Audio streaming of text-based articles from newsfeeds

• US 10,565,980 B1
• Filed: 12/21/2016
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gracenote Digital Ventures LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Original Assignee: Gracenote Digital Ventures LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Panguluri, Venkatarama Anilkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ng, Billy H
• Application Number:
  US15/387,327
• Time in Patent Office: 1,154 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/04 Details of speech synthesis systems, e.g. synthesiser structure or memory management
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

An example embodiment may involve receiving, from a client device, a selection of text-based articles from newsfeeds. The selection may specify that the text-based articles have been flagged for audible playout. The example embodiment may also involve, possibly in response to receiving the selection of the text-based articles, retrieving text-based articles from the newsfeeds. The example embodiment may also involve causing the text-based articles to be converted into audio files. The example embodiment may also involve receiving a request to stream the audio files to the client device or another device. The example embodiment may also involve causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device or the other device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server device from a client device, a representation of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) of text-based articles, wherein the text-based articles were selected by the client device from two or more markup language files provided by two or more newsfeed servers;

in response to receiving the representation, retrieving, by the server device, the text-based articles and respective publication dates of each from the two or more newsfeed servers;

causing, by the server device, the text-based articles to be converted into audio files;

receiving, by the server device, a request to stream the audio files to the client device;

ordering, by the server device, the text-based articles chronologically according to the respective publication dates, wherein ordering the text based articles chronologically according to the respective publication dates comprises generating a playlist with references to the URLs ordered chronologically according to the respective publication dates; and

causing, by the server device, the audio files to be streamed to the client device as chronologically ordered, wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device as chronologically ordered comprises transmitting the playlist to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more newsfeed servers provide really simple syndication (RSS) newsfeeds.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the text-based articles from the two or more newsfeed servers comprises retrieving multiple text-based articles from at least one of the two or more newsfeed servers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a retrieved text-based article includes a title and a body, and wherein retrieving the text-based articles comprises retrieving the title and the body, and wherein causing the text-based articles to be converted into audio files comprises causing the title and the body to be converted into an audio file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the text-based articles to be converted into the audio files comprises:

providing the text-based articles to a text-to-speech (TTS) system, wherein reception of the text-based articles by the TTS system causes the TTS system to convert the text-based articles to the audio files, and wherein conversion to the audio files uses a computer-generated voice with a gender, a language, an accent, or a speaking rate that is specified in a user profile associated with the client device; and

receiving the audio files from the TTS system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the text-based articles to be converted into the audio files comprises:

providing the text-based articles to a recording studio for verbal readings by a human speaker, wherein the human speaker has a gender, a language, an accent, or a speaking rate that is specified in a user profile associated with the client device; and

receiving the audio files from the recording studio, wherein the audio files contain recordings of the verbal readings of the text-based articles.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device comprises inserting, into the stream, a musical interlude between two of the audio files.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to stream the audio files to the client device indicates that the client device is in an automobile, and wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device occurs based on the client device being in the automobile.

9. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a client device, a representation of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) of text-based articles, wherein the text-based articles were selected by the client device from two or more markup language files provided by two or more newsfeed servers;

in response to receiving the representation, retrieving the text-based articles and respective publication dates of each from the two or more newsfeed servers;

causing the text-based articles to be converted into audio files;

receiving a request to stream the audio files to the client device;

ordering the text-based articles chronologically according to the respective publication dates, wherein ordering the text based articles chronologically according to the respective publication dates comprises generating a playlist with references to the URLs ordered chronologically according to the respective publication dates; and

causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device as chronologically ordered, wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device as chronologically ordered comprises transmitting the playlist to the client device.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the two or more newsfeed servers provide really simple syndication (RSS) newsfeeds.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein retrieving the text-based articles from the two or more newsfeed servers comprises retrieving multiple text-based articles from at least one of the newsfeed servers.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein a retrieved text-based article includes a title and a body, and wherein retrieving the text-based articles comprises retrieving the title and the body, and wherein causing the text-based articles to be converted into audio files comprises causing the title and the body to be converted into an audio file.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein causing the text-based articles to be converted into the audio files comprises:

providing the text-based articles to a text-to-speech (TTS) system, wherein reception of the text-based articles by the TTS system causes the TTS system to convert the text-based articles to the audio files, and wherein conversion to the audio files uses a computer-generated voice with a gender, a language, an accent, or a speaking rate that is specified in a user profile associated with the client device; and

receiving the audio files from the TTS system.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein causing the text-based articles to be converted into the audio files comprises:

providing the text-based articles to a recording studio for verbal readings by a human speaker, wherein the human speaker has a gender, a language, an accent, or a speaking rate that is specified in a user profile associated with the client device; and

receiving the audio files from the recording studio, wherein the audio files contain recordings of the verbal readings of the text-based articles.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device comprises inserting, into the stream, a musical interlude between two of the audio files.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the request to stream the audio files to the client device indicates that the client device is in an automobile, and wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device occurs based on the client device being in the automobile.

17. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

memory; and

program instructions, stored in the memory, that upon execution by the processor cause the computing device to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a client device, a representation of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) of text-based articles, wherein the text-based articles were selected by the client device from two or more markup language files provided by two or more newsfeed servers;

in response to receiving the representation, retrieving the text-based articles and respective publication dates of each from the two or more newsfeed servers;

causing the text-based articles to be converted into audio files;

receiving a request to stream the audio files to the client device;

ordering the text-based articles chronologically according to the respective publication dates, wherein ordering the text based articles chronologically according to the respective publication dates comprises generating a playlist with references to the URLs ordered chronologically according to the respective publication dates; and

causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device as chronologically ordered, wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device as chronologically ordered comprises transmitting the playlist to the client device.

18. The computing of claim 17, wherein the request to stream the audio files to the client device indicates that the client device is in an automobile, and wherein causing the audio files to be streamed to the client device occurs based on the client device being in the automobile.