1711results about "Specific information broadcast systems" patented technology

An RFID token apparatus has a connection module for interfacing with an appliance capable of communicating and interacting with remote servers and networks, a translation module for moving signals between a USB interface and a smart card interface, a processor module which may be capable of operating as a dual-interface (DI) chip; and an input/output module having at least one RF antenna and a modulator. An RFID-contactless interface according to ISO 14443 & ISO 15693 and/or NFC. A wireless interface according to Zigbee, Bluetooth, WLAN 802.11, UWB, USB wireless and/or any similar interface. An RFID reader apparatus has a housing; a slot for a contact or contactless fob; and a USB stick alternately protruding from the housing and retracted within the housing.

The present invention relates to a music identification/purchasing system, specifically to a method for marking the time and the name of the radio station in portable device such as a key holder, watch, cellular phone, beeper or the like which will allow the user to learn via internet or regular telephone the name of the song, artist and/or music company by matching the stored data with broadcast archive. The system will allow for purchase of the full length of the identified music item or related music. An alternate embodiment provides the listener with convenient means to record a segment of the music in which he/she is interested. The recorded music segment is played back into an apparatus which can identify the song based on the play back and provide the user with information on the identified song such as title, singer or artist, composer, producer, etc., and provide related purchasing information. The user can make selections and provide payment data to the music identification/purchasing system which will result in the selections being delivered to the user by mail.

In a broadcasting system, an electronic program guide (EPG) is used to determine what broadcast program is on a given channel at a given time in a given location. With the particular determined broadcast program as an input, timing offset objects defining interactive content related to the determined broadcast program can be retrieved from a timing offsets database. Each timing offset object specifies a time from the beginning of the program, an act to perform at the time, and a reference to interactive content on which to perform the act at the time. With the reference to the interactive content as an input, an interactive application or other interactive content can be retrieved from an interactive content database. The EPG, the timing offsets database, and the interactive content database may be located logically or physically together or separately, and they may be cached locally or referenced from an external source.

A media system that centrally manages and stores media contents and also controls the delivery of media content to subscribers is disclosed. According to one aspect, an administrator can control program scheduling, rates, service packages and system configuration for a media delivery system. Additionally, the administrator may also control billing, transaction monitoring, and customer relations. According to another aspect, the media delivery system provides subscribers with centrally managed storage for paused or recorded media. Still another aspect is that the media delivery system can restrict various administrators to different modules of the media delivery system.

An apparatus for upgrading a viewer interface for a television program delivery system (200) is described. The invention relates to methods and devices for viewer pathways to television programs and services. Specifically, the apparatus involves hardware and software used in conjunction with the interface and a television at the viewer home to create a user friendly menu based approach to accessing programs and services. The apparatus is particularly useful in a program delivery system (200) with hundreds of programs and a data signal carrying program information. The disclosure describes menu generation and menu selection of television programs.

A subscriber characterization system is presented in which the subscriber's selections are monitored, including monitoring of the time duration programming is watched, the volume at which the programming is listened to, and any available information regarding the type of programming, including category and sub-category of the programming. The characterization system can extract textual information related to the programming from closed captioning data, electronic program guides, or other text sources associated with the programming. The extracted information is used to form program characteristics vectors. The programming characteristics vectors can be used in combination with the subscriber selection data to form a subscriber profile. Heuristic rules indicating the relationships between programming choices and demographics can be applied to generate additional probabilistic information regarding demographics and programming and product interests.

In a broadband communications system, e.g., a cable system, programming content can be readily reserved and accessed for viewing using an interactive program guide, a network home graphic user interface (GUI), Quick View Guide, etc., in accordance with the invention. Such programming content may include in-progress programs, future programs and previously broadcast programs which are recorded at a headend in the cable system, and which may or may not have overlapping broadcast times. In addition, the user may reserve programs at a set-top terminal, and may also do so remotely from the terminal through a communications network such as, the Internet, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a wireless telephone network, etc.

