Patent Application
20070031116
The present invention contains subject matter related to Japanese Patent Application JP 2005-224778 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Aug. 2, 2005, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus that notifies a user of an expiration date that has been assigned to content, a reproducing method thereof, and a content reproducing system thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many portable reproducing apparatuses using a small hard disk drive as a record medium have been produced as commercial products. The record capacities of small hard disk drives range from around several gigabytes (GB) to around several ten GB, namely a huge amount of content data such as around several hundreds of tracks of content to several thousands of tracks of content. Thus, since the small hard disk drives can record a very large number of tracks of content data, they have been widespread. The housing of these reproducing apparatuses is small and light. Thus, the user can record content of audio data such as songs on a record medium, operate the reproducing apparatus with the record medium outdoor, and enjoy songs which the reproducing apparatus reproduces.
Content reproduced by such a portable reproducing apparatus is transferred from an information device such as a personal computer connected through a so-called communication interface and recorded on a record medium. On the other hand, the personal computer side rips content from a commercial music compact disc (CD), and stores the ripped content in a hard disk drive (HDD), or stores content transferred (downloaded) from a server on the Internet in the HDD. Content stored in the HDD of the personal computer is transferred to the portable reproducing apparatus.
A content download service which a server on the Internet provides has been proposed. In this service, its subscriber is charged for an expiration date of content rather than the number of downloaded tracks thereof. Its subscriber can freely reproduce downloaded content unless it expired. Content which the subscriber can reproduce for a predetermined time period is referred to as subscription content. A reproducible time period of subscription content is limited in such a manner that the content is encrypted and an expiration date is assigned to a key with which the encrypted content is decrypted.
Another related art of which a content provider side controls its subscriber who reproduces downloaded content is described in Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2003-203133. In this related art, the content provider side licenses its subscriber to use content using wireless communication.
When a reproduction expiration date is assigned to content, it may be necessary for the reproducing apparatus side to notify its user of the reproduction expiration date. In the related art, if content whose reproduction expiration date has come and which is not able to be reproduced has been recorded in the reproducing apparatus, only when the user selects the content whose expiration date has come and tries to reproduce the content, the apparatus notifies him or her that the expiration date of the content has come and it is not able to be reproduced.
In such a structure, it is difficult for the user to know whether the expiration date of the content has come until he or she selects it. Thus, when the user reproduces the content from the apparatus, it notifies him or her that the content is not able to be reproduced because its expiration date has come. Thus, the technology of the related art is not user-friendly.
If the date on which the user selects content is earlier than the license expiration date of the content by a predetermined time period, he or she may be notified that the expiration date of the content will come soon. In this method, as a merit, when the user selects the content, since he or she is notified of the license expiration date in the state that he or she can reproduce the content, he or she can know the due date of payment of additional fee in advance. However, in this method, whenever the user selects the content, he or she is repeatedly notified that the expiration date of the content will come soon. Thus, the user may feel bothersome.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a reproducing apparatus, a reproducing method, and a content reproducing system which allows a user to be securely notified whether there is content whose expiration date has come without causing him or her to feel uncomfortable.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a reproducing apparatus. The reproducing apparatus has a recording section, a reproducing section, a time information generating section, and a controlling section. The recording section records content data. The reproducing section reproduces the content data. The time information generating section generates time information. The controlling section checks whether the recording section records content data whose expiration date will come soon on the basis of the time information generated by the time information generating section when the reproducing apparatus gets started. When the recording section records content data whose expiration date will come soon, the controlling section notifies a user of the content data whose expiration date will come soon.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a reproducing method for reproducing content data. Time information is generated. It is checked whether a recording apparatus has content data whose expiration date will come soon on the basis of the time information when the reproducing apparatus gets started. A user is notified of the content data whose expiration date will come soon when the reproducing apparatus has content data whose expiration date will come soon.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system having a reproducing apparatus and an external device. The reproducing apparatus has a recording section, a reproducing section, a time information generating section, and a controlling section. The recording section records content data. The reproducing section reproduces the content data. The time information generating section generates time information. The controlling section checks whether the recording section records content data whose expiration date will come soon on the basis of the time information generated by the time information generating section when the reproducing apparatus gets started. When the recording section records content data whose expiration date will come soon, the controlling section notifies a user of the content data whose expiration date will come soon and transmits license information of content data whose expiration date will come soon to the external device. The external device has a communication section, a managing section, and an updating section. The communication section communicates with the reproducing apparatus. The managing section manages license related information. The updating section updates license information transmitted from the external device on the basis of the license information transmitted from the reproducing apparatus and the license related information managed by the managing section.
