Method and apparatus for providing feeds to users

• US 8,010,645 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2006
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Shivaji Rao, Vishnu Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne; Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nano; Sargon N
• Application Number:
  US11/383,183
• Publication Number:
  US 20070265857A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,936 Days
• Field of Search: 709/212, 709/216, 709/217, 709/219, 709/225, 709/223, 707/3, 707/10
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/41407 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 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8405 represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A method of providing feeds to connected devices includes sorting multiple feeds, receiving device information from a connected device, suggesting a feed from the sorted feeds in response to the device information, and delivering the suggested feed to the connected device.

Claims

1. A method of providing feeds to one or more connected devices comprising:

accessing a plurality of feeds wherein feed content is associated with syndicated periodic Internet website updates;

receiving connected device condition of use information from a connected device comprising;

location, environmental context or time information, or combinations thereof;

receiving device characteristic information from the connected device corresponding to one or more characteristics of the connected device, the device characteristics including at least one of;

device settings, mode, hardware, bandwidth capabilities or model;

sorting the plurality of feeds into one or more groups of feeds according to shared characteristics corresponding to the feed content based on a combination of the content of the feeds, the condition of use information and the device characteristic information;

suggesting a feed from the sorted groups of feeds;

embedding a control command in the suggested feed, where the control command is configured for execution on the connected device based on the device characteristic information to terminate, enable or change a function of the connected device, or combinations thereof; and

delivering the suggested feed to the connected device; and

delivering the suggested feed to other connected devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control command is executable via a common application programming interface on the connected device or via a device specific application programming interface on the connected device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an input from the connected device associated with the suggested feed; and

transmitting a control command associated with the suggested feed to the connected device in response to the input.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein sorting the feeds comprises:

characterizing the feeds using identifying information from the feeds; and

sorting the feeds in response to the characterizing.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the suggested feed comprises selecting the suggested feed in response to a keyword from the connected device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information corresponding to a current program presented on the connected device;

wherein selecting the suggested feed comprises suggesting a feed associated with the current program.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sorting the plurality of feeds into one or more device specific groups of feeds, wherein each device specific feed is capable of being presented in a medium of an associated type of connected device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting an organized interface to the feeds on the connected device, the interface organized according to keywords.

9. A device comprising:

a content presenter comprising a display to present primary content, where the primary content originates in a feed;

a network interface to;

transmit conditions of use and configuration information associated with the device to a server;

where the conditions of use comprise;

physical location, environmental context or time, or combinations thereof;

where the configuration information comprises the device;

settings, mode, hardware, bandwidth capabilities or model, or combinations thereof; and

receive feeds including embedded control commands and wherein the feeds share characteristics corresponding to the primary content of the feeds and responsive to condition of use and configuration information;

a feed interface to select one of the feeds;

a control unit to execute a control command embedded in the selected feed where the control command corresponds with a function of the content presenter associated with the configuration information; and

a feed suggestion interface configured to transmit a suggested feed to another device or a server.

10. The device of claim 9, where the control command corresponds to the condition of use and device configuration information.

11. The device of claim 9, where:

the feed interface is configured to transmit an input to the server; and

the control unit is configured to execute the feed command received from the server in response to the input.

12. The device of claim 9, comprising a feed filter interface configured to filter the feeds responsive to user input.

13. The device of claim 9, where the feed interface comprises a feed browser to present available feeds to a user.

14. The device of claim 9, where the feed interface includes a single action interface to select the feed in response to a single user input.

15. The device of claim 9, where:

the primary content is an electronic program guide;

the selectable characteristics of the feeds are associated with entries in the electronic program guide, where the entries indicate subject matter of content of the feeds; and

the control unit is configured to cause the content presenter to present content associated with the selected feed as the primary content.

16. A system for providing feeds to a connected device, comprising:

means for accessing a plurality of feeds based on a content of the feeds;

means for receiving the plurality of feeds;

means for sorting the plurality of feeds into one or more groups of feeds based on the content of the feeds;

means for indicating content preferences for selecting custom feeds to be presented on the connected device;

means for characterizing and indicating a context of use for the connected device, where the context of use comprises time of day, geographic location information and environmental information;

means for associating the context of use with one or more of the content preferences;

means for adding device specific commands to the feeds responsive to the content preferences and the context of use;

means for receiving device information from the connected device, wherein the device information includes one or more of the following;

device settings, mode, hardware, bandwidth capabilities or model;

means for selecting a custom feed or group of custom feeds from the grouped feeds in response to the content, the context of use and on the device information; and

means for indicating on the connected device an availability of a suggested feed.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

means for receiving in a server a user input on the connected device from the connected device; and

means for controlling the connected device in response to the user input received in the server.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

means for characterizing and indicating a connected device mode for feed delivery; and

means for creating a plurality of device specific feeds from the feeds, each device specific feed associated with a type of a connected device and created to be presented in a medium of the associated type of connected device in the indicated mode for feed delivery.