Media sharing community
First Claim
1. A method of operating a first wireless communication device having a transmitter and a receiver comprisingstoring electronically in a memory in the device a plurality of digital files received at the receiver wherein the digital files are listening and/or viewing experiences;
- generating from the memory signals representing a first listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file;
providing the signals both to an audio and/or visual (“
audio/visual”
) output from the first wireless communication device for use by a first user and to the transmitter for transmission to a second wireless communication device for use at the same time in a second audio/visual output of the second wireless communication device by a second user so that the second user can listen to and/or view the portion of the first listening and/or viewing experience that remains at the time that the second user selects to listen to and/or view the first listening and/or viewing experience without first downloading the signal representing the first listening and/or viewing experience to the second wireless communication device such that the first user and the second user listen to and/or view the same listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same point in time in the listening and/or viewing experience;
generating from the memory signals representing a second listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience; and
providing the signals representing the second listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same time to the transmitter for transmission to a third wireless communication device for use at the same time in a third audio/visual output of the third wireless communication device by a third user so that the third user can listen to and/or view the second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience being listened to and/or viewed at the same time by the first and second users.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention enables a user to share his/her listening experience selectively with others without sharing headphones and without disturbing others who do not want to listen. In a preferred embodiment, a first listener can accomplish this by storing in a Portable Electronic Device or similar device a library of listening experiences, listening to one of the listening experiences, and while listening to that one listening experience streaming the one listening experience to at least one other Portable Electronic Device or similar device. A second listener at the other Portable Electronic Device can then listen to the same listening experience as the first listener at the same time. It is expected that the listening experiences will typically be songs or other music but the invention may be practiced with any type of audio content. The first listener may also create a playlist of the listening experiences in the library and make the playlist available to others. Others may use the playlist to access the library and listen to one or more listening experiences stored in the library. Also, utilizing the same interface and communication methodologies as described above, the technology platform detailed in this application can be used for commercial purposes to stream location based content, audio and otherwise, to a connected network of Portable Electronic Devices. Commercial uses of this functionality include providing commercial establishments with the ability to create synchronous (users come into a stream at the exact point that it is being streamed in real time) and or asynchronous (users can select and start a transmission from the beginning) featured channels (location based) where they can stream any self created or otherwise authorized content to other Portable Electronic Devices in their range.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of operating a first wireless communication device having a transmitter and a receiver comprising
storing electronically in a memory in the device a plurality of digital files received at the receiver wherein the digital files are listening and/or viewing experiences; -
generating from the memory signals representing a first listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file; providing the signals both to an audio and/or visual (“
audio/visual”
) output from the first wireless communication device for use by a first user and to the transmitter for transmission to a second wireless communication device for use at the same time in a second audio/visual output of the second wireless communication device by a second user so that the second user can listen to and/or view the portion of the first listening and/or viewing experience that remains at the time that the second user selects to listen to and/or view the first listening and/or viewing experience without first downloading the signal representing the first listening and/or viewing experience to the second wireless communication device such that the first user and the second user listen to and/or view the same listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same point in time in the listening and/or viewing experience;generating from the memory signals representing a second listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience; and providing the signals representing the second listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same time to the transmitter for transmission to a third wireless communication device for use at the same time in a third audio/visual output of the third wireless communication device by a third user so that the third user can listen to and/or view the second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience being listened to and/or viewed at the same time by the first and second users. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. At least three wireless communication devices, each device including a transmitter, a receiver, and an audio and/or visual output (“
- audio/visual”