As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, when the apparatus gets started, it checks whether there are content data whose expiration date will come soon on the basis of time information. When there are content data whose expiration date will come soon, the user is notified that the expiration date of the content data will come soon. Thus, the user is securely notified that there are content data whose expiration date will come soon. In addition, whenever the apparatus gets started, the user is not repeatedly notified of that information.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of a best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The invention will become more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference numerals denote similar elements, in which:
Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
In the following description, it is assumed that content data recorded on the record medium of the reproducing apparatus 1 are song data, namely audio data. Each unit of song data is also referred to as a track.
A music server 4 provides for example a content data download service through the Internet 3. The music server 4 correlatively manages content data and attribute information for example artists, collected albums, and music genres. It is preferred that the music server 4 correlate content data with for example melody and tempo of songs as attribute information. In addition, the music server 4 manages ranking information on the basis of for example the download counts of tracks of content data and related information of artists (this information is referred to as artist link information). The music server 4 provides services using these kinds of information through the Internet 3. For example, the music server 4 adds these kinds of ranking information, artist link information, and so forth to the foregoing attribute information and provides the resultant attribute information to the user. The attribute information may include release dates of collected albums and content data.
The user connects for example the PC 2 to the Internet 3 and downloads content data from the music server 4 on the Internet 3. The downloaded content is stored in for example the hard disk drive of the PC 2. In addition, the user connects the reproducing apparatus 1 and the PC 2 with a USB cable and transfers content data stored in the hard disk drive of the PC 2 to the reproducing apparatus 1. The reproducing apparatus 1 records the transferred content data to an internal record medium thereof. Thereafter, the user disconnects the reproducing apparatus 1 from the PC 2.
The user can go out with the reproducing apparatus 1 and enjoy listening to content data which the reproducing apparatus 1 reproduces from the record medium.
When the user downloads content data from the music server 4, if he or she also obtains ranking information as attribute information, he or she can easily search for current popular content. In addition, if the user also obtains artist link information as attribute information, he or she can know other artists related to the selected content and easily search for content of the related artists. If the history of reproduced content data is stored in the reproducing apparatus 1, the user can easily search for his or her favorite content.
Disposed on the front surface of the reproducing apparatus 1 are also a hold switch 16 and a connector section 17. The hold switch 16 switches operation states of the operating section 20 between “enable” and “disable”. The connector section 17 has a connector which is used to exchange data with an external device such as the PC 2 and a headphone terminal which outputs an analog audio signal reproduced by the reproducing apparatus 1.
Next, keys disposed on the operating section 20 will be described. When each key is for example pressed, a control signal corresponding to the key is output. In addition, different functions may be assigned to each key depending on whether it is pressed for a long time period or a short time period. In other words, different functions may be assigned to each key depending on whether the time period for which key is pressed is equal to or longer than a predetermined value (this state is referred to as the longly pressed state) or shorter than the predetermined value (this state is referred to as the shortly pressed state). When each key is shortly pressed, the assigned function is executed after the key is pressed and released in a predetermined time period. On the other hand, when a key is longly pressed, after it is pressed for a predetermined time period or longer, the assigned function is executed. If a key has been assigned only the shortly pressed state, when the key is pressed, the assigned function is executed. If a key is pressed for a predetermined time period or longer, this state can be defined as if the key were repeatedly pressed (this state is referred to as the key repeat state).
Keys 11A and 11B are sound volume keys with which the reproduced sound volume of content data is increased and decreased, respectively. Whenever the key 11A or 11B is shortly pressed, the sound volume is increased for one step. The keys 11A and 11B have the key repeat state.
Keys 12A, 12B, and 12C are keys with which reproduction of content data is controlled. Whenever the key 12A is shortly pressed, content data are commanded to be alternately reproduced and paused. When the key 12A is longly pressed, the operation mode of the reproducing apparatus 1 is switched to a sleep mode. When the key 12B is shortly pressed, the next content data are commanded to be reproduced. When the key 12B is longly pressed, the currently reproduced content data are commanded to be reproduced in a fast forward reproduction mode. Likewise, when the key 12C is shortly pressed, the preceding content data are commanded to be reproduced. When the key 12C is longly pressed, the currently reproduced content data are commanded to be reproduced in a fast backward reproduction mode.
A key block 13 has five direction keys which are an enter key 13A disposed at the center and arrow keys disposed around the enter key 13A. The arrow keys indicate up, down, left, and right (they are referred to as an up key, a down key, a left key, and a right key). The key block 13 allows the user to mainly operate a screen displayed on the display section 10.
