The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for creating multimedia rendezvous points for mobile devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and a method for creating multimedia rendezvous points for mobile devices which may provide access to electronic program guide information of a content provider and/or digital media. The mobile devices may connect to the electronic program guide for selecting and/or for accessing digital media and/or a rendezvous identification for the digital media. In an embodiment, the mobile device may connect to a server via a data communication network for accessing and/or for identifying the rendezvous identification for the digital media. The system and the method may allow the mobile devices to consume the digital media and/or to connect to a multimedia rendezvous point for the digital media via the rendezvous identification. The mobile devices connected to the multimedia rendezvous point may connect to each other for transmitting communications during consumption and/or viewing of the digital media. As a result, users of the mobile devices may share an experience of consuming and/or of viewing the digital media via the communications as the mobile devices may be consuming and/or may be viewing the digital media.
The multimedia rendezvous point may have one or more subgroups which may be based on attributes of the users of the mobile devices, the mobile devices, the digital media, the experience of the digital media and/or the like. The users of the mobile devices may select to join, may be invited to join and/or may be assigned to one or more subgroups within the multimedia rendezvous point for communicating with members of the subgroup during consumption of the digital media. A user of a mobile device may create a private rendezvous identification for accessing and/or for identifying a private rendezvous point and/or a private subgroup of the rendezvous point.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts,
The systems 10, 100 may have a first server 16a which may be connected to and/or may be accessed by the first network 18. As shown in
In an embodiment, the networks 18, 20 may be a fixed network, such as, for example, a cabled network, a permanent network and/or the like. In an embodiment, the networks 18, 20 may be a temporary network, such as, for example, a modem network, a null modem network and/or the like. In an embodiment, the networks 18, 20 may be, for example, a personal area network, a local area network, a campus area network, a metropolitan area network, a wide area network and/or the like. In an embodiment, the networks 18, 20 may be a wireless network, such as, for example, a wireless metropolitan area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network, a global standard network, a personal communication system network, a pager-based service network, a general packet radio service, a universal mobile telephone service network, a radio access network and/or the like. The present invention should not be limited to a specific embodiment of the networks 18, 20. It should be understood that the networks 18, 20 may be any network capable of transferring and/or of transmitting multimedia and/or digital media 26 as known to one having ordinary skill in the art.
The systems 10, 100 may have a database 22 which may be connected to and/or may be accessed by the first server 16a. As a result, the database 22 may be connected to and/or may be accessible from the first network 18 via the first server 16a. A content provider 24 may be connected to and/or may be accessible by the first server 16a. As a result, the content provider 24 may be connected to and/or may be accessible from the first network 18 via the first server 16a. The content provider 24 may be, for example, an electronic source providing program information of the digital media 26 stored within the database 22. In an embodiment, the content provider may be, for example, a broadcaster, a third party content website, an electronic fee from a periodical and/or a medium which may provide the program information to subscribers. The devices 12a-12c may be connected to, may access and/or may be in communication with the database 22 and/or the content provider 24 via the first server 16a and/or the first network 18. As a result, the users 14a-14c may access and/or may be in communication with the database 22 and/or the content server 24 via the first server 16a, the first network 18 and/or the devices 12a-12c, respectively.
