Social aspects of media guides
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- receiving, at a computing device, a request from a user to display descriptors of media programming content for a time period;
identifying people associated with the user employing information stored in a computer database, and identifying time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, wherein the people associated with the user are identified by (a) identifying a user account for the user, and (b) identifying one or more other user accounts that have a predetermined acquaintance relationship defined with the user account for the user;
determining which of the identified people are available for contact and are accessing media content, and providing, for display to the user, both the descriptions of the identified people who are available for contact and are accessing media content, and descriptions of the time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people,wherein the displayed descriptions of the identified people that are available for contact and are accessing media content and the descriptions of time-associated media programs that are electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people are adjusted for display to the user, in response to one or more of the identified people beginning or ending a communication with the user, the display adjustment including (i) adding one or more time-associated media programs to the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the other people are available for contact and are accessing media content, and (ii) removing one or more time-associated media programs from the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the people are not available for contact and are not accessing media content.
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Abstract
A computer-implemented method, including receiving, at a computing device, a request from a user to display descriptors of media programming content for a time period; identifying people associated with the user employing information stored in a computer database, and identifying time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people; and providing for display, to the user, the descriptions of the identified people and of the time-associated media programs.
16 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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receiving, at a computing device, a request from a user to display descriptors of media programming content for a time period; identifying people associated with the user employing information stored in a computer database, and identifying time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, wherein the people associated with the user are identified by (a) identifying a user account for the user, and (b) identifying one or more other user accounts that have a predetermined acquaintance relationship defined with the user account for the user; determining which of the identified people are available for contact and are accessing media content, and providing, for display to the user, both the descriptions of the identified people who are available for contact and are accessing media content, and descriptions of the time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, wherein the displayed descriptions of the identified people that are available for contact and are accessing media content and the descriptions of time-associated media programs that are electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people are adjusted for display to the user, in response to one or more of the identified people beginning or ending a communication with the user, the display adjustment including (i) adding one or more time-associated media programs to the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the other people are available for contact and are accessing media content, and (ii) removing one or more time-associated media programs from the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the people are not available for contact and are not accessing media content. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-implemented system, comprising:
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an interface to receive requests for the provision of media programming content for a time period; a processor programmed to identify people socially connected to a user by employing information stored in a computer database, and identifying time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, wherein the people connected to the user are identified by (a) identifying a user account for the user, and (b) identifying one or more other user accounts that have a predetermined acquaintance relationship defined with the account for the user, wherein the one or more other user accounts correspond to the identified people; and a grid generator to generate code for displaying media programming for the user for the time period and for displaying both the descriptions of the identified people and descriptions of the time-associated media programs that are electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, wherein the displayed descriptions of the identified people and the descriptions of the time-associated media programs are adjusted for display to the user, in response to one or more of the identified people beginning or ending a communication with the user, the display adjustment including (i) adding one or more time-associated media programs to the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the identified people are available for contact and are accessing media content, and (ii) removing one or more time-associated media programs from the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the identified people are not available for contact and are not accessing media content. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer-implemented system, comprising:
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an interface to receive requests for the provision of media programming content for a time period; a processor programmed to identify people socially connected to a user by employing information stored in a computer database, and identifying time-associated media programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, wherein the people connected to the user are identified by (a) identifying a user account for the user, and (b) identifying one or more other user accounts that have a predetermined acquaintance relationship defined with the account for the user; and a grid generator to generate code for displaying media programming for the user for the time period and for displaying both the descriptions of the identified people and descriptions of the time-associated media programs that are electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people, and adjusting the displayed media programming, in response to one or more of the identified people beginning or ending a communication with another of the identified people, the display adjustment including (i) adding one or more time-associated media programs to the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the identified people are available for contact and are accessing media content, and (ii) removing one or more time-associated media programs from the programs electronically scheduled on behalf of the identified people in response to determining that one or more of the identified people are not available for contact and are not accessing media content.
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Specification