Television chat system

• US 8,918,818 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2014
• Issued: 12/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: United Video Properties Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: DeWeese, Toby, McKissick, Pamela L., Thomas, William L., Ellis, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Saltarelli, Dominic D
• Application Number:
  US14/222,489
• Publication Number:
  US 20140208367A1
• Time in Patent Office: 277 Days
• US Class Current: 725/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2408 Monitoring of the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. client requests monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• 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 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• 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 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8173 End-user applications, e.g. Web browser, game
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8545 : for generating interactive applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 : Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A television chat system that allows television viewers to engage in real-time communications in chat groups with other television viewers while watching television. Users of the television chat system may engage in real-time communications with other uses who are currently watching the same television program or channel. The system allows real-time communications in a chat group to be transmitted between users at user television equipment devices via a television distribution facility. The television chat system permits users to join chat groups related to television programs, channels, or categories of programs that the user may be interested in. Real-time communications may be textual messages, audio communications, or video communications. The television chat system may also allow users to send chat requests to ask other users to enter a chat group, and permits users to establish chat groups that television viewers are permitted to join.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a first device, an indication of a television program from a first user;

in response to the receiving the indication, generating a message related to the indicated television program and a selectable option that enables a second user to access the indicated television program; and

transmitting to a second device of the second user the message and the selectable option, wherein the message is displayed together with the selectable option on the second device, and wherein the selectable option is a button that is displayed proximate to the displayed message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises a title of the indicated program.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second device is configured to display the indicated program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the second user to access the indicated program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating for display the indicated program on the second device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the message and the selectable option to be displayed together on the second device to the second user.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive, from a first device, an indication of a television program from a first user;

instructions to generate a message related to the indicated television program and a selectable option that enables a second user to access the indicated television program in response to the receiving the indication; and

instructions to transmit to a second device of the second user the message and the selectable option, wherein the message is displayed together with the selectable option on the second device, and wherein the selectable option is a button that is displayed proximate to the displayed message.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the message comprises a title of the indicated program.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the second device is configured to display the indicated program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions to enable the second user to access the indicated program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions to generate for display the indicated program on the second device.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions to generate the message and the selectable option to be displayed together on the second device to the second user.

13. A method comprising:

receiving, responsive to input from a first user at a first device, information associated with a television program, wherein the information is based on input from a second user at a second device;

in response to the receiving the information associated with the television program, generating a display related to the television program, wherein the display comprises a message related to the television program and a selectable option that enables the first user to access the television program, and wherein the selectable option is a button that is displayed proximate to the displayed message;

receiving an indication that the first user has selected the selectable option; and

in response to the receiving the indication, enabling the first user to access the television program at the first device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the display comprises a title of the program.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first device is configured to display the program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising enabling the first user to access the program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising generating the program for display on the first device.

18. A non-transitory machine readable medium comprising instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive, responsive to input from a first user at a first device, information associated with a television program, wherein the information is based on input from a second user at a second device;

instructions to generate a display related to the television program in response to receiving the information associated with the television program, wherein the display comprises a message related to the television program and a selectable option that enables the first user to access the television program, and wherein the selectable options is a button that is displayed proximate to the displayed message;

instructions to receive an indication that the first user has selected the selectable option; and

instructions to enable the first user to access the television program at the first device in response to receiving the indication.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the display comprises a title of the program.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first device is configured to display the program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

21. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions to enable the first user to access the program in response to receiving a selection of the selectable option.

22. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions to generate the program for display on the first device.