Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100082681 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ORGANIZING AND BOOKMARKING CONTENT - An approach is provided for creating user-defined folders for organizing content accessible through a set-top box and for creating multiple bookmarks per set-top box program for use during programming playback. | 04-01-2010 |
20100166384 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUSES FOR HANDLING FAILED MEDIA CONTENT RECORDINGS - An exemplary system includes a communication facility configured to receive transmitted data representative of a plurality of media content instances in accordance with a transmission schedule. The system further includes a media recording facility communicatively coupled to the communication facility. The media recording facility is configured to recognize a failure to record one of the media content instances, and designate the media content instance for consideration for at least one future recording opportunity. In certain embodiments, the designation of the media content instance includes adding at least one identifier representative of the media content instance to a watch list, searching program guide data for the identifier; and identifying, from the program guide data, a scheduled future transmission of the media content instance. | 07-01-2010 |
20100169829 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUSES FOR RESOLVING MEDIA CONTENT RECORDING CONFLICTS - An exemplary method includes detecting, on a media content recording device, a media content recording conflict between a plurality of scheduled recordings of media content instances, and outputting, for display on a display device, data representative of a graphical user interface including a plurality of graphical objects representative of the plurality of scheduled recordings of the media content instances and at least one option configured to facilitate resolution of the media content recording conflict. Corresponding methods, systems, apparatuses, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. | 07-01-2010 |
20100262986 | VIEWING HISTORY - A method may include capturing descriptive information associated with viewed television content as it is being viewed. The captured information may be stored. A request to display viewing history information may be received. At least some of the captured information may be retrieved and displayed. | 10-14-2010 |
20100306811 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR NAVIGATING AND PLAYING BACK MEDIA CONTENT - An approach is provided for navigating media content by specifying a time to start playback of the media content. | 12-02-2010 |
20110078744 | DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER NOTIFICATIONS - A method for providing notifications relating to a digital video recorder (DVR), may include identifying an issue or conflict associated with the DVR. It may be determined whether to generate a notification message relating to the identified issue or conflict. The notification message may be generated when it is determined to generate a notification message relating to the identified issue/conflict. The notification message may be transmitted to a user device separate from the DVR. | 03-31-2011 |
20110082880 | SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF SEARCHING CONTENT - A system for and method of searching content is presented. The system and method allow a user to search within content stored locally or on a network by associated closed captioning content, to display the search results, and to play content associated with the search results. | 04-07-2011 |
20110123174 | SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF STORING SNEAK PEEKS OF UPCOMING VIDEO CONTENT - A system for and method of storing sneak peeks of upcoming viewing content is presented. The system and method provides that the sneak peek clips may be recorded and stored onto a subscriber's digital video recorder (DVR) in response to a determination of the viewing preferences of the subscriber. The sneak peek clips may also be recorded and stored onto the subscriber's DVR in response to a user selection of content. The user may select content by browsing through a graphical user interface and indicating selections. The user may also select content when viewing a program by selecting an advertisement for an upcoming movie or series that the subscriber may be interested in viewing. The clips may be recorded and stored on the subscriber's DVR, and then later retrieved and viewed by using an interface to navigate and select the stored sneak peek clips. After viewing the sneak peek clips, the user may be provided with the option of viewing the content in full. | 05-26-2011 |
20110138408 | TELEVISION INTERACTION INFORMATION AND RELATED ICONOGRAPHY - A method may include receiving identification information associated with each of one or more users. Interactions may be received from the one or more users relating to content displayed on a television device. Interaction information associated with the interactions may be captured, wherein the interaction information includes at least interaction type information, interaction status information, interaction origin information, and user identification information. The captured interaction information may be stored. A request to display at least some of the captured interaction information may be received. At least some of the captured information may be retrieved and displayed responsive to the request. | 06-09-2011 |
20110162009 | UNIFIED RECORDING LISTING ACROSS MULTIPLE DEVICES - A method may include requesting aggregated index information relating to media content stored on a least two digital video recorder (DVR) devices. The aggregated index information is received in response to the request. The aggregated index information includes a number of content entries, each entry including location information identifying a DVR device on which the associated media content is stored. A listing of the media content is displayed based on the aggregated index information. | 06-30-2011 |
