USER CUSTOMIZABLE VIEWS OF MULTIPLE INFORMATION SERVICES

• US 20100106848A1
• Filed: 10/28/2008
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Bucher, Timothy, Ross, Mark Andrew, van Hoff, Arthur Anthonie
• Granted Patent: US 8,892,760 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• 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 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• 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 21/4858 for modifying screen layout parameters, e.g. fonts, size of the windows

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods for generating a user configurable interface view for a media device or other information handling system that is independent of any interface views defined by media content providers. Generating the user configurable interface view includes identifying content data streams that are included in user interface views defined by the media content providers and then selecting a desired subset of the data content streams. The selected data content streams are then aggregated and the user configurable interface view is generated. The resulting user interface view will be independent of any interface views defined by the media content providers.

Claims

1. In a system including one or more media devices that receive content or services from one or more media content providers, a method for a media device to generate a view of a user configurable interface configured to show user selected content or services, the method comprising:

identifying one or more content data streams included in one or more interface views defined by one or more media content providers of the one or more content data streams;

selecting at least a portion of the identified content data streams that are to be included in a user configurable interface view;

aggregating the selected portion of the content data streams from the one or more interface views; and

generating the user configurable interface view, wherein the user configurable interface view lists at least a link or pointer to the aggregated content data streams independent of the interface views defined by the one or more media content providers.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the user configurable interface view is configurable using a set of user defined rules that specify the look and feel of the configurable interface view.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the link or pointer to the content data stream listed on the configurable interface view to access the content provided by the content data stream.

4. The method in accordance with claim 3, wherein the content data stream may be selected without the need for additional navigation within the configurable user interface view.

5. The method in accordance with claim 3, wherein the content provided by selected content data stream is accessed from a memory of the media device.

6. The method in accordance with claim 3, wherein the content provided by selected content data stream is accessed dynamically from a media content provider.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the listing of the content data streams includes at least a first content type and a second content type that is different from the first content type.

8. The method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the first and second content types include at least two of music audio content, talk audio content, video content, picture content, and podcast content.

9. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the listing of the content data streams includes at least a first content data stream from a first media content provider and a second content data stream from a second media content provider.

10. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the listing of the content data streams includes a first content type provided by a first media content provider and a second content type that is different from the first content type provided by a second media content provider.

11. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the media device is one of a satellite radio device, a portable audio player, a portable DVD or CD player, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any combination thereof.

12. In a system including one or more media devices that receive content or services from one or more media content providers, a method for generating a view of a user configurable interface configured to show user selected content or services, the method comprising:

identifying one or more content data streams included in one or more interface views defined by one or more media content providers of the one or more content data streams in response to receiving a request from a media device;

selecting at least a portion of the identified content data streams that are to be included in a user configurable interface view;

aggregating the selected portion of the content data streams from the one or more interface views;

generating the user configurable interface view, wherein the user configurable interface view lists at least a link or pointer to the aggregated content data streams independent of the interface views defined by the one or more media content providers; and

providing the generated configurable interface view to the media device.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein identifying the one or more content data streams comprises:

communicating directly with the one or more media content providers to access one or more of the interface views defined by one or more media content providers; and

navigating through the interface views defined by one or more media content providers to identify the one or more content data streams.

14. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein identifying the one or more content data streams comprises:

communicating with a media device; and

receiving input from the media device that indicated the one or more content data streams.

15. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the method is accomplished through the use of a service center that is external to the media device and the media content providers.

16. The method in accordance with claim 15, wherein the media device, the external service center, and the media content providers are connected via a wired or wireless network, wherein the wireless network is one or more of an 802.11 network, a terrestrial network, a cellular network, and a satellite network.

17. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the media device is one of a satellite radio device, a portable audio player, a portable DVD or CD player, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any combination thereof.

18. A media device configured to generate a user configurable interface view comprising:

a memory;

a processing unit;

a user interface;

a selection module configured to select one or more content data streams included in one or more interface views defined by one or more media content providers of the one or more content data streams; and

an aggregation module configured to aggregate the selected content data streams from the one or more interface views and generate the user configurable interface view, wherein the user configurable interface view lists at least a link or pointer to the aggregated content data streams independent of the interface views defined by the one or more media content providers

19. The media device in accordance with claim 18, wherein the listing of the content data streams includes a first content type provided by a first media content provider and a second content type that is different from the first content type provided by a second media content provider.

20. The media device in accordance with claim 18, wherein the media device is one of a satellite radio device, a portable audio player, a portable DVD or CD player, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any combination thereof.