Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090157732 | NETWORKED ADDRESS BOOK - A device receives one or more contacts provided in an address book associated with a user, and receives profile information associated with one or more other users. The device also links the profile information with one or more corresponding contacts provided in the address book, and provides the address book with the linked profile information to one or more user devices associated with the user. | 06-18-2009 |
20100153410 | DISTRIBUTING AND SHARING CONTENT IN A NETWORK - A method may include receiving, from a first user device associated with a user profile, a first request for a media file and streaming the media file over a network to the first user device in a first format appropriate for the first device. The method may also include stopping the streaming of the media file and associating a stop time with the stopping, wherein the stop time indicates a position in the media file and receiving, from a second user device different from the first user device, a second request for the media file, the second user device being associated with the user profile. The method may also include streaming, starting at the stop time, the media file over the network to the second user device in a second format appropriate for the second device and different than the first format. | 06-17-2010 |
20110289317 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING CONTENT AGGREGATION IN SUPPORT OF VIRTUAL CHANNELS - An approach is provided for content aggregation in support of virtual channels. Query information and authentication information of a user are received from a media application associated with a set-top box. A query request is generated for media content from a content provider using the query information, the authentication information, and an identifier of a service provider. Transmission of the query request is initiated to the content provider system. One or more search results are received in response to the query request. Transmission of the one or more search results is initiated to the media application. | 11-24-2011 |
20120023126 | INTERNET VIDEO CONTENT DELIVERY TO TELEVISION USERS - A method for delivering video content to a user, including accessing a website that hosts a plurality of video content, causing a search to be performed of the website based on a keyword in the set of keywords, identifying, based on a result of the search, a set of video content, of the plurality of video content, related to the keyword, identifying a format of a particular video content in the set of video content, determining whether the format is compatible with a video client device, and outputting identifying information that identifies the particular video content when the format is compatible with the video client device, where the identifying information allows the video client device to access the particular video content. | 01-26-2012 |
20120117599 | THUMBNAIL PUBLICATION - A video service provider system may include one or more devices. The one or more device may receive thumbnails of programs that are currently airing on a group of television channels and match the received thumbnails with metadata. The metadata may include information relating to at least one of the television channels or the programs. The one or more devices may further provide, to a remote device, a set of thumbnails, of the captured thumbnails, and the metadata matching the set of thumbnails. The remote device may make the set of thumbnails and the metadata available to a user. | 05-10-2012 |
20120158713 | RANKING MEDIA CONTENT FOR CLOUD-BASED SEARCHES - A device receives, from a user device, a search query for media content within a content delivery network. The device identifies a group of relevant media content in the content delivery network, where the identifying is based on the search query, access restrictions of particular media content within the content delivery network, and/or a capability of the user device to present particular types of media content. The device associates sub-scores with each piece of media content in the group of relevant media content, and calculates a total score, for each piece of media content in the group of relevant media content, based on the sub-scores. The device ranks each piece of media content in the group of relevant media content, based on the total scores for each piece of media content, and sends, based on the search query, a list of the ranked, relevant media content to the user device. | 06-21-2012 |
20130074168 | STREAMING VIDEO AUTHENTICATION - One or more devices transmit, to a user device, an application for secure mobile streaming, and receive, from the user device, a registration request for the application. The registration request includes a user ID and a unique device identifier (UDID) for the user device. The one or more devices initiate a validation procedure for the user ID or UDID. When the user ID or UDID is validated, the one or more devices generate a device-token for the user device. The device-token includes a hash value based on information in the registration request and an expiration date for the device-token. The one or more devices send the device-token to the user device via a private network. The device-token is required to permit the user device to receive a secure content stream via a public network. | 03-21-2013 |
20130191258 | BILLING AND CREDIT FOR CONTENT IN A CROSS-PLATFORM SYSTEM - A method includes identifying a subscription event for a digital service subscription for digital content. A billing cycle for the digital content is identified. The method includes determining whether an associated credit cycle for physical content is based on the identified billing cycle. The method also includes determining a billing action for the digital content based on the identified subscription event and the identified billing cycle. A credit action for physical content credits is determined based on the identified subscription event and the associated credit cycle in response to a determination that the associated credit cycle is based on the identified billing cycle. The method further includes determining a credit action for the physical content credits based on the identified subscription event and a maximum credit counter in response to a determination that the associated credit cycle is not based on the identified billing cycle. | 07-25-2013 |
20140289773 | THUMBNAIL PUBLICATION - A video service provider system may include one or more devices. The one or more device may receive thumbnails of programs that are currently airing on a group of television channels and match the received thumbnails with metadata. The metadata may include information relating to at least one of the television channels or the programs. The one or more devices may further provide, to a remote device, a set of thumbnails, of the captured thumbnails, and the metadata matching the set of thumbnails. The remote device may make the set of thumbnails and the metadata available to a user. | 09-25-2014 |