Managing synchronization of media programs to portable devices
First Claim
1. A machine implemented method comprising:
- providing a user interface for scheduling recording of digital media on a first device and for inputting synchronization rules that define which digital media that were requested to be recorded on the first device should be synchronized from the first device to a second device, the user interface simultaneously displays a selection of digital media for recording on the first device and a selection of a portion of the digital media that was selected for recording on the first device for synchronization to the second device;
receiving, via the user interface, a user request to schedule recording of digital media on the first device;
receiving, via the user interface, synchronization rules for synchronizing digital media that a user requested to be recorded on the first device from the first device to the second device;
recording, on the first device, the digital media that the user requested to be recorded on the first device;
determining whether to pre-transcode digital media that was requested to be recorded on the first device based on the synchronization rules for synchronizing digital media, including determining whether the digital media meets the synchronization rules;
automatically pre-transcoding the digital media that meets the synchronization rules on the first device so that it is suitable to present on the second device, the pre-transcoding is performed prior to the second device being available for synchronization; and
synchronizing at least some of the pre-transcoded digital media from the first device to the second device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are disclosed herein for managing the transfer of digital media that is recorded on a source device (e.g., personal video recorder) to a target device (e.g., portable media player). In one aspect, a user interface is provided for scheduling recording of digital media content on a source device and for inputting user preferences for transferring digital media content to be recorded on the source device to a target device. A user request is received in the user interface to schedule recording of digital media on the source device. User preferences for transferring digital media from the source device to the target device are also received in the user interface. The digital media is recorded on the source device per the user'"'"'s request. Synchronization of the recorded digital media from the source device to the target device is managed based on the user preferences.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A machine implemented method comprising:
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providing a user interface for scheduling recording of digital media on a first device and for inputting synchronization rules that define which digital media that were requested to be recorded on the first device should be synchronized from the first device to a second device, the user interface simultaneously displays a selection of digital media for recording on the first device and a selection of a portion of the digital media that was selected for recording on the first device for synchronization to the second device; receiving, via the user interface, a user request to schedule recording of digital media on the first device; receiving, via the user interface, synchronization rules for synchronizing digital media that a user requested to be recorded on the first device from the first device to the second device; recording, on the first device, the digital media that the user requested to be recorded on the first device; determining whether to pre-transcode digital media that was requested to be recorded on the first device based on the synchronization rules for synchronizing digital media, including determining whether the digital media meets the synchronization rules; automatically pre-transcoding the digital media that meets the synchronization rules on the first device so that it is suitable to present on the second device, the pre-transcoding is performed prior to the second device being available for synchronization; and synchronizing at least some of the pre-transcoded digital media from the first device to the second device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8)
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7. A computer storage device having stored thereon instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause the processor to:
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provide a user interface for scheduling recording of media programs on a personal video recorder and for inputting synchronization rules for synchronizing media programs that were requested to be recorded on the personal video recorder to a portable media player, the user interface simultaneously displays a selection of digital media for recording on the personal video recorder and a selection of a portion of the digital media that was selected for recording on the personal video recorder for synchronization to the portable media player; receive, in the user interface, scheduling requests to record media programs on the personal video recorder and synchronization rules for determining which of the media programs to synchronize from the personal video recorder to the portable media player; record the scheduled media programs on the personal video recorder; determine which of the media programs that were requested to be recorded on the personal video recorder to pre-transcode on the personal video recorder for playing on the portable media player, the determining which of the media programs to pre-transcode includes determining which of the media programs requested to be recorded meet the synchronization rules that were received in the user interface; pre-transcode the media programs that meet the synchronization rules to form transcoded programs suitable to play on the portable media player, the pre-transcoding is performed on the personal video recorder at a time when the portable media player does not have a communication link to the personal video recorder for transferring media programs; select one or more of the pre-transcoded programs for transfer to the portable media player based on the synchronization rules; synchronize the selected pre-transcoded programs from the personal video recorder to the portable media player via the communication link; and receive status at the personal video recorder from the portable media player, the status describes what portions of the selected pre-transcoded programs were played on the portable media player. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer system for managing digital media, wherein the system comprises:
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a display screen; computer readable storage having instructions stored therein; and a processor coupled to the computer readable storage and to the display screen, the instructions cause the processor to implement; a tuning module that captures broadcast media programs; a management module that provides a single user interface on the display screen that allows both scheduling recordings of the captured broadcast media programs on the computer readable storage and inputting synchronization rules for synchronizing recorded media programs to a portable media player, the single user interface simultaneously displays a selection of broadcast media programs for recording on the computer readable storage and a selection of which episodes of a broadcast media program that was selected for recording on the computer readable storage for synchronization to the portable media player; the user interface receives a request to schedule recordings of media programs and receives synchronization rules for synchronizing media programs that were requested to be recorded from the computer system to the portable media player; a transcoder module that transcodes media programs on the computer system from a first format to a second format that is suitable for the portable media player; a synchronization module that synchronizes transcoded media programs from the computer system to the portable media player; wherein the management module; determines to pre-transcode media programs at a time when the media programs are recorded on the computer readable storage, media programs that meet the synchronization rules are pre-transcoded, media programs that do not meet the synchronization rules are not pre-transcoded; instructs the transcoder module to pre-transcode the determined media programs on the computer system to a format suitable for the portable media player in advance of the portable media player being available for transfer; and determines which of the pre-transcoded programs to synchronize from the computer system to the portable media player when the portable media player is available for synchronization, the pre-transcoded programs to synchronize are determined based on the synchronization rules received in the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification