Television interfacing

• US 7,999,788 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2006
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Penthera Partners, Inc
• Original Assignee: Penthera Partners, Inc
• Inventors: Berger, Adam, Schohn, Gregory C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mengistu; Amare
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZUBAJLO, JENNIFER L
• Application Number:
  US11/404,264
• Publication Number:
  US 20080049142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,952 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-172
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• 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 21/42208 Display device provided on the remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42228 the reprogrammable keys being displayed on a display screen in order to reduce the number of keys on the remote control device itself
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6181 involving transmission via a mobile phone network arrangements for providing broadcast or conference services to substation in data switching networks in combination with wireless systems H04L12/189; wireless uplink channel access H04W74/004
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/654 Transmission by server directed to the client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection

Abstract

Among other things, on a wireless handheld device that has a display and keys, an interface is provided that enables a user to control aspects of presentation of video material on a display of the handheld device, the interface including presentation on the display of visible tokens that are associated with respective keys.

Claims

1. A method comprising

on a mobile telephone that has a numeric-style pad of keys used to dial telephone numbers and a display on which a video item can be presented to the user of the mobile telephone, and that receives a video item at the mobile telephone wirelessly from a head end video source at a location other than the location at which the mobile telephone is being used,

presenting the video item on the display of the mobile telephone that has the numeric-style pad of keys, and simultaneously presenting, overlaid on the video item that is being displayed on the display of the mobile telephone that has the numeric-style pad of keys, visible tokens, in relative positions corresponding to relative positions of keys of the numeric-style pad, that are indicative of fast forward and rewind of the video item,

when the user activates the key on the pad of keys that has a relative position corresponding to the relative position of the token that is indicative of fast forward, the fast forwarding of the video is done at the head end from which the video item is being delivered, and when the user activates the key on the pad of keys that has a relative position corresponding to the relative position of the token that is indicative of rewind, the rewinding of the video item is done at the head end from which the video item is being delivered.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the visible tokens comprise images of keys.

3. The method of claim 1 including enabling the user to control appearance or non-appearance of the visible token.

4. The method of claim 1 including enabling the user to configure the visible token.

5. The method of claim 1 also including providing information associated with an activation of one of the keys to a device for implementation of transport action.

6. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay is controlled in part on the basis of a user selection.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay is controlled in part on the basis of a state of the head end from which the video material is delivered.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay is sometimes hidden.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay is associated with a mapping of tokens to keys.

10. The method of claim 9 in which the correspondence of keys is controlled in part by the head end from which the video material is delivered.

11. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay includes a visible token corresponding to a video zoom function.

12. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay includes visible tokens corresponding to a channel selection function and display of video items of multiple channels simultaneously.

13. The method of claim 1 also including enabling a user to toggle between two different overlays to have access to more functions than the number of keys on the device.

14. The method of claim 1 in which the overlay enables interactive inputs by a user with respect to interactive video material.

15. The method of claim 1 in which the visible token represents play, fast forward, rewind, stop, or pause.

16. A medium that bears instructions to cause a wireless handheld device that has a display and control keys, to provide an interface that enables a user to control video transport actions for video material, delivered from a head end at another location, on the handheld device, the video material being received wirelessly in real time at the handheld device, the interface including display of visible tokens that are associated with respective control keys, the video transport actions being effected at the head end from which the video material is delivered, the visible tokens being organized as overlays each associated with a mapping of tokens to keys, the visible tokens including a token indicative of fast forward of the video item.

17. The medium of claim 16 in which the visible tokens comprise images of keys.

18. The medium of claim 16 including enabling the user to control appearance or non-appearance of the visible tokens.

19. The medium of claim 16 including enabling the user to configure the visible tokens.

20. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays are controlled in part on the basis of a user selection.

21. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays are controlled in part on the basis of a state of the head end.

22. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays are sometimes hidden.

23. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays are associated with a mapping of tokens to keys.

24. The medium of claim 23 in which the correspondence of keys is controlled in part by the head end.

25. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays include a visible token corresponding to a video zoom function.

26. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays include visible tokens corresponding to a channel selection function and display of video items of multiple channels simultaneously.

27. The medium of claim 16 also including enabling a user to toggle between two different overlays to have access to more functions than the number of keys on the device.

28. The medium of claim 16 in which the overlays enable interactive inputs by a user with respect to interactive video material.

29. A handheld device comprising:

a display and a keyboard and storage holding instructions to cause the device to provide an interface that enables a user to control aspects of presentation of a video item received wirelessly in real time from a head end at another location, on a display of the handheld device, the video item including video elements that occur in a predetermined sequence corresponding to a chronological sequence of moments in time,

the interface including presentation on the display of visible tokens that are associated with respective control keys that are to be used in the control of transport actions that cause the display to change from one of the video elements of the video item, corresponding to one of the moments of time in the chronological sequence of the video item, to another of the moments in time in the chronological sequence of the video item, the visible tokens including a token indicative of fast forward of the video item,

the visible tokens being organized as overlays each associated with a mapping of tokens to keys,

the transport actions being effected at the head end, at the other location, from which the video item is being received wirelessly in real time.

30. The device of claim 29 in which the visible tokens comprise images of keys.

31. The device of claim 29 including enabling the user to control appearance or non-appearance of the visible tokens.

32. The device of claim 29 including enabling the user to configure the visible tokens.

33. The device of claim 29 in which the overlays are controlled in part on the basis of a user selection.

34. The device of claim 29 in which the overlays are controlled in part on the basis of a state of the head end.

35. The device of claim 29 in which the overlays are sometimes hidden.

36. The device of claim 29 in which the correspondence of tokens to keys in the mapping is controlled in part by the head end.

37. The device of claim 36 in which the overlays include a visible token corresponding to a video zoom function.

38. The device of claim 29 in which the overlays include visible tokens corresponding to a channel selection function and display of video items of multiple channels simultaneously.

39. The device of claim 29 also including enabling a user to toggle between two different overlays to have access to more functions than the number of keys on the device.

40. The device of claim 29 in which the overlays enable interactive inputs by a user with respect to interactive video material.

41. A method comprising

enabling a user to invoke playing, fast forwarding, rewinding, stopping, and pausing of a video item being presented, wirelessly in real time from a head end at another location, on a display of the handheld device, by pressing keys of a numeric telephone style keypad that correspond to transport tokens overlaid visibly on the video item, the fast forwarding, rewinding, stopping, and pausing being executed at the head end,

the correspondence of keys to tokens being controlled in part from the head end on the basis of a state of the head end.

42. The method of claim 41 in which the visible tokens comprise images of keys.

43. The method of claim 41 including enabling the user to control appearance or non-appearance of the visible tokens.

44. The method of claim 41 including enabling the user to configure the visible tokens.

45. The method of claim 41 including a visible token corresponding to a video zoom function.

46. The method of claim 41 in which the overlays include visible tokens corresponding to a channel selection function and display of video items of multiple channels simultaneously.