Method and apparatus for identifying and retrieving media content
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a media playback device, comprising;
a digital signal processor configured to locally encode information stored on a storage media;
an indicia reader coupled to the digital signal processor; and
a network interface coupled to the digital signal processor;
wherein the media playback device is configured to;
read, using the indicia reader, an indicia coupled to a storage media storing playable content encoded in a first format, wherein the indicia uniquely identifies the storage media over all storage media storing the playable content;
access, based on the indicia read, a remote device using the network interface;
determine, based on the indicia read, whether a previously generated copy of the playable content encoded in a different format from the first format is stored on the remote device; and
retrieve, from the remote device, the playable content encoded in the different format from the first format;
wherein the media playback device is configured to initiate retrieval of the playable content from the remote device upon reading the indicia, and once initiated, to complete the retrieval without additional user input.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The specification discloses a system and related method for retrieving encoded media content, such as retrieving audio tracks from a CD in MP3 format. The system involves attaching indicia to the media, or possibly a case or protective cover of the media, which uniquely identifies the content. An encoding retrieval and playback device has the ability to obtain the unique number identified by the indicia, where obtaining the unique number may be a consumer entering the number, may be by reading a barcode label, may be by reading the number from a radio frequency device and the like. Once the unique number has been obtained, the encoding retrieval and playback device retrieves the encoded media content from a server across a network connection. In this manner, a consumer need only be present to initiate the retrieval process, and the retrieval of the encoded media content may be completed without the presence of the consumer, and without inserting the storage media in the playback device.
24 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A system comprising:
a media playback device, comprising; a digital signal processor configured to locally encode information stored on a storage media; an indicia reader coupled to the digital signal processor; and a network interface coupled to the digital signal processor; wherein the media playback device is configured to; read, using the indicia reader, an indicia coupled to a storage media storing playable content encoded in a first format, wherein the indicia uniquely identifies the storage media over all storage media storing the playable content; access, based on the indicia read, a remote device using the network interface; determine, based on the indicia read, whether a previously generated copy of the playable content encoded in a different format from the first format is stored on the remote device; and retrieve, from the remote device, the playable content encoded in the different format from the first format; wherein the media playback device is configured to initiate retrieval of the playable content from the remote device upon reading the indicia, and once initiated, to complete the retrieval without additional user input. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
Specification