APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING CONTENT TO A MEDIA DEVICE

• US 20110067058A1
• Filed: 09/16/2009
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Coppa, Frank, Johnston, Robert, Wood, James
• Granted Patent: US 8,634,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/39
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• 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 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4181 for conditional access
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a mobile device having a controller to present media content provided by an interactive television (iTV) network, select a function during presentation of the media content to store at least a remaining portion of the media content, wherein the function is selected when the presentation of the media content is to be interrupted, store the media content in a memory location of the mobile device, select the function to retrieve the remaining portion of the media content from the memory location, and present the remaining portion of the media content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising a controller to:

present media content provided by an interactive television (iTV) network;

select a function during presentation of the media content to store at least a remaining portion of the media content, wherein the function is selected when the presentation of the media content is to be interrupted;

store the media content in a memory location of the mobile device;

select the function to retrieve the remaining portion of the media content from the memory location; and

present the remaining portion of the media content.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to store the media content only when the mobile device is communicatively linked to at least one of a cellular data network and the iTV network.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the media content is at least one of video content, audio content, image content, text content, and data content.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the iTV network comprises at least one of internet protocol television (IPTV), interactive satellite television, and interactive cable television.

5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to select the function to store the media content from an electronic programming guide (EPG).

6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the media content is secured by digital rights management (DRM) by at least one computing device in the iTV network.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the presentation of the media content is interrupted by an error, and wherein controller is operable to correct the error when the function is selected.

8. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to receive at least one of an advertisement and other media content from the iTV network, wherein the advertisement and the other media content are associated with the presented media content.

9. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to store the remaining portion of the media content based on at least one of electronic guide information and a run time of the media content.

10. A method, comprising:

transmitting media content generated by an interactive (iTV) network to a mobile device, wherein the media content is presented by the mobile device;

receiving a request to store a remaining portion of the media content from the mobile device when presentation of the media content is interrupted;

storing the remaining portion of the media content based on at least one of electronic guide information and a run time of the media content;

receiving a request to access the remaining portion of the media content from the mobile device; and

transmitting the remaining portion of the media content to the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the iTV network comprises at least one of internet protocol television (IPTV), interactive satellite television, and interactive cable television.

12. The method of claim 10, comprising correcting an error in the media content occurring during presentation of the media content, and transmitting the corrected media content to the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 10, comprising receiving a request to access the remaining portion of the media content from at least one of a personal computer and a STB, wherein the personal computer and the STB are associated with a user of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising transmitting the remaining portion of the media content to at least one of the personal computer and the STB, wherein the remaining portion of the media content is presented by at least one of the personal computer and the STB.

15. The method of claim 10, comprising securing the media content via digital rights management (DRM), wherein the secured media content is only accessible by an authorized device.

16. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions to:

present media content provided by an interactive television (iTV) network;

select a function during presentation of the media content to transmit a request to a gateway to store at least a portion of the media content, wherein the portion of the media content is stored by the gateway;

select the function to retrieve the stored portion of the media content from the gateway; and

present the retrieved portion of the media content.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, comprising computer instructions to select the function to specify at least one of a computer and a STB to access the stored portion of the media content from the gateway.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, where at least one of the computer and the STB are configured to present the stored portion of the media content.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the gateway is configured to store the portion of the media content based on at least one of electronic guide information and a run time of the media content.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the gateway is configured to secure the media content via digital rights management (DRM), wherein the secured media content is only accessible by an authorized device.