MULTIMEDIA INTERACTIVE SIMULATOR

• US 20110069178A1
• Filed: 09/23/2009
• Published: 03/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2009
• 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: HARRIS, STEPHEN
• Granted Patent: US 8,881,222 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/181
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41415 involving a public display, viewable by several users in a public space outside their home, e.g. movie theatre, information kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• 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 device, including a centralized controller to: distribute multimedia content to permit a television (TV) emulator client at one or more retail store locations to simulate a plurality of features of a television system interactively by using a media controller; and periodically update the multimedia content distributed to the TV emulator client. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method of simulating an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) system, comprising:

providing a television (TV) emulator client at one or more locations;

receiving at the TV emulator client multimedia content from a centralized database to permit the TV emulator client to simulate a plurality of features of the IPTV system on a display; and

using a remote control to interact with the TV emulator client.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising simulating at least one of Live television programming, Fast channel change, Picture-in-picture (PIP), Go interactive, Digital video recorder (DVR), Video-on-demand (VOD), Flickr-photo sharing, or Yellowpages.com.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia content comprises a plurality of video demos.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the video demos runs for a predetermined period time as a loop.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the simulating permits switching of television channels with no delay to provide a live television experience.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising performing a database synchronization to migrate database changes from the centralized database to the TV emulator client.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the simulating of Live television permits navigation of Live television features using the remote control.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more locations comprise retail store locations.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions for instructing a multimedia interactive simulator to:

provide from a centralized database a variety of multimedia content to permit one or more retail store locations to simulate a plurality of features of a television system interactively by using a remote control.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the television system comprises an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) broadcast media system.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the multimedia content comprises a plurality of video demos.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein each of the video demos runs for a predetermined period time as a loop.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the multimedia interactive simulator permits switching of television channels with no delay to provide a live television experience.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the multimedia interactive simulator simulates at least one of High-definition television programming, Fast channel change, Picture-in-picture (PIP), Go interactive, digital video recorder (DVR), video-on demand (VOD), Flickr-photo sharing, or Yellowpages.com.

15. A device, comprising a centralized controller to:

distribute multimedia content to permit a television (TV) emulator client at one or more retail store locations to simulate a plurality of features of a television system interactively by using a media controller; and

periodically update the multimedia content distributed to the TV emulator client.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the centralized controller comprises a centralized database, and the TV emulator client comprises a personal computer (PC) based interactive player.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the centralized controller performs a database synchronization to migrate database changes from the centralized database to the TV emulator client.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the media controller comprises a remote control, and wherein the simulation permits switching of television channels using the remote control with no delay to provide a live television experience.

19. The device of claim 15, wherein the multimedia content comprises a plurality of video demos.

20. The device of claim 15, wherein the television system comprises an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) broadcast media system.