Method and apparatus to purchase contents by using portable storage medium or via network

• US 9,021,533 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2008
• Issued: 04/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kang, Shin-wook
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Chenea
• Application Number:
  US12/029,675
• Publication Number:
  US 20090049464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,632 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/60
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4184 providing storage capabilities, e.g. memory stick
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42692 for reading from or writing on a volatile storage medium, e.g. Random Access Memory [RAM]
• 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 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Users of a method and apparatus to purchase (e.g., rent or buy) contents using a portable storage medium, via a network or the like. Contents purchased using embodiments of a method and apparatus may be developed to be automatically deleted or to be non-reproducible after being reproduced one time or after a predetermined period. Accordingly, users do not need to return borrowed or purchased contents. Also an owner of a contents rental shop may prevent contents from being unfairly reproduced. Further, user inconvenience due to the conventional manner in which users have to memorize information related to the contents and visit a rental shop to obtain desired contents may be avoided or decreased. Portable storage mediums or network resources of exemplary methods and apparatuses may be repeatedly used (e.g., without limitation), and thus may contribute to the saving of resources.

Claims

1. A contents reproducing apparatus to reproduce contents and to purchase other contents related to the reproduced contents by using a portable storage medium, the contents reproducing apparatus comprising:

an A/V (audio/video) decoder to decode A/V data from among data related to the reproduced contents to determine whether the reproduced contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

a memory controller to record, within the portable storage medium, purchase menu data corresponding to the determination in response to a request to purchase the other contents, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

a purchase menu decoder to decode the purchase menu data; and

an image display unit to display the reproduced contents, and to display a purchase menu corresponding to the purchase menu data during the reproduction of the reproduced contents,

wherein the memory controller selectively populates a purchase list with the purchase menu data in response to each request to purchase the other contents via the purchase menu, and the purchase menu decoder decodes purchase menu data included in the purchase list while the A/V decoder simultaneously decodes the A/V data.

2. The contents reproducing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portable storage medium is one of a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a secure digital card, a multimedia card, a compact flash, or an eXtreme disk.

3. A contents reproducing apparatus to reproduce contents and to purchase other contents related to the reproduced contents via a network, the contents reproducing apparatus comprising:

a network interface interfacing to perform data communication between a contents providing server and the contents reproducing apparatus;

an A/V (audio/video) decoder to decode A/V data from among data related to the reproduced contents stored in a portable storage medium to determine whether the reproduced contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

a purchase menu decoder to decode purchase menu data corresponding to the determination in response to a request to purchase the other contents, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

a image display unit to display the reproduced contents, and to display a purchase menu corresponding to the purchase menu data while simultaneously reproducing the reproduced contents on the image display; and

a memory controller to generate a purchase list within the portable storage medium including the purchase menu data corresponding to other contents requested to be purchased in response to each selected request to purchase via the purchase menu,

wherein the purchase menu decoder decodes the purchase menu data included in the purchase list while the A/V decoder simultaneously decodes the A/V data.

4. A contents purchase system to reproduce contents and to purchase first and second contents using a portable storage medium, the contents purchase system comprising:

a contents providing server storing the first contents to be purchased;

a kiosk having the second contents to be purchased stored therein and operable in an off-line mode and an on-line mode to read a contents purchase information from the portable storage medium and to transmit the contents purchase information to the contents providing server, and to receive data related to the reproduction of contents from the contents providing server and to transfer the second contents and the first contents to the portable storage medium based on the off-line mode and the on-line mode, respectively, and to store the received data in the portable storage medium, the on-line mode being initiated when the first contents is unavailable in the off-line mode; and

a contents reproducing apparatus to reproduce the contents by using the data related to the reproduction of contents, and to determine whether the reproduced contents include a movie or a preview of the movie, such that the first and second contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively,

wherein the portable storage medium stores the contents purchase information of users within at least one purchase list and stores at least one of the first and second contents downloaded from the kiosk in response to each purchase of the contents.

5. The contents purchase system of claim 4, wherein the contents reproducing apparatus processes a contents purchase request by users.

6. The contents purchase system of claim 4, wherein the data related to the reproduction of contents comprises purchase menu data used to request a contents purchase by users.

7. A method of reproducing purchased audio/video contents and purchasing other contents that are related to the reproduced contents, the method comprising:

reproducing the purchased audio/video contents;

determining whether the reproduced purchased audio/video contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

purchasing the other contents related to the purchased audio/video contents being reproduced, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced purchased audio/video contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

generating a purchase list including content requested to be purchased corresponding to the purchased audio/video contents being reproduced via a purchase menu displayed during the reproducing of the purchased audio/video contents in response to each request to purchase of the other contents;

storing the generated purchase list in a portable storage medium; and

obtaining the content requested to be purchased related to the purchased audio/video contents being reproduced included in the purchase list in the portable storage medium while simultaneously reproducing the purchased audio/video contents.

33. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

requesting the purchase of the other contents related to the reproduced purchased audio/video contents following a reproducing of a preview of the related contents.

8. A method of storing contents purchase information by using a portable storage medium, the method comprising:

displaying a contents purchase menu while reproducing a purchased contents;

determining whether the reproduced purchased contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

purchasing other contents related to the reproduced purchased contents using the contents purchase menu while simultaneously reproducing the purchased contents, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced purchased contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

generating a purchase list including content requested to be purchased corresponding to the reproduced purchased contents via the contents purchase menu in response to each purchase of the other contents; and

storing the generated purchase list and information regarding the content requested to be purchased included in the generated purchase list in the portable storage medium.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the portable storage medium comprises a contents list for storing purchase information.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising reproducing contents.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, when the contents being reproduced is the preview of the movie, the displaying of the contents purchase menu comprises displaying a purchase menu for purchasing the movie of the preview.

12. A method of reproducing purchased contents and purchasing other contents related to the reproduced contents by using a portable storage medium, the method comprising:

determining whether the reproduced purchased contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

generating a contents purchase list in response to a request to purchase the other contents and during reproduction of the reproduced purchased contents via a purchase menu displayed during the reproducing, the contents purchase list including the other contents corresponding to the reproduced purchased contents, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced purchased contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

inserting the portable storage medium, in which the contents purchase list is stored, to a public terminal;

reading the contents purchase list from the portable storage medium using the public terminal and selecting the other contents to be purchased from the contents purchase list stored on the portable storage medium; and

downloading data related the other contents included in the content purchase list to the public terminal, and storing the other contents related to the reproduced purchased contents in the portable storage medium using the public terminal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the selecting of the contents comprises:

displaying a purchase list; and

selecting one or more contents by the users, wherein the contents are comprised in the contents purchase list.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the contents is one of movies, music, TV (television) broadcasting programs, computer games, and UCC (User Created Contents).

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the data related to the reproduction of the selected contents comprises A/V data, header data, index data, metadata, and purchase menu data.

16. A method of reproducing purchased contents and purchasing other contents via a network, the method comprising:

reproducing the purchased contents;

determining whether the purchased contents that are being reproduced include a movie or a preview of the movie;

displaying a purchase menu to purchase the other contents related to the purchased contents during the reproducing of the purchased contents;

requesting purchasing the other contents via the purchase menu displayed, such that the other contents include one of the sequel to the movie and the movie when the purchased contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

generating a purchase list indicating content requested to be purchased corresponding to the purchased contents in response to a request to purchase the other contents via the purchase menu;

transmitting purchase information regarding the other contents while the purchased contents are being reproduced, to a contents providing server via the network; and

decoding the purchased other contents included in the purchase menu during the reproducing of the purchased contents.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising downloading data, which is related to the reproduction of the contents requested to purchase, from the contents providing server.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising monitoring a transmission channel of the network for transmission bandwidth by the contents providing server.

32. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

continuously monitoring the transmission bandwidth of the transmission channel when the transmission bandwidth is initially determined to be insufficient for the transmission of the purchased contents; and

transmitting the purchased other contents at a later time when the transmission bandwidth of the transmission channel is determined sufficient for the transmission of the purchased other contents.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for use with a content purchase system, the instructions comprising:

first instructions to display a contents purchase menu while a previously purchased contents is reproduced;

second instructions to determine whether the previously purchased contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

third instructions to purchase contents corresponding to the previously purchased contents being reproduced by using the contents purchase menu, such that the contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the previously purchased contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

fourth instructions to generate a purchase list indicating a request to purchase the contents corresponding to the previously purchased contents being reproduced; and

fifth instructions to store information regarding the contents requested to be purchased included in the purchase list and the purchase list in a portable storage medium while the previously purchased contents is reproduced.