The database 22 and/or the content server 24 may be local or may be remote with respect to the first server 16a. The second server 16b may be local or may be remote with respect to the first server 16a, the devices 12a-12c, the database 22 and/or the content provider 24 as shown in
In an embodiment, the devices 12a-12c may be a handheld mobile device, for example, a 4G mobile device, a 3G mobile device, an internet protocol (hereinafter “IP”) video cellular telephone, an ALL-IP electronic device, an internet radio receiver, a digital video disc player, a satellite radio receiver, a portable digital audio player, a portable digital video player, an information appliance, a personal communicator, a handheld game console, an ultra-mobile personal computer and/or a personal video recorder. Further, the devices 12a-12c may be a digital media device, such as, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a media player, a game console, a set top box, a gateway, a portable media device, a smart phone, a mobile phone, personal digital assistant and/or the like. In an embodiment, the devices 12a-12c may be, for example, a limited data mobile device, a basic data mobile device or a enhanced data mobile device. The present invention should not be deemed as limited to a specific embodiment of the devices 12a-12c. It should be understood that the devices 12a-12c may be any digital media device and/or any handheld mobile device capable of accessing, of displaying, of rendering and/or of consuming digital media as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The database 22 may have, may contain and/or may store the digital media 26, a list of digital media 28 and/or rendezvous points 30 as shown in
The digital media 26 may be data for the digital media files, a subset of the data for the digital media files or may have a pointer or a uniform resource locator (hereinafter “URL”) to access and/or to obtain the digital media files and/or the digital media 26 from the database 22. For example, the digital media 26 for a live television broadcast may contain data, such as, for example, a date, a time, a length of the digital media file and/or a name. The digital video file and/or the digital media 26 may have a network location to access, to receive, to download and/or to stream the digital media files and/or the digital media 26. The present invention should not be deemed as limited to specific embodiments of the digital media files and/or the digital media 26. It should be understood that the data, the digital media 26 and/or the digital media files may be any data and/or any digital media file, respectively, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art. The present invention should not be deemed as limited to a specific number of digital media files and/or a specific amount of data which may be stored within the database 22 in the systems 10, 100.
The digital media 26 which may be stored in the database 22 may have metadata 32 for the digital media 26. The metadata for the digital media 26 may be, for example, a communication and/or information which may be associated with, may relate to and/or may correspond to the digital media 26, the list of digital media 28 and/or the rendezvous points 30. The metadata 32 may be stored within the database 22 and/or by the content provider 24. The communication and/or the information of the digital media 26 may be, for example, text, a graphic, a URL, a broadcast channel, a comment, a note, a review, a correspondence, a commentary, a message, a notice, a bulletin, a memorandum, and/or the like. It should be understood that the communication and/or the information of the metadata 32 may be any communication and/or any information as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The content provider 24 and/or the first server 16a may have an electronic program guide application 34 (hereinafter “the EPG 34”). In an embodiment, the EPG 34 may be, for example, an interactive program guide application. The EPG 34 may search, may locate, may identify, may navigate, may search and/or may select the digital media 26, the list of digital media 28, the rendezvous points 30 and/or metadata 32 within the database 22. The EPG 34 and/or the metadata 32 may identify and/or may describe information relating to, associated with and/or indicative the digital media 26. The information of the digital media 26 which may be displayed and/or may be accessed via the EPG 34 and/or the metadata 32 may be, for example, a title, a name of an actor and/or a director, a synopsis, a summary, a year of production, a channel name, a program start time, a genre, an artist, a title of an album and/or a track and/or the like. It should be understood that the information which may be displayed and/or may be accessed via the EPG 34 and/or the metadata 32 may be any information as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The digital media 26 stored within the database 22 may have and/or may be associated with a rendezvous point 36 which may correspond to the digital media 26. The rendezvous point 36 for each digital media may be assigned to each digital media 26 and/or may be stored within the database 22. The rendezvous point 36 may be assigned, may be identified by, may be associated with a rendezvous identification 38 (hereinafter “the RID 38”). The servers 16a, 16b and/or the content provider 24 may assign the RID 38 to the rendezvous point 36. In an embodiment, the RID 38 for the rendezvous point 36 may be an online location, such as, for example, an internet address, a uniform resource identifier, a uniform resource locator, a alphanumeric code, a session initiation protocol and/or the like. The RID 38 may be accessed and/or may be indicative of the online location of the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26. The present invention should not be deemed a limited to a specific embodiment of the online location of the RID 38.
The RID 38 of the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 may be embedded into, may be inserted into and/or may be located within the metadata 32 of the digital media 26 as shown in
In an embodiment, the devices 12a-12c may be programmed with software which may read and/or may decode the metadata 32 for the digital media 26 received from the first server 16a via the EPG 34 over the first network 18. The devices 12a-12c may transmit, may communicate and/or may send a portion of the metadata 32 for the digital media 26 to the second server 16b via the networks 18, 20 as shown in
The devices 12a-12c may be remotely connected to the first server 16a, the database 22 and/or the content provider 24 via the first network 18. The devices 12a-12c may access, may identify and/or may render the list of digital media 28, the metadata 32 and/or the rendezvous points 30 to the users 14a-14c, respectively, via the EPG 34 and/or the first network 18. The users 14a-14c may view the EPG 34 to determine and/or to identify the digital media 26, the metadata 32 of the digital media 26, the list of digital media 28 and/or the rendezvous points 30 via the devices 14a-14c. The users 14a-14c may select and/or may identify the digital media 26 and/or the metadata 32 of the digital media 26 from the list of digital media 28 with the EPG 34 via the devices 12a-12c, respectively.