A network personal video recorder (NPVR) service is modified so that some or all of the programs on an NPVR enabled channel are deprived of a fast-forward capability otherwise afforded by the NPVR service. As a result, a user cannot fast-forward one such program to skip commercials and product placement advertisements therein. In addition, some or all of the programs on an NPVR enabled channel cannot be freely time-shifted without regard for their broadcast schedule. Rather, in an illustrative embodiment, the end time of one such program is restrictively extended past its scheduled end time.

A portable music device (PMD) for capturing song tags while monitoring a broadcast (via Internet or radio), either on the PMD (either via an Internet connection or via a built-in FM radio receiver), or on a nearby radio (by detecting the station to which the nearby radio is tuned). The user can use the captured song tags to download song files, either on the Internet or in a physical music shop. Song tags may be ID3-type tags modified to include a link to a web address of a server for downloading songs. The PMD may also store credits for paying for the songs, and may include a contactless interface for secure payment.

A method and an apparatus suggests programs for viewing by a subscriber. Terminals installed at a subscriber's home and at central locations, such as bookstores, video rental stores and libraries, provide responsive or intelligent search functions to suggest programs for viewing according to a subscriber's viewing preferences. Responsive searching includes posing questions to and receiving answers from the subscribers. Intelligent searching includes gathering historical data, such as the subscriber's history of programs watched. The programs include videotapes, videodiscs, television programs and electronic books. Subscribers indicate their selection and order the programs using a menu system. An automated billing system tracks the programs ordered.

Disclosed are systems and methods for creating and distributing programming content carried by a digital streaming media to be a plurality of remote nodes located over a large geographic area to create customized broadcast quality programming at the remote nodes. At the remote nodes, a multi-window screen display simultaneously shows different programming including national programming and local programming content. The remote nodes utilize a remote channel origination device to assemble the customized programming at the remote location that can be controlled from a central location. An encapsulated IP and IP encryption system is used to transport the digital streaming media to the appropriate remote nodes. Also disclosed is a graphical user interface (“GUI”) providing a software control interface for creating and editing shows or programs that can be aired or played on a remote display device having a multi-window display. The intuitive GUI Software provides the user the ability to easily manage and assemble a series of images, animations and transitions as a single broadcast quality program to be displayed on a remote display device. Another application software system is capable of automating the production of audio narration reports. The disclosed audio concatenation engine automates the creation of audio narration using prerecorded audio segments to minimize the requirement for live, on-air personnel to record audio narration segments.

A network-enabled audio device that provides a display device that allows the user to select playlists of music much like a jukebox is disclosed. The user can compose playlists from disk files, CD's, Internet streaming audio broadcasts, online music sites, and other audio sources. The user can also select a desired Web broadcast from a list of available Web broadcasts. In addition, the user can play standard audio CD's and MP3 encoded CD's and have access to local AM/FM stations. Further, the software, the user controls, and the display in the network-enabled audio device are operably configured and connected such that the user can listen to playlists that include CD's and other audio sources just as the user would choose a playlist in a jukebox. The user accesses a server site via a PC and the Internet. From the server site, the user obtains a list of the devices in his or her Internet Personal Audio Network (IPAN) and what songs are on those devices. The IPAN includes an IPAN server, an IPAN client, and IPAN software stored on the network-enabled audio device. Thus, the network-enabled audio device provides people who are or are not comfortable with computers a way of taking music from various sources and putting it into one place for listening pleasure. In one embodiment, the Personal Computer (PC) is used to compose the playlists, but the user is able to listen to playlists and other audio sources without using the PC.

Systems and methods for automatically matching in real-time an advertisement with a video desired to be viewed by a user are provided. A database is created that stores one or more attributes (e.g., visual metadata relating to objects, faces, scene classifications, pornography detection, scene segmentation, production quality, fingerprinting) associated with a plurality of videos. Supervised machine learning can be used to create signatures that uniquely identify particular attributes of interest, which can then be used to generate the attributes associated with the plurality of videos. When a user requests to view an on-line video having associated with it an advertisement, an advertisement can be selected for display with the video based on matching an advertiser's requirements or campaign parameters with the stored attributes associated with the requested video, with the user's information, or a combination thereof. The displayed advertisement can function as a hyperlink that allows a user to select to receive additional information about the advertisement. The performance or effectiveness of the selected advertisements can be measured and recorded.