While the display section 10 displays a screen on which content is being reproduced, when the enter key 13A is shortly pressed, the currently reproduced content is commanded to be alternately reproduced and paused. When the enter key 13A is shortly pressed again, the content is commanded to be reproduced again. While the display section 10 displays a screen other than the content reproduction screen, when the enter key 13A is pressed, an item selected on the screen is confirmed. While the display section 10 displays a list of tracks of content, when the enter key 13A is pressed, all content on the list is commanded to be reproduced.
When the up key and the down key of the key block 13 are shortly pressed, the currently selected item on the display section 10 is switched to the immediately upper item and the immediately lower item, respectively. When the up key and the down key are longly pressed, the list on the display section 10 is commanded to be quickly scrolled upward and downward, respectively. The key repeat function operates with the up key and the down key until they are longly pressed. Thus, with the up key and down key, the screen can be slowly scrolled for example upward and downward, respectively.
When the left key and right key of the key block 13 are shortly pressed, the currently selected item is switched to the immediately left item and the immediately right item, respectively. When the display section 10 displays a plurality of pages, the left key and the right key cause the current page to be switched to for example the next page and the preceding page, respectively. The left key and the right key do not have the longly pressed state. However, the key repeat function operates with the left key and the right key.
When a discovery key 14 is shortly pressed, an artist link function using artist link information is commanded to be called. When the discovery key 14 is longly pressed, the artist link function is called, causing content of all artists displayed on the display section 10 to be reproduced. Details of the artist link function will be described later.
When a key 15 is shortly pressed, the operation state of the reproducing apparatus 1 is commanded to be restored to the immediately preceding state. When the key 15 is longly pressed, the top menu is displayed on the display section 10.
The functions of the key block 13, the key 14, and the key 15 are examples. The functions of these key block and keys are not limited to these examples. Operation functions as software can be assigned to the key block 13 and the keys 14 and 15.
Connected to the bus 34 are the USB controller 33, a display controlling section 35, and the system gate array 36. The bus 34 mainly transfers commands. The display controlling section 35 drives the display section 10 composed of for example an LCD with a display control signal supplied through the bus 34. The display controlling section 35 causes the display section 10 to display a screen corresponding to the display control signal.
Connected to the bus 40 are a microcomputer 41, the system gate array 36, and a Read Only Memory (ROM) 42. The bus 40 mainly transfers commands.
Connected to the microcomputer 41 are a Real Time Clock (RTC) 46 and the operating section 20. The operating section 20 generates control signals corresponding to the keys 11 to 15 and supplies the generated control signals to the microcomputer 41. The microcomputer 41 controls the entire reproducing apparatus 1 with control signals supplied from the operating section 20 according to a program pre-stored in for example the ROM 42. In addition, the microcomputer 41 generates predetermined display control signals according to the program.
The microcomputer 41 has an internal D/A converter (DAC) section 44. The DAC section 44 converts audio data supplied from a decoder (which will be described later) into an analog audio signal and supplies the analog audio signal to a headphone (HP) amplifier 45.
The ROM 42 is for example an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) which is a rewritable memory. The ROM 42 can update its stored program. A program to be updated is supplied from for example an external computer device through the USB connector 31.
Since the microcomputer 41 controls the reproducing apparatus 1 according to the program stored in the ROM 42, it can be considered that the reproducing apparatus 1 is substantially a computer device.
The system gate array 36 controls exchanging of data and commands among the buses 30, 34, and 40. Connected to the system gate array 36 are a RAM 37 and a decoder 43. The decoder 43 decodes audio data which have been compression-encoded. The RAM 37 is used as a work memory of the microcomputer 41. In addition, the RAM 37 is used as a buffer for audio data which the decoder 43 decodes. The RAM 37 has a storage capacity of for example 16 Mega Bytes (MB). Among 16 MB, a predetermined area of 12 MB is allocated as a buffer memory area for audio data.
Connected to a remote control terminal 47 is a remote control commander which wirelessly and remotely controls the reproducing apparatus 1 and has a headphone terminal. An analog audio signal which is output from the headphone amplifier 45 is supplied to the remote control terminal 47. In addition, the system gate array 36 and the remote control terminal 47 are connected. A control signal corresponding to an operation for the remote control commander is input from the remote control terminal 47 and is supplied to the microcomputer 41 through the system gate array 36 and the bus 40.
The foregoing USB connector 31 and remote control terminal 47 are disposed on the connector section 17 as shown in
In the foregoing description, the reproducing apparatus 1 and the PC 2 are wire-connected. However, this structure is just an example. Instead, a wireless communication I/F (not shown) which controls wireless communication may be connected to the bus 30. The wireless communication I/F may allow the reproducing apparatus 1 and the PC 2 to wirelessly exchange commands therebetween and the PC 2 to wirelessly transfer content data and so forth to the reproducing apparatus 1.
