Method of and client device for interactive television communication
First Claim
1. A client device, comprising:
- a connection interface operable to connect to a server over a network;
a receiver operable to receive content data;
a data storage unit operable to store a plurality of icon identification data sets associated with a plurality of icons such that a given one of the plurality of icon identification data sets is associated with a specific one of the plurality of icons, and to store a plurality of passwords associated with a plurality of users of said client device such that a given one of the plurality of users is associated with a particular one of the plurality of passwords;
a display unit operable to display selected content, to display a user list identifying the plurality of users of said client device, to receive a user-entered password in response to the given one of the plurality of users being selected, and in response to said client device verifying that the user-entered password corresponds to the particular one of the plurality of passwords that is associated with the given one of the plurality of users, to display content based on the received content data and display a plurality of plates, a portion of the plurality of plates being associated with a plurality of members of a buddy list of the given one of the plurality of users such that a given one of the portion of the plurality of plates is associated with a specific one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and includes a region providing an associated one of a plurality of visual clues which indicates an online status of another client device associated with that member of the buddy list, said display unit being further operable to display only the region providing the associated one of the plurality of visual clues in place of the given one of the plurality of plates, the plurality of plates including a group plate associated with a group that includes any of the members of the buddy list whose associated client device is displaying the selected content and which includes the plates associated with such members of the buddy list, the group plate including a message urging the given one of the plurality of users to invite the members of the buddy list to watch the selected content upon none of the members of the buddy list being included in the group;
a selection unit operable to receive from the given one of the plurality of users a selection of a desired one of the plurality of plates, the display unit being operable to display a plurality of icon buttons in response to the desired one of the plurality of plates being selected, the plurality of icon buttons being respectively associated with the plurality of icons such that the invitation icon button is associated with an invitation icon, the invitation icon including a message asking the particular member of the buddy list to watch the selected content, and the selection unit being further operable to receive from the given one of the plurality of users a selection of a desired one of the plurality of icon buttons; and
a transmitter operable to transmit a request to the server in response to the particular one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and the invitation icon button being selected, the request including an identification number of said client device, an identification number of the another client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list, identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the icon identification data set associated with the invitation icon, and data associated with the selected content, the request causing the server to transmit a command to the another client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list, the command including the identification number of said client device, the identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the icon identification data set associated with the invitation icon, and the data associated with the selected content and causing the further client device to execute the invitation icon and display an invitation to watch the selected content.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive television system includes a plurality of client devices connected to a server through a network. The client devices display broadcast contents based on received broadcast data. Icon buttons are displayed superimposed on the displayed broadcast contents. Each icon button represents a different icon. When one of the displayed icon buttons is selected at one of the client devices, then the client device sends a request to the server, asking to execute, at another client device, an icon represented by the selected icon button. When the server receives the request over the network, the server sends icon identification data that corresponds to the icon over the network to the other client device. The other client device executes the icon based on the received icon identification data.
204 Citations
66 Claims
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1. A client device, comprising:
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a connection interface operable to connect to a server over a network; a receiver operable to receive content data; a data storage unit operable to store a plurality of icon identification data sets associated with a plurality of icons such that a given one of the plurality of icon identification data sets is associated with a specific one of the plurality of icons, and to store a plurality of passwords associated with a plurality of users of said client device such that a given one of the plurality of users is associated with a particular one of the plurality of passwords; a display unit operable to display selected content, to display a user list identifying the plurality of users of said client device, to receive a user-entered password in response to the given one of the plurality of users being selected, and in response to said client device verifying that the user-entered password corresponds to the particular one of the plurality of passwords that is associated with the given one of the plurality of users, to display content based on the received content data and display a plurality of plates, a portion of the plurality of plates being associated with a plurality of members of a buddy list of the given one of the plurality of users such that a given one of the portion of the plurality of plates is associated with a specific one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and includes a region providing an associated one of a plurality of visual clues which indicates an online status of another client device associated with that member of the buddy list, said display unit being further operable to display only the region providing the associated one of the plurality of visual clues in place of the given one of the plurality of plates, the plurality of plates including a group plate associated with a group that includes any of the members of the buddy list whose associated client device is displaying the selected content and which includes the plates associated with such members of the buddy list, the group plate including a message urging the given one of the plurality of users to invite the members of the buddy list to watch the selected content upon none of the members of the buddy list being included in the group; a selection unit operable to receive from the given one of the plurality of users a selection of a desired one of the plurality of plates, the display unit being operable to display a plurality of icon buttons in response to the desired one of the plurality of plates being selected, the plurality of icon buttons being respectively associated with the plurality of icons such that the invitation icon button is associated with an invitation icon, the invitation icon including a message asking the particular member of the buddy list to watch the selected content, and the selection unit being further operable to receive from the given one of the plurality of users a selection of a desired one of the plurality of icon buttons; and a transmitter operable to transmit a request to the server in response to the particular one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and the invitation icon button being selected, the request including an identification number of said client device, an identification number of the another client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list, identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the icon identification data set associated with the invitation icon, and data associated with the selected content, the request causing the server to transmit a command to the another client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list, the command including the identification number of said client device, the identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the icon identification data set associated with the invitation icon, and the data associated with the selected content and causing the further client device to execute the invitation icon and display an invitation to watch the selected content. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of interactive television communication between a plurality of client devices each of which is connected to a server over a network, said method comprising:
