AGGREGATING MEDIA COLLECTIONS BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS OF A SHARING NETWORK UTILIZING BRIDGING
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- discovering, by a first user device, a plurality of shared media collections made available to a first user of the first user device by a plurality of second users of a plurality of second user devices, wherein media items in the plurality of shared media collections comprise at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having a direct relationship with the first user in a social network and at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having an indirect relationship with the first user in the social network;
aggregating, by the first user device, one or more shared media collections from the plurality of shared media collections and the local media collection of the first user to provide an aggregate media collection for the first user at the first user device; and
enabling the first user to utilize the aggregate media collection at the first user device.
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Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for aggregating a local media collection of a user with one or more shared media collections shared with the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In general, one or more shared media collections shared with the user are first discovered. Optionally, the user may select one or more of the shared media collections for aggregation with the local media collection of the user. The shared media collections selected by the user, or alternatively all of the shared media collections, are then aggregated with the local media collection of the user to provide an aggregate media collection for the user. In one embodiment, bridging of users is provided to expand the sharing of media collections beyond those having direct relationships with the sharing user.
134 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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discovering, by a first user device, a plurality of shared media collections made available to a first user of the first user device by a plurality of second users of a plurality of second user devices, wherein media items in the plurality of shared media collections comprise at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having a direct relationship with the first user in a social network and at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having an indirect relationship with the first user in the social network; aggregating, by the first user device, one or more shared media collections from the plurality of shared media collections and the local media collection of the first user to provide an aggregate media collection for the first user at the first user device; and enabling the first user to utilize the aggregate media collection at the first user device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A user device comprising:
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a) a communication interface communicatively coupling the user device to a network; and b) a control system, associated with the communication interface, adapted to; i) discover a plurality of shared media collections made available to a first user of the user device by a plurality of second users of a plurality of second user devices, wherein media items in the plurality of shared media collections comprise at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having a direct relationship with the first user in a social network and at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having an indirect relationship with the first user in the social network; ii) aggregate one or more shared media collections from the plurality of shared media collections and the local media collection of the first user to provide an aggregate media collection for the first user at the user device; and iii) enable the first user to utilize the aggregate media collection at the user device.
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22. A computer readable medium storing software adapted to instruct a control system of a user device to:
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discover a plurality of shared media collections made available to a first user of the user device by a plurality of second users of a plurality of second user devices, wherein media items in the plurality of shared media collections comprise at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having a direct relationship with the first user in a social network and at least one media item from a local media collection of a user having an indirect relationship with the first user in the social network; aggregate one or more shared media collections from the plurality of shared media collections and the local media collection of the first user to provide an aggregate media collection for the first user at the user device; and enable the first user to utilize the aggregate media collection at the user device.
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Specification