20. A method of reproducing purchased audio/video contents and purchasing other contents through a reproduction apparatus, the method comprising:

reproducing a purchased audio/visual contents at the reproduction apparatus;

determining whether the reproduced purchased audio/video contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

displaying a purchase menu to select the other contents corresponding to the reproduced purchased audio/visual contents while simultaneously reproducing the purchased audio/visual contents, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced purchased audio/video contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

generating a purchase list including the other contents in response to the other contents being requested to be purchased via the purchase menu,

displaying the purchase list populated with the other contents during reproduction of the purchased audio/visual contents;

receiving the other contents included in the purchase list from the contents provider and storing the purchase list and the received other contents on a portable storage medium; and

directly performing one of reproducing the sequel to the movie and the related movie based on the determination.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the directly purchasing comprises:

storing the purchase list on the portable storage medium;

electronically connecting the portable storage medium with a contents provider;

paying a corresponding cost for the purchased other contents;

reproducing the stored purchased other contents; and

deleting the stored purchased other contents from the portable storage medium after a single reproduction.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the directly purchasing comprises:

displaying a purchase list populated with data for the sequel or the corresponding movie as selected contents;

electronically connecting the reproduction apparatus with a contents provider;

paying a corresponding cost for the selected contents;

receiving the selected contents from the contents provider and reproducing the selected contents on the reproduction apparatus; and

making the reproduced selected contents not reproducible after a single reproduction at the reproduction apparatus.

23. A contents purchase system, the contents purchase system comprising:

a contents providing server to provide previously purchased contents;

a memory controller to generate a purchase list indicating new contents corresponding to the previously purchased contents in response to purchases of contents input via a purchase menu displayed during reproduction of the previously purchased contents and to determine whether the reproduced previously purchased contents include a movie or a preview of the movie, such that the new contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced previously purchased contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

an interface unit to communicate the purchase list indicating the new contents corresponding to the previously purchased contents to the contents providing server and to download for limited reproduction the new contents identified by the contents purchase list while simultaneously reproducing the previously purchased contents.

24. The contents purchase system of claim 23, wherein the limited reproduction is a single reproduction at a reproduction apparatus.

25. The contents purchase system of claim 23, wherein the interface unit comprises:

a remote terminal to transmit the contents purchase information to the contents providing server or to receive data related to the reproduction of contents from the contents providing server and store the received data in a portable storage medium; and

the portable storage medium to store contents purchase information of users or to store the new purchased contents and data related to the reproduction of contents downloaded from the remote terminal.

26. The contents purchase system of claim 25, further comprising:

a contents reproducing apparatus to reproduce the new purchased contents by using the data related to the reproduction of contents or to process a contents purchase request by users.

27. The contents purchase system of claim 26, wherein the contents reproducing apparatus comprises:

a purchase menu decoder to decode purchase menu data from among the data related to reproduction of contents stored in the portable storage medium;

a memory controller to record a purchase list in the portable storage medium; and

an A/V (audio/video) decoder to decode A/V data from among the data related to reproduction of contents stored in the portable storage medium.

28. The contents purchase system of claim 23, wherein the interface unit comprises:

a network to transmit the contents purchase information to the contents providing server, or receive data related to the reproduction of contents from the contents providing server and store the received data in a portable storage medium; and

a contents reproducing apparatus to store contents purchase information of users, or store the new purchased contents and data related to the reproduction of contents downloaded from the network.

29. The contents purchase system of claim 28, wherein the contents reproducing apparatus comprises:

a network interface to interface to perform data communication between the contents providing server and the contents reproducing apparatus; and

a purchase menu decoder to decode purchase menu data from among the data related to reproduction of contents received by the network interface.

30. The contents purchase system of claim 23, wherein the new purchased contents comprise a movie corresponding to a currently viewed preview or a sequel to a currently viewed movie reproduced on a image display unit of a contents reproduction apparatus.

31. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for use with a contents purchase system, the instructions comprising:

reproducing a purchased audio/visual contents at a reproduction apparatus including a display screen;

determining whether the reproduced purchased audio/visual contents include a movie or a preview of the movie;

displaying a purchase menu to purchase other contents related to the purchased audio/visual contents while simultaneously reproducing the reproduced purchased audio/visual contents, such that the other contents include one of a sequel to the movie and the movie when the reproduced purchased audio/video contents include one of the movie and the preview of the movie, respectively;

generating a purchase list including other contents corresponding to the reproduced purchased audio/visual contents, in response to purchases of each of the other contents via the purchase menu,

displaying the purchase list populated with the other contents to identify at least one of the sequel and the movie;

receiving the other contents included in the purchase list from the contents provider and storing the received other contents and the purchase list on the portable storage medium; and

executing at least one of the sequel and the movie corresponding to the reproduced purchased audio/video contents on the display screen.