) output, each said device storing software for;storing electronically in a memory in the device a plurality of digital files received at the receiver wherein the digital files are listening and/or viewing experiences; generating from the memory signals representing a first listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file; and providing the signals both to the audio/visual output from the device for use by a first user and to the transmitter for transmission to a second of the wireless communication devices for use at the same time in an audio/visual output of the second wireless communication device by a second user so that the second user can listen to and/or view the portion of the first listening and/or viewing experience that remains at the time that the second user selects to listen to and/or view the first listening and/or viewing experience without first downloading the signal representing the first listening and/or viewing experience to the second wireless communication device such that the first user and the second user listen to and/or view the same listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same point in time in the listening and/or viewing experience; generating from the memory signals representing a second listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience; and providing the signals representing the second listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same time to the transmitter for transmission to a third of the wireless communication devices for use at the same time in a third audio/visual output of the third wireless communication device by a third user so that the third user can listen to and/or view a second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience being listened to and/or viewed at the same time by the first and second users. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- audio/visual”
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14. A method of operating a wireless network comprising at least three portable wireless devices, each wireless device including a transmitter, a receiver, and an audio and/or visual output (“
- audio/visual”
) output, the method comprising;storing electronically in a memory in a first portable wireless device a plurality of digital files received at the receiver of the first wireless device wherein the digital files are listening and/or viewing experiences; generating from the memory of the first wireless device signals representing a first listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file; providing the signals both to the audio/visual output from the first wireless device for use by a user of that wireless device and to the transmitter of the first wireless device for transmission to a second of the wireless devices for use at the same time by a user of that second wireless device; generating from the memory of the first wireless device signals resenting a second listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience; providing the signals representing the second listening and/or viewing experience to the transmitter of the first wireless device for transmission to a third of the wireless devices for use at the same time by a user of that third wireless device; receiving at a second receiver of the second wireless device signals transmitted from the first wireless device and providing to a second audio/visual output of the second wireless device the received signals that were transmitted from the first wireless device so that the second user can listen to and/or view the portion of the first listening and/or viewing experience that remains at the time that the second user selects to listen to and/or view the first listening and/or viewing experience without first downloading the signal representing the first listening and/or viewing experience to the second wireless communication device such that the first user and the second user listen to and/or view the same listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same point in time in the listening and/or viewing experience; and receiving at a third receiver of the third wireless device signals transmitted from the first wireless device representing a second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience and providing to a third audio/visual output of the third wireless device the received signals that were transmitted from the first wireless device so that the third user can listen to and/or view the second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience being listened to and/or viewed at the same time by the first and second users. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- audio/visual”
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22. A wireless network comprising at least three portable, wireless devices,
a first wireless device comprising a first transmitter, a first receiver, a first audio and/or visual output (“ - audio/visual”
) output and first software that configures the first device for;storing electronically in a first memory in the first device a plurality of digital files received at the first receiver wherein the digital files are listening and/or viewing experiences; generating from the first memory signals representing a first listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file; providing the signals both to the first audio/visual output for use by a first user of the first device and to the first transmitter for transmission to a second wireless device for use at the same time by a second user; generating from the memory signals representing a second listening and/or viewing experience of a selected digital file that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience; providing the signals representing the second listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same time to the transmitter for transmission to a third wireless communication device for use at the same time in a third audio/visual output of the third wireless communication device by a third user; and receiving at the first receiver signals transmitted from a wireless device; the second wireless device comprising a second transmitter, a second receiver, a second audio/visual output and second software that configures the second device for; receiving at the second receiver of the second wireless device signals transmitted from the first wireless device and providing to the second audio/visual output the received signals that were transmitted from the first wireless device so that the second user can listen to and/or view the portion of the first listening and/or viewing experience that remains at the time that the second user selects to listen to and/or view the first listening and/or viewing experience without first downloading the signal representing the first listening and/or viewing experience to the second wireless communication device such that the first user and the second user listen to and/or view the same listening and/or viewing experience at substantially the same point in time in the listening and/or viewing experience; and the third wireless device comprising a third transmitter, a third receiver, a third audio/visual output and third software that configures the third device for; receiving at the third receiver of the third wireless device signals transmitted from the first wireless device representing a second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience and providing to the third audio/visual output the received signals that were transmitted from the first wireless device so that the third user can listen to and/or view the second listening and/or viewing experience that is different from the first listening and/or viewing experience being, listened to and/or viewed at the same time by the first and second users. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
- audio/visual”
Specification