Techniques and systems for supporting podcasting

• US 8,646,687 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2012
• Issued: 02/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Jones, Anne, Dowdy, Thomas, Robbin, Jeffrey, Wiese, Mike, Davis, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D
• Application Number:
  US13/552,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20120284422A1
• Time in Patent Office: 573 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/380, 235/382, 235/472.01, 235/472.02, 235/472.03
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Improved podcasts and techniques that facilitate their use are disclosed. The improved techniques can pertain to creating, publishing, hosting, accessing, subscribing, managing, transferring, and/or playing podcasts. According to one aspect, a client application can subscribe to podcasts and then automatically monitor the podcasts for updates to be downloaded. In the event that user interest in a podcast becomes inadequate, downloading of further updates can be restricted. According to another aspect, a podcast can be subscribed to through use of a portable subscription file. According to still another aspect, podcast feeds can be enhanced to include segment elements and other metadata.

Claims

1. A podcast feed, the podcast feed comprising a plurality of podcast segment elements, each podcast segment element including:

a segment link that identifies a location of a multimedia element associated with the segment element; and

a time indicator indicative of a start time associated with the associated multimedia element.

2. A podcast feed as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the segment elements of the podcast feed further includes a segment title.

3. A podcast feed as recited in claim 1, wherein the start time identifies a time at which the multimedia element is to be displayed by a client application that plays the podcast.

4. A podcast feed as recited in claim 1, wherein said podcast feed is an XML file, and wherein said segment elements are XML elements.

5. A podcast feed as recited in claim 1, wherein said podcast feed is associated with a podcast episode and the segment elements pertain to chapters of the podcast.

6. A podcast feed as recited in claim 5 wherein each of the multimedia elements includes an image that is arranged to be displayed when the associated chapter is played.

7. A podcast feed as recited in claim 1 wherein at least some of the segment elements further comprise a description associated with the segment element.

8. A podcast feed embodied in a computer readable medium, the podcast feed comprising:

a link to a podcast episode having a plurality of chapters; and

a plurality of segment elements, each segment element being associated with an associated chapter of the podcast episode and including a segment title, a segment link for an associated multimedia element and a time indicator indicative of a start time that identifies a time in the podcast episode at which the associated multimedia element is to be displayed.

9. A podcast feed as recited in claim 8, wherein said podcast feed is an XML file, and wherein said segment elements are XML elements.

10. A podcast feed as recited in claim 8 wherein at least some of the multimedia elements include an associated picture that is displayed when the associated chapter is played.

11. A podcast feed as recited in claim 10 wherein at least some of the segment elements further comprise a description associated with the segment element, and wherein the description is arranged to be displayed when the associated chapter is played.

12. A method comprising:

playing a podcast having a plurality of chapters;

displaying a first multimedia item associated with a first chapter as the first chapter is played; and

displaying a second multimedia item associated with a second chapter as the second chapter is played.

13. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein each of the multimedia elements includes an associated picture that is displayed when the associated chapter is played.

14. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising:

receiving a podcast feed;

accessing the podcast using a first link provided in the podcast feed, wherein the podcast is accessed before it is played;

accessing the first multimedia item using a second link provided in the podcast feed;

accessing the second multimedia item using a third link provided in the podcast feed.

15. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising:

displaying the first multimedia item at a first time indicated in the podcast feed; and

displaying the second multimedia item at a second time indicated in the podcast feed.

16. A method comprising:

receiving a podcast feed;

accessing a podcast using a first link provided in the podcast feed;

accessing the first multimedia item distinct from the podcast using a second link provided in the podcast feed; and

accessing a second multimedia item distinct from the podcast and the first multimedia item using a third link provided in the podcast feed.

17. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising:

playing the podcast;

displaying the first multimedia item at a first time indicated in the podcast feed; and

displaying the second multimedia item at a second time indicated in the podcast feed.

18. A method as recited in claim 16 wherein the podcast feed includes a plurality of podcast segment elements, and wherein each segment element has a link to an associated multimedia element and wherein the second and third links are links to multimedia elements and are included in separate segment elements.

19. A method as recited in claim 18 wherein each segment element also includes a time indicator that indicates a time within a podcast to display a multimedia element associated with the segment element comprising a plurality of podcast segment elements, each podcast segment element including:

a segment link that identifies a location of a multimedia element associated with the segment element; and

a time indicator indicative of a start time associated with the associated multimedia element.

20. A system comprising:

a data storage device storing a podcast feed, the podcast feed comprising a plurality of podcast segment elements, each podcast segment element including;

a segment link that identifies a location of a multimedia element associated with the segment element; and

a time indicator indicative of a start time associated with the associated multimedia element.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein each of the segment elements of the podcast feed further includes a segment title.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the start time identifies a time at which the multimedia element is to be displayed by a client application that plays the podcast.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein said podcast feed is an XML file, and wherein said segment elements are XML elements.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein said podcast feed is associated with a podcast episode and the segment elements pertain to chapters of the podcast.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein each of the multimedia elements includes an image that is arranged to be displayed when the associated chapter is played.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein at least some of the segment elements further comprise a description associated with the segment element.

27. A system comprising:

a device configured for;

receiving a podcast feed;

accessing a podcast using a first link provided in the podcast feed;

accessing the first multimedia item distinct from the podcast using a second link provided in the podcast feed; and

accessing a second multimedia item distinct from the podcast and the first multimedia item using a third link provided in the podcast feed.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the device is further configured for:

playing the podcast;

displaying the first multimedia item at a first time indicated in the podcast feed; and

displaying the second multimedia item at a second time indicated in the podcast feed.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the podcast feed includes a plurality of podcast segment elements, and wherein each segment element has a link to an associated multimedia element and wherein the second and third links are links to multimedia elements and are included in separate segment elements.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein each segment element also includes a time indicator that indicates a time within a podcast to display a multimedia element associated with the segment element comprising a plurality of podcast segment elements, each podcast segment element including:

a segment link that identifies a location of a multimedia element associated with the segment element; and

a time indicator indicative of a start time associated with the associated multimedia element.