The first server 16a and/or the content provider 24 may broadcast, may stream, may transfer and/or may transmit the digital media 26 and/or the metadata 32 of the digital media 26 to the devices 12a-12c via the first network 18. The devices 12a-12c may receive the RID 38 of the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 from the first server 16a or the second server 16b via the networks 18, 20. As a result, the devices 12a-12c may locate and/or may identify the online location of the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 from the RID 38. The devices 12a-12c may initiate and/or may begin viewing, consuming and/or rendering of the digital media 26 as shown at step 310.
An on-screen notification may be displayed by the devices 12a-12c to the users 14a-14c, respectively, to invite the users 14a-14c to join and/or to access the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26. As a result, the users 14a-14c may be notified by the on-screen notification that the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 may be accessed by the devices 12a-12c, respectively, during consumption of and/or viewing of the digital media 26 as shown at step 312. The on-screen notification may be, for example, a pop-up window, a pop-under window, a transparent overlay and/or the like. In an embodiment, the on-screen notification may be displayed by the devices 12a-12c prior to consumption of the digital media 26 by the devices 12a-12c. In an embodiment, the on-screen notification may be displayed adjacent to, on top and/or underneath the digital media 26 on the display (not shown in the drawings) of the devices 12a-12c. It should be understood that the on-screen notification may be any on-screen notification which may be displayed by the devices 12a-12c as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The users 14a-14c may select and/or may choose to join and/or to access the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 via the on-screen notification, the EPG 34 and/or the devices 12a-12c, respectively. As a result, the devices 12a-12c may access and/or may identify the RID 38 of the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 to access and/or to connect to the rendezvous point 36 via the networks 18, 20 as shown at step 314. The devices 12a-12c may connect to the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 via the networks 18, 20 without disconnecting the devices 12a-12c from the first server 16a as shown at step 316. Moreover, the devices 12a-12c may connect to the rendezvous point 36 without disrupting a viewing, a consuming and/or a rendering of the digital media 26 by the devices 12a-12c. The present invention should not be deemed as limited to a specific number of users and/or devices which may access and/or may consume the digital media 26 and/or which may join and/or may access the rendezvous point 36 of the digital media 26 in the systems 10; 100.
The digital media 26 may be rendered, may be displayed, may be viewed, may be consumed and/or may be reproduced to the users 14a, 14b via the devices 12a-12c, respectively. The devices 12a-12c may be connected to each other at the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 during consumption of, viewing of and/or rendering of the digital media 26. The users 14a-14c may perceive, may observe and/or may witness an experience of the digital media 26 during consumption of, viewing of and/or rending of the digital media 26 to the users 14a-14c via the devices 12a-12c, respectively. The experience of the digital media 26 by the users 14a-14c may occur and/or may pass with the devices 12a-12c connected to the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26. As a result, the users 14a-14c may share the experience of the digital media 26 via the rendezvous point 36 and/or the devices 12a-12c, respectively.
The users 14a-14c may be connected via the rendezvous point 36 and/or the devices 12a-12c, respectively, during consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 for transmitting communications between the devices 12a-12c. In an embodiment, one of the communications may be, for example, a text communication, a graphical communication, an audio communication, an audiovisual communication, a multimedia communication and/or the like. In an embodiment, the communications may be transmitted between the devices 12a-12c via, for example, text-based technologies, voice-based technologies, session-based technologies, video-based technologies and/or the like. The text-based technologies may be, for example, a short message service, an instant message service, a multimedia messaging service, a mobile instant message service, a mobile electronic mail service, an enhanced messaging service and/or the like. The voice-based technologies may be, for example, a voice-over internet protocol service, an internet telephony service, a broadband telephony service, a peer-to-peer internet telephony service and/or the like. The session-based technologies may be, for example, session initiation protocol service and/or the like. The video-based technologies may be, for example, a real-time two-way video conference and/or the like. It should be understood that the communications between the devices 12a-12c may any type of communications transmittable via the networks 18, 20 as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In an embodiment, the graphical communication, may be, for example, visual icons which may indicate and/or may identify feelings, emoticons, avatars, reactions and/or ratings which may relate to, may describe and/or may be indicative of the experience of consuming and/or of viewing the digital media 26. The audio communication may be, for example, a real-time voice, voice messages and/or sound effects. The audiovisual communication or a multimedia communication may be a video conference which may contain one or more of the above-identified communications. The communications may be integrated, may be presented and/or may be stored as part of or an enhancement to consumption of and/or viewing of the digital media 26 via the devices 12a-12c. The users 14a-14c may access, may review, may revise and/or may replay the communications associated with and/or corresponding to the experience of the digital media 26 at a time period after or in a future with respect to the experience of consuming and/or of viewing the digital media 26.
Communications may be transmitted to and/or may be sent between the devices 12a-12c via the rendezvous point 36 over the networks 18, 20 during consumption of and/or viewing of the digital media 26 as shown at step 318. As a result, the users 14a-14c may transmit, may receive, may view and may display the communications via the devices 12a-12c, respectively during consumption of and/or viewing of the digital media 26. Each communication may relate to, may be associated with and/or may correspond to the experience of consuming and/or viewing the digital media 26 by the users 14a-14c via the devices 12a-12c. As a result, the users 14a-14c may share the experience of consuming and/or of viewing the digital media 26 via the communications and/or the devices 12a-12c, respectively, during consumption of and/or viewing of the digital media 26.
The metadata 32 of the digital media 26 and/or the digital media 26 may be transmitted to and/or may be received by the devices 12a-12c from the first server 16a over the networks 18, 20 via a standard communication protocol. The communications may be transmitted, may be received and/or may be shared between the devices 12a-12c over the networks 18, 20 via the standard communication protocol. The protocol may be a data networking protocol, such as FTP, HTTP, UDP, TCP, IP, IMAP, IRC, NNTP, POP3, SIP, MMS, SMS, XMPP, MTP, SMTP, SNMP, SSH and/or the like. The present invention should not be limited to a specific embodiment of a data networking protocol.
As illustrated in
The subgroup 40 may be defined by, may be based on, may correspond to and/or may identify an attribute of at least one of the users 14a-14c, of at least one of the devices 12a-12c, of the digital media 26 and/or of the content provider 24. The attribute of the users 12a-12c may relate to, may be based on and/or may be associated with, for example, biographical information, a personal preference, a personal interest, a social interest, a cultural interest, a religious affiliation, a political affiliation, an educational level, a geographical location, a language, a family orientation, a period of time, a sports team, a music performer, an entertainer, a community value, an age group and/or the like. The attribute of the devices 12a-12c may relate to, may be based on and/or may be associated with, for example, a type of the devices 12a-12c, an operating format of the devices 12a-12c, a displaying capability of the devices 12a-12c and/or the like. The attribute of the digital media 26 may relate to, may be based on and/or may be associated with the experience of consuming and/or viewing the digital media 26, a type of digital media file of the digital media 26, an audiovisual work displayed via the digital media 26 and/or the like. The present invention should not be deemed as limited to a specific embodiment of the interest and/or the attribute of the users 14a-14c, of the devices 12a-12c and/or of the digital media 26 for the subgroup 40.
The users 14a-14c may select to access, to consume and/or to view the digital media 26 from the list of digital media 28 which may be displayed on the devices 12a-12c, respectively, via the EPG 34 and/or the graphical user interface of the EPG 34. The devices 12a-12c may access, may obtain and/or may identify the RID 38 for the rendezvous point 36 of the digital media 26 via the metadata 32 of the digital media 26 and/or the second server 16b. The devices 12a-12c may initiate and/or may begin consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 via the first server 16a and/or the networks 18, 20.
