Patent Application
20070055993
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Many different types of media content, including music content, radio content, and movie content, can be obtained by a user from a multitude of different media content providers. For example, a user can receive radio content from FM radio providers, satellite radio providers, and Internet radio providers. Another example can include obtaining movie content from a DVD changer, a video-on-demand provider, and a website. Currently, however, there is not a convenient way to organize and view different types of media content, such as Internet radio and FM radio content for example, in one gallery of media content. Also, there currently is not a convenient way to organize and view a specific kind of media content, movie content for example, obtained from a plurality of media content providers in one gallery of media content.
The invention discloses a system and method for displaying radio content in an user interface. The method can identify a content provider and can aggregate a plurality of radio content types from the content provider into a gallery. Once the gallery has been created, the gallery can be presented to a user in an user interface (UI). The invention also discloses a method for displaying movie content in an UI. The method can identify a movie content provider and can aggregate movie content from a plurality of movie content provider types into a gallery. Once the movie gallery has been generated, the movie content gallery can be presented to a user in an UI.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The invention introduces a system and method for aggregating media content into one gallery to be displayed to a user. The invention can be configured to aggregate different types of media content from at least one media content provider into a gallery. The gallery can maintain a plurality of media content types so that a user can subsequently browse through the stored media content. The media content can be grouped into categories and can be searched by using identifiers such as the title of the movie content, release year, a name of a director, a name of actor, and type of movie content.
The invention encompasses a gallery for any type of media content including a radio content gallery and a movie content gallery. A radio content gallery can maintain different types of aggregated radio content including satellite radio, Internet radio, FM radio, and third party radio content applications from any number of radio content providers. A movie content gallery can maintain movie content from any type of movie content provider including a client's internal storage medium drive, an external storage medium drive, a recorded television movie provider, a video-on-demand provider, a server, and a website.
Client 102 can include a communication interface. The communication interface may be an interface that can allow the client to be directly connected to media content provider 108 or allows the client 102 to be connected to the media content provider over network 10. Network 110 can include, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or the Internet. In an embodiment, the client 102 can be connected to the media content provider 108 via a wireless interface. Client 102 can aggregate media content from a plurality of media content providers 108 in a single gallery 104. Media content maintained by gallery 104 can be displayed in an user interface (UI) on monitor 106. Client 102 can also include a content provider identification module that can identify registered media content providers 108. Additionally, client 102 can include an aggregation module 112 that can aggregate media content from media content providers into gallery 104.
In an embodiment, gallery 104 can include a plurality of radio content types including satellite radio, Internet radio, frequency modulation (FM) radio, and any other third party radio content application. In such an embodiment, media content provider 108 can comprise any type of radio content provider that can provide at least one of satellite radio, Internet radio, FM radio, and third party radio content applications. In another embodiment, gallery 104 can comprise movie content including any recorded movie. In such an embodiment, media content provider 108 can include internal storage media drives, external storage media drives, recorded television movie providers, video-on-demand providers, servers, and websites.
Radio Content Gallery
Once a user has identified and selected a particular radio content provider of interest, the user can be presented with an UI of the selected radio content provider so that the user can search and select desired radio content at step 206. The radio content can include radio stations/programs offered by the selected radio content provider. Once the user finds and selects the radio content that the user is interested in, the user can aggregate the radio content into the user's radio content gallery through use of an aggregation module at step 208. The selected radio content can be maintained and stored as preset selections in the user's radio content gallery at step 210. By maintaining the selected radio content as a preset, the user can later go to his/her radio content gallery of preset radio content instead of having to search for the selected radio content again in the future. The invention can be configured to group the preset selections into categories that can be presented to a user. For example, the preset selections can grouped by name, by the radio content provider the radio content was received, by date added to the gallery, or any other grouping. The user can subsequently repeat the aforementioned steps to further add radio content from any other registered radio content provider into the user's radio content gallery.
The invention can be configured to allow a radio content provider to control playback of the radio content. For example, when a user chooses a radio content preset from his/her radio content gallery, the software can present the user with an UI that can start playback of the radio content, or an extensibility application can start playback of the radio content. The invention can also be configured to allow the software to control playback of FM radio content for clients that include FM tuners.
Movie Content Gallery
In an embodiment, the invention can be configured to generate a movie content gallery wherein gallery 104 (
However, a user can alternatively search for movie content through other identified movie content providers connected to the client at step 404. For example, a user can search through a listing of movies controlled by a recorded television movie provider, a video-on-demand movie provider, a server, a website, or a client's hard drive containing legally copied and stored movie content. In such an example, once a user selects a movie content that he/she is interested in obtaining, at step 406, the user can download and store the movie content in a designated movie directory on the client's hard drive at step 408. If the movie content came from the client's hard drive, there may not be a requirement to store the movie content in another location. Once the movie content has been stored, the movie content can be recognized and can be aggregated into the movie content gallery at step 410.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