A player task 61 is placed below the UI task 60. The player task 61 manages reproduction of content data. The player task 61 exchanges data with a database (which will be described later) corresponding to a command received from the UI task 60, grasps content to be reproduced, and issues a content data reproduction control command to lower tasks. In addition, the player task 61 regularly grasps the current play mode, returns the play mode to the UI task 60, and controls reproduction corresponding to the play mode.
The play mode is an operation mode with respect to reproduction order of tracks of content. The play mode is categorized as for example a normal mode of which tracks of content are reproduced in the order of a list, a shuffle mode of which the reproduction order of tracks of content is randomly changed, and so forth.
A buffer task 62, a database (DB) management task 63, and a decoder control task 65 are placed below the player task 61. The buffer task 62 controls reading and writing of data from and to a buffer memory area of the RAM 37. In addition, the buffer task 62 controls reading of audio data from the hard disk drive 32. In addition, the buffer task 62 analyzes header information of audio data stored in the buffer memory. The buffer task 62 controls the buffer memory as a ring buffer of which its top address and its last address are logically connected.
The database management task 63 manages content data recorded in the hard disk drive 32. The database management task 63 correlatively manages for example identification information (ID) with which content data recorded in the hard disk drive 32 are identified, information representing record positions of the content data, and attribute information of the content data. In addition, the database management task 63 manages artist link information. Details of a database managed by the database management task 63 will be described later.
The decoder control task 65 controls a decoding process which the decoder 43 performs for audio data. The control of the decoder control task 65 is interlocked with the process of for example the buffer task 62.
An Operating System (OS) 68 integrally manages the UI task 60, the player task 61, the buffer task 62, the decoder control task 65, and the database management task 63, which are upper tasks of the OS 68. In addition, the OS 68 provides fundamental functions of software to each task. For example, the OS 68 provides a file system which manages files recorded in the hard disk drive 32 to each upper task. The file system manages each logical address of the record area of the hard disk drive 32 and files in the hard disk drive 32. The file system provides a scheme for reading and writing of data from and to the hard disk drive 32.
In addition, the OS 68 manages each component of hardware that composes the reproducing apparatus 1. The OS 68 performs an intermediate process between the upper tasks and hardware 69 of the reproducing apparatus 1. The OS 68 has for example an HDD driver 64 which controls the hard disk drive 32, a buffer controlling section 66 which controls reading and writing of data from and to the buffer memory area of the RAM 37, and a decoder controlling section 67 which controls the decoder 43.
The OS 68 and the tasks 60 to 65 shown in
In such a structure, when the reproducing apparatus 1 and the PC 2 are connected with a USB cable, the USB controller 33 exchanges data with the PC 2 in a predetermined manner so that the PC 2 recognizes the reproducing apparatus 1 as a removable hard disk drive. In other words, the PC 2 can record content data recorded in the hard disk drive of the PC 2 to the hard disk drive of the reproducing apparatus 1 using a file copy function which the OS of the PC 2 provides.
The PC 2 transmits content data and commands to the reproducing apparatus 1 through the USB cable. The content data and commands are received by the USB controller 33. The received content data are transferred by the USB controller 33 to the hard disk drive 32 through the bus 30 and written to the hard disk drive 32. In addition, the received commands are captured from the USB controller 33 to the microcomputer 41 through the system gate array 36.
Next, a process for reproduction will be described. For example, the microcomputer 41 references a database for content recoded in the hard disk drive 32 and generates a display control signal with which a list of content is displayed. The display control signal is supplied to the display controlling section 35 through the system gate array 36 and the bus 34. The display controlling section 35 converts the display control signal into a drive signal with which the display section 10 is driven. The drive signal is supplied to the display section 10. The display section 10 displays a list of content data which can be reproduced corresponding to the display control signal.
The user operates the operating section 20 corresponding to for example data displayed on the display section 10 in a predetermined manner and selects content data which he or she wants to reproduce. The operating section 20 outputs a control signal corresponding to the user's operation. The microcomputer 41 monitors the control signal which is output from the operating section 20. When the microcomputer 41 has obtained a control signal representing a reproduction command, the microcomputer 41 issues a command causing the selected content data to be reproduced. This command is transmitted to the hard disk drive 32 through the system gate array 36 and the bus 30.