20110243535 | Methods and Systems for Resolution-Based Modification of Recording Instructions Associated with a Scheduled Recording - An exemplary method includes maintaining recording instructions received from a user to automatically record a first resolution version of a media content instance scheduled to be transmitted during a first time period by way of a first content channel, determining that a second resolution version of the media content instance is scheduled to be transmitted during a second time period by way of a second content channel, presenting an option to the user to record the second resolution version of the media content instance instead of the first resolution version of the media content instance, and automatically modifying, in response to a selection of the option by the user, the recording instructions to record the second resolution version of the media content instance instead of the first resolution version of the media content instance. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 10-06-2011 |
20110247035 | CONTENT PLAYLIST - A method may include receiving a request to add a video-on-demand (VOD) program selected by a user from a VOD catalog to a playlist. The play list may list a plurality of programs, wherein at least one of the plurality of programs is associated with the VOD catalog and at least one of the plurality of programs is associated with a program guide of scheduled programs. The method may further include adding an indication of the selected VOD program to the playlist and displaying the playlist including the indication of the selected VOD program to the user. | 10-06-2011 |
20110247036 | PREFERENTIAL PROGRAM GUIDE - A method may include selecting a plurality programs to recommend to a user based on preferences of the user. The method may include displaying a program guide including a timeline, wherein the program guide indicates times that the plurality of recommended programs are scheduled to play. The program guide may also include a gap between the displayed recommended programs, the gap indicating a time during which one or more programs not selected to recommend to the user is scheduled to play. In one embodiment, the method may include displaying a video on demand (VOD) program or a personal video recorder (PVR) program in the gap between the displayed recommended programs | 10-06-2011 |
20110310100 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL SHAPE USER INTERFACE FOR MEDIA CONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Exemplary three-dimensional (“3-D”) shape user interfaces for media content delivery systems and methods are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a media content delivery computing system maintaining data representative of a 3-D shape model including a plurality of shape faces, dynamically selecting, in accordance with a shape content selection heuristic, display content for association with at least one of the plurality of shape faces, and utilizing the data representative of the 3-D shape model to render a graphical representation of a 3-D shape in a graphical user interface. In some examples, the method further includes the computing system feeding the dynamically selected display content, which may include one or more video feeds, into at least one of the plurality of shape faces in real time. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 12-22-2011 |
20110311204 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONVERTING MEDIA CONTENT STREAM DATA ACCUMULATED DURING A PAUSE OF PLAYBACK FROM A BUFFER TO A PERMANENT RECORDING - Exemplary systems and methods for automatically converting media content stream data from a buffer to a permanent recording are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a media content access subsystem receiving data representative of a media content stream, temporarily storing the data representative of the media content stream within a buffer for playback to a user, detecting an input command provided by the user to pause the playback of the media content stream, pausing the playback of the media content stream, accumulating data representative of a portion of the media content stream not yet played back within the buffer, detecting an alert condition indicating that the data representative of the portion of the media content stream not yet played back is about to be lost from the buffer, and converting the data representative of the portion of the media content stream not yet played back to a permanent recording. | 12-22-2011 |
20120005595 | USERS AS ACTORS IN CONTENT - A method may include receiving a plurality of images of a face of a user, wherein each image of the face of the user is associated with one of a plurality of different expressions. The method may also include receiving a first video, wherein the first video comprises images of an actor including images of a face of the actor, wherein each image of the face of the actor is associated with one of the plurality of different expressions. Further, the method may include replacing the images of the face of the actor with corresponding images of the face of the user in a same expression to create a second video and transmitting the second video to the user. | 01-05-2012 |
20120020650 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PREVENTING DUPLICATIVE MEDIA CONTENT RECORDINGS - Exemplary systems and methods for preventing duplicative media content recordings are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a media content access subsystem detecting that a media content instance is scheduled to be recorded, determining, based on an operations log of one or more past operations of the media access subsystem, that the scheduled recording of the media content instance is duplicative of a past recording, and selectively canceling the scheduled recording of the media content instance in response to the determination that the scheduled recording is duplicative of the past recording. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed. | 01-26-2012 |
20120066338 | RECORDING VARIABLE-QUALITY CONTENT STREAM - A device may include a network interface and a processor. The network interface may receive data over a network and send data over the network. The processor may receive, from a remote device, a first portion of content at a first quality via the network interface. In addition, the processor may record the first portion of the content at the first quality, obtain bandwidth information, send the bandwidth information to a remote device via the network interface, and receive, from the remote device via the network interface, a second portion of the content at a second quality. Furthermore, the processor may record the second portion of the content at the second quality and schedule a download of the content at a fixed quality from a remote system. | 03-15-2012 |
