Method and apparatus for presenting media content

• US 9,875,000 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2016
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Scott, Charles V., Cansler, James, White, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Marandi, James R
• Application Number:
  US15/144,947
• Publication Number:
  US 20160246461A1
• Time in Patent Office: 630 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• 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 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• 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

Abstract

A method that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, receiving a selection from a media device corresponding to a first media content, generating a play list at a server where the play list includes second media content that is associated with the first media content by at least one of genre, artist and being published in temporal proximity, and providing play list content comprising at least a portion of the first and second media content to the media device, where at least one of the generation of the play list and the providing of the play list content is based on metadata pointers associated with the first and second media content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A media device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

displaying second media content icons for second media content in a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a plurality of first media content icons for first media content as selectable elements on a first timeline, wherein the second media content has a non-temporal relationship with the first media content, and wherein the graphical user interface illustrates a temporal proximity of the second media content with the first media content by displaying the second media content icons as selectable elements on a second timeline aligned with the first timeline;

receiving an interaction with the graphical user interface to identify selected media content from the first and second media content icons that are displayed on the first and second timelines; and

generating a playlist from the selected media content based on playlist criteria and the non-temporal relationship between the first media content and the second media content.

2. The media device of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface presents a mapping between a second media content icon and a first media content icon illustrating the non-temporal relationship of the second media content and the first media content, and wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

3. The media device of claim 1, wherein the non-temporal relationship is between a first artist of the first media content and a second artist of the second media content.

4. The media device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise retrieving playlist content corresponding to the playlist from a media content source, wherein source location information is determined according to first metadata pointers associated with the selected media content.

5. The media device of claim 4, wherein the source location information is further determined according to a profile associated with the media device.

6. The media device of claim 4, wherein the source location information is further determined according to reliability of a source location.

7. The media device of claim 4, wherein the source location information is further determined according to cost of accessing a source location.

8. The media device of claim 1, wherein the interaction comprises receiving an approval of the selected media content.

9. The media device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise determining that the selected media content can be presented at the media device.

10. The media device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting the playlist to a second device.

11. A first communication device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

displaying second media content items for second media content in a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a plurality of first media content items for first media content as selectable elements on a first timeline, wherein the second media content has a non-temporal relationship with the first media content, and wherein the graphical user interface illustrates a temporal proximity of the second media content with the first media content by displaying the second media content items as selectable elements on a second timeline aligned with the first timeline;

receiving an interaction with the graphical user interface to identify selected media content from the first and second media content items that are displayed on the first and second timelines; and

generating a playlist from the selected media content based on playlist criteria and the non-temporal relationship between the first media content and the second media content, wherein the playlist enables receiving the selected media content according to source location information for the selected media content.

12. The first communication device of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise providing the playlist to a second media device to enable the second media device to access the selected media content via metadata pointers, and wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

13. The first communication device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise determining that the second media content items can be presented at the second media device.

14. The first communication device of claim 11, wherein the source location information is determined according to metadata pointers.

15. The first communication device of claim 14, wherein a media server retrieves the selected media content from a source location according to the metadata pointers.

16. The first communication device of claim 14, wherein the metadata pointers are embedded in the selected media content.

17. A method, comprising:

displaying, by a system comprising a processor, a plurality of first media content icons for first media content as selectable elements on a first timeline and second media content icons for second media content as selectable elements on a second timeline in a display, wherein the second media content has a non-temporal relationship with the first media content, and wherein a temporal proximity of the second media content with the first media content is illustrated aligning the second timeline with the first timeline;

generating a playlist from selected media content based on playlist criteria and the non-temporal relationship between the first media content and the second media content; and

transmitting, by the system, the playlist to a media device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the selected media content comprises media that can be presented by the system.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining, by the system, that the selected media content can be presented by the system.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the non-temporal relationship is based on user supplied weighting criteria.