Content data which have been read from the hard disk drive 32 are supplied to the system gate array 36 through the bus 30. The system gate array 36 stores the supplied content data in the buffer memory area of the RAM 37. In addition, the system gate array 36 reads a predetermined amount of content data stored in the buffer memory area of the RAM 37 and transfers the content data to the decoder 43. The microcomputer 41 monitors the amount of content-data stored in the buffer memory area. When the amount of data stored in the buffer memory area becomes a predetermined amount or less, the microcomputer 41 issues a content data read command to the hard disk drive 32 through the system gate array 36 and the bus 30.
The decoder 43 decodes the transferred content data and transfers them as baseband audio data to the microcomputer 41. When necessary, the microcomputer 41 performs a predetermined acoustic process for the audio data transferred from the decoder 43. The DAC section 44 converts the resultant digital audio data into analog audio data and outputs the analog audio data as an analog audio signal. The analog audio signal is supplied to the HP amplifier 45. The HP amplifier 45 performs an amplifying process for the analog audio signal and supplies the amplified analog audio signal to the remote control terminal 47.
Next, the database with which content data recoded in the hard disk drive 32 are managed will be described. This database is managed by the foregoing database management task 63.
In the example shown in
In the attribute information table, whenever content data correlated with a particular record are reproduced, the value of the field “reproduction history” of the record is incremented by 1. It is preferred that the ranking information be updated at predetermined timing. For example, when new content data are downloaded from the music server 4 to the PC 2, ranking information corresponding to the content data stored in the PC 2 is also downloaded. When the content data are transferred from the PC 2 to the reproducing apparatus 1, the ranking information may be also transferred so that the database is updated.
The database management task 63 also manages the artist link information. The artist link information is what for example artist A is correlated with information of artist B, artist C, and so forth who are related to artist A. For example, if artist A created album Z in collaboration with artist B and artist C, it can be said that artist B and artist C are related artists of artist A. In addition, artist A may be correlated with other artists with respect to a style of artist A. For example, artist A may be correlated with other artists with respect to melody and tempo of main content of artist A. In addition, artist A may be correlated with other artists with respect to years in which artist A actively worked. In addition, information of artists may be correlated with respect to a plurality of kinds of information of related artists.
Artist link information may be assigned in different levels corresponding to related degrees of objective artists. Artist A may be correlated with first artist link information which is composed of information of for example artists B, C, D, and so forth who are strongly related to artist A and second artist link information which is composed of information of artists Q, P, Q, and so forth who are weakly related to artist A. For example, these two types of tables are created for artist information managed by the database management task 63. All artist information managed by the database management task 63 may be arranged as matrix elements and related degrees may be assigned to the matrix elements. The structure of the artist link information is not limited to these examples.
The artist link information is provided as a service of for example the music server 4 side to the user. The artist link information is downloaded from the music server 4 to the PC 2 through the Internet 3. The artist link information is transferred from the PC 2 to the reproducing apparatus 1 and then recorded to the hard disk drive 32. For example, a list of content recoded in the hard disk drive of the PC 2 and the hard disk drive 32 of the reproducing apparatus 1 is transmitted from the PC 2 to the music server 4. The music server 4 references attribute information corresponding to the list of content, creates artist link information, and transmits it to the PC 2. Instead, the user side may create artist link information.
According to this embodiment of the present invention, if the cursor indication has been placed at a position of particular content for a predetermined time period, the particular content is selected and a predetermined portion thereof is automatically reproduced. In the following description, an operation of which only a predetermined portion of content is selectively reproduced is referred to as the preview reproduction. On the other hand, an operation of which the entire content is reproduced is referred to as the normal reproduction. A method of performing the preview reproduction will be described later.
The cursor indication 70 is displayed as follows. For example, the microcomputer 41 generates a display control signal which causes the cursor indication to be displayed at a predetermined position. The display control signal is supplied to the display controlling section 35 through the system gate array 36 and the bus 34. The display controlling section 35 drives the display section 10 corresponding to the display control signal. As a result, the cursor indication 70 is displayed. The position of the cursor indication 70 is moved and designated by operating for example the up key and/or down key of the key block 13.
In the example shown in
At step S11, it is determined whether the cursor indication 70 has been moved. For example, when the user has not performed a key input with for example the up key and down key of the key block 13 and the cursor indication 70 does not move, the flow advances to step S12. At step S12, the microcomputer 41 measures a time period T for which the cursor indication 70 has stopped at the position of any content name and determines whether the time period T exceeds a predetermined time period Tth. As shown in
The predetermined time period Tth is for example around 0.5 seconds. It is preferred that the value of the predetermined time period Tth be changed by the user.
When the determined result at step S12 denotes that the time period T exceeds the predetermined time period Tth, the flow advances to step S13. At step S13, a part of content at the position of the current cursor indication 70 is reproduced. For example, when the cursor indication 70 has been moved to the position of a content name “CCCCC” shown in
In the preview reproduction, content data are reproduced from the beginning for a predetermined time period (for example, 10 seconds). Instead, after real content data are reproduced from the beginning for a predetermined time period, the reproduction may be stopped. Instead, a dedicated file for the preview reproduction may be created and the file may be reproduced. Instead, a preview reproduction position may differ in each content. The dedicated file for the preview reproduction may be automatically created when content data are recorded to the hard disk drive 32.
After the preview reproduction for particular content has been completed, the preview reproduction for content at the next position may be automatically started. In
In addition, while the preview reproduction is being performed, the cursor indication 70 may be moved by a key operation. In this case, when the cursor indication 70 is moved to the position of another content name and stopped for the predetermined time period Tth or longer, the preview reproduction may be performed for content at the position of the cursor indication 70.
For example, as shown in
When a confirmation operation is performed for the selected content while the preview reproduction is being performed, the preview reproduction can be switched to the normal reproduction. When the preview reproduction is switched to the normal reproduction, the display section 10 displays an indication which describes that the normal reproduction is being performed as exemplified in
Next, while the preview reproduction is being performed, when for example the enter key 13A is pressed, the selected content is confirmed. As a result, the preview reproduction is switched to the normal reproduction. Next, the process of switching from the preview reproduction to the normal reproduction will be described. In this case, there are two methods. In the first method, the normal reproduction is performed from the beginning of content data for which the preview reproduction was performed. In the second method, the normal reproduction is performed from the position of content data at which the preview reproduction was stopped.
Next, with reference to
In the first method, as shown in
On the other hand, in the second method, as exemplified in
In the foregoing description, a list of content recorded in the hard disk drive 32 is directly displayed on the display section 10. However, that structure is just an example. In other words, several hundred tracks to several thousand tracks of content data can be recorded in the hard disk drive 32. With the automatic preview reproduction corresponding to the stop time period of the cursor indication 70 and the content attribute information, content can be easily retrieved from such a large amount of data.
Next, as an example of the preview reproduction, a method of selecting content data using the foregoing artist link information will be described. In the following description, a mode of which content is selected using artist link information is referred to as the artist link mode.
In this example, with reference to attribute information table, artist names are sorted and listed in the descending order of the number of tracks of contents recorded in the hard disk drive 32. The cursor indication 70 is displayed at the position of artist A. A reproduction content indication portion 71B indicates content information which is currently being reproduced. The sorting order of artist names is not limited to this example. While the cursor indication 70 is displayed at the position of artist A, the normal reproduction is continued for content that was being reproduced in the normal reproduction mode immediately before the artist link mode took place (in this example, content X of artist A).
In this state, when the down key of the key block 13 is operated, as shown in
According to the measured result of the microcomputer 41, it is determined whether the cursor indication 70 has been stopped at the position of artist C for the predetermined time period Tth or longer (at step S22). When the determined result denotes that the stop time period T is equal to or longer than the predetermined time period Tth, the flow advances to step S23. At step S23, with reference to the attribute information table 30′, content is automatically selected from content data related to the item at the position of the cursor indication 70 according to a predetermined rule.
For example, as shown in
Thereafter, the flow advances to step S24. At step S24, the preview reproduction for the selected content P is performed. At step S24, the display section 10 still displays the artist link screen. The reproduction content indication portion 71B indicates content for which the preview reproduction is being performed (see
Thereafter, the flow advances to step S25. At step S25, while the cursor indication 70 is displayed at the position of artist C, it is determined whether the preview reproduction for content P has been completed. When the determined result at step S25 denotes that the preview reproduction for content P has been completed, the flow advances to step S26. At step S26, the preview reproduction for the next selected content is automatically performed. The preview reproduction for the next highly ranked content after content P (for example, content Q) is automatically performed. The display section 10 still displays the artist link screen. The reproduction content indication portion 71B indicates content for which the preview reproduction is being preformed (see
After the preview reproduction for all content recorded in the hard disk drive 32 for artist C at the position of the cursor indication 70 has been completed, the preview reproduction for content of the next artist (for example, artist D) is automatically performed (step S25 and step S26 are repeated). At this point, the display section 10 still displays the artist link screen. In the list indication portion 71A, the cursor indication 70 is automatically moved to the position of artist D (see
In contrast, when the determined result at step S25 denotes that the preview reproduction is being performed, the flow advances to step S27. At step S27, it is determined whether to switch the preview reproduction mode to the normal reproduction mode.
