Registering, Transfering, and Acting on Event Metadata

• US 20070244924A1
• Filed: 04/17/2006
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sadovsky, Vladimir, Rosenbloom, Oren, Jaisimha, Mysore
• Granted Patent: US 8,117,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution

Abstract

A technique and associated mechanism is described for registering event metadata at a first site, transferring the event metadata to a second site using a portable module, and processing the event metadata at the second site. A user can register the event metadata at the first site in the course of consuming broadcast content. Namely, when the user encounters an interesting portion of the broadcast content, the user activates an input mechanism, resulting in the storage of event metadata associated with the interesting s portion on the portable module. The second site can upload the event metadata from the portable module and, in response, provide content associated with the event metadata, including recommended content associated with the event metadata.

Claims

1. A method for processing user event metadata, comprising:

exposing the user to content at a first site;

registering event metadata on a module that reflects the user'"'"'s presumed interest in one or more items associated with the content;

transferring the metadata from the module to a second site;

uploading the event metadata at the second site; and

performing processing on the event metadata.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the exposing the user to the content comprises providing broadcast media content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first site comprises a vehicle operated by the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the registering comprises:

receiving the user'"'"'s actuation of at least one input mechanism; and

in response to the receiving, identifying event metadata associated with the content that the user happens to be consuming at the time that the user activates the input mechan ism.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least one input mechanism is a dedicated button that registers the user'"'"'s interest in said one or more items.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the module comprises a portable device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second site is associated with a computing device which is configured to be communicatively coupled to the module.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing comprises using the uploaded event metadata to retrieve content associated with the event metadata.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising accessing a remote service module to retrieve the content associated with the event metadata.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the retrieved content comprises recommendations associated with the event metadata.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising transferring the retrieved content to the module.

12. One or more machine-readable media containing machine-readable instructions for implementing the method of claim 1.

13. A method for registering user event metadata, comprising coupling a portable module to a first site;

exposing the user to content for the consumption of a user at the first site;

registering event metadata on the portable module that reflects the user'"'"'s interest in one or more items associated with the content; and

removing the portable module for transport to a second site.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the registering comprises:

receiving the user'"'"'s actuation of at least one input mechanism; and

in response to the receiving, identifying event metadata associated with the content that the user happens to be consuming at the time that the user activates the input mechanism.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said at least one input mechanism is a dedicated button that registers the user'"'"'s interest in said one or more items.

16. One or more machine-readable media containing machine-readable instructions for implementing the method of claim 13.

17. A method for processing user event metadata, comprising:

coupling a portable media to a delivery module within a vehicle;

broadcasting media content to the delivery module;

registering event metadata on the portable module that reflects the user'"'"'s presumed interest in one or more items associated with the media content;

removing the portable module and transferring the portable module to a receiving module;

uploading the event metadata from the portable module at the receiving module; and

performing an operation based on the event metadata.

18. The method of claim 17, where the operation comprises presenting a list of entries associated with the event metadata, wherein the list conveys one or more actions to be performed pertaining to the entries.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising supplementing the uploaded event metadata with additional event metadata.

20. One or more machine-readable media containing machine-readable instructions for implementing the method of claim 17.