from the list. The server provides a content list of content that may be played on the selected IPTV device. The secondary device provides a control function and reachability (availability to communicate) of the selected IPTV device is determined by the server. The execution of the control function provided by the secondary device is independent of whether the selected IPTV device is reachable or not. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210345 | SYSTEM AND METHOD PROVIDING A FREQUENTLY-ACCESSED SERVICE OR ASSET LIST ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods are provided to implement a technique for using a second display with a content playback device. In one implementation, this feature provides users a frequently-accessed service or asset list when browsing on a second display. Such systems and methods may be particularly advantageous when a user normally only visits a few services in an entire list of available services on a regular basis. The frequently-accessed list of services or assets may be populated by the user through the second display or may be populated by the server that is tracking service access by the user. The frequently-accessed service or asset list (or both) may be specific to the user account, a user profile within the user account, the second display, or the content playback device. In some implementations, the second display may be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, a laptop or tablet PC, or the like. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210346 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDIRECTING AN IPTV DEVICE - A system and method for receiving user authentication information from a secondary device and sending a list of IPTV devices associated with the user authentication information to the secondary device. IPTV device selection is received from the secondary device and device identification information corresponding to a selected IPTV device is sent to the secondary device. A content selection from an asset list is received at a server and post execution instructions for the selected IPTV device are generated. Next asset information is sent to the selected IPTV device. The asset information includes content associated with the content selection and the post execution instructions. The post execution instructions determine further IPTV device functionality. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210350 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING AVAILABLE IPTV DEVICES ON A NETWORK - An apparatus and a method for determining reachability of a device in a network. The method includes accessing an account from a secondary device and requesting device information of each device associated with the account. Address information of each device is obtained from the device information and a message is transmitted, to each device, requesting an indication of reachability from each device. The message is transmitted according to the address information of the device and the indication of reachability is based on device communication availability. An indication of reachability is received from each device. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210352 | INTERFACE FOR BROWSING AND PLAYING CONTENT OVER MULTIPLE DEVICES - Browsing and displaying content over multiple devices, including: displaying a graphical user interface program on a second device; associating the second device with a main device; receiving transactions performed by a user on the second device with the graphical user interface; sending at least one command to the main device after the transactions performed by the user on the second device with the graphical user interface are received by the second device; and executing the at least one command on the main device. Keywords include visual BIVL interface and IPTV client without GUI. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210353 | SECOND DISPLAY INTERACTION WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING FEED - Systems and methods are disclosed for publishing data to one or more social networking services in which data pertaining to a user's behavior in browsing, selecting, and playing an asset (e.g., media) from particular sources on a particular Internet television platform (IPTV), is tracked so that a feed representative of such behavior may be transmitted to the social networking services for publication as recommendations. In response to the feed, information pertaining to the user, the platform, the selected media, and the service providing the media may be presented on one or more pages provided by the social networking service. Viewers of the pages can add a recommended asset to an IPTV list for playback, add the user as an IPTV friend on their social networking page, and launch an application on a second display which may be used to control the platform. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210354 | GRAPHICAL NATIVE USER INTERFACE AND CONTROL FOR DEVICES WITHOUT GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE - Managing settings for a first network-connected device using a second device, including: accessing the first network-connected device configured as an IPTV client from the second device, wherein the IPTV client is configured without a GUI and the second device is configured with a GUI; retrieving current settings of the IPTV client; modifying and/or controlling settings of the IPTV client using a display of the second device; and communicating the modifications and/or controls of the settings to the IPTV client. Keywords include setting controls and network-connected device. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210365 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEARCHING OVER A NETWORK - A method and apparatus for performing global searching using second display devices. In an IPTV system, a second display application is typically a more complex application. There are typically many features, which increase complexity when a user attempts to find an asset, a service, a utility, a shortcut, or other information and/or content of the second display application. The use of a global search tool enhances the usage of the second display application, especially when a utility is buried in the second display application, making that utility more difficult to access. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210366 | INTERNET CONTENT SUBSCIPTION SERVICE VIA MULTIPLE DEVICES - Subscribing to channels and playing content, including: selecting an available subscription channel with an application on a second device; modifying a user's, subscription list based on the selected subscription-channel; and executing commands on any of the subscription channels of the user's subscription list. Keywords include: media, internet content, BIVL subscription and device infrastructure. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210371 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING RECOMMENDED CONTENT PLAYBACK ON A DISPLAY DEVICE - An IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) as a first display device may be controlled in part by user on a second display device. The second display device can set start and end times for content which the user of the second display device recommends to the IPTV device. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210373 | SESSION SYNCHRONIZATION OF INACTIVE IPTV DEVICE WITH SECOND DISPLAY DEVICE - Synchronizing a session of an inactive first device with a second device, including: generating a temporary session for the second device when the first device configured as an IPTV client becomes inactive; associating the temporary session with the inactive IPTV client to allow the second device to continue transactions while the IPTV client is inactive; searching for the temporary session associated with the IPTV client when the IPTV client becomes active again; and assigning the temporary session to the IPTV client. Keywords include session synchronization and transfer credentials. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210375 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO EASILY RETURN TO A RECENTLY-ACCESSED SERVICE ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods are provided to implement a technique for using a second display with a content playback device. In one implementation, this feature allows users to easily return to a recently-accessed service when browsing on a second display. The most recent service may appear at the top of the list. Such systems and methods may be particularly advantageous when a user normally only visits a few services in an entire list of available services on a regular basis. The recently-accessed service may be specific to the user account, a user profile within the user account, the second display, or the content playback device. In some implementations, the second display may be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, a laptop or tablet PC, or the like. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210377 | SOCIAL NETWORKING FEEDBACK VIA SECOND DISPLAY SELECTIONS - Systems and methods are disclosed for publishing data to one or more social networking services in which data pertaining to the user's behavior in browsing, selecting, and playing media, from particular sources on a particular IPTV platform, is tracked so that a feed representative of such behavior may be transmitted to the social networking services for publication. Accordingly in response to the feed, information pertaining to the user, the platform, the selected media, and the service providing the media may be presented on one or more pages provided by the social networking service. By embedding special tags in the feed that are compliant with protocols and methods that are supported by an API exposed by a server in the social networking service, the data from the feed can be displayed on the pages with the same look and feel and user experience as native social networking content. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210378 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING CONTENT USING IPTV DEVICES - A method and apparatus for identifying content using one or more Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) devices by accessing a user's account using a secondary device and selecting content provided by a service provider. The service provider sends an identifier that specifies the selected content to a first IPTV device that will display content. The selected content is added to a user's content list in the user's account; and played on the first IPTV device. During the time of playback on the first IPTV device, the user is able to browse content using the secondary device or another IPTV device. Thus, the user is able to browse and search for additional content without disturbing the display of the selected content. | 08-16-2012 |
20120210379 | METHOD AND APARATUS FOR SHARING INTERNET ASSETS OR CONTENT URLs VIA A SECOND DISPLAY DEVICE - A user can share Internet assets or content URLs via a second display device with other Internet content service users. Thus, the other users will be able to view the same content on their own internet protocol televisions (IPTV), as first display devices, without the need to search for the content in the content providing service. When the shared content is URLs, the recipient can even preview the content from the URL on the second display device before sending it to the recipient's internet protocol television (IPTV). | 08-16-2012 |
20120227000 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR USE IN PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED SYSTEM MENUS - Some embodiments provide methods of distributing system menus, comprising: receiving a request, from over a distributed network, to communicate a system menu to a requesting consumer electronic (CE) device; identifying the CE device; identifying a user interface corresponding to the CE device; identifying a system menu intended to be utilized by the CE device, wherein the system menu comprises a plurality of menu items with each menu item associates with a function; and communicating the identified system menu to the CE device. | 09-06-2012 |
20120227011 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED MENUS - A method and apparatus for customizing menus on a consumer electronic device, such as a television, based on, for example, the region where the device is located when it is connected to the network. Although the available network content and services differ by region, a single device may be manufactured and sold in all of these regions and countries, which is more efficient and flexible. This enables separate models to display menus based on uniform menu definitions. | 09-06-2012 |
20120227076 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SWITCHING BETWEEN A NATIVE APPLICATION AND A SECOND APPLICATION - A system and method for controlling a native application and a second application. The second application may be launched in a mobile device for controlling an IPTV device. The method includes executing the native application that includes a first function to implement a device discovery process and a second function to designate a discovered device as a selected device. The second application is executed according to settings of the native application. For example, the native application may be set as a parent and the second application may be set as a child. The second application and the native application may be synchronized such that second application includes functions for controlling the selected device. Additionally, the native device may transmit information about the selected device to the second application. | 09-06-2012 |
20120230516 | USER PROFILE BASED AUDIO ADJUSTMENT TECHNIQUES - Embodiments are directed toward user profile based audio adjustment techniques. The techniques are used to render various audio and/or audio/video content having different audio output parameter values in accordance with a user profile that characterizes a user's desired value and/or range of one or more of the output parameter levels. | 09-13-2012 |
20120246191 | World-Wide Video Context Sharing - A request to share an item of content is detected at a computing device. User context information is received for the item of content. A link to a storage location of the item of content is formed. The user context information and the link to the storage location of the item of content are sent to a context-sharing server. The context-sharing server receives the request to share the item of content with the user context information and the link to the storage location of the item of content, stores the received user context information and the link to the storage location of the item of content, and publishes the user context information and the link to the storage location of the item of content as shared content context information. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. | 09-27-2012 |
20130111534 | CONTROL OF IPTV USING SECOND DEVICE | 05-02-2013 |
20130144716 | ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LIVE STREAMING CONTENTS AND SERVICES - Placing advertisement, informational or promotional material into a live stream event streamed to a client device, including: establishing a private relationship between a server and the client device; receiving statistical studies performed of a pattern of behavior of members of the private relationship with respect to contents and services streamed live; preparing and storing the advertisement, informational or promotional material based on the statistical studies; selecting the stored advertisement, informational or promotional material for the client device; and placing the selected advertisement, informational or promotional material into a temporally and spatially appropriate position of the live stream event. Keywords include live media stream and BIVL. | 06-06-2013 |
20130145161 | DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT OF STREAMING CONTENTS AND SERVICES - Managing digital rights of contents and services streamed to a client device, including: receiving and validating a certificate from the client device; enabling the client device to log into and communicate with a server using a secure protocol to establish a private relationship between the client device and the server; and transmitting a resource identifier to the client device using the secure protocol when the private relationship is established. | 06-06-2013 |
20130152125 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADVERTISEMENT CHOICES USING A SECOND DISPLAY DURING CONTENT PLAYBACK - Systems and methods are disclosed that allow users to choose ads to be delivered while viewing content. In addition, the user can choose ads using a second display, thus not interrupting content viewing on a primary device. In this way, users may receive ads or ads within specific categories of their choosing. Ad choice may also take into account ads previously viewed, user preferences and interests, any purchasing history if available (including where items are merely browsed and not purchased, or where item barcodes are scanned, e.g., by a mobile phone camera), the content item playing during ad choice, previous content items played, interests or preferences determined from a social networking profile, and the like. User data as may be compiled is useful to advertisers and provides significant benefits to users because the ads displayed are highly likely to attract user interest upon playback. User choice provides similar benefits. | 06-13-2013 |
20130179587 | FILTERING LIVE STREAMING CONTENTS AND SERVICES - Filtering contents and services streamed live to a client device, including: establishing a private relationship between a server and the client device; determining capabilities of the client device and preferences of a user of the client device; and filtering and transmitting a list of servers, services, and contents with contents and services that are at least one of: (a) preferred; and (b) capable of being presented, viewed, played, or processed on the client device. Keywords include live media stream and content filtering. | 07-11-2013 |
20130198005 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR REAL-TIME LIVE STREAMING CONTENT - Provided are systems and methods for using an existing management server infrastructure to deliver video-on-demand or streaming content, including real-time live streaming Existing client content playback devices, such as IPTVs, may be employed to stream content items, obtain advertisements, track user's viewing behaviors, and the like. By reusing existing client devices, there is no need for additional hardware purchases on the user side. By reusing existing management server infrastructures, capital expenses are also reduced. In such a system, a user can watch both video-on-demand and streaming audiovisual content. | 08-01-2013 |
20130198770 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR REAL-TIME LIVE STREAMING CONTENT - Implementations of the system and method use an existing management server infrastructure to deliver video-on-demand or streaming content, including real-time live streaming. Existing client content playback devices, such as IPTVs, may be employed to stream content items, obtain advertisements, track user's viewing behaviors, and the like. By reusing existing client devices, there is no need for additional hardware purchases on the user side. By reusing existing management server infrastructures, capital expenses are also reduced. In such a system, a user can watch both video-on-demand and streaming audiovisual content. | 08-01-2013 |