When the confirmation operation is performed with for example the enter key 13A in the state shown in
When the confirmation operation for content is performed with for example the enter key 13A in the state shown in
Unless the normal reproduction is commanded, the flow returns to step S25. At step S25, the preview reproduction is continued. After the preview reproduction for content Q has been completed, if the cursor indication 70 is not moved, the preview reproduction for content R which is the next highest rated content is automatically started. The cursor indication 70 is moved to the position of content R.
When the determined result at step S25 denotes that the preview reproduction is being performed, in the state of which the artist link screen shown in
Next, a method of notifying a user of an expiration date for subscription content according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, a service which provides subscription content will be described in brief. Subscription content is content which a user can reproduce for a predetermined time period when he or she pays a flat fee to the service provider side for the content.
For example, the user pays a flat fee to the service provider side (for example, the music server 4) and makes a predetermined service contract with the service provider side. On the other hand, the service provider side encrypts content in a predetermined manner and holds it as subscription content. The service provider side permits the contracted user to download subscription content and sends a decryption key with which the contracted user can decrypt the subscription content to him or her through for example the Internet. This key is assigned an expiration date. After the expiration date of the key has come, encrypted content is not able to be decrypted with the key.
The user records the downloaded subscription content and the key of the subscription content to the reproducing apparatus 1. When the user selects the reproduction of downloaded subscription content, the reproducing apparatus 1 decrypts the subscription content with the key and reproduces the decrypted subscription content. When the expiration date of the key of the subscription content will come soon or after the expiration date has come, the reproducing apparatus 1 causes the display section 10 to display for example an alarm message which notifies the user that the expiration date of the key will come soon or has come.
In other words, as exemplified in
When the encrypted content 100 is reproduced, the time assigned to the key 101 and the current time counted by the secure clock 102 are compared. When the current time is earlier than the time assigned to the key 101, the encrypted content 100 is decrypted with the key 101. In contrast, when the current time is later than the time assigned to the key 101, the encrypted content 100 is not decrypted with the key 101.
When the expiration date of the key of the subscription content has come, the user can pay a predetermined fee to the content provider side to extend the expiration date. As a result, the encrypted content 100 can be decrypted with the key 101. Thus, the subscription content can be reproduced.
It should be noted that the relationship between the encrypted content 100 and the key 101 with which the encrypted content 100 is decrypted is not limited to the relationship of one to one as exemplified in
In this case, a plurality of encrypted content 100′, 100′, and so forth downloaded as service A are decrypted with a common key 101′. Likewise, a plurality of encrypted content 100″, 100″, and so forth downloaded as service B are decrypted with a common key 101″, which is different from the key 101′. Expiration dates are assigned to the key 101′ and the key 101″ for service A and service B, respectively.
In the method shown in
According to an embodiment of the present invention, only when the user turns on the power of the reproducing apparatus 1 and the reproducing apparatus 1 gets started, it notifies him or her that the expiration date of a key of content will come soon. When the reproducing apparatus 1 gets started, it retrieves subscription content from content recorded in the hard disk drive 32 of the reproducing apparatus 1 and checks the expiration date of the subscription content. The reproducing apparatus 1 compares the checked expiration date with the current time (date). If there is subscription content whose expiration date will come soon, the reproducing apparatus 1 causes the display section 10 to display the subscription content whose expiration date will come soon. Thus, the user can know whether there is subscription content whose expiration date will come soon before he or she selects the subscription content.
If the reproducing apparatus 1 notifies the user that there is subscription content whose expiration date will come soon only when he or she starts up the reproducing apparatus 1 first time every day, it is preferred that since he or she is not notified that there is subscription content whose expiration date will come soon whenever he or she turns on the power of the reproducing apparatus 1, he or she do not feel bothersome.
Next, the method of notifying the user of an expiration date of subscription content according to this embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail. In the following description, as shown in
When the user contracts with the service provider side for a service, the service provider side supplies license information described in the license list file 111 to the user. The license information is recorded to the hard disk drive 32 of the reproducing apparatus 1. When the user contracts with the service provider side for a new service, a license number and expiration date information are added to the license list file 111. As a result, the license list file 111 is updated.
Thereafter, the flow advances to step S31. At step S31, the license list file 111 is read from the hard disk drive 32 according to a command issued from the microcomputer 41. The microcomputer 41 compares the expiration date information described in the license list file 111 with the trusted time. As exemplified on the left of
Thereafter, the flow advances to step S32. At step S32, the microcomputer 41 determines whether there is a license whose expiration date will come soon according to the compared result at step S31. For example, if the trusted time is earlier than an expiration date of the expiration date information by a predetermined time period, it is determined that the expiration date of the license corresponding to the expiration date information will come soon. When the determined result denotes that there is no license whose expiration date will come soon, the sequence of steps of the process is completed. In contrast, when the determined result at step 32 denotes that there is a license whose expiration date will come soon, the flow advances to step S33.