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receiving, at the server over the network from each one of the plurality of client devices, information on a television viewing status of that client device; storing, at the server, a buddy list associated with a given one of a plurality of users of a given one of the plurality of client devices, the buddy list having a plurality of members respectively associated with other ones of the plurality of client devices, the buddy list including the information on the television viewing status of each one of the associated client devices; sending, from the server, selected content and the information on the television viewing status of the associated client devices over the network to the given one of the plurality of client devices so that in response to the given one of the plurality of users providing a user-entered password to the given one of the plurality of client devices and the given one of the plurality of client devices verifying that the user-entered password corresponds to one stored in the given one of the plurality of client devices in association with the given one of the plurality of users, a display unit of the given one of the plurality of client devices displays the selected content and displays a plurality of plates, a portion of the plurality of plates being associated with the plurality of members of the buddy list such that a given one of the portion of the plurality of plates is associated with a specific one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and includes a region providing an associated one of a plurality of visual clues which indicates the on-line status of the client device associated with that member of the buddy list, the region providing the associated one of the plurality of visual clues being displayable in place of the given one of the plurality of plates, the plurality of plates including a group plate associated with a group that includes any of the members of the buddy list whose associated client device is displaying the selected content and which includes the plates associated with such members of the buddy list, the group plate including a message urging the given one of the plurality of users to invite the members of the buddy list to watch the selected content upon none of the members of the buddy list being included in the group; receiving, at the server over the network from the given one of the plurality of client devices, a request including an identification number of the given one of the plurality of client devices, an identification number of the client device associated with a particular member of the buddy list, identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, data associated with the selected content, and icon identification data associated with an invitation icon selected by the given one of the plurality of users from a plurality of icon buttons displayed by the given one of the plurality of client devices and including a message asking the particular member of the buddy list to watch the selected content; and transmitting, from the server over the network to the client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list in response to the server receiving the request, a command including an identification number of the given one of the plurality of client devices, the identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the data associated with the selected content, and the icon identification data associated with the invitation icon, thereby causing the client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list to execute the invitation icon and display an invitation to watch the selected content. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of interactive television communication between a plurality of client devices connected to a server over a network, said method comprising:
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receiving content data at a given one of the plurality of client devices; displaying, at the given one of the plurality of client devices, a user list identifying a plurality of users of that client device; receiving, at the given one of the plurality of client devices, a user-entered password in response to a given one of the plurality of users being selected; verifying, at the given one of the plurality of client devices, that the user-entered password corresponds to one stored in the given one of the plurality of client devices in association with the given one of the plurality of users; and in response to the user-entered password being verified as corresponding to the one stored in association with the given one of the plurality of users, displaying content based on the received content data at the given one of the plurality of client devices, displaying, at the given one of the plurality of client devices, a plurality of icon buttons associated with a plurality of icons whereby a given one of the plurality of icon buttons represents a particular one of a plurality of icons, displaying, at the given one of the plurality of client devices, a plurality of plates associated with a plurality of members of a buddy list of the given one of the plurality of users such that a given one of the portion of the plurality of plates is associated with a specific one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and includes a region providing an associated one of a plurality of visual clues which indicates an on-line status of another client device associated with that member of the buddy list, the region providing the particular one of the plurality of visual clues being displayable in place of the associated one of the plurality of plates, the plurality of plates including a group plate associated with a group that includes any of the members of the buddy list whose associated client device is displaying the selected content and which includes the plates associated with such members of the buddy list, the group plate including a message urging the given one of the plurality of users to invite the members of the buddy list to watch the selected content upon none of the members of the buddy list being included in the group, receiving a selection of a desired one of the plurality of plates at the given one of the plurality of client devices from the given one of the plurality of users, displaying, at the given one of the plurality of client devices, a plurality of icon buttons in response to the desired one of the plurality of plates being selected, the plurality of icon buttons being respectively associated with the plurality of icons such that the invitation icon button is associated with an invitation icon, the invitation icon including a message asking the particular member of the buddy list to watch the selected content, receiving, at the given one of the plurality of client devices from the given one of the plurality of users, a desired one of the plurality of icon buttons, and sending a request from the given one of the plurality of client devices over the network to the server in response to the particular one of the plurality of members of the buddy list and the invitation icon button being selected, the request an identification number of said client device, an identification number of the another client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list, identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the icon identification data associated with the invitation icon, and data associated with the selected content, the request causing the server to transmit a command the further client device associated with the particular member of the buddy list, the command including the identification number of said client device, the identification data associated with the given one of the plurality of users, the icon identification data associated with the invitation icon, and the data associated with the icon associated with the selected content and causing the further client device to execute the invitation icon and display an invitation to watch the selected content. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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Specification