Method and system for facilitating publication of a media file at a scheduled time

• US 9,954,813 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2015
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Victory Square Media, Inc. (Clout.io Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Victory Square Media, Inc. (Clout.io Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: MacKinnon, Ian, Smith, Matthew Robert, Patterson, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Khanh
• Application Number:
  US14/628,149
• Publication Number:
  US 20160248718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 709217, 709220, 709224, 709228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and techniques for facilitating publication of a media file at a scheduled time. A media aggregation client sends media and a scheduling request to a media scheduling system. The media scheduling system determines when it is time to publish the media and, when the time is appropriate, sends a notification to a media publishing client. In response to the notification, the media publishing client downloads the media to a scheduled publishing application, transfers the media and the metadata to a social network application, and the social network application publishes the media to a social network.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating publication of a media file at a scheduled time, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, at a media publishing client, a notification that the media file is to be published;

(b) after receiving the notification, using a scheduled publishing application running on the media publishing client to download the media file from a server to the media publishing client;

(c) after downloading the media file from the server and before publishing the media file, using the scheduled publishing application to request approval from a user of the media publishing client to publish the media file, and;

(i) if the user does not provide approval, then not publishing the media file; and

(ii) if the user provides approval, then using the media publishing client to publish the media file to an online social network by transferring the media file from the scheduled publishing application to a social network application running on the media publishing client, wherein the social network application publishes the media file to the online social network.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after receiving the notification, using the scheduled publishing application to download metadata associated with the media file from a server to the media publishing client.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein at least some of the metadata is transferred with the media file to the social networking application.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the media file comprises a still image, the metadata comprises a caption for the still image, and the social networking application publishes the caption to the social network.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the media file comprises a video, the metadata comprises a caption for the video, and the social networking application publishes the caption to the social network.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising prior to receiving the notification, sending the media file and a scheduling request to the server, wherein the scheduling request indicates when the media file is scheduled to be published.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the mobile publishing client is used to send the media file and the scheduling request.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising, prior to receiving the notification and after sending the media file and the scheduling request to the server, using the server to:

(a) store the media file in a media store;

(b) determine at least one of a current date and time;

(c) comparing the at least one of the current date and time to when the scheduling request indicates the media file is scheduled to be published; and

(d) in response to the comparing, send the notification to the media publishing client.

9. A mobile communication device, comprising:

(a) a display;

(b) an input device;

(c) wireless communication circuitry; and

(d) an onboard computer system communicatively coupled to the display, the input device, and the wireless communication circuitry, the onboard computer system configured to perform a method for facilitating publication of a media file at a scheduled time, the method comprising;

(i) receiving, via the wireless communication circuitry, a notification that the media file is to be published;

(ii) after receiving the notification, using a scheduled publishing application running on the onboard computer system to download the media file from a server to the mobile communication device; and

(iii) after downloading the media file from the server, using the scheduled publishing application to request via the display approval from a user of the mobile communication device to publish the media file, and;

(1) if the user does not provide approval, then not publishing the media file; and

(2) if the user provides approval, then publishing the media file to an online social network via the wireless communication circuitry by transferring the media file from the scheduled publishing application to a social network application running on the onboard computer system, wherein the social network application publishes the media file to the online social network.

10. The mobile communication device of claim 9 wherein the display is a touchscreen display and acts as the input device.

11. The mobile communication device of claim 9 further comprising, after receiving the notification, using the scheduled publishing application to download via the wireless communication circuitry metadata associated with the media file from a server to the mobile communication device.

12. The mobile communication device of claim 11 wherein at least some of the metadata is transferred with the image to the social networking application.

13. The mobile communication device of claim 12 wherein the media file comprises a still image, the metadata comprises a caption for the still image, and the social networking application publishes the caption to the social network.

14. The mobile communication device of claim 12 wherein the media file comprises a video, the metadata comprises a caption for the video, and the social networking application publishes the caption to the social network.

15. The mobile communication device of claim 9 further comprising prior to receiving the notification, sending the media file and a scheduling request to the server via the wireless communication circuitry, wherein the scheduling request indicates when the media file is scheduled to be published.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program code to cause a media publishing client to perform a method for facilitating publication of a media file at a scheduled time, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, at a media publishing client, a notification that the media file is to be published;

(b) after receiving the notification, using a scheduled publishing application running on the media publishing client to download the media file from a server to the media publishing client; and

(c) after downloading the media file from the server and before publishing the media file, using the scheduled publishing application to request approval from a user of the media publishing client to publish the media file, and;

(i) if the user does not provide approval, then not publishing the media file; and

(ii) if the user provides approval, then using the media publishing client to publish the media file to an online social network by transferring the media file from the scheduled publishing application to a social network application running on the media publishing client, wherein the social network application publishes the media file to the online social network.