20130232374 | REMOTELY SERVICING AND DIAGNOSING ELECTRONIC DEVICES - Remotely servicing and diagnosing a client device, including: establishing a persistent two-way connection between a server and the client device using a messaging and presence protocol; reading and analyzing statistics and settings of the client device when the persistent two-way connection has been established; detecting any problem with the client device from reading and analyzing statistics and setting of the client device; addressing and fixing the problem with the client device. Keywords include persistent connection, and remote servicing and diagnosing. | 09-05-2013 |
20130238896 | DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT FOR LIVE STREAMING BASED ON TRUSTED RELATIONSHIPS - Managing digital rights of content based on trusted relationships including: tagging the content as using encryption and specifying a retrieval method that is used to request a decryption key so that the content is live streamed to a client device a client device; transmitting an affiliation token to a trusted agent, wherein the trusted agent relays the affiliation token onto the client device based on requirement and identifier of the client device; receiving a request from the client device for the decryption key, which includes a value from the affiliation token to identify the trusted relationships; and verifying the request and providing the decryption key to the client device, wherein the client device uses the decryption key to decrypt the live streaming content for playback. Keywords include digital rights management and trusted relationship. | 09-12-2013 |
20130251329 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYNCHRONIZED STREAMING OF CONTENT - Systems and methods for synchronizing the playback of network media across multiple content playback devices, termed herein as “playback devices”, “clients”, or “client devices”. In one implementation, client devices are controlled to parse and buffer media content separately. Once all clients are ready, a controller may cause the client devices to start in a synchronized fashion based on signals sent by the controller. The controller adjusts the timing of the signal so that the outputs are displayed in synchronization on each client device. In other implementations, device lag times may be measured. In still other implementations, a master device may synchronize playback of media content on slave devices. In yet other implementations, devices may buffer and join playback of media content occurring on other devices. In further implementations, the systems and methods may be expanded to include steps of processing authentication for service providers prior to arranging synchronized playback. | 09-26-2013 |
20130254812 | IPTV RADIO DEVICE USING LOW-BANDWIDTH CONNECTION - Providing audio services to an Internet television device using a low-bandwidth Internet connection, including: configuring the Internet television device to operate and receive audio services using a low-bandwidth Internet connection; presenting a list of authorized services on a display of the Internet television device; receiving a search word for desired services, searching using the search word and aggregating search results, and presenting a playlist of services and stations obtained from the search results based on user's playback history and device's modular capabilities, when the desired services are not in the list of authorized or recommended services; enabling a customer to select a service from the list of authorized services or playlist of services and stations; and generating and streaming audio portion of the selected service to the Internet television device. Keywords include IPTV and low-bandwidth. | 09-26-2013 |
20130262575 | EXTRACTING MEDIA CONTENT FROM SOCIAL NETWORKING SERVICES - Systems and methods are disclosed for extracting media content from social networking services and presenting the extracted content to an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) user in a personalized and easy-to-consume manner. One or more feeds from social networking services that contain data pertaining to the user's social graph are monitored by a service in the IPTV domain for media content that meets preset criteria and preferences of the user. A social networking dashboard application is hosted in the IPTV environment and includes a user interface arranged with tools to enable the user to set preferences and specify tags that control various aspects of the media content extraction. The service can also monitor the social networking feeds in a real-time manner that enables creation of a knowledge base that is usable to present media content “trends” to the IPTV user. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263006 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT CHANNELS USING USER FEEDBACK - An apparatus and method of generating a content channel that includes accessing a list of content assets, utilizing one or more content assets as settings for the content channel, and selecting additional content assets. The selection is based on the settings. The content channel is generated based on the additional content assets. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263018 | EXTRACTING MEDIA CONTENT FROM SOCIAL NETWORKING SERVICES - Systems and methods are disclosed for extracting media content from social networking services and presenting the extracted content to an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) user in a personalized and easy-to-consume manner. One or more feeds from social networking services that contain data pertaining to the user's social graph are monitored by a service in the IPTV domain for media content that meets preset criteria and preferences of the user. A social networking dashboard application is hosted in the IPTV environment and includes a user interface arranged with tools to enable the user to set preferences and specify tags that control various aspects of the media content extraction. The service can also monitor the social networking feeds in a real-time manner that enables creation of a knowledge base that is usable to present media content “trends” to the IPTV user. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263165 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR UPDATING CONTENT CHANNELS - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263169 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO IMPROVE USER EXPERIENCE WITH STREAMING CONTENT - Provided are systems and methods for improving a viewing experience of a user during consumption of streamed content. In one implementation, the systems and methods relate to a model of polling a live streaming event by a management server of a service provider server and using that model to feed into future polling. The polling response returns up-to-date information about an event to be viewed. The system and method model the polling frequency and enter the same in an algorithm such as a supervised machine learning algorithm. This algorithm is presented as a mathematical formula and provides an input to the polling system to determine when to poll and how frequently to poll. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263172 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING CONTENT CHANNELS - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263173 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT CHANNELS PROVIDING SELECTED ACCESS - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263176 | SHAREABLE CONTENT FOR PRESENTATION ON IPTV DEVICE WITH LOW-BANDWIDTH CONNECTION - Sharing content, including: enabling a second client device to access and retrieve the content from a shareable storage unit, wherein the content was downloaded by a first client device from a server using a first low-bandwidth Internet connection; receiving a request from the second client device for authentication and playing of the content; and authenticating to enable the second client device to play the content. Keywords include sharing content and shareable storage. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263177 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT CHANNELS - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263186 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT CHANNELS BASED ON SELECTION CRITERIA - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 10-03-2013 |
20130263187 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT CHANNELS USING REFERENCES - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 10-03-2013 |
20130303288 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING CONTENT TO A USER DEVICE - An apparatus and method for providing content to a user device. The method includes accessing at least one game application for providing game content to the user device. A management application is used to communicate with the game application to control operation of the game application. Execution of the management application provides game content assets to selected user device based on parameters of the management application. | 11-14-2013 |
20130304584 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING DATA TO A USER DEVICE - An apparatus and method for providing data to a user device. The method includes accessing at least one game application for providing game content to the user device. A management application is used to communicate with the game application to control operation of the game application. Execution of the management application provides game content assets to selected user device based on parameters of the management application. | 11-14-2013 |
20130311882 | CONFIGURATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MENUS - Customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, including: preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device; generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions; and transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device. Keywords include customization of menus and consumer electronics device. | 11-21-2013 |
20130311883 | MENU USAGE STATISTICS COLLECTION AND REPORTING - Customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, including: preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device; generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions; transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device; and monitoring and tracking menu usage data of the consumer electronics device. Keywords include customization of menus and consumer electronics device. | 11-21-2013 |
20130311911 | CUSTOMIZATION OF MENUS - Customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, including: generating a predefined menu identifier; preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device; generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions; transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device; and identifying a specific menu and menu items using the predefined menu identifier. Keywords include customization of menus and consumer electronics device. | 11-21-2013 |
20130311913 | USER CUSTOMIZATION OF MENUS - Customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, including: preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device, wherein the menu customization is tailored to a consumer; generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions; and transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device. Keywords include user customization of menus and consumer electronics device. | 11-21-2013 |
20130311918 | MANAGEMENT OF MENU CUSTOMIZATION ACROSS MULTIPLE DEVICES - Customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, including: preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device; generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions; transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device; and managing the menus on a plurality of consumer electronics devices customized with the menu configuration information. Keywords include customization of menus and consumer electronics device. | 11-21-2013 |
20130311948 | DYNAMICALLY ASSIGNING SHORTCUTS TO MENU ITEMS AND ACTIONS - Dynamically assigning shortcuts to one or more functions, including: determining the one or more functions to assign shortcuts; dynamically assigning the one or more functions to at least one of buttons, keys, clicks, and touches on a client device as shortcuts; updating a mapping of the shortcuts to the one or more functions; and displaying the assigned shortcuts on a display of the client device. Keywords include shortcuts and menu items. | 11-21-2013 |
20140040971 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING CONTENT CHANNELS - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 02-06-2014 |
20140047469 | ENABLEMENT OF PREMIUM CONTENT FOR INTERNET VIDEO CLIENT - A device is enabled to display Internet TV by accessing a management server and receiving back from the server a user token and a service list of predefined content servers. A user can select a content server on the service list which causes the device to upload its user token to the management server, which in turn sends back the network path to the content server along with a content server-user-unique service token (SUIT) that the device uses to access the content on the content server, in some embodiments on per-title PPV access, per-content category PPV access, or per-service PPV access. | 02-13-2014 |
20140104385 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH A FOOD PRODUCT - Certain aspects of an apparatus and method for determining information associated with a food product may include a server that is communicably coupled to a computing device. The server may deconstruct a three dimensional (3-D) image of the food product to identify one or more ingredients in the food product. Further, the server may compare the deconstructed 3-D image with a database of pre-stored images of food products to determine a type of the one or more ingredients in the food product. The server may determine nutritional information associated with the food product based on the determined type of the one or more ingredients. | 04-17-2014 |
20140115625 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INSERTING AN ADVERTISEMENT IN A MEDIA STREAM - Certain aspects of a system and method for inserting an advertisement in a media stream may include a content access server. The content access server may receive the media stream from one or more content providers. The media stream may comprise one or more pre-determined positions for inserting the advertisement. The content access server may insert the advertisement in the media stream at one of the one or more pre-determined positions. The advertisement is selected from one or more advertisements in real-time based on a first metadata associated with the media stream, a location of the one or more pre-determined positions in the media stream, and one or more parameters associated with a user. | 04-24-2014 |
20140139736 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING A VIDEO SIGNAL FOR DISPLAY - A method and apparatus for processing a video signal is provided. The method and apparatus comprises a consolidator configured to consolidate a plurality of unutilized regions based on a determination of a difference between an aspect ratio of a display being generated and an aspect ratio of first content to form a consolidated display region. The method and apparatus consolidates the plurality of unutilized regions to generate an output video signal having the consolidated region and a first content region associated with the first content. The plurality of unutilized regions is consolidated by at least partially moving the first content region towards at least one edge of the output video signal. The plurality of unutilized regions is consolidated by scaling down size of the first content region associated with the first content. | 05-22-2014 |
20140143384 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING MEDIA CONTENT - Certain aspects of a method and apparatus for communicating media content may include a server communicatively coupled to a plurality of content rendering devices. One or more processors in the server may be operable to determine a set of configuration settings associated with the media content based on a set of parameters. The server may encode the media content and the determined set of configuration settings to generate an encoded media content. The determined set of configuration settings may be included in a header section of the encoded media content. The server may transmit the encoded media content to at least one of the plurality of content rendering devices. | 05-22-2014 |
20140152784 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONIZING OF 3-D DISPLAY DEVICES - Method and apparatus for generating a synchronization signal for a plurality of three-dimensional (3-D) image display devices is disclosed. The method and apparatus includes a synchronization manager configured for generating the synchronization signal utilized by the plurality of 3-D display devices for synchronously displaying respective content in accordance with a timing signal associated with the synchronization signal. | 06-05-2014 |
20140181525 | DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT OF STREAMING CONTENTS AND SERVICES - Managing digital rights of contents and services streamed to a client device, including: receiving and validating a certificate from the client device; enabling the client device to log into and communicate with a server using a secure protocol to establish a private relationship between the client device and the server; and transmitting a resource identifier to the client device using the secure protocol when the private relationship is established. | 06-26-2014 |
20140214929 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SHARING ELECTRONIC CONTENT - Disclosed is a method and system for sharing content between a plurality of electronic devices including identifying an event and detecting one or more electronic devices based on the identified event. Electronic content is obtained from one or more of the electronic devices related to the event and provided to one or more output devices based on a comparison. | 07-31-2014 |
20140240130 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING BIOMETRIC DATA - A method and system for monitoring biometric data. The method includes authenticating a user and providing content to a user device associated with the user. Biometric data associated with the user is obtained and compared to one or more threshold values. A representation of the comparison is generated and provided to the user. | 08-28-2014 |
20140244640 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT MANIPULATION - A method and system for organizing content data by adding one or more identifiers that place the content data in context or provide additional details about the content. The method includes attaching a label to image data and classifying the image data based on the label. | 08-28-2014 |
20140244827 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING ACTIVITY OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - An apparatus and method for monitoring activity of a device. The method includes associating one or more monitoring devices with an electronic device. Rules that have been established to define acceptable content that can be accessed by the electronic device are accessed. Requested content, which is requested by the electronic device, is identified. The requested content is compared to the established rules. An alert condition is generated when the requested content violates the established rules. An alert signal is provided to the one or more monitoring devices based on the alert condition | 08-28-2014 |
20140250331 | REMOTELY TESTING ELECTRONIC DEVICES USING MESSAGING AND PRESENCE PROTOCOL - Remotely testing a client device, the method including: implementing an interface of a messaging and presence protocol; starting a connection of the messaging and presence protocol between the client device and a server; initiating a test to execute steps of the test over the messaging and presence protocol connection; indicating information regarding results of the test to send over the messaging and presence protocol connection. Key words include remote testing and XMPP. | 09-04-2014 |
20140257788 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VOICE RECOGNITION INPUT ON NETWORK-ENABLED DEVICES - Apparatus and methods to implement a technique for using voice input to control a network-enabled device. In one implementation, this feature allows the user to conveniently register and manage an IPTV device using voice input rather than employing a bulky remote control or a separate registration website. | 09-11-2014 |
20140258445 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SEAMLESS NAVIGATION OF CONTENT ACROSS DIFFERENT DEVICES - Certain aspects of a system and method for seamless navigation of content between different devices may include one or more devices communicably coupled to one or more servers through a communication network. The devices are capable of rendering content. The device generates the status information corresponding to the first content and communicates the status information to a server when the device navigates from the first content and/or to a second content. The device can render the second content based on a metadata associated with the second content received from the server. The server generates a metadata associated the first content based on the status information received from the device. The server saves the metadata associated with the first content. The server communicates the metadata associated with the first content to a device when the first content has to be rendered in the device. | 09-11-2014 |
20140258464 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE CONTROL - An originating device is controlled by a client device by receiving a media stream from the originating device over a network at the client device. The media stream includes media content and metadata such that the metadata informs the client device of at least one function of the originating device that is available for control by the client device. A control command is transmitted in the media stream from the client device to control the at least one function of the originating device. In response, the client device receives an altered media stream over the network at the client device such that the altered media stream includes media content altered in response to the transmitted command. The altered media content can be displayed on the client device. | 09-11-2014 |
20140258816 | METHODOLOGY TO DYNAMICALLY REARRANGE WEB CONTENT FOR CONSUMER DEVICES - Systems and methods are provided that convert or transform web-based content and pages and dynamically rearrange such content in pages in such a way that the presentation is native or highly convenient to customers already familiar and conditioned to use embedded, network-enabled devices such as IPTVs, media players such as Blu-ray® players, game consoles such as the PS3® game console, network boxes, and the like. Users can employ various user input devices to navigate webpages just as they would other content on the network-enabled device. The user input device may vary, but may include remote controls, second displays, mobile phones, laptop computers, devices for the disabled, and so on. | 09-11-2014 |
20140282646 | DEVICE FOR ACQUISITION OF VIEWER INTEREST WHEN VIEWING CONTENT - In order to acquire a viewer's enjoyment and interest when viewing three-dimensional contents on a consumer electronic device, a viewer's eyes are monitored in real-time. Biometric data from the monitoring can be used for delivery of highly accurate and personalized viewing experiences for the viewer. | 09-18-2014 |
20140282711 | CUSTOMIZING THE DISPLAY OF INFORMATION BY PARSING DESCRIPTIVE CLOSED CAPTION DATA - The display of information supplied from a remote source is customized. Profile data identifying user preferences or display characteristics associated with a user's display device is transmitted to the remote source. Descriptive closed caption data disposed in a predetermined location in the data structure of the information is received from that remote source. The descriptive closed caption data is parsed from the received information; and the user's preference or display characteristic is recognized from the parsed data. The parsed data is used to control the user's display device, thereby displaying the supplied information in accordance with the user's preference or in accordance with the particular display characteristics of the user's display device. | 09-18-2014 |
20140325029 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN TRACKING PLAYBACK OF MEDIA STREAMS WHILE IN STAND-BY MODE - Some embodiments provide methods, systems and apparatuses for use in managing playback of content. Some of these methods comprise: maintaining, at a playback device, a first media stream in a stand-by mode; continuing to acquire, from over a distributed network while in the stand-by mode, one or more index files of the first media stream, where the one or more index files identify a plurality of media files of the first media stream configured to be played back at the playback device, while not acquiring the media files of the first media stream while the first media stream is in the stand-by mode; and tracking the one or more index files relative to a playback timing f the first media stream while in the stand-by mode, where the playback timing continues to increment while the first media stream is in the stand-by mode. | 10-30-2014 |
20140333788 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING IMAGE CONTENT - Various aspects of a device and a method for processing image content by a device are disclosed herein. The device captures image content based on one or more predetermined events. The device detects a change in a mode of operation of the device from a first mode of operation to a second mode of operation associated with capturing of the image content. The device renders an output in response to the detected change in the mode of operation of the device. The rendered output is one or more of an audio output or an output non-perceivable by a human. | 11-13-2014 |
20140337731 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT CHANNELS USING REFERENCES - An apparatus and method for creating channels dedicated to a particular type of content. The method includes acquiring seed content and using the seed content in the creation or updating of a content list. Additional content for the channel is acquired based on the common features of the content list. | 11-13-2014 |
20140366073 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT PLAYBACK USING MULTIPLE IPTV DEVICES - An apparatus and method for resuming playback of media content from more than one Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) device. The playback of a media asset or media content typically contains an asset ID and a start time. Based on the architecture of a second display device (e.g., a second IPTV device) the IPTV system determines the identity of an account and its associated IPTV devices. When a user pauses an asset, the system sends the asset identification (ID) and the stop time to a server operatively coupled to the system. The next time (within a predefined duration) the user requests the same asset ID, the pause time and the asset ID are returned. Using the pause time and the asset ID, the user can resume playback of the asset. | 12-11-2014 |
20140378183 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN DISPLAYING CONTENT ON A CONSUMER ELECTRONIC DEVICE - Some embodiments provide portable handheld devices comprising: first and second displays; a controller; and a first display casing secured within the first display and a second display casing secured within the second display, the second display casing is moveable to move between closed and an open positions; wherein, when in the closed position, at least a majority of the second display is not visible; wherein, when in the open position, both the first display and the second display are visible and configured to display the graphical content; and wherein the controller is configured to cooperatively utilize both the first display and the second display when in the open position such that the graphical content is cooperatively displayed on both the first display and the second display. | 12-25-2014 |
20150026729 | INDIVIDUAL INTERNET VIDEO LINK CHANNEL - A system and method for establishing and provisioning a new Internet Video Link (IVL) category. The new IVL category has video content located on a local device as well as retrieved from any internet URL provided by a user. The IVL category is built in the background and contains a category as a directory of video content and channels as sub-directories containing subsets of the category's video content. The user may carry out keyword searching video content to establish a mix of video content concatenated into a single mix channel. Alternatively, the mix channel may be provisioned by locating and mixing together video content that has similar metadata tags associated with the user preferred video content. The user may also receive recommendations for IVL content. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract. | 01-22-2015 |
20150032736 | DIRECT SERVICE LAUNCH ON A SECOND DISPLAY - Apparatus and methods to implement a technique for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows the native application on the second display to directly launch the second display application with a requested search term so that the user is immediately brought to a search page with relevant search results. The search term may be derived from the native application which in turn derives from the context of the IP TV. Such a context could be metadata from a currently playing BD from a BD player or TV channel. The second display application may be a web application or a native remote controller application. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, or a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like. | 01-29-2015 |
20150066922 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECOMMENDING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT - Various aspects of a system and a method for recommending multimedia content are disclosed herein. The method is included in a server communicatively coupled to a first electronic device operable to execute a first application and a second application. The method receives a first plurality of user preferences. The received first plurality of user preferences comprises a set of metadata corresponding to a first multimedia content rendered during the execution of the first application at the first electronic device. The method recommends second multimedia content to a user through a multimedia distribution channel during execution of the second application based on the received first plurality of user preferences. | 03-05-2015 |
20150070586 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO VIEW PROPERLY ORIENTED CLOSED CAPTIONING DIRECTLY AND THROUGH REFLECTIONS - A system and method for viewing simultaneous videos on a single display device using polarization. The system includes a polarized display device capable of displaying multiple full-screen polarized images simultaneously, multiple polarized videos displayed on the display device, and at least one polarizing optical element. The polarizing optical element includes a direction of polarization generally equal to the direction of polarization of one of the polarized videos, so that only one polarized video is viewable through the polarizing optical element. The polarizing optical element may be a transparent window or a mirror. Multiple polarizing optical elementes may be used simultaneously, allowing for simultaneous viewing of multiple videos displayed on a single screen. | 03-12-2015 |
20150088671 | PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED ENTERTAINMENT BASED ON WAIT TIME - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing an entertainment consumption experience based at least in part on a determined wait time for ordered items. Such may generally also take account of profiles of users awaiting the items. The systems and methods may be employed in any network-enabled system that includes consumer electronic (“CE”) devices (or restaurant-provided or -situated dedicated devices) and an appropriate management system to provide estimates of wait time. | 03-26-2015 |