ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR CONTENT SHARING AND DISTRIBUTION

• US 20150348055A1
• Filed: 05/28/2015
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: SMITS, Gerard Dirk
• Application Number:
  US14/724,644
• Publication Number:
  US 20150348055A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products

Abstract

Disclosed are an architecture and related systems, devices, and methods that can be used for content sharing and distribution. For example, a device such as a smartphone includes memory that stores items of content to which access is denied until a respective condition is satisfied. The items of content are downloaded and stored on the device at a point in time that is before the point in time at which the condition is satisfied. Once the condition for an item of content has been satisfied, access to the item of content is permitted, and the item of content can be presented (e.g., displayed or audibilized).

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

memory that stores a plurality of items of content to which access is denied until a respective condition is satisfied, wherein the items of content are downloaded and stored on the device at a point in time that is before the point in time at which the condition is satisfied;

a processor coupled to the memory that verifies whether a condition for an item of content stored in the memory has been satisfied, wherein once the condition for the item of content has been satisfied, the processor permits access to the item of content; and

an output device coupled to the processor that presents the item of content once the condition has been satisfied.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the items of content that are downloaded and stored are selected based on user preferences that are provided to a provider of the items of content.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the items of content that are downloaded and stored are selected based on an analysis of information stored on the device.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a battery; and

an interface coupled to the memory and to the battery, the interface operable both for battery charging and for data transfer, wherein items of content are downloadable to the device via the interface while the device is being charged using the interface.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory is logically divided into a plurality of containers, wherein one or more of the containers are allocated to a content provider that provides items of content that are preloaded into the one or more containers.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein each container of the plurality of containers is addressed using a respective random number.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a transmitter coupled to the memory, wherein an item of content stored in the memory is transmitted to another device via near-field communication.

8. The device of claim 1, further comprising a receiver coupled to the memory, wherein an item of content is received from another device via near-field communication.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein a wrapper is associated with the item of content, the wrapper comprising information selected from the group consisting of:

information that uniquely identifies the item of content;

information indicating whether the item of content has been accessed;

information identifying the number of times the item of content has been accessed; and

information identifying a geographic location of the device when the item of content was accessed.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the wrapper is private to the device so that the wrapper is accessible only by the device and is not accessible to another device.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the wrapper is stored by the device and remains stored by the device if the item of content is deleted from the memory.

12. The device of claim 1, further comprising a communication interface coupled to the memory, wherein the communication interface is operable for communicatively connecting the device to a second device and for transferring the item of content to the second device for presentation.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises information useful for identifying an authorized user of the device while maintaining the anonymity of the authorized user.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory includes information comprising an account balance, wherein the condition comprises satisfactorily debiting the account.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the item of content is selected from the group consisting of:

a movie, music, audio-based content, image-based content, a game, an electronic book, an e-mail message, and a software application; and

wherein the output device is selected from the group consisting of;

a display, and a speaker.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the items of content comprise advertisements, wherein an advertisement is selected and presented based on which other item of content is being accessed and presented.

17. A method of acquiring and accessing an item of content on a first device comprising memory, a processor, and an output device, the method comprising:

establishing a communication link with a second device;

presenting preference information to the second device, the preference information indicating a type of content of interest to a user of the first device, wherein the identity of the user of the first device is kept secret from the second device; and

downloading an item of content from the second device that satisfies the preference information, wherein access by the first device to the item of content is denied until a condition associated with the item of content is satisfied, wherein once the condition is satisfied, access to the item of content is permitted.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the first device determining stochastically the preference information based on other information stored by the first device while maintaining the anonymity of the user.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising making a payment that satisfies the condition, the payment made without revealing information about the user.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the identity of a user of the second device is kept secret from the first device.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

establishing a communication link with a third device; and

uploading an item of content to the third device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first device comprises a smartphone, and wherein each of the second device and the third device comprises a device selected from the group consisting of:

a smartphone, a kiosk, a vending machine, and a battery charging station.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising receiving preference information from the third device, the preference information from the third device indicating a type of content of interest to a user of the third device, wherein the identity of the user of the first device is kept secret from the third device and vice versa, wherein the item of content uploaded to the third device satisfies the preference information from the third device.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

uploading a request for a particular item of content to another device; and

uploading a cancel message to another device in response to downloading the particular item of content.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein a wrapper is associated with the item of content, the wrapper comprising information selected from the group consisting of:

information that uniquely identifies the item of content;

information indicating whether the item of content has been accessed;

information identifying the number of times the item of content has been accessed;

information identifying a geographic location when the item of content was accessed; and

information that identifies the first device as the destination for the item of content.

26. A method of distributing content from a first device comprising memory, a processor, and an output device, the method comprising:

establishing a communication link with a second device; and

uploading an item of content to the second device, wherein access by the second device to the item of content is denied unless a condition associated with the item of content is satisfied.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving preference information from the second device, the preference information indicating a type of content of interest to a user of the second device, wherein the identity of the user of the second device is kept secret from the first device and the identity of the user of the first device is kept secret from the second device, and wherein the item of content satisfies the preference information.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the second device comprises a smartphone, and wherein the first device comprises a device selected from the group consisting of:

a smartphone, a kiosk, a vending machine, and a battery charging station.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving a request for a particular item of content, wherein the item of content satisfies the request and is uploaded in response to the request.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving a cancel message that identifies the item of content.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein a wrapper is associated with the item of content, the wrapper comprising information selected from the group consisting of:

information that uniquely identifies the item of content;

information indicating whether the item of content has been accessed;

information identifying the number of times the item of content has been accessed;

information identifying a geographic location when the item of content was accessed; and

information that identifies the second device as the destination for the item of content.