The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, to methods, systems, products, features, services, and other elements directed to media playback or some aspect thereof.
Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loud setting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one of its first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing Audio Playback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a media playback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enables people to experience music from many sources via one or more networked playback devices. Through a software control application installed on a smartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants in any room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using the controller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each room with a playback device, rooms can be grouped together for synchronous playback, or the same song can be heard in all rooms synchronously.
Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to be a need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhance the listening experience.
Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technology may be better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments, but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.
Embodiments described herein involve, among other things, providing access to and control of a media playback network via a media playback application. The embodiments further involve providing the capability to form playback groups of zone players, from within the media playback application or from a user interface that is accessible from the media playback application. And the embodiments further involve providing for the control of playback volumes associated with the zone players, from within the media playback application or from a user interface accessible from the media playback application. In some embodiments, such control of playback volumes of zone players within a playback group may be controlled before the playback group is formed. Other aspects of the embodiments will be made apparent in the remainder of description herein.
In one aspect, a method is provided. The method involves providing a user interface that simultaneously (i) displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players and (ii) displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group, and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group. The interface further simultaneously displays (iii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player. The method further includes receiving a command to change either at least one of (i) a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume, and transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player.
In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processor and memory with instructions stored therein, that when executed cause the device to perform functions. The functions comprise providing a user interface that simultaneously (i) displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players and (ii) displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group, and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group. The interface further simultaneously displays (iii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player. The functions further comprise receiving a command to change at least one of (i) a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume. The functions further comprise transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player.
In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory is provided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions. The functions comprise providing a user interface that simultaneously (i) displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players and (ii) displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group, and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group. The interface further simultaneously displays (iii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player. The functions further comprise receiving a command to change at least one of (i) a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume. The functions further comprise transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player.
In yet another aspect, a method is provided. The method involves receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group and causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. The method further involves, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players; and transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content.
In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processor and memory with instructions stored therein, that when executed cause the device to perform functions. The functions comprise receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group and causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. The functions comprise, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players; and transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content.
In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory is provided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions. The functions comprise receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group and causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. The functions further comprise, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players; and transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content.
It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that this disclosure includes numerous other embodiments.
Further discussions relating to the different components of the example media playback system 100 and how the different components may interact to provide a user with a media experience may be found in the following sections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the example media playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limited to applications within, among other things, the home environment as shown in
a. Example Playback Devices
In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computing component configured to process input data according to instructions stored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangible computer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable by the processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage that can be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executable by the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, the functions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data from an audio source or another playback device. In another example, the functions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data to another device or playback device on a network. In yet another example, the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one or more playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.
Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizing playback of audio content with one or more other playback devices. During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able to perceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content by the playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizing operations among a plurality of independently clocked digital data processing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, provides in more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization among playback devices.
The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated with the playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groups the playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by the playback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200 (or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may be stored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated and used to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206 may also include the data associated with the state of the other devices of the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices so that one or more of the devices have the most recent data associated with the system. Other embodiments are also possible.
The audio processing components 208 may include one or more digital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, an audio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and so on. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components 208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audio content may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audio processing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audio signals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 for amplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, the audio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audio signals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. The speaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”) or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or more drivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, for example, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver (e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for high frequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers 212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of the audio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals for playback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208 may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or more other playback devices for playback.
Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device 200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audio line-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-in connection) or the network interface 214.
The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flow between the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a data network. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receive audio content over the data network from one or more other playback devices in communication with the playback device 200, network devices within a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide area network such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content and other signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may be transmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an Internet Protocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses. In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse the digital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device 200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.
As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s) 216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 to wirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playback device(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s) within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standard including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218 may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 to communicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the network interface 214 shown in
In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback device may be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content. For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a left channel audio component, while the other playback device may be configured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing or enhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playback devices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further play audio content in synchrony with other playback devices.
In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonically consolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single, consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may be configured to process and reproduce sound differently than an unconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired, because a consolidated playback device may have additional speaker drivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, if the playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render low frequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device 200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render full frequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency range playback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playback device 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequency components of audio content, while the low frequency range playback device 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. The consolidated playback device may further be paired with a single playback device or yet another consolidated playback device.
By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered) for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,” “PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any other past, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally or alternatively be used to implement the playback devices of example embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that a playback device is not limited to the example illustrated in
b. Example Playback Zone Configurations
Referring back to the media playback system 100 of
As shown in
In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of
As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system 100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the media playback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if a user physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone, the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate the change(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playback device 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone may now include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102. The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zone and/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the control devices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playback devices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that is not already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for the particular area.
Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 may be dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individual playback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone 114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such that playback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. On the other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zone including playback device 104, and a listening zone including playback devices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in the living room space while another user wishes to watch television.
c. Example Control Devices
The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant to facilitating user access, control, and configuration of the media playback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to store instructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions. The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback system controller application software and other data associated with the media playback system 100 and the user.
In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industry standard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3, wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). The network interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 to communicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In one example, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may be communicated between control device 300 and other devices via the network interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone group configurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by the control device 300 from a playback device or another network device, or transmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device or network device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the other network device may be another control device.
Playback device control commands such as volume control and audio playback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 to a playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above, changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also be performed by a user using the control device 300. The configuration changes may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/from a zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forming a bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devices from a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, the control device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whether the control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device on which media playback system controller application software is installed.
The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured to facilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, by providing a controller interface such as the controller interface 400 shown in
The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way of touch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in a selected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward, rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode, enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback control region 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalization settings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.
The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playback zones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, the graphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zones in the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones, creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zone groups, among other possibilities.
For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of the graphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon provided within a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectable to bring up options to select one or more other zones in the media playback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped, playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particular zone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with the playback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” icon may be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. In this case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options to deselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zone group. Other interactions and implementations for group and ungroup zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 are also possible. The representations of playback zones in the playback zone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zone group configurations are modified.
The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations of audio content that is presently being played, previously played, or scheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. The selected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished on the user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/or the playback status region 430. The graphical representations may include track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length, and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to know when controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.
The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations of audio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playback zone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zone group may be associated with a playback queue containing information corresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playback zone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queue may comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resource locator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playback device in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve the audio item from a local audio content source or a networked audio content source, possibly for playback by the playback device.
In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in which case information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may be added to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in a playback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, a playback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when the playback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audio content, such as Internet radio that may continue to play until otherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playback durations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can include Internet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “in use” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Other examples are also possible.
When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,” playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zone groups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playback zone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playback zone including a second playback queue, the established zone group may have an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that contains audio items from the first playback queue (such as if the second playback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audio items from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zone was added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio items from both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if the established zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zone may be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audio items from the playback queue associated with the established zone group before the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, the resulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previous second playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue that is empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associated with the established zone group before the established zone group was ungrouped. Other examples are also possible.
Referring back to the user interface 400 of
The audio content sources region 450 may include graphical representations of selectable audio content sources from which audio content may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone or zone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be found in the following section.
d. Example Audio Content Sources
As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zone group may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g. according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from a variety of available audio content sources. In one example, audio content may be retrieved by a playback device directly from a corresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). In another example, audio content may be provided to a playback device over a network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.
Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or more playback devices in a media playback system such as the media playback system 100 of
In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added or removed from a media playback system such as the media playback system 100 of
The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices, playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide only some examples of operating environments within which functions and methods described below may be implemented. Other operating environments and configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, and network devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicable and suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.
As discussed above, embodiments described herein involve, among other things, providing access to and control of a media playback network via a media playback application. The embodiments further involve providing the capability to form playback groups of zone players, from within the media playback application or from a user interface that is accessible from the media playback application. And the embodiments further involve providing for the control of playback volumes associated with the zone players, from within the media playback application or from a user interface accessible from the media playback application. In some embodiments, such control of playback volumes of zone players within a playback group may be controlled before the playback group is formed. Other aspects of the embodiments will be made apparent in the remainder of description herein.
Method 500 shown in
In addition, for the method 500 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of one possible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, each block may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code, which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. The program code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. The computer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods of time like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may also include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computer readable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storage systems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. In addition, for the method 500 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, each block in
It should be understood that, before initiating method 500 (i.e., commencing performance of block 502), a device may cause a user interface to display a user interface having features such as that depicted in
It should be noted that any of the displays depicted in
A user selecting a segment of the display associated with the living room group may cause a volume indication associated with the living room group to appear, as shown in
At block 502(i), method 500 includes providing a user interface that displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players. The zone player of block 502(i) may be similar to any playback device described herein.
In accordance with block 502(i),
The volume indications 1104 and 1106, corresponding to a patio playback zone and a living room playback zone may respectively, indicate volumes of approximately 30% and 80%.
At block 502(ii) the method includes providing a user interface that displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group.
For example,
At block 502(iii) the method includes providing a user interface that displays an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player.
