Methods and systems for facilitating an online social network

• US 8,862,978 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2013
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TrackTime, LLC
• Original Assignee: Curt Evans
• Inventors: Evans, Curt
• Primary Examiner(s): Mills, Frank D
• Application Number:
  US14/099,231
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089413A1
• Time in Patent Office: 312 Days
• Field of Search: 715/206
• US Class Current: 715/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06009 with optically detectable marking G06K19/063, G06K19/08 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1235 with control of digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3276 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/384 using social networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• 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: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440236 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures, audio is converted into text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8233 : the additional signal being a character code signal

Abstract

The invention relates to social networking with a mobile computing device. The mobile computing device is provided a synchronization index, wherein the synchronization index is associated to multimedia and indicates respective times within the multimedia corresponding to a word or range of words. The mobile computing device software comprises executable program code configured to facilitate annotation of the synchronization index responsive to user input received by the mobile computing device and communicates this annotation to a second computing device via a network.

Claims

1. A method for social networking with a mobile computing device comprising:

providing for use on a mobile computing device a synchronization index, wherein said synchronization index is associated to multimedia, wherein the synchronization index comprises an electronic transcript that indicates text corresponding to audio from the multimedia, and wherein the synchronization index indicates respective times within the multimedia corresponding to when a word or range of words is audible in the multimedia;

providing mobile computing device software, wherein said mobile computing device software comprises executable program code configured to receive the synchronization index, and wherein said text is able to be displayed other than as a web page,

wherein said mobile computing device comprises a viewing screen and a touch-sensitive input interface,

wherein said viewing screen is able to display multimedia and text from said synchronization index,

wherein performing a user'"'"'s selected gesture on a portion of said viewing screen corresponding to a portion of said text is recognized by said touch-sensitive input interface to facilitate annotation of a portion of said synchronization index, and

wherein said mobile computing device software comprises executable program code configured to facilitate annotation of a portion of said synchronization index responsive to user input received by the mobile computing device; and

communicating said annotation for subsequent retrieval on a second computing device via a network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said mobile computing device software comprises executable program code configured to synchronously play said associated multimedia with said synchronization index other than as part of a web page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said annotation is a link to a portion of said multimedia.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said annotation is text, said text being associated to a portion of said multimedia.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said annotation is text, said text being associated to a portion of said multimedia, and

wherein said text is able to be displayed when playback of said portion of said multimedia occurs.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said annotation is associated to a portion of said multimedia, and

wherein said annotation is selected from the group comprising a threaded text discussion, a selected range of text from said synchronization index to which a highlighting color or font characteristic is applied, an audio file, a multimedia file, a picture, a photograph, a graphic, a drawn annotation, a brand element, an alteration to the text of said synchronization index, a hyperlink, and a hyperlink to predetermined portion of multimedia.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said annotation is associated to a portion of said multimedia;

wherein said annotation is selected from the group comprising a threaded text discussion, a selected range of text from said synchronization index to which a highlighting color or font characteristic is applied, an audio file, a multimedia file, a picture, a photograph, a graphic, a drawn annotation, a brand element, an alteration to the text of said synchronization index, a hyperlink, and a hyperlink to predetermined portion of multimedia; and

wherein said second computing device selectively receives annotations as part of a social network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said second computing device comprises computer hardware and software to operate a social networking service, wherein a user of said service is provided facility to share annotations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said second computing device comprises a second mobile computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said mobile computing device runs an operating system selected from the group comprising iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry OS, and Linux.

11. A method for social networking relating to multimedia comprising:

providing multimedia;

providing a synchronization index that comprises an electronic transcript of text corresponding to at least a portion of audio from said multimedia and indicates respective times within the multimedia corresponding to a word or range of words, wherein said synchronization index provides association between at least one portion of said electronic transcript and at least one portion of said multimedia, and wherein said synchronization index is provided to a first user and at least one additional user via a network;

providing executable program code to deep link to a predetermined point within said multimedia by using said synchronization index; and

providing executable program code to share one or more said deep links, wherein said sharing of deep links facilitates interaction between the first user and at least one additional user via a network,

wherein mobile computing device software comprises executable program code to view said multimedia and said synchronization index other than as a web page,

wherein mobile computing device software comprises said executable program code to deep link, and

wherein mobile computing device software comprises executable program code to communicate deep links to a second computing device,

wherein said mobile computing device software operates on a mobile computing device comprising a viewing screen and a touch-sensitive input interface,

wherein said viewing screen is able to display multimedia and text from said synchronization index,

wherein performing a user'"'"'s selected gesture on a portion of said viewing screen corresponding to a portion of said text is recognized by said touch-sensitive input interface to facilitate said deep linking.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said deep link is a hyperlink to a predetermined portion of multimedia,

wherein said hyperlink is associated to an element selected from the group comprising text, a note, a selected range of text from said synchronization index to which a highlighting color or font characteristic is applied, a picture, a photograph, a graphic, a drawn annotation, and a brand element, and

wherein said element is able to be viewed on a mobile computing device.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said mobile computing device software functions on a mobile computing device that runs an operating system selected from the group comprising iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry OS, and Linux.

14. A computer system for social networking relating to multimedia comprising:

one or more processors for executing executable program code;

executable program code configured to provide multimedia;

executable program code configured to provide a synchronization index, wherein said synchronization index is associated to said multimedia, wherein the synchronization index comprises an electronic transcript that indicates text corresponding to audio from the multimedia, and wherein the synchronization index indicates respective times within the multimedia corresponding to a word or range of words, wherein said synchronization index is shared with a plurality of users, and wherein said text is able to be displayed other than as a web page;

executable program code configured to provide facility for a user to deep link to a predetermined point within said multimedia by using said synchronization index; and

executable program code configured to provide facility for a plurality of users to share said deep links, wherein said sharing of deep links facilitates interaction between a first user and at least one additional user via a network,

wherein said computing system comprises a hosting server and one or more mobile computing devices,

wherein at least one mobile computing device comprises a viewing screen and a touch-sensitive input interface,

wherein said viewing screen is able to display multimedia and text from said synchronization index, and

wherein performing a user'"'"'s selected gesture on a portion of said viewing screen corresponding to a portion of said text is recognized by said touch-sensitive input interface to deep link to a predetermined point within said multimedia.

15. The system of claim 14,

wherein at least one mobile computing device executes said executable program code configured to provide facility for a user to deep link to a predetermined point within said multimedia by using said synchronization index.

16. The system of claim 14,

wherein at least one mobile computing device executes said executable program code configured to provide facility for a user to deep link to a predetermined point within said multimedia by using said synchronization index, and

wherein at least one mobile computing device plays multimedia synchronously with text from a synchronization index other than as a web page.

17. The system of claim 14,

wherein at least one of said one or more mobile computing devices runs an operating system selected from the group comprising iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry OS, and Linux.