Data preparation for media browsing

• US 20030151618A1
• Filed: 12/12/2002
• Published: 08/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, W. Michael, Johnson, Bruce Alan, Sproule, William David
• Granted Patent: US 7,159,174 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/031 Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/10 Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4113 PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41422 located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43622 Interfacing an external recording device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4363 Adapting the video stream to a specific local network, e.g. a Bluetooth® network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• 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 21/8106 involving special audio data, e.g. different tracks for different languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 : using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 : involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 : involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/978 : Audio interaction as part of an operator interface

Abstract

A media browsing system prepares various media content and synchronizes the content with a media player for playback. A user can specify the content and preconfigure the manner in which the content will be subsequently accessible through a common user interface on the media player. A variety of media players having configurable, common user interfaces promote a consistent media browsing experience across media players for users accessing a variety of preconfigured media content.

Claims

1. A data formatting system comprising:

a content retriever to retrieve and format data;

a media file playlist generated by the content retriever from the data, the media file playlist including a playlist entry title identifying a title for a media file, a filename identifying the media file, and a metadata tag containing data for performing an action associated with the media file; and

a configuration module associated with the content retriever configured to accept user input instructions that identify the data.

2. A data formatting system as recited in claim 1, wherein the data is text data, the data formatting system further comprising:

a text file playlist generated by the content retriever from the text data; and

a text-to-speech converter configured to generate at least one audio file playlist from the text file playlist.

3. A data formatting system as recited in claim 2, wherein the text file playlist comprises an XML (extensible markup language) formatted text file.

4. A data formatting system as recited in claim 3, wherein the XML-formatted text file further comprises:

text-to-speech markup tags identifying the XML-formatted text file as a text-to-speech conversion file;

playlist name markup tags within the text-to-speech markup tags identifying a playlist type and a playlist title;

entry title markup tags within the playlist name markup tags identifying a playlist entry title;

text filename markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying a text segment and a text filename for the text segment; and

action markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying data for performing an action associated with the text segment.

5. A data formatting system as recited in claim 2, wherein the audio file playlist further comprises:

a playlist entry title identifying a title for an audio file;

a filename identifying the audio file; and

a metadata tag containing data for performing an action associated with the audio file.

6. A data formatting system as recited in claim 1, wherein the media file playlist includes the media file and wherein media files are selected from the group comprising:

audio files;

video files;

audio/video files; and

image files.

7. A data formatting system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a content source, wherein the user input instructions identify the content source.

8. A data formatting system as recited in claim 7, wherein the content source is selected from the group comprising:

a computer comprising the content retriever, the media file playlist, and the configuration module; and

a network computer coupled to the computer via a network.

9. A data formatting system comprising:

a content retriever to retrieve data and to generate a text file playlist from the data;

a configuration module associated with the content retriever to accept user input instructions that identify the data; and

a text-to-speech converter to generate one or more audio file playlists from the text file playlist.

10. A data formatting system as recited in claim 9, wherein the text file playlist comprises an XML (extensible markup language)-formatted text file.

11. A data formatting system as recited in claim 10, wherein the XML-formatted text file further comprises:

text-to-speech markup tags identifying the XML-formatted text file as a text-to-speech conversion file;

playlist name markup tags within the text-to-speech markup tags identifying a playlist type and a playlist title;

entry title markup tags within the playlist name markup tags identifying a playlist entry title;

text filename markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying a text segment and a text filename for the text segment; and

action markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying data for performing an action associated with the text segment.

12. A data formatting system as recited in claim 9, wherein each audio file playlist further comprises:

a playlist entry title identifying a title for an audio file;

a filename identifying the audio file; and

a metadata tag containing data for performing an action associated with the audio file.

13. A data formatting system as recited in claim 9, further comprising a content source, wherein the user input instructions identify the content source.

14. A data formatting system as recited in claim 13, wherein the content source is selected from the group comprising:

a computer that comprises the data formatting system; and

a network computer coupled to the computer via a network.