In one embodiment, the indications of volumes of zone players and the selectable icons (i.e., the displays discussed above with respect to block 502(i-iii)) may be displayed simultaneously. For example,
At block 504, the method includes receiving a command to change at least one of (i) a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume. For example, a user may be able to manipulate a touchscreen of a controller device to change a volume of a selected zone player or to change a group volume. Referring to
Prior to receiving the command in accordance with block 504, the controller device may receive a selection of the at least one selected zone player. In the example shown in
At block 506, the method includes transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player. Referring to the example of
The method may further include displaying the indication of the respective volume corresponding to each of the at least two zone players prior to displaying the respective selectable icons corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. For example, if the user interface is in a state such that it is displaying the arrangement of
The method may further include receiving a command to form the group with two or more of the at least two zone players and transmitting a command, to the two or more zone players, to form the group. In some embodiments, the user clicking or touching the “Done” button of
Method 600 shown in
In addition, for the method 600 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of one possible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, each block may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code, which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. The program code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. The computer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods of time like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may also include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computer readable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storage systems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. In addition, for the method 600 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, each block in
At block 602, method 600 may include receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group. For example, referring to
At block 604, the method may include causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. For example, a controller device may display an arrangement such as that depicted in
At optional block 606, the method may include, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players. For example, a user may command that the group be formed by clicking or touching the “Done” button of
At optional block 608, the method may include transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content. This may occur in response to receiving the command to form the group. That is, groups of zone players may be configured to collectively play back a portion of media content synchronously. Synchronous play of the portion of media content may include multiple zone players playing a common portion of media content so that there is no delay or lag between the zone players.
The method may also include forming the group of the at least two zone players. For example, the zone players that make up the group may be caused to sync and collectively play a common portion of media content for synchronous playback.
The method may also include receiving a command to change a respective volume of at least one of the at least two selected zone players. For example, the user may touch and drag volume slider 1232A, indicating to change the volume corresponding to the patio zone player, perhaps before, or perhaps contemporaneous with, providing the command to form the group or to synchronously play the portion of media content. The command to change the volume of at least one of the at least two selected zone players may be transmitted to the respective zone players of which the user wishes to change volumes.
The description above discloses, among other things, various example systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including, among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware. It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or components can be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the only way(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture.
In one aspect, a method is provided. The method involves providing a user interface that simultaneously (i) displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players and (ii) displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group, and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group. The interface further simultaneously displays (iii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player. The method further includes receiving a command to change at least one of (i) a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume, and transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player.
In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processor and memory with instructions stored therein, that when executed cause the device to perform functions. The functions comprise providing a user interface that simultaneously (i) displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players and (ii) displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group, and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group. The interface further simultaneously displays (iii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player. The functions further comprise receiving a command to change at least one (i) of a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume. The functions further comprise transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player.
In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory is provided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions. The functions comprise providing a user interface that simultaneously (i) displays an indication of a respective volume corresponding to each of at least two zone players and (ii) displays a respective selectable icon corresponding to each of the at least two zone players. Each respective selectable icon indicates whether the corresponding zone player has been selected for a group, and at least one of the respective selectable icons indicates that a respective zone player has been selected for the group. The interface further simultaneously displays (iii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least one selected zone player. The functions further comprise receiving a command to change at least one of (i) a respective volume of one or more of the at least one selected zone player or (ii) the group volume. The functions further comprise transmitting an indication of the received command to one or more of the at least one selected zone player.
In yet another aspect, a method is provided. The method involves receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group and causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. The method further involves, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players; and transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content.
In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processor and memory with instructions stored therein, that when executed cause the device to perform functions. The functions comprise receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group and causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. The functions further comprise, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players; and transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content.
In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory is provided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions. The functions comprise receiving a selection of at least two zone players to be included in a group and causing a graphical interface to display (i) an indication of a respective volume of each of the at least two selected zone players and (ii) an indication of a group volume associated with the at least two selected zone players. The functions further comprise, subsequent to causing the graphical interface to display the indications, receiving a command to form the group of the at least two selected zone players; and transmitting a command to each of the at least two selected zone players to synchronously play a portion of media content.
Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of an invention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly and implicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined with other embodiments.
The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrative environments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble the operations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These process descriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it is understood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the forgoing description of embodiments.
When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at least one example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible, non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on, storing the software and/or firmware.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/827,469, titled “Group Volume Control,” filed on Mar. 23, 2020, and currently pending; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/827,469 is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/205,347, titled “Group Volume Control,” filed on Mar. 11, 2014, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,599,287 on Mar. 24, 2020. The entire contents of U.S. application Ser. Nos. 16/827,469 and 14/205,347 are incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16827469 | Mar 2020 | US |
Child | 18309577 | US | |
Parent | 14205347 | Mar 2014 | US |
Child | 16827469 | US |