The on-screen notification may notify and/or may indicate to the users 14a-14c that the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 may be accessed by the devices 12a-12c, respectively, during consumption of and/or viewing of the digital media 26. The users 14a-14c may select and/or may choose to join and/or to access the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 via the on-screen notification, the EPG 34 and/or the devices 12a-12c, respectively. As a result, the devices 12a-12c may access the RID 38 of the rendezvous point 36 and/or may connect to the rendezvous point 36 via the networks 18, 20 without disconnecting the devices 12a-12c from the first server 16a as shown at step 404.
The on-screen notification may notify and/or may indicate to the users 14a-14c that the subgroup 40 of the rendezvous point 36 and/or the RIP 38 may be accessed by the devices 12a-12c, respectively, during the consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26. The on-screen notification displayed by the devices 12a-12c may identify that the subgroup 40 may be based on, may be associated with and/or may correspond to the attribute of the users 12a-12c, of the device 14a-14c, of the digital media 26 and/or the content provider 24. The users 14a-14c may identify the attribute of the subgroup 40 to determine whether to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26. The attributes of the subgroup 40 may be similar to, may match and/or may resemble the attributes of the users 12a-12c. As a result, one or more of the users 12a-12c may select to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 via the RID 38 during consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 as shown at step 406. Alternatively, one or more of users the 14a-14c may determine not to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 based on the attributes of the subgroup 40.
For example, the users 14a-14c may have selected to consume and/or to view the digital media 26 which may be a political debate. The users 14a, 14b may be members of a first political party which may be participating in the political debate. The third user 14c may be a member of a second political party which may be participating in the political debate. The subgroup 40 may be identified with and/or may correspond to the first political party participating in the debate. The users 14a, 14b may select to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during the political debate based on the attribute that the subgroup 40 associated with the first political party. The third 14c user may select not to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during political debate based on the attribute that the subgroup 40 is associated with the first political party.
In another example, the users 14a-14c may have selected to consume and/or to view the digital media 26 which may be a sporting event. The users 14a, 14b may be supporters of a first team which may be participating in the sporting event. The third user 14c may be a supporter of a second team which may be participating in the sporting event. The subgroup 40 may be identified with and/or have the attribute which may be associated with the first team participating in the sporting event. The users 14a, 14b may select to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during the sporting event based on the attribute that the subgroup 40 associated with the first team. The third user may select not to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during sporting event based on the attribute that the subgroup 40 is associated with the first team.
In an embodiment, one or more devices 12a-12c may be assigned to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 based on the attribute of the users 14a-14c, of the subgroup 40, of the digital media 26 and/or of the devices 12a-12c as shown at step 408. The devices 12a-12c, the users 14a-14c, the server 16a, 16b, the RID 38 and/or the content provider may assign one or more of the devices to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 during consumption of the digital media 26. For example, the devices 12a, 12b may be located within a first region and the third devices 12c may be located within a second region. As a result, the servers 16a, 16b, the content provider 24, the RID 38 and/or the devices 12a-12c may assign the devices 12a, 12b to the subgroup 40 based on the attribute that the subgroup 40 may be associated with the first region. In another example, the users 14a-14c may be within an age group and the subgroup 40 may be associated with the age group. As a result, the servers 16a, 16b, the content provider 24, the RID 38 and/or the devices 12a-12c may assign the devices 12a-12c of the users 14a-14c, respectively, to the subgroup 40.
In an embodiment, one or more of the users 14a-14c may create the subgroup 40 and/or the RID 38 for inviting one or more of the devices 12a-12c to join the subgroup 40 during consumption of the digital media 26 as shown at step 410. The RID 38 may identify, may describe and/or may be indicative of the subgroup 40 and/or the attribute of the subgroup 40. The subgroup 40 which may be created by one of the users 12a-12c may be private and/or may be access by invitations. One or more of the users 12a-12c may receive an invitation by the online notification to join the subgroup 40 after initiating consumption of the digital media 26 via the systems 10, 100. The users 12a-12c which may receive the invitation may accept or may reject joining and/or accessing the subgroup 40 during the consumption of the digital media 26.
For example, the users 14a, 14b may be members of an affiliation, such as, for example, a family, a network of friends, a social club, a fraternity, an organization and/or the like. The first user 14a may create the subgroup 40 with the RID 38 which may have the attribute of being associated with the affiliation. The first users 14a may invite the second user 14b to join the subgroup 40 during consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 via the RID 38 of the digital media 32. After initiating consumption of the digital media 26 and connecting to the rendezvous point 36 via the RID 38, the second device 12b may display the invitation from the first user 12a to join the subgroup 40 during consumption of the digital media 26. The second user 14b may select to join or to not join the subgroup 40 with the first user 14a via the second device 12b.
