SHARING INFORMATION

• US 20130325952A1
• Filed: 06/05/2012
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.), Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.), Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: DRAZNIN, Sagiv, KOTECHA, Lalit R., CHANG, Patricia R., HAYNES, Thomas W., CHIANG, David, MACIAS, John F.
• Application Number:
  US13/488,714
• Publication Number:
  US 20130325952A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• 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 21/43076 of the same content streams on multiple devices, e.g. when family members are watching the same movie on different devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440218 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion of standards in analogue television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104

Abstract

A server is configured to receive a portion of content from a first user device, where the portion of content is less than an entirety of content that is playing on the first user device; receive information identifying a second user device with which to share the portion of content; store the portion of content; send a request to the second user device to share the portion of content that is playing on the first user device; receive an acceptance of the request from the second user device; determine whether the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device; and send, based on the determination that the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device, the portion of content, playing on the first user device, to the second user device, to cause the second user device to play the portion of content.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first user device to;

play content,

receive selection of a portion of the content, the portion of the content being less than an entirety of the content,

receive selection of a second user device with which to share the portion of the content,

determine whether the portion of the content is compatible for playing on the second user device, and

send, based on determining that the portion of the content is compatible for playing on the second user device, the portion of the content to the second user device, while the content is playing on the first user device, causing the second user device to play the portion of the content.

2. The system of claim 1, where, when sending the portion of the content to the second user device, the first user device is to send the portion of the content directly to the second user device.

3. The system of claim 1, where, when determining whether the portion of the content is compatible for playing on the second user device, the first user device is to:

determine a transcoding capability of the first user device,

determine a transcoding capability of the second user device,

select, based on the transcoding capability of the first user device and the transcoding capability of the second user device, one of the first user device or the second user device to transcode the portion of the content.

4. The system of claim 1, where, when receiving selection of the portion of the content, the first user device is to receive information identifying a time period associated with the content, the time period being less than an entire time period associated with the content.

5. The system of claim 1, where, when sending the portion of the content to the second user device, the first user device is to send the portion of the content to a server, the server sending the portion of the content to the second user device.

6. The system of claim 1, where, when receiving selection of the second user device, the first user device is to:

discover a plurality of user devices located in a geographic area of the first user device, and

receive the selection of the second user device from the plurality of user devices.

7. The system of claim 1, where the first user device is further to:

receive selection of a second portion of the content to play on the first user device, the second portion of the content being different than the portion of the content, a combined size of the portion of the content and the second portion of the content being expanded to a combined display size of a display for the first user device and a display for the second user device.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server, a portion of content from a first user device, the portion of content being less than an entirety of the content that is playing on the first user device;

receiving, by the server, information identifying a second user device with which to share the portion of content;

storing, by the server, the portion of content;

sending, by the server, a request to the second user device to share the portion of content that is playing on the first user device;

receiving, by the server, an acceptance of the request from the second user device;

determining, by the server, whether the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device; and

sending, based on determining that the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device, the portion of content, playing on the first user device, to the second user device, to cause the second user device to play the portion of content.

9. The method of claim 8, where the content includes video and the portion of the content includes audio or a portion of the video.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the server, an indication that the first user device is no longer playing the content; and

causing, by the server and based on the indication the second user device to stop playing the portion of the content.

11. The method of claim 8, where receiving the information identifying the second user device includes storing a list of available user devices, the list including information identifying the second user device, providing the list to the first user device, and receiving a selection of the second user device from the list.

12. The method of claim 8, where determining whether the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device, includes instructing one of the first user device or the second user device to transcode the portion of content.

13. A computer-readable medium, comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or more processors to;

receive a portion of content from a first user device, the portion of content being less than an entirety of the content that is playing on the first user device,

store the portion of content,

send a request to a second user device that the first user device has the portion of content, playing on the first user device, that can be shared with the second user device,

receive selection from the second user device to share the portion of content that is playing on the first user device,

determine, based on the selection, whether the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device, and

send, based on determining that the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device, the portion of content to the second user device, to cause the second user device to play the portion of content.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive an indication that the first user device is no longer playing the content, and

stop, based on the indication that the first user device is no longer playing the content, the portion of content from being sent to the second user device.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, where the one or more instructions to determine whether the portion of content is compatible for playing on the second user device, include one or more instructions to:

select one of the first user device or the second user device to transcode to the portion of content.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive information identifying the second user device, with which to share the portion of content, from the first user device.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

store the information identifying the second user device.

18. A computer-readable medium, comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a first user device, cause the one or more processors to;

receive content,

receive selection of a first portion of the content to play on the first user device,

receive selection of a second portion of the content to share with a second user device, the second portion of the content being different than the first portion of the content,

send a request to the second user device to share the second portion of the content,

receive acceptance, of the request to share the second portion of the content, from the second user device, and

send the second portion of the content to the second user device, based on receiving the acceptance from the second user device.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, where a combined size of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content is expanded to a combined display size of a display for the first user device and a display for the second user device.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, where a combined size of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content is less than a display size of a display for the first user device.