Method and system for displaying and updating electronic information on a display device

• US 10,231,025 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2016
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HSNi LLC (Qurate Retail Group (f/k/a Liberty Interactive Corporation))
• Original Assignee: HSNi LLC (Qurate Retail Group (f/k/a Liberty Interactive Corporation))
• Inventors: Johnson, Gerard C., Bunner, Sean, McDevitt, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawley, Talia F
• Application Number:
  US15/242,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20160360277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 705 26, 705 27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2542 for selling goods, e.g. TV shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26291 for providing content or additional data updates, e.g. updating software modules, stored at the client deployment, distribution, installation, update of software G06F8/65; error detection or correction during software upgrading G06F11/1433; arrangements for updating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/25
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80

Abstract

A method and system is provided for displaying and updating electronic information on a display device. In an exemplary aspect, the method includes storing first and second digital information relating to first and second products, respectively, and transmitting this information to a display device to be displayed thereon by user interface pages navigable by a user. Moreover, the method includes determining a current page that is being displayed on the display device and determining whether either the first digital information or the second digital information product is being displayed on the current page. When the current page is displaying the first digital information, the method transmits unscheduled updates of the first digital information, such that the current page dynamically displays updated first digital information. Alternatively, when the current page is not displaying the second digital information, the method transmits scheduled updates of the second digital information.

Claims

1. A set-top box comprising:

a processor configured to facilitate television based transactions,

wherein the set-top box is configured to;

transmit a user request to at least one server,

receive, from the at least one server, first and second digital information, wherein the first digital information relates to a first product and second digital information relates to a second product,

display, on a television coupled to the set-top box, the first and second digital information by a plurality of user interface pages navigable by a user,

transmitting, to the at least one server, page navigation information relating to a current page of the plurality of user interface pages that is being displayed on the television, wherein the page navigation information indicates whether at least one of the first digital information relating to the first product and the second digital information relating to the second product is being displayed on the current page,

when the current page is displaying the first digital information, receive, from the at least one server, unscheduled updates of the first digital information whenever there is an update to the first digital information,

dynamically display the updated first digital information relating to the first product on the current page,

when the current page is not displaying the second digital information, receive scheduled updates of the second digital information relating to the second product, and

configure at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of user interface pages for the user of the set-top box to conduct an electronic transaction of at least one of the first and second products.

2. The set-top box of claim 1, wherein the set-top box is further configured to concurrently display the first and second digital information relating to the first and second products, respectively, on the current page on the television.

3. The set-top box of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is the subject of a streaming broadcast.

4. The set-top box of claim 3, wherein another of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is not the subject of the streaming broadcast.

5. The set-top box of claim 1, wherein the plurality of user interface pages are received by the set-top box as at least one eXtensible Markup Language (XML) document.

6. A method for displaying and updating electronic information on a display device, the method comprising:

storing in at least one electronic database first digital information relating to a first product and second digital information relating to a second product;

transmitting the first and second digital information to the display device to be displayed thereon by a plurality of user interface pages navigable by a user;

determining a current page of the plurality of user interface pages that is being displayed on the display device;

determining whether at least one of the first digital information relating to the first product and the second digital information relating to the second product is being displayed on the current page;

when the current page is displaying the first digital information, transmitting, to the display device, unscheduled updates of the first digital information whenever there is an update to the first digital information stored in the at least one electronic database, such that the current page dynamically displays updated first digital information relating to the first product; and

when the current page is not displaying the second digital information, transmitting, to the display device, scheduled updates of the second digital information relating to the second product.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first and second digital information relating to the first and second products, respectively, are concurrently displayed on the current page on the display device.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting the first and second digital information and the unscheduled and scheduled updates to the display device through a first server and a second server in communication with the first server.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is the subject of a streaming broadcast.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein another of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is not the subject of the streaming broadcast.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising configuring at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of user interface pages for the user to conduct an electronic transaction.

12. A method for displaying and updating electronic information on a display device, the method comprising:

receiving, from at least one server, first and second digital information to be displayed on the display device by a plurality of user interface pages navigable by a user, wherein the first and second digital information is stored in at least one electronic database and the first digital information relates to a first product and second digital information relates to a second product;

transmitting, to the at least one server, information relating to a current page of the plurality of user interface pages that is being displayed on the display device, wherein the transmitted information indicates whether at least one of the first digital information relating to the first product and the second digital information relating to the second product is being displayed on the current page;

when the current page is displaying the first digital information, receiving unscheduled updates of the first digital information whenever there is an update to the first digital information stored in the at least one electronic database, and dynamically displaying on the current page updated first digital information relating to the first product; and

when the current page is not displaying the second digital information, receiving scheduled updates of the second digital information relating to the second product.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising concurrently displaying the first and second digital information relating to the first and second products, respectively, on the current page on the display device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is the subject of a streaming broadcast.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein another of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is not the subject of the streaming broadcast.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising configuring at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of user interface pages for the user of the display device to conduct an electronic transaction.

17. A method for displaying and updating electronic information on a display device, the method comprising:

transmitting a user request from a set-top box coupled to the display device to at least one server;

receiving, at the set-top box from the at least one server, first and second digital information, wherein the first digital information relates to a first product and second digital information relates to a second product;

causing, by the set-top box, the first and second digital information to be displayed on the display device by a plurality of user interface pages navigable by a user,

transmitting, to the at least one server, page navigation information relating to a current page of the plurality of user interface pages that is being displayed on the display device, wherein the page navigation information indicates whether at least one of the first digital information relating to the first product and the second digital information relating to the second product is being displayed on the current page;

when the current page is displaying the first digital information, receiving unscheduled updates of the first digital information whenever there is an update to the first digital information, such that the current page dynamically displays updated first digital information relating to the first product; and

when the current page is not displaying the second digital information, receiving scheduled updates of the second digital information relating to the second product.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising concurrently displaying the first and second digital information relating to the first and second products, respectively, on the current page on the display device.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is the subject of a streaming broadcast.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein another of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is not the subject of the streaming broadcast.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising configuring at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of user interface pages for the user of the display device to conduct an electronic transaction.

22. A system for displaying and updating electronic information on a display device, the system comprising:

at least one electronic database that stores first digital information relating to a first product and second digital information relating to a second product;

at least one server that transmits the first and second digital information to the display device to be displayed thereon by a plurality of user interface pages navigable by a user; and

at least one processor configured to determine a current page of the plurality of user interface pages that is being displayed on the display device and to further determine whether at least one of the first digital information relating to the first product and the second digital information relating to the second product is being displayed on the current page,

wherein, when the current page is displaying the first digital information, the at least one server is configured to transmit, to the display device, unscheduled updates of the first digital information whenever there is an update to the first digital information stored in the at least one electronic database, such that the current page dynamically displays updated first digital information relating to the first product on the display device, and

when the current page is not displaying the second digital information, the at least one server is configured to transmit, to the display device, scheduled updates of the second digital information relating to the second product.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the first and second digital information relating to the first and second products, respectively, are concurrently displayed on the current page on the display device.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein at least one of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is the subject of a streaming broadcast.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein another of the first and second products that is currently being displayed on the current page is not the subject of the streaming broadcast.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to configure at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of user interface pages for the user to conduct an electronic transaction.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein the at least one server is further configured to transmit the plurality of user interface pages as at least one eXtensible Markup Language (XML) document.