Webpage media playback

• US 10,762,129 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2017
• Issued: 09/01/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Lin, Ted M., Bass, Eric M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Distefano, Gregory A
• Application Number:
  US15/612,126
• Publication Number:
  US 20170270202A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,187 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/438 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805

Abstract

Examples described herein involve facilitating playback of media content via a webpage. An example implementation involves a computing device: identifying one or more playback zones including at least one respective playback device; transmitting, via a web browser, a webpage request; receiving a webpage that includes a link to a media item; modifying the received webpage to include a representation associated with the link; causing, via the web browser, display of the modified webpage; responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option; and responsive to a selection of the option, causing display of a list of the one or more playback zones, wherein at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones is selectable to cause the media item to be added to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone.

Claims

1. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a computing device to perform functions comprising:

identifying one or more playback zones, each of the one or more playback zones comprising at least one playback device;

transmitting, via a web browser, a webpage request comprising an address of a webpage;

receiving, via the computing device, the webpage, wherein the webpage comprises a link to a media item that is available for playback;

modifying the received webpage to include a representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide an option to add the media item to a playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones;

causing, via the web browser on the computing device, display of the modified webpage;

responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option; and

responsive to a selection of the option, causing display of a list of the one or more playback zones, wherein at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones is selectable to cause the media item to be added to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone.

2. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the option is a first option, and wherein responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option comprises:

responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the first option and a second option to provide a list of the one or more playback zones selectable for playback of the media item.

3. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

replacing the link with a textual representation that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.

4. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include a graphical representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.

5. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include a graphical icon associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.

6. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the link to the media item is a first link to a first media item, the representation associated with the link is a first representation associated with the first link, and the option is a first option, and wherein the webpage comprises the first link to the first media item that is available for playback and a second link to a second media item that is available for playback, and wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include i) the first representation associated with the first link that is selectable to provide the first option to add the media item to a playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones and ii) a second representation associated with the second link that is selectable to provide a second option selectable to provide a third option to cause playback of the second media item and a fourth option to add the second media item to a playback queue.

7. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the list of the one or more playback zones is a first list, and wherein the functions further comprise:

receiving a selection of the third option;

responsive to receiving the selection of the third option, causing display of a second list of the one or more playback zones;

receiving a selection of a playback zone in the second list of the one or more playback zones; and

responsive to receiving the selection of the playback zone, causing playback of the second media item and causing an address of the second media item to be added to the playback queue associated with the playback zone.

8. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the functions further comprise:

receiving a selection of a first playback zone in the list of the one or more playback zones; and

responsive to receiving the selection, transmitting, to the first playback zone, an address of the media item and an instruction to add the address of the media item to the playback queue associated with the first playback zone.

9. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the list of the one or more playback zones comprises a zone group comprising a first playback zone and a second playback zone, wherein the first playback zone and the second playback zone are configured to synchronously playback media items, and wherein the functions further comprise:

receiving a selection of the zone group in the list of the one or more playback zones; and

responsive to receiving the selection of the zone group, transmitting, to a playback device of the zone group, an address of the media item and an instruction to add the address of the media item to the playback queue associated with the playback device.

10. A method, comprising:

identifying, via a computing device, one or more playback zones, each of the one or more playback zones comprising at least one playback device;

transmitting, via a web browser on the computing device, a webpage request comprising an address of a webpage;

receiving, via the computing device, the webpage, wherein the webpage comprises a link to a media item that is available for playback;

modifying, via the computing device, the received webpage to include a representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide an option to add the media item to a playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones;

causing, via the web browser on the computing device, display of the modified webpage;

responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option; and

responsive to a selection of the option, causing display of a list of the one or more playback zones, wherein at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones is selectable to cause the media item to be added to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the option is a first option, and wherein responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option comprises:

responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the first option and a second option to provide a list of the one or more playback zones selectable for playback of the media item.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

replacing the link with a textual representation that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include a graphical representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include a graphical icon associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the link to the media item is a first link to a first media item, the representation associated with the link is a first representation associated with the first link, and the option is a first option, and

wherein the webpage comprises the first link to the first media item that is available for playback and a second link to a second media item that is available for playback, and wherein modifying the received webpage to include a representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide an option to add the media item to a playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include i) the first representation associated with the first link that is selectable to provide the first option to add the media item to a playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones and ii) a second representation associated with the second link that is selectable to provide a second option selectable to provide a third option to cause playback of the second media item and a fourth option to add the second media item to a playback queue.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the list of the one or more playback zones is a first list, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a selection of the third option;

responsive to receiving the selection of the third option, causing display of a second list of the one or more playback zones;

receiving a selection of a playback zone in the second list of the one or more playback zones; and

responsive to receiving the selection of the playback zone, causing playback of the second media item and causing an address of the second media item to be added to the playback queue associated with the playback zone.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a selection of a first playback zone in the list of the one or more playback zones; and

responsive to receiving the selection, transmitting, to the first playback zone, an address of the media item and an instruction to add the address of the media item to the playback queue associated with the first playback zone.

18. A computing device, comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising;

identifying one or more playback zones, each of the one or more playback zones comprising at least one playback device;

transmitting, via a web browser, a webpage request comprising an address of a webpage;

receiving, via the computing device, the webpage, wherein the webpage comprises a link to a media item that is available for playback;

modifying the received webpage to include a representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide an option to add the media item to a playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones;

causing, via the web browser on the computing device, display of the modified webpage;

responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option; and

responsive to a selection of the option, causing display of a list of the one or more playback zones, wherein at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones is selectable to cause the media item to be added to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone.

19. The computing device of claim 18, wherein the option is a first option, and wherein responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the option comprises:

responsive to a selection of the representation, causing display of the first option and a second option to provide a list of the one or more playback zones selectable for playback of the media item.

20. The computing device of claim 18, wherein modifying the received webpage to include the representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones comprises:

modifying the received webpage to include a graphical representation associated with the link that is selectable to provide the option to add the media item to the playback queue associated with the at least one playback zone of the one or more playback zones.