20120066594 | Secondary Audio Content by Users - A method comprising displaying the list of content on a display and receiving a selection for a first content including a first video content and a first audio content. The method may include displaying a menu of a plurality of additional audio content on the display, wherein displaying the menu of the plurality of additional audio content includes displaying a rating of each of the plurality of additional audio content based on ratings provided by users of each of the plurality of additional audio content. The method may also include receiving a selection of one of the plurality of additional audio content and playing the first content while simultaneously playing the selected one of the plurality of additional audio content. | 03-15-2012 |
20120102529 | USER-CUSTOMIZED PROGRAMMING - A method may include transmitting a list of programs for customization to a user device and receiving, from the user device, a selection by the user of one of the listed programs. The method may further include determining a list of clips to recommend to the user based on a user profile associated with the user and transmitting the list of clips to the user device for customizing the selected program. Further, the method may include receiving a selection of one of the clips from the user device and inserting the clip into the selected program to generate a customized program. | 04-26-2012 |
20120114306 | Methods and Systems for Dynamically Adjusting at least one of a Start and a Stop of a Recording Based on an Advertisement Break - Methods and systems for dynamically adjusting a start or a stop of a recording based on an advertisement break are disclosed herein. An exemplary method includes a media content access subsystem detecting an instruction configured to trigger a start or a stop of a recording of a media content instance at a start time or a stop time based on a clock reference, detecting an advertisement break proximate in time to the start time or the stop time, and adjusting the start or the stop of the recording based on the advertisement break. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 05-10-2012 |
20120117057 | SEARCHING RECORDED OR VIEWED CONTENT - A method may include receiving a request from a user to play or record a program, wherein the program is associated with dialog text and determining a user profile associated with the user. The method may include associating, in response to receiving the request, the dialog text of the requested program with the user profile. The method may include receiving a search query from the user associated with the user profile and searching the dialog text associated with the user for dialog text that matches the search query. The method may include transmitting, for display, an identification of the program associated with the matching dialog text. | 05-10-2012 |
20120236930 | MPEG-W DECODER - A device comprising a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-W decoder; and one or more processing systems to execute the instructions of the MPEG-W decoder, which configure the one or more processing systems to receive a request for streaming content; select an estimate of a bandwidth for a connection between a destination device and a source device; select a device type pertaining to the destination device; generate a stream request that includes an MPEG-W link, the estimate of the bandwidth, the device type, the MPEG-W link including an address pertaining to the source device, a name of the streaming content, and a file extension of an MPEG-W format; transmit the stream request to the source device; select a streaming content based on the stream request; wherein the streaming content has a resolution corresponding to the estimate of the bandwidth; and transmitting the streaming content to the destination device. | 09-20-2012 |
20120246218 | REGION OF INTEREST STREAMING - A device may include an interface and one or more processors. The interface may obtain, from a content source via a network, a playlist file including a plurality of content file identifiers corresponding to a plurality of content files associated with alternate encodings of a content stream. The one or more processors may determine that the alternate encodings correspond to different logical divisions of an image area associated with the content stream, forward, to a client device, the playlist file for selection of one logical division of the different logical divisions, and request, from the content source via the communication interface and responsive to the forwarding, one or more content file, of the plurality of content files, associated with a particular encoding of the alternate encodings. | 09-27-2012 |
20120254365 | DELIVERY OF STREAMING MEDIA CONTENT - A device includes a communication interface and one or more processors. The communication interface may receive media guide data, from a media guide server via a network, including information relating to a number of available media items and playlist information relating to at least one available playlist file associated with a particular media item. The one or more processors may receive a user selection of the particular media item and may request the playlist file from a playlist server via the network based on the playlist information via the interface. The interface may receive the playlist file from the playlist server, the playlist file including locations of stream segments corresponding to the selected playlist. The one or more processors may request the stream segments from a content server via the network based on the received playlist file. | 10-04-2012 |
