Information processing apparatus and method, information providing apparatus and method, and program storage medium

• US 7,620,965 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2001
• Issued: 11/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Tani, Yusuke, Miyazaki, Takuma
• Primary Examiner(s): Shang; Annan Q
• Application Number:
  US09/911,911
• Publication Number:
  US 20020046401A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,038 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 36, 725/37, 725/39, 725/42, 725/50, 725/51, 725/61, 725131-134, 725139-142, 386/1, 386/83, 386/86
• US Class Current: 725/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8405 represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An information processing apparatus and an information processing method are disclosed. A personal computer receives a program guide and displays it. Then, the personal computer sends information for identifying a user-specified program to an iEPG site. In response, the iEPG site generates preset recording data corresponding to the user-specified program and acquires advertisement-associated data. Then, the iEPG site sends the generated preset recording data and the acquired advertisement-associated data to the personal computer. Thus, the apparatus and method can make users of preset recording data view advertisement.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus which acquires preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program from a predetermined information providing apparatus via a network and, on the basis of said preset-recording data, controls preset-recording of said television program, comprising:

selecting means for selecting said television program to be preset-recorded;

transmitting means for transmitting television program identifying information for identifying said television program selected by said selecting means to said information providing apparatus;

receiving means for receiving said preset-recording data, keyword data, and first advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said television program identifying information and second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

recording means for recording said television program to an information recording medium on the basis of said received preset-recording data received by said receiving means;

reproducing means for reproducing said television program recorded to said information recording medium by said recording means; and

display control means for controlling the displaying of said first and second advertisement-associated data received by said receiving means to force the display of said first and second advertisement-associated data substantially at the same time to force a viewer to playback said first and second advertisement-associated data while simultaneously playing back said television program,

wherein said display control means displays the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and displays the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button,

wherein said preset-recording execute button is enabled to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said display control means controls the displaying of said advertisement-associated data received by said receiving means at least during the reproduction of said television program by said reproducing means.

3. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus which acquires preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program from a predetermined information providing apparatus via a network and, on the basis of said preset-recording data, controls preset-recording of said television program, said information processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting said television program to be preset-recorded;

transmitting television program identifying information for identifying said television program selected in the selecting step to said information providing apparatus;

receiving said preset-recording data, keyword data, and first advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said television program identifying information and second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

recording said television program to an information recording medium on the basis of said preset-recording data received in the receiving step;

reproducing said television program recorded to said information recording medium in the recording step; and

controlling the displaying of said first and second advertisement-associated data received by said receiving means to force the display of said first and second advertisement-associated data substantially at the same time to force a viewer to playback said first and second advertisement-associated data while simultaneously playing back said television program,

wherein said displaying is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

enabling said preset-recording execute button to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data.

4. A program storage medium storing a computer-readable program for controlling an information processing apparatus which acquires preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program from a predetermined information providing apparatus via a network and, on the basis of said preset-recording data, controls preset-recording of said television program, said computer-readable program comprising the steps of:

selecting said television program to be preset-recorded;

transmitting television program identifying information for identifying said television program selected in the selecting step to said information providing apparatus;

receiving said preset-recording data, keyword data, and first advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said television program identifying information and second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

recording said television program to an information recording medium on the basis of said preset-recording data received in the receiving step;

reproducing said television program recorded to said information recording medium in the recording step;

controlling the displaying of said first and second advertisement-associated data received in the receiving step to force the display of said first and second advertisement-associated data substantially at the same time to force a viewer to playback said first and second advertisement-associated data while simultaneously playing back said television program,

wherein said displaying is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

enabling said preset-recording execute button to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data.

5. An information processing apparatus which acquires preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program from a predetermined information providing apparatus via a network and, on the basis of said preset-recording data, controls preset-recording of said television program, comprising:

selecting means for selecting said television program to be preset-recorded;

transmitting means for transmitting television program identifying information for identifying said television program selected by said selecting means to said information providing apparatus;

first receiving means for receiving first advertisement-associated data and keyword data from said information providing apparatus in response to said television program identifying information and second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

notification means for notifying said information providing apparatus if a predetermined condition is satisfied after display of said first and second advertisement-associated data is started;

second receiving means for receiving said preset-recording data from said information providing apparatus in response to the notification from said notifying means;

recording means for recording said television program to an information recording medium on the basis of said preset-recording data received by said second receiving means; and

display control means for controlling the displaying of said first and second advertisement-associated data received by said first receiving means to force the display of said first and second advertisement-associated data to force a viewer to view at least one of said first and second advertisement-associated data before receiving said preset- recording data by said second receiving means,

wherein said display control means displays the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and displays the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button,

wherein said preset-recording execute button is enabled to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data,

wherein said viewer cannot view said television program unless said first and second advertisement-associated data first has been displayed.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

said predetermined condition is a predefined correlation between television program and advertisement.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

said predetermined condition is a predefined correlation between television program keyword and advertisement.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

reproducing means for reproducing said television program recorded to said information recording medium by said recording means.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

said display control means controls the displaying of said advertisement-associated data received by said first receiving means while said reproducing means is reproducing said television program.

10. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus which acquires preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program from a predetermined information providing apparatus via a network and, on the basis of said preset-recording data, controls preset-recording of said television program, said information processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting said television program to be preset-recorded;

transmitting television program identifying information for identifying said television program selected in the selecting step to said information providing apparatus;

receiving first advertisement-associated data and keyword data from said information providing apparatus in response to said television program identifying information and second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

notifying said information providing apparatus if a predetermined condition is satisfied after display of said first and second advertisement-associated data is started;

receiving said preset-recording data from said information providing apparatus in response to the notification from the notifying step;

recording said television program to an information recording medium on the basis of said preset-recording data received in the second receiving step; and

controlling the displaying of said received first and second advertisement-associated data to force the display of said first and second advertisement-associated data to force a viewer to view at least one of said first and second advertisement-associated data before receiving said preset-recording data,

wherein said displaying is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

enabling said preset-recording execute button to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data,

wherein said viewer cannot view said television program unless said advertisement-associated data first has been displayed.

11. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein

said predetermined condition is a predefined correlation between television program and advertisement.

12. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein

said predetermined condition is a predefined correlation between television program keyword and advertisement.

13. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer-readable program for controlling an information processing apparatus which acquires preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program from a predetermined information providing apparatus via a network and, on the basis of said preset-recording data, controls preset-recording of said television program, said computer-readable program comprising the steps of:

selecting said television program to be preset-recorded;

transmitting television program identifying information for identifying said television program selected in the selecting step to said information providing apparatus;

receiving first advertisement-associated data and keyword data from said information providing apparatus in response to said television program identifying information and second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

notifying said information providing apparatus if a predetermined condition is satisfied after display of said first and second advertisement-associated data is started;

receiving said preset-recording data from said information providing apparatus in response to the notification from the notifying step; and

recording said television program to an information recording medium on the basis of said preset-recording data received in the second receiving step; and

controlling the displaying of said received first and second advertisement-associated data to force the display of said first and second advertisement-associated data as a function of the keyword data to force a viewer to view at least one of said first and second advertisement-associated data before receiving said preset-recording data,

wherein said displaying is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

enabling said preset-recording execute button to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data,

wherein said viewer cannot view said television program unless said first and second advertisement-associated data first has been displayed.

14. The program storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

said predetermined condition is a predefined correlation between a television program and an advertisement.

15. The program storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

said predetermined condition is a predefined correlation between television program keyword and advertisement.

16. An information providing apparatus which provides preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program to an information processing apparatus via a network, comprising:

receiving means for receiving a television program identifying information from said information processing apparatus;

generating means for generating said preset-recording data for preset-recording said television program corresponding to said television program identifying information;

acquiring means for acquiring first advertisement-associated data corresponding to said television program identifying information from a predetermined site and acquiring second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data from the predetermined site;

first transmitting means for transmitting said first and second advertisement-associated data and keyword data acquired by said acquiring means to said information processing apparatus to force display of said first and second advertisement-associated data; and

second transmitting means for transmitting said preset-recording data generated by said generating means to said information processing apparatus after said first and second advertisement-associated data has been displayed on said information processing apparatus,

wherein said information processing apparatus is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

wherein said preset-recording execute button is enabled to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data.

17. The information providing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein

said acquiring means acquires first advertisement-associated data preset to said television program corresponding to said television program identifying information from a first site.

18. The information providing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein

said acquiring means acquires a keyword preset to said television program from a second site and second advertisement-associated data corresponding to said keyword from said first site.

19. The information providing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein

said transmitting means also transmits said keyword to said information processing apparatus.

20. An information providing method for an information providing apparatus which provides preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program to an information processing apparatus via a network, said information providing method comprising the steps of:

receiving a television program identifying information from said information processing apparatus;

generating said preset-recording data for preset-recording said television program corresponding to said television program identifying information;

acquiring first advertisement-associated data and keyword data corresponding to said television program identifying information from a predetermined site and acquiring second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

transmitting said acquired first and second advertisement-associated data to said information processing apparatus to force display said of first and second advertisement- associated data; and

transmitting said preset-recording data to said information processing apparatus after said first and second advertisement-associated data has been displayed on said information processing apparatus,

wherein said information processing apparatus is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

wherein said preset-recording execute button is enabled to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data.

21. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer-readable program for controlling an information providing apparatus which provides preset-recording data for preset-recording a television program to an information processing apparatus via a network, said computer-readable program comprising the steps of:

receiving a television program identifying information from said information processing apparatus;

generating said preset-recording data for preset-recording said television program corresponding to said television program identifying information;

acquiring first advertisement-associated data corresponding to said television program identifying information from a predetermined site and acquiring second advertisement-associated data from said information providing apparatus in response to said keyword data;

transmitting said acquired first and second advertisement-associated data and keyword data to said information processing apparatus to force display said of first and second advertisement-associated data; and

transmitting said preset-recording data to said information processing apparatus after said first and second advertisement-associated data has been displayed on said information processing apparatus,

wherein said information processing apparatus is controlled to display the first advertisement-associated data in a first window beside a display of the preset-recording data and display the second advertisement associated data in a second window below said first window, said first window including a recording preset-recording execute button, and

wherein said preset-recording execute button is enabled to control recording of said television program after completion of display of the first advertisement-associated data.