Exchanging digital content

• US 8,064,894 B1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Issued: 11/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bill, David S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro; Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ngo; Chuong A
• Application Number:
  US11/618,475
• Time in Patent Office: 1,789 Days
• Field of Search: 370/401, 709/204, 709/217, 709/225, 709/226, 455/420, 455/445, 455405-409, 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/414.4, 455/415, 455/418, 455/422.1, 455/425, 455433-453, 455/461, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks

Abstract

A first content selection stored on a portable media device is associated with a first tag. In addition, a second tag that is associated with a second content selection and that indicates that supplemental content related to the second content selection is stored on a peer device is accessed from a peer device. The first tag is compared to the second tag, and, if a commonality shared by the first content selection and the second content selection is identified, an exchange of the supplemental content from the peer device to the portable media device is initiated.

Claims

1. A method of exchanging information, the method comprising:

maintaining a news article on a portable media device;

receiving, at the portable media device, a communication from a peer device;

determining if the peer device has supplemental content related to the news article based on the received communication, wherein the supplemental content includes a description of user reaction to the news article, and wherein the supplemental content is associated with the news article but remains separate and distinct from the news article that is maintained on the portable media device;

based on a determination that the peer device has supplemental content related to the news article, receiving the supplemental content from the peer device; and

enabling a user to perceive the received supplemental content.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving, at the portable media device, a communication from a peer device comprises receiving, at the portable media device, one or more tags from the peer device, the one or more tags received from the peer device including a first indication indicating that the peer device has the supplemental content related to the news article and a second indication indicating a location associated with the peer device, the method further comprising:

storing, at the portable media device, the received supplemental content; and

associating the stored supplemental content with a third indication indicating the location associated with the peer device.

3. A method of exchanging information, the method comprising:

associating a first tag with a particular content selection from among a group of content selections;

receiving a second tag from a peer device;

comparing the first tag and the second tag;

determining whether the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection based on the received second tag, wherein the supplemental content includes a description of user reaction to the news article, and wherein the supplemental content is associated with the news article but remains separate and distinct from the news article that is maintained on the portable media device;

receiving the supplemental content from the peer device based on a determination that the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection; and

enabling a user to perceive the received supplemental content in association with the particular content selection.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first tag includes an indication that identifies the particular content selection.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the second tag includes an indication that the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

receiving a third tag from the peer device, the third tag including an indication of a location associated with the peer device; and

determining whether the location associated with the peer device is within a predetermined distance from a device of the user, wherein receiving the supplemental content from the peer device is based on determining that the location associated with the peer device is within the predetermined distance from the device of the user in addition to determining that the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection.

7. The method of claim 3 further comprising transmitting the first tag to the peer device, wherein receiving the second tag from the peer device comprises receiving the second tag from the peer device in response to transmitting the first tag to the peer device.

8. The method of claim 3 wherein:

receiving the second tag comprises receiving the second tag over a wireless connection, and

receiving the supplemental content comprises receiving the supplemental content over a wireless connection.

9. The method of claim 3 wherein associating the first tag with the particular content selection from among the group of content selections comprises associating the first tag with the particular content selection from among the group of content selections including one or more of an image file, a video file, an audio file, a text file, a web page, or an electronic document.

10. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving the supplemental content comprises receiving a rating of the particular content selection, an indication of a preference for the particular content selection, or a discussion of the particular content selection.

11. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving the second tag from the peer device comprises receiving the second tag from a portable media device, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, a mobile telephone, or a digital media player.

12. The method of claim 3 further comprising transmitting additional supplemental content to the peer device in response to receiving the second tag from the peer device.

13. The method of claim 3 further comprising interrogating the peer device to determine whether the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection, wherein receiving the second tag comprises receiving the second identifier in response to interrogating the peer device.

14. The method of claim 3 wherein determining whether the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection based on the received second tag further comprises:

comparing the received second tag to the first tag, and

determining that the first tag and the received second tag correspond to the same content selection based on the comparison of the received second tag to the first tag.

15. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving the supplemental content from the peer device comprises requesting the supplemental content from the peer device and receiving the supplemental content in response to the request.

16. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving the supplemental content from the peer device comprises receiving a weblog entry from the peer device.

17. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving the supplemental content from the peer device based on a determination that the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection comprises:

informing the user that the peer device has supplemental content related to the particular content selection; and

receiving an instruction as input from the user to acquire the supplemental content related to the particular content selection from the peer device.

18. A method of exchanging information, the method comprising:

associating a first content selection stored on a portable media device with a first tag;

accessing a second tag that is made available by a peer device, wherein the second tag is associated with a second content selection and indicates that supplemental content related to the second content selection is stored on the peer device;

comparing the first tag to the second tag;

identifying a commonality shared by the first content selection and the second content selection based on a comparison of the first tag to the second tag; and

initiating an exchange of the supplemental content from the peer device to the portable media device based on the identified commonality shared by the first content selection and the second content selection, wherein the supplemental content includes a description of user reaction to the news article, and wherein the supplemental content is associated with the news article but remains separate and distinct from the news article that is maintained on the portable media device.

19. A method of exchanging information, the method comprising:

maintaining a digital item on a portable media device;

receiving, at the portable media device, a communication from a peer device;

determining if the peer device has supplemental content related to the digital item based on the received communication, wherein the supplemental content comprises a rating of the digital item, an indication of a preference for the digital item, or a discussion of the digital item;

based on a determination that the peer device has supplemental content related to the digital item, receiving the supplemental content from the peer device, wherein receiving the supplemental content comprises receiving the rating of the digital item, the indication of the preference for the digital item, or the discussion of the digital item; and

enabling a user to perceive the received supplemental content.