Voice control of television-related information
First Claim
1. A method for controlling presentation of television programming using voice commands, the method comprising:
- at a computing device in a home environment that controls presentation of television programming, receiving television programming that includes a plurality of television programs and receiving electronic programming guide (“
EPG”
) data that contains information about the received television programming; and
under control of the computing device, receiving a voice command from a user of the computing device that contains an instruction related to a type of control of the television programming and that contains one or more criteria for selecting one or more of the television programs to be controlled;
analyzing the voice command to identify the instruction and the one or more criteria;
using the EPG data to identify one or more of the plurality of television programs that correspond to the identified one or more criteria; and
performing the identified instruction on at least one of the identified television programs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for managing various types of content in various ways, such as based on voice commands or other voice-based control instructions provided by a user. In some situations, at least some of the content being managed includes television programming-related content, which may be managed via the voice controls in a variety of ways, such as to allow a user to locate and identify content of potential interest, to schedule recordings of selected content, to manage previously recorded content (e.g., to play or delete the content), to control live television, etc. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
366 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for controlling presentation of television programming using voice commands, the method comprising:
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at a computing device in a home environment that controls presentation of television programming, receiving television programming that includes a plurality of television programs and receiving electronic programming guide (“
EPG”
) data that contains information about the received television programming; and
under control of the computing device, receiving a voice command from a user of the computing device that contains an instruction related to a type of control of the television programming and that contains one or more criteria for selecting one or more of the television programs to be controlled;
analyzing the voice command to identify the instruction and the one or more criteria;
using the EPG data to identify one or more of the plurality of television programs that correspond to the identified one or more criteria; and
performing the identified instruction on at least one of the identified television programs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing device to manage television programming based on voice-based control instructions, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving metadata information about a plurality of television programs;
receiving one or more voice-based control instructions generated by a user that relate to a type of control of at least one of the television programs;
identifying one or more actions to be performed regarding one or more of the television programs, the identifying based at least in part on the received voice-based control instructions and based at least in part on the received metadata information; and
performing the identified one or more actions regarding the one or more television programs, so as to manage presentation of television programs on one or more television display devices local to the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computing device configured to manage television programming based on voice commands, comprising:
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at least one input mechanism able to receive one or more voice commands generated by a user that relate to a type of control of television programming content; and
a voice command processing system configured to analyze the received voice commands to identify one or more actions to be performed regarding one or more television programs based at least in part on metadata information about those television programs, and to initiate performance of the identified one or more actions regarding the one or more television programs. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification