Specialized media presentation via an electronic program guide (EPG)

• US 8,863,163 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2011
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Barrett, Peter T.
• Primary Examiner(s): RABOVIANSKI, JIVKA A
• Application Number:
  US13/099,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20110209178A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,261 Days
• Field of Search: 725/40, 725/44, 725/46, 725/109, 725/110, 725/112, 725/51, 725/80
• US Class Current: 725/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8405 represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An electronic program guide (EPG) may include entries that enable access to one or more images. In some implementations, when an image-related entry is selected by a user, a device presents the one or more images that are associated with the selected entry. In some implementations, portions of the EPG are presented as links. Selection of a link effectuates a search and may be followed by the visual presentation of one or more images resulting from the search. Additionally, in some implementations, an image can be communicated with an electronic communication. In response to the electronic communication, an image entry may be added to the channel lineup of the EPG. Selection of the image entry in the EPG may cause the device to visually present the image.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a display screen that can display an electronic program guide (EPG) lineup, the EPG lineup including a listing of channels, wherein the listing of channels includes one or more channels directed to television programs cross-referenced with a scheduled viewing time and at least one image channel directed to a viewable image collection and configured to provide notifications;

an EPG entry inserter, implemented by a processor, to create a notification link in the EPG lineup in response to a notification that an image has been extracted from a received communication and stored by the server in the viewable image collection stored at a storage area of the server, wherein the notification link is inserted by the EPG inserter into the at least one image channel;

a user input monitor to detect a user selection of the notification link;

an image retriever that retrieves the image from the viewable image collection in response to the user selection of the notification link; and

an image presenter that receives the image from the image retriever and presents the image on the display screen.

2. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the notification link is a first notification link and the image is a first image corresponding to the first notification link; and

the EPG inserter is configured to insert a second notification link into the at least one image channel, the second notification link corresponding to a second image.

3. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein when the user selection is a selection of the at least one image channel, the image retriever is configured to retrieve the first image and the second image from the viewable image collection for display by the image presenter.

4. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein:

the first notification link corresponds to a first source of the communication from which the first image was extracted; and

the second notification link corresponds to a second source of another communication from which the second image was extracted, different from the first source.

5. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a local storage area associated with the device wherein:

the local storage area is configured to store the image in response to receipt of the image contemporaneously with receipt of the notification that prompts the EPG entry inserter to create the notification link in the EPG lineup; and

the image retriever retrieves the image from the local storage area.

6. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the EPG entry inserter to create a notification link in the EPG lineup creates the notification link responsive to a notification that an image has been extracted from a received communication having a destination address that is associated with the device.

7. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the at least one image channel includes one or more image cells; and

individual image cells of the one or more image cells are associated with particular words.

8. The device as recited in claim 7, wherein the EPG entry inserter is further configured to organize the image from the image retriever in the individual image cells based at least in part on words included in the received communication associated with the image.

9. A method implemented by a server comprising:

sending to a client, an electronic program guide (EPG) lineup that includes a listing of channels, wherein one or more channels of the listing of channels are television channels directed to television programs cross-referenced with a scheduled viewing time and one or more channels of the listing of channels are image channels directed to one or more image collections and configured to provide notifications, individual ones of the one or more image channels having a unique source address for receiving electronic communications;

receiving an electronic communication containing an image, the image content being distinct from content displayed on the television programs, the electronic communication being addressed to the unique source address corresponding to one of the one or more image channels;

extracting the image from the electronic communication;

storing the image at a storage of the server;

sending an instruction to the client in response, at least in part, to receiving the image, the instruction instructing the client to insert a notification link in the one of the one or more image channels having the unique source address corresponding to the one of the one or more image channels, wherein the image is intended to be associated with the notification link;

receiving a request from the client to retrieve the image; and

sending the image to the client.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the receiving the electronic communication containing the image includes receiving the electronic communication as an email from a mail server.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the electronic communication is a first electronic communication, the image is a first image, and the one of the one or more image channels is a first image channel, the method further comprising:

receiving a second electronic communication containing a second image, the second electronic communication originating from a different source than the first electronic communication, the second electronic communication being addressed to the unique source address corresponding to a second channel of the one or more image channels;

extracting the second image from the second electronic communication;

storing the second image at the storage of the server; and

sending an instruction instructing the client to display a notification link in the second image channel.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein:

the first electronic communication is received from a first email address, the first email address being associated with the first image channel; and

the second electronic communication is received from a second email address, different from the first email address, the second email address being associated with the second image channel.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more channels for providing notifications is concurrently displayed with the EPG.

14. A device comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

an electronic program guide (EPG) application maintained on the memory and executed on the processor to perform operations including;

presenting an EPG having a listing of entries, wherein at least some entries of the listing of entries are directed to programs for television channels and at least one entry of the listing of entries that enables access to one or more images, wherein the at least one entry is presented in the listing of entries in response to receiving a notification from a server included in a television-based network indicating that the one or more images have been obtained by the server from a received electronic communication and stored by the server at a storage of the server;

receiving selection of the at least one entry by user input to cause the device to retrieve the one or more images; and

presenting the one or more images on a display screen in response to the user input.

15. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the at least one entry comprises a linked image channel; and

selection of the linked image channel by the user input causes the device to present the one or more images associated with multiple image cells of the selected linked image channel.

16. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the at least one entry comprises a linked image cell; and

selection of the linked image cell by the user input causes the device to present the one or more images associated with the selected linked image cell.

17. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the EPG application is executed to perform further operations that include retrieving the one or more images from the storage of the server at which the one or more images were stored; and

obtaining and storing of the one or more images by the server is responsive to receipt of an email having a destination address that is associated with the device.

18. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein the EPG application is executed to perform further operations that include producing the EPG with multiple entries of the listing of entries that each enable access to one or more images, each entry corresponding to a different source of the one or more images corresponding to that entry, and each entry represented as a different image channel in the EPG.

19. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the notification includes the one or more images; and

the EPG application is executed to perform further operations that include;

storing the one or more images at a local storage of the device; and

retrieving the one or more images from the local storage at the device in response to the receiving the selection of the at least one entry.

20. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein the EPG application is executed to perform further operations that include retrieving one or more additional images using a search service and a search request formulated responsive to at least one word of a different entry in the EPG.