20120254455 | DOWNLOADING VIDEO USING EXCESS BANDWIDTH - A method may include downloading a first segment of a video in a first bit-rate quality at the first bit rate and storing the downloaded first segment of the video in the first bit-rate quality. The method may further include downloading a second segment of the video in a second bit-rate quality at the second bit rate, wherein the second bit rate is greater than the first bit rate and storing the downloaded second segment of the video in the second bit-rate quality. The method may also include downloading the first segment of the video at the second bit-rate quality using excess bandwidth while downloading the second segment of the video in the second bit-rate quality at the second bit rate and storing the downloaded first segment of the video in the second bit rate-rate quality. | 10-04-2012 |
20120303759 | CELLS AND/OR VANTAGE POINTS IN STREAMING MEDIA - A client receives a playlist file associated with streams of media, and reads the playlist file to retrieve coordinates of multiple cells or to retrieve multiple vantage points, where each of the multiple cells or vantage points comprises a different media stream. The client determines an available bandwidth for receiving media streams, and receives selection of one or more of the multiple cells or one or more of the multiple vantage points. The client requests, based on the selection and the determined available bandwidth, one or more media streams corresponding to the selected one or more cells or vantage points. The client plays back the one or more streams corresponding to the selected one or more cells or vantage points. The client may include a laptop, palmtop or tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a set top box (STB), or a television (TV). | 11-29-2012 |
20130074120 | PROVISIONING AN EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS) MESSAGE SERVICE TO USER DEVICES - A system is configured to receive, from a user device, a request for video content; obtain the video content in response to the request; process the video content to generate one or more first segments, where each of the first segments corresponds to a respective portion of the video content; receive an emergency alert system (EAS) message; process the EAS message to generate one or more second segments, where each of the second segments corresponds to a respective portion of the EAS message; and transmit, to the user device, a playlist, associated with the video content, that includes the first segments and the second segments, where the playlist allows the user device to play the video content on a particular channel based on the first segments, and allows the user device to play the EAS message, based on the second segments, without tuning to a channel different from the particular channel. | 03-21-2013 |
20130086601 | MESSAGE DELIVERY MECHANISM - A method may include receiving a video stream, wherein the video stream is divided into video segments, and wherein the video stream is being sent to a customer device and receiving a request to insert a message into the video stream. The method may further include determining a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream; inserting the message into video stream after the particular video segment; and sending the video stream to the customer device, wherein the video stream includes the inserted message. | 04-04-2013 |
20130283317 | PREVIOUSLY AIRED EPISODE RETRIEVAL BASED ON SERIES DVR SCHEDULING - A device receives an identification of a series to schedule automatic recording of episodes that are currently airing or that will be airing in the future, receives an instruction to automatically retrieve previously aired episodes of the scheduled series based on the scheduling of the automatic recording of the episodes that are currently airing or that will be airing in the future. The device searches content, based on receipt of the instruction, to retrieve previously aired episodes of the scheduled series. The device records at least one episode of the scheduled series, and presents the recorded at least one episode of the scheduled series and the previously aired episodes of the scheduled series such that a user may select and play the at least one episode of the scheduled series or the previously aired episodes of the scheduled series. | 10-24-2013 |
20130290402 | LIVE STREAMING CIRCULAR BUFFER - A device may receive an update playlist file that lists segments of a content stream in an order that the segments are to be recombined by a client device; update a live playlist file based on the update playlist file; update a time playlist file by appending segment identifiers, which are included in the update playlist file and not included in the time playlist file, to the time playlist file; create a new playlist file that includes the segment identifiers and that does not include other segment identifiers; and send one of the live playlist file, time playlist file, or the new playlist file to a client device. | 10-31-2013 |
20130335637 | PROGRAM GUIDE WITH PAST HISTORY DISPLAY AND PROGRAM SELECTION - A method includes receiving, at a set top box, an instruction or command from a user to view program listings associated with programs that were broadcast by a television service provider during a first period of time that is prior to a current time. The method also includes identifying at least one television program that was broadcast during the first period of time and that is available to the user, and outputting, by the set top box, a program guide identifying the at least one television program. The method further includes receiving, at the set top box, a selection corresponding to a first one of the at least one television program and outputting, by the set top box, the first television program. | 12-19-2013 |
20140052823 | MEDIA PLAYLISTS WITH SELECTIVE MEDIA EXPIRATION - A media server may receive a request for a playlist from a client computing device, the playlist being associated with expiration information indicative of when the playlist becomes obsolete. The media server may provide the requested playlist to the client computing device. The media server may revise the playlist to generate a refreshed version of the playlist and the client computing device may request the refreshed version of the playlist according to the expiration information. | 02-20-2014 |
20140059585 | Resolution of Tuner Conflicts - Method, device, and storage medium to identify that a resource conflict exists pertaining to tuners of a device that tune to programs; notify a user that the resource conflict exists; receive a request to release a tuner; release the tuner in response to the request; determine whether a program offer is to be made; and provide the program offer in response to determining that the program offer is to be made. | 02-27-2014 |
