Portable electronic device with local search capabilities
First Claim
1. In a portable electronic device that includes a display, a media storage device and a user input device, and is operable to present media items each having associated metadata, a method for searching media items stored on the portable electronic device the method comprising:
- activating a search function;
presenting a search window in accordance with the activated search function, the search window including a text box;
receiving, by the portable electronic device, a character string at the text box;
searching, by the portable electronic device, media items stored in the media storage by comparing the character string to at least a portion of the metadata of the media items to identify those media items that match at least a portion of the character string, wherein the metadata uniquely identifies each of the media items and is stored on the portable electronic device;
generating, by the portable electronic device, for all of the media items stored locally, a bitmap wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one of the media items stored locally at the portable electronic device and provides an indication of whether or not the media item matched at least the portion of the received character string;
displaying, by the portable electronic device, at least a subset of the identified media items that match the portion of the character string;
receiving, by the portable electronic device, a second character string at the text box;
based upon the second character string and the character string, determining that the bitmap is relevant to a search using the second character string; and
searching, by the portable electronic, including examining according to the second character string the metadata of only the media items whose bit in the bitmap indicates the media item matched at least the portion of the received character string.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Improved methods and systems that assist a user in searching media items on a portable electronic device are disclosed. According to one aspect of the invention, a portable electronic device is provided with a search function that enables a user to search for media items resident on the portable electronic device. The search function can search through different types of media items. Those of the media items that are deemed matching can be ranked in order of relevance and displayed in a list for the user. Thereafter, the user can navigate the list to select one of the listed media items for playback. According to another aspect of the invention, various graphical user interfaces can be presented on a portable electronic device to assist a user in interacting with the portable electronic device to utilize a search function.
284 Citations
31 Claims
-
1. In a portable electronic device that includes a display, a media storage device and a user input device, and is operable to present media items each having associated metadata, a method for searching media items stored on the portable electronic device the method comprising:
-
activating a search function; presenting a search window in accordance with the activated search function, the search window including a text box; receiving, by the portable electronic device, a character string at the text box; searching, by the portable electronic device, media items stored in the media storage by comparing the character string to at least a portion of the metadata of the media items to identify those media items that match at least a portion of the character string, wherein the metadata uniquely identifies each of the media items and is stored on the portable electronic device; generating, by the portable electronic device, for all of the media items stored locally, a bitmap wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one of the media items stored locally at the portable electronic device and provides an indication of whether or not the media item matched at least the portion of the received character string; displaying, by the portable electronic device, at least a subset of the identified media items that match the portion of the character string; receiving, by the portable electronic device, a second character string at the text box; based upon the second character string and the character string, determining that the bitmap is relevant to a search using the second character string; and searching, by the portable electronic, including examining according to the second character string the metadata of only the media items whose bit in the bitmap indicates the media item matched at least the portion of the received character string. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. In a portable electronic device that includes a display, a media storage device and a user input device, and is operable to present media items each having associated metadata, a method for searching media items stored on the portable electronic device, the method comprising:
-
receiving a navigation command indicating a selection of a particular category of a hierarchical organization of media items; navigating to a screen corresponding to the particular category, wherein the screen has menu items including a search function; displaying, by the portable electronic device, a search screen on the display; receiving, by the portable electronic device, a single search character input for at least a portion of a search term from the user input device; searching, by the portable electronic device, for one or more media items of all categories stored in the media storage that match the one or more search characters, wherein the searching is associated with a search function and involves comparing the search characters with metadata stored on the portable electronic device uniquely identifying each of the media items; generating, by the portable electronic device, for the media items stored locally, a bitmap wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one of the media items stored locally at the portable electronic device and provides an indication of whether or not the media item matched the one or more search characters; ranking, by the portable electronic device, the one or more matching media items; displaying, by the portable electronic device, in accordance with the ranking, at least a subset of those of the matching media items; receiving, by the portable electronic device, a second character string from the user input device; based upon the second character string and the one or more search characters, determining that the bitmap is relevant to a search using the second character string; and searching, by the portable electronic, including examining according to the second character string the metadata of only the media items whose bit in the bitmap indicates the media item matched the one or more search characters. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A computer readable medium storing at least executable computer program code for searching digital data items having associated metadata stored as digital data on a portable electronic device, where the portable electronic device includes a display, a data storage device and a user input device, and is operable to present the digital data items, the computer readable medium comprising:
-
executable computer program code for activating a search function executable computer program code for presenting a search window in accordance with the activated search function, the search window including a text box; executable computer program code for receiving, by the portable electronic device, a character string at the text box; executable computer program code for searching, by the portable electronic device, digital data items stored in the media storage device by comparing the character string to at least a portion of the metadata of the digital data items to identify those of the digital data items that match at least a portion of the character string, wherein the metadata uniquely identifies each of the digital data items and is stored on the portable electronic device; executable program code for generating, by the portable electronic device, for the digital data items stored locally, a bitmap wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one of the digital data items stored locally at the portable electronic device and provides an indication of whether or not the media item matched at least the portion of the received character string; executable computer program code for displaying, by the portable electronic device, at least a subset of those of the identified digital data items that match the character string executable program code for receiving, by the portable electronic device, a second character string at the text box; executable program code, based upon the second character string and the character string, for determining that the bitmap is relevant to a search using the second character string; and executable program code for searching, by the portable electronic, including examining according to the second character string the metadata of only the digital data items whose bit in the bitmap indicates the media item matched at least the portion of the received character string. - View Dependent Claims (22)
-
-
23. A portable media playback device, comprising:
-
a display device; a user input device, at least one memory device capable of storing a plurality of media items each having metadata and executable computer program code for displaying, navigating, playing, or searching the plurality of media items; and a processing device operatively connected to the display device, the user input device and the at least one memory device, wherein the portable media playback device is further operable to; receive at least one search character input for at least a portion of a search term from the user input device; search for one or more media items stored in the media storage that match the one or more search characters by comparing the search characters with metadata stored on the user input device uniquely identifying each of the media items; generate a bitmap for the media items stored locally wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one of the media items stored locally in the media storage and provides an indication of whether or not the media item matched the one or more search characters; display at least a subset of those of the matching media items on the display device in accordance with a ranking; receiving a second character string via the input device; based upon the second character string and the one or more search characters, determine that the bitmap is relevant to a search using the second character string; and search including examining according to the second character string the metadata of only the media items whose bit in the bitmap indicates the media item matched the one or more search characters. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. In a portable electronic device that includes a display having a limited size unable to display a list of a significant number of media items simultaneously, a media storage device and a user input device, and is operable to present media items each having associated metadata, a method for searching media items stored on the portable electronic device, the method comprising:
-
displaying, by the portable electronic device, a search screen on the display; receiving, by the portable electronic device, a single search character input for at least a portion of a search term from the user input device; searching, by the portable electronic device, for one or more media items categories stored in the media storage that match the one or more search characters, wherein the searching is associated with a search function and involves comparing the search characters with metadata stored on the portable electronic device uniquely identifying each of the media items; generating, by the portable electronic device, for the media items stored locally, a bitmap wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one of the media items stored locally at the portable electronic device and provides an indication of whether or not the media item matched the one or more search characters; ranking, by the portable electronic device, the one or more matching media items; and displaying, by the portable electronic device, in the search screen, in accordance with the ranking, at least a subset of those of the matching media items; receiving a selection of one of the matching media items displayed in the search screen; playing the selected one of the matching media items; receiving, by the portable electronic device, a second character string from the user input device; based upon the second character string and the one or more search characters, determining that the bitmap is relevant to a search using the second character string; and searching, by the portable electronic, including examining according to the second character string the metadata of only the media items whose bit in the bitmap indicates the media item matched the one or more search characters. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
-
Specification