SEAMLESS TRANSITION BETWEEN DISPLAY APPLICATIONS USING DIRECT DEVICE SELECTION

• US 20120206423A1
• Filed: 09/23/2011
• Published: 08/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: McCoy, Charles, Xiong, True, Wong, Ling Jun
• Granted Patent: US 9,247,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72

Abstract

Transitioning between display applications, including: retrieving a device identifier when a first device is selected using a first display application running on a second device; enabling the first display application to launch a second display application using the device identifier of the first device, launching the second display application customized to automatically select the first device, wherein the automatic selection of the first device using the device identifier allows to bypass a device selection process. Keywords include seamless transition and direct device selection.

Claims

1. A method of transitioning between a plurality of display applications, the method comprising:

retrieving a device identifier when a first device is selected using a first display application running on a second device;

enabling the first display application to launch a second display application using the device identifier of the first device,

launching the second display application customized to automatically select the first device,

wherein the automatic selection of the first device using the device identifier allows to bypass a device selection process.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first display application is a native application residing on the second device and is used to control functions of the first device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising

performing device discovery using a discovery protocol of the first display application.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising

running the second display application to browse and search media content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) client.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second device is a portable device with a display.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising

controlling functions of the IPTV client using the first display application residing on the portable device to present and play selected media content on a display of the IPTV client.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the portable device sends a reference identifier of the selected media content to be presented and played on the display of the IPTV client.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising

running the portable device to browse, search, and select other media content without interrupting the media content being played on the display of the IPTV client.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein launching the second display application comprises

launching a web-based application with information about the first device that was last targeted.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the device identifier is bookmarked in the second display application.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising

calling an internal server of the first display application from the second display application to change devices,

wherein the second display application provides information about a changing device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising

passing information stored in a cookie to the first display application from the second display application to change devices,

wherein the cookie includes information about a changing device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising

passing information as an anchor in a URL to the first display application from the second display application to change devices,

wherein the anchor in the URL includes information about a changing device.

15. A non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program to manage transitions between a first display application and a second display application, the computer program comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

retrieve a device identifier when a first device is selected using a first display application running on a second device;

enable the native application to launch a second display application using the device identifier of the first device,

launch the second display application customized to automatically select the first device,

wherein the automatic selection of the first device using the device identifier allows to bypass a device selection process.

16. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

perform device discovery using a discovery protocol of the first display application.

17. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

control functions of the first device using the first display application residing on the second device to present and play selected media content on a display of the first device.

18. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 17, wherein executable instructions that cause a computer to launch the second display application comprise executable instructions that cause a computer to:

launch a web-based application with information about the first device that was last targeted.

19. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

pass information stored in a cookie to the first display application from the second display application to change devices,

wherein the cookie includes information about a changing device.

20. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

pass information as an anchor in a URL to the first display application from the second display application to change devices,

wherein the anchor in the URL includes information about a changing device.