15. A data formatting system as recited in claim 9, wherein the content retriever is a plurality of content retrievers, the configuration module is a plurality of configuration modules, and each configuration module is associated with a particular content retriever.

16. A data formatting system as recited in claim 15, wherein each content retriever is configured to retrieve and format data from a specific data set.

17. A data formatting system as recited in claim 16, wherein the specific data set is selected from the group comprising:

calendar data;

task data;

contact data;

email data;

stock data;

voice mail data;

navigation data;

news data;

weather data;

sports data;

traffic data;

real time instant message data;

restaurant review data;

movie listings data;

trivia data;

document data; and

user instructional data.

18. A processor-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions configured for:

retrieving data from a content source;

generating a text file playlist from the data;

converting text segments from the text file playlist into audio files; and

generating an audio file playlist that includes the audio files.

19. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the generating a text file playlist further comprises formatting an XML (extensible markup language) file.

20. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 19, wherein the XML file comprises:

text-to-speech markup tags identifying the XML file as a text-to-speech conversion file;

playlist name markup tags within the text-to-speech markup tags identifying a playlist type and a playlist title;

entry title markup tags within the playlist name markup tags identifying a playlist entry title;

text filename markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying a text segment and a text filename for the text segment; and

action markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying data for performing an action associated with the text segment.

21. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 18, comprising further processor-executable instructions configured for receiving instructions that identify the data and the content source.

22. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the receiving further comprises presenting an interactive user interface on a computer screen through which a user can identify the data and the content source.

23. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the content source is selected from the group comprising:

a computer that comprises the processor-readable medium; and

a network computer coupled to the computer via a network.

24. A processor-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions configured for:

retrieving data from a content source; and

generating a playlist from the data, the playlist including a playlist entry title identifying a title for a media file, a filename identifying the media file, and a metadata tag containing data for performing an action associated with the media file.

25. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 24, wherein the media file is an audio file and the generating further comprises:

generating a text file playlist from the data;

converting a text segment from the text file playlist into the audio file; and

generating the media file playlist from the text file playlist and the audio file.

26. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 24, wherein the generating a text file playlist further comprises formatting an XML (extensible markup language) file.

27. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the XML file comprises:

text-to-speech markup tags identifying the XML file as a text-to-speech conversion file;

playlist name markup tags within the text-to-speech markup tags identifying a playlist type and a playlist title;

entry title markup tags within the playlist name markup tags identifying a playlist entry title;

text filename markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying a text segment and a text filename for the text segment; and

action markup tags within the entry title markup tags identifying data for performing an action associated with the text segment.

28. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 24, comprising further processor-executable instructions configured for receiving instructions that identify the data and the content source.

29. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 28, wherein the receiving further comprises presenting an interactive user interface on a computer screen through which a user can identify the data and the content source.

30. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 24, wherein the content source is selected from the group comprising:

a computer that comprises the processor-readable medium; and

a network computer coupled to the computer via a network.

31. A method of preparing data comprising:

retrieving data from a content source;

generating a text file playlist from the data;

converting text segments from the text file playlist into audio files; and

generating an audio file playlist that includes the audio files.

32. A method as recited in claim 31, further comprising receiving instructions that identify the data and the content source.

33. A method as recited in claim 32, wherein the receiving further comprises presenting an interactive user interface on a computer screen through which a user can identify the data and the content source.

34. A method as recited in claim 31, wherein the generating a text file playlist further comprises formatting an XML (extensible markup language) file.

35. A method of preparing data comprising:

retrieving data from a content source; and

generating a playlist from the data, the playlist including a playlist entry title identifying a title for a media file, a filename identifying the media file, and a metadata tag containing data for performing an action associated with the media file.

36. A method as recited in claim 35, wherein the media file is an audio file and the generating further comprises:

generating a text file playlist from the data;

converting a text segment from the text file playlist into the audio file; and

generating the media file playlist from the text file playlist and the audio file.

37. A processor-readable medium as recited in claim 35, wherein the generating a text file playlist further comprises formatting an XML (extensible markup language) file.