The predetermined time period may be assigned on day basis, for example five days or seven days. Instead, the predetermined time period may be assigned on hour basis, for example 120 hours or 168 hours. Instead, the predetermined time period of each license may be different from each other. In this case, the service provider side pre-assigns the predetermined time period and supplies it to the user along with license information.
At step S33, the current time and a time at which the alarm indication was displayed according to the sequence of steps of the process are compared. It is determined whether the current time is later than the time at which the preceding alarm indication was displayed by the predetermined time period or longer. When the determined result denotes that the current time is later than the time at which the preceding alarm indication was displayed by the predetermined time period or longer, the flow advances to step S34. At step S34, the display section 10 displays the predetermined alarm indication.
In contrast, when the determined result denotes that the current time is not later than the time at which the preceding alarm indication was displayed by the predetermined time period or longer, the sequence of steps of the process is completed. Thus, the display section 10 does not display the alarm indication. When the power of the reproducing apparatus 1 is frequently turned on and off in a relatively short period, the determination at step S33 allows the display section 10 to display the alarm indication only when the reproducing apparatus 1 gets started first time every day. In this case, after the power of the reproducing apparatus 1 has been turned off and a predetermined time period has elapsed, when the power of the reproducing apparatus 1 is turned on, the display section 10 displays the alarm indication. Thus, even if the user repetitively turns on and off the power of the reproducing apparatus 1, since the expiration date alarm indication is not displayed, he or she does not feel bothersome.
The remaining time period of the expiration date can be obtained by calculating the difference between the trusted time and the expiration date information described in the license list file 111. The remaining time period of the expiration date is updated whenever the reproducing apparatus 1 gets started, the process of the flow chart shown in
In the foregoing description, the process of the flow chart shown in
In this case, the process of the flow chart shown in
As described above, when the reproducing apparatus 1 gets started, it is determined whether there is a license whose expiration date will come soon. On the other hand, when subscription content is reproduced, it is determined whether the expiration date of the license has come and the subscription content is unable to be reproduced.
Subscription content is selected from a list of content displayed on the display section 10. The selected subscription content is commanded to be reproduced. When the selected subscription content is commanded to be reproduced, as shown on the right of
Before July 26, namely before the license update period, the subscription content on the basis of the license can be reproduced. Thus, no alarm indication is displayed. After July 26, namely in the license update period, when the reproducing apparatus 1 gets started, the alarm indication screen 200 which indicates that there is a license whose expiration date will come soon is displayed on the display section 10. During the license update period, subscription content on the basis of a license whose expiration date will come soon can be reproduced.
When the license update period ceased on August 1, the expiration date of the license has come. As a result, subscription content on the basis of the license is not able to be reproduced. After the period ceased, the determined result at step S32 of the flow chart shown in
In the foregoing, information denoting that a license whose expiration date will come soon and information denoting that a license whose expiration date has come are displayed as the alarm indication screens 200 and 201, respectively. However, they are just examples. Instead, a simple displaying device such as an Light Emitting Diode (LED) may be additionally provided. With the displaying device, an alarm indication may be displayed. Instead, the user may be acoustically informed of these kinds of information.
In the foregoing example, it is assumed that the record medium of the reproducing apparatus 1 is the hard disk drive 32. However, it is just an example. Instead, a rewritable ROM such as a flash memory may be used as the record medium on which content data and so forth are recorded. In addition, the record medium is not limited to a built-in type of the reproducing apparatus 1. Instead, a detachable record medium may be used for the reproducing apparatus 1.
A communication section which performs wireless data communication with the reproducing apparatus 1 may be also disposed. In this case, when the communication section of the reproducing apparatus 1 is present in a wireless communication range, the display section 10 can display for example the alarm indication screens 200 and 201, which indicate that a license whose expiration date will come soon and a license whose expiration date has come, respectively. In this case, the communication section can wirelessly communicate with the music server 4 through the Internet 3 and quickly obtain license information.
In addition, as exemplified in
After the expiration date of a license of content data had come, if the license was not updated in a predetermined time period, the content data may be erased from the reproducing apparatus 1.
In the foregoing description, it is assumed that content is audio data. However, this is just an example. In other words, as long as content has time information and chronologically varies, the content may be video data.
It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alternations may occur depending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-224778 | Aug 2005 | JP | national |
