CROSS-PLATFORM SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT INTERFACE

• US 20130332839A1
• Filed: 06/11/2012
• Published: 12/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• 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: Frazier, Kristopher T., Naggar, Michael J., Sureka, Ashutosh K., Allen, Alison Kay, Evans, Ryan, Charania, Rahim, Katai, Lonnie Hiroshi, Patel, Shuchi, Dornich, Mitch, Khanna, Nitin, Crum, Kristi D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,648,369 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie

Abstract

A method includes presenting a user interface providing access to content from multiple content providers and receiving, via the user interface, user input indicating selection criteria for recommending content. The selection criteria include an amount of time available to the user. The method includes providing, to a network device, an indication of the selection criteria and receiving, from the network device, information for providing recommended content options based on the selection criteria. The recommended content options are available from different content providers of the multiple content providers. The method includes presenting, to the user and via the interface, the recommended content options in association with the selection criteria.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

presenting, by the user device and to a user, an interface providing access to content from multiple content providers;

receiving, by the user device and via the interface, user input indicating selection criteria for recommending content, wherein the selection criteria includes an amount of time available to the user;

providing, to a network device, an indication of the selection criteria;

receiving, by the user device and from the network device, information for providing recommended content options based on the selection criteria, wherein the recommended content options are available from different content providers of the multiple content providers; and

presenting, to the user and via the interface, the recommended content options in association with the selection criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an interactive user interface that presents the recommended content options as blocks of time to enable a user to assemble a content schedule from the recommended content options.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing an interactive user interface to enable a user to forward the content schedule or a link to the content schedule to another user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria further includes a content category relating to a mood of the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria further includes a future time period and characteristics of a preferred device from which to view the content.

6. The method of claim 5, where in the characteristics of the preferred device include one or more of:

a screen dimension, a memory capacity, and a video processing capability.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria further includes a future event time and event attendee information, and wherein the user device solicits user profile information for each of the multiple attendees.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring content metadata from the multiple content providers; and

revising the recommended content options based on changes to the content metadata.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommended content options are selected from items within one or more queues associated with the multiple content providers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommended content options include content from locally stored content, remotely stored content, live television content, or physical media.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, in a memory associated with the user device, at least a portion of digital content associated with the recommended content options.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least a portion of digital content includes a preview of a full content presentation and wherein the method further comprises:

presenting, to the user, a link to access the full content presentation via one of the multiple content providers.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple providers are selected from a group of subscription-based over-the-top (OTT) media providers.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions, the computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions to:

present, to a user, a user interface providing access to content from multiple content providers, each of the multiple content providers having a separate subscription associated with the user;

solicit, via the user interface, selection criteria for a content recommendation, wherein the selection criteria includes an amount of time available to the user;

receive, via the user interface, the selection criteria;

provide, to a network device, an indication of the selection criteria;

receiving, from the network device, information for providing recommended content options based on the selection criteria, wherein the recommended content options are available from different content providers of the multiple content providers; and

present, to the user, the recommended content options in association with the selection criteria.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising one or more instructions to:

generate, based on the information for providing recommended content options, a set of recommended content options for the user.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the selection criteria further includes a content category relating to a mood of the user, and wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises one or more instructions to:

identify a user profile associated with the user; and

generate, based on the user profile and the information for providing recommended content options, a set of recommended content options for the user.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the selection criteria further includes a future event time, and wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises one or more instructions to:

monitor content metadata from the multiple content providers; and

revise the recommended content options based on changes to the content metadata.

18. A user device, comprising:

a network interface to communicate with one or more remote systems;

one or more memories to store instructions; and

one or more processors configured to execute instructions in the one or more memories to;

present, to a user, a user interface for providing access to content from multiple content providers;

receive, via the user interface, selection criteria for identifying content of interest to the user, wherein the selection criteria includes a content category and a content duration;

provide, to a network device and via the network interface, an indication of the selection criteria;

receive, from the network device and via the network interface, information for providing recommended content options based on the selection criteria, wherein the recommended content options are available from different content providers of the multiple content providers;

present, to the user, the recommended content options in association with the selection criteria;

receive, for the user, a selection of particular content from the recommended content options; and

include the particular content within a series of scheduled content to fill the content duration.

19. The user device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to execute instructions in the one or more memories to:

provide an interactive interface that presents the recommended content options as blocks of time to enable a user to assemble a content schedule from the recommended content options.

20. The user device of claim 18, wherein the selection criteria further comprises information for multiple attendees, and wherein the user device solicits user profile information for each of the multiple attendees.