20140153904 | Methods and Systems for Resolving Conflicts in a Multi-Tuner Digital Video Recording System - An exemplary method includes a conflict resolution system 1) detecting a request for a DVR system having a plurality of tuners to tune to a media content program at a time during which all of the tuners are tuned to other media content programs, 2) identifying one or more media content programs that are being presented by the DVR system at the time of the request and one or more media content programs that are only being recorded by the DVR system at the time of the request, 3) presenting a conflict resolution interface that includes one or more selectable entries representative of the identified one or more media content programs that are only being recorded by the DVR system, and 4) excluding the identified one or more media content programs that are being presented by the DVR system from being represented in the conflict resolution interface. | 06-05-2014 |
20140156516 | PROVIDING CUSTOM SCRIPTS FOR CONTENT FILES - A first server may: receive, from a user device, an indication of a selection of a particular content file; provide a first query to request a script list having a list of one or more scripts associated with the particular content file, each one of the one or more scripts including an instruction to direct the user device to modify playback of the particular content file; receive, a response to the first query including the script list; and provide one of the one or more scripts to the user device, the user device being capable of executing the instruction of the one of the one or more scripts to modify playback of the particular content file when the user device plays the particular content file. | 06-05-2014 |
20140181260 | MEDIA START POSITION - A device may generate an index for providing media files via a HTTP Live media stream. The index may include an ordered list of uniform resource identifiers for obtaining the media files. The device may determine a start position for content corresponding to the media files and may insert a start point identifier into the index. The start point identifier may identify one of the uniform resource identifiers included in the ordered list of uniform resource identifiers, for obtaining one of media files that corresponds to the start position for the content. The device may send the index to a client device. The device may receive a request the one of the media files and may provide the one of the media files to the client device via the HTTP Live media stream. | 06-26-2014 |
20140186000 | Methods and Systems for Facilitating Migration of a User Account from a First Digital Video Recording ("DVR") System to a Second DVR System - An exemplary method includes a digital video recording (“DVR”) data migration management system 1) receiving a request for a user account to migrate from being associated with a first DVR system to being associated with a second DVR system, 2) accessing a first DVR data set associated with the first DVR system and separate from data representative of a library of one or more media content assets stored by the first DVR system, 3) generating a second DVR data set based on the first DVR data set and in accordance with one or more attributes of the second DVR system, and 4) associating the second DVR data set with the second DVR system. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 07-03-2014 |
20140186001 | Media Content Asset Recovery Methods and Systems - An exemplary method includes a media content asset recovery system 1) detecting a migration of a user account from being associated with a first DVR system to being associated with a second DVR system, 2) identifying, in response to the detecting, a media content asset included within a library of one or more media content assets stored by the first DVR system at a time associated with the migration, 3) selecting, in accordance with a source selection heuristic, a media content source other than the first DVR system and that is configured to distribute the media content asset, and 4) directing the second DVR system to acquire the media content asset from the selected media content source for storage by the second DVR system. | 07-03-2014 |
20140282757 | PREDICTIVE POSITIONING - A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium to receive a streaming program, calculate a delay time that occurs between an instant in time when a trick play input is received and an instant in time proximate to an onset of executing the trick play input, and calculate a predicted position of the streaming program based on the delay time, the type of trick play input, the speed of the trick play input, and a difference in the streaming program progress resulting from the delay to execute the trick play input. | 09-18-2014 |
20140359124 | PARENTAL CONTROL SETTINGS FOR MEDIA CLIENTS - A first media client may set a parental control feature of the first media client to a first setting. The first media client may determine an occurrence of an event associated with the parental control feature. The first media client may determine a second setting of a parental control feature of a second media client. The second media client may be different from the first media client. The first media client may determine that the second setting is a more restrictive setting relative to the first setting. The first media client may set the parental control feature of the first media client to the second setting based on the occurrence of the event and based on the second setting being the more restrictive setting. | 12-04-2014 |
20150067531 | USER-BASED CUSTOMIZATION OF A USER INTERFACE - A customized user interface service includes a self-customization and an auto-customization of user interfaces. A user interface is customized based on usage data of the user. The usage data includes historical navigational data. The usage data is analyzed to identify a pattern of usage. The user interface is customized based on the identified pattern of usage. The customized user interface service also allows a user to select and execute customizations. | 03-05-2015 |