An Automatic Purchase System (APS) provides a radio broadcast listener with the ability to conveniently purchase media content such as music or speech while listening to the radio. The user can respond to items in the radio broadcast such as advertisements, fund raising drives such as those conducted by public radio, or interactive listener polls during the broadcast. Data such as song title and artist, author or publisher and the IP address for the location where the digital version of the content is stored, can be transmitted using the RBDS/RDS data stream. A reference number representing song title and artist, author or publisher and the IP address for the location where the digital version of the content is stored can also be employed for ease of implementation. This reference number can reside in a lookup table to be accessed by the APS server software on a Data Server located at the broadcast site, a remote site or both for purposes of redundancy. Transmission of purchase requests from a Technology Enabled Radio (TER) is provided via wireless transmission, or by accessing the Internet using a personal computer or through a cellular or wireless phone.

A method of and apparatus for allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel y a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first representation of the first media item and a representation of the second media item, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel. The method includes maintaining in a temporary storage an item identifier, the item identifier identifies one of a first media item-related information and a second media item-related information. Additionally, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the first media item, the method includes providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information, the first media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the first representation of the first media item by the broadcast reception device. When the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the second media item, the method includes providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the second media item-related information, the second media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the representation of the second media item by the broadcast reception device.

A broadcast system, method and apparatus providing content on demand. In one embodiment, the disclosed broadcast system includes a server that broadcasts meta-data to a plurality of clients. The meta-data describes a plurality of data files that are to be broadcast or potentially broadcast later by the server. Each client receives the broadcasted meta-data from the server and updates and maintains a local meta-data table and a content rating table. Based on the meta-data, previous access habits of the user and optional user classifications, the client system selectively receives and/or stores the data files that are later broadcast by the server. In one embodiment, the client systems transmit back to the server ratings of each one of the data files described by the meta-data based on the user's previously accessed data files and optional user classifications. The server then determines the data files to be broadcast and the broadcast schedule based on the ratings received from the clients.

Provided are apparatuses and methods for transmitting and receiving ESG fragments containing identification information. In one example, the identification identifies a mobile operator. For example, the identification information may include a Mobile Network Code (MNC), Mobile Country Code (MCC), or name corresponding to the mobile operator. In another example, the identification information may also contain a web address corresponding to a web page associated with the mobile operator. For example, the identification information received in the ESG fragment may be compared to stored identification information at a receiver. Based on the identification information in the ESG fragment and stored identification information, a corresponding web page may be provided. Also, a program or service corresponding to the ESG fragment may be filtered based on the identification information in the ESG fragment and stored identification information.

The present invention relates to a device for acquiring electronic program guide (EPG) data from a plurality of different EPG sources (120), and combining the acquired data to a single EPG (10). At regular intervals, EPG data is acquired from different sources (120), which may include the Internet (122), digital programming broadcasters, and teletext service providers (126). Equivalent program listings (40) within the acquired EPG data are identified, and the best information is selected from the equivalent program listings (40) to be included in the combined EPG (10). The present invention is able to identify equivalent program listings (40), even if the program titles are written in different languages or when the scheduled broadcast times differ to some extent. The resulting EPG (10) is more reliable and contains more information than any of the EPGs (10) associated with the original sources (120).

A system and device is disclosed that employs a global interactive program guide to receive, access, manage, and view digital entertainment services such as live television, television on demand, and pre-recorded video and audio programming from one on more content sources, via an internet-enabled device, anywhere in the world. As disclosed, the global interactive program guide provides a user with metadata that describes available content and enables the user to access desired content on an a la carte basis and arrange the presentation of that content in any way or order desired. The system of the instant invention can alternatively be practiced with any mobile communications device that is accessible via the internet, cell phone communications or other communications mode. Changes made to content availability are instantly synchronized through the entire system and content redundancy is obtained when available.