The devices 12a, 12b may be connected to the rendezvous point 36 for the digital media 26 during the consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 via the RID 38. The users 14a, 14b may select to join and/or to access the subgroup 40 based on the attribute of the subgroup 40 for communicating during consumption of the digital media 26. As a result, the devices 12a, 12b may be connected within the subgroup 40 for communicating during the consumption of the digital media as shown in step 412. The devices 12a, 12b may be connected within the subgroup 40 without disrupting a viewing, a consuming and/or a rendering of the digital media 26 by the devices 12a, 12b. The users 14a, 14b may transmit communications via the devices 12a, 12b, respectively, during the consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26. The communications transmitted between the devices 1, 12b may be related to, may describe, may be indicative of and/or may be associated with the experience of consuming the digital media 26. As a result, the users 14a, 14b may share the experience of the digital media 26 via the devices 12a, 12b which may be connected within the subgroup 40. The advertising media may be displayed to, may be consumed by and/or may be experienced by the users 14a-14c prior to, during and/or after consumption and/or viewing of the digital media via the device 12a-12c, respectively.
The database 22 may store advertising media for transmitting to the devices 12a-12c at the rendezvous point 36 and/or within the subgroup 40 via the networks 18, 20. The first server 16a may transmit the advertising media to one or more of the devices 12a-12c which may have received a RID 26 of the digital media 26. In an embodiment, the content provider 24 may transmit the advertising media to the devices 12a-12c at the rendezvous point 36 and/or within the subgroup 40 via the networks 18, 20. In an embodiment, the digital media 26 may contain the advertising media which may be transmitted to the devices 12a-12c at the rendezvous point 36 and/or within the subgroup 40 via the networks 18, 20. The advertising media which may be received by the devices 12a-12c may be based on and/or may be indicative of the attribute of the devices 12a-12c, of the users 14a-14c, of the digital media 26 and/or of the subgroup 40. The advertising media may be displayed to and/or may be experienced by the users 14a-14c prior to, during and/or after consumption and/or viewing of the digital media 26 via the device 12a-12c, respectively, as shown at step 414.
The advertising media may relate to, may be associated with and/or may correspond to the media provider (not shown in the figures). The advertising media may be, for example, a commercial, an advertisement, an audio transmission, a video, an interview, a commentary, a documentary and/or the like. In an embodiment, the advertising media may relate to, may be associated with and/or may correspond to an entity, such as, for example, a corporate entity, a marketing agency, a media distributor, a consumer products producer, an advertising agency, a manufacturer, a government agency, a travel corporation, an entertainment corporation and/or the like. The present invention should not be limited to a specific embodiment of the entity associated with the advertising media. It should be understood that the advertising media may be any type of advertising media as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
After the digital media 26 is consumed by the devices 12a-12c, the rendezvous point 36 and/or the RID 38 may remain permanently or temporarily accessible by the devices 12a-12c. The rendezvous point 36 and/or the RID 38 may be operate as an online bulletin board system to facilitate and/or to allow discussions related to and/or associated to the digital media 26, the communications between the devices 12a-12c during consumption of the digital media 26 and/or users 14a-14c. The online bulletin board system may provide an online forum and/or a message board for the users 14a-14c to transmit and/or to post communications, messages and/or data. The communications associated with and/or relating to the experience of consuming the digital media 26 by the users 14a-14c may be accessed and/or may be viewed by the devices 12a-12c, respectively, via the online bulletin board, the rendezvous point 36 and/or the RID 38.
The systems 10, 100 and the methods 300, 400 may create the rendezvous points 30 for the devices 12a-12c. The users 14a-14c may access the first server 16a and/or the content provider 24 to view and/or to access the list of digital media 28 and/or the rendezvous points 30 for the digital media 28 via the devices 14a-14c, respectively. The users 14a-14c may select the digital media 26 from the list of digital media 28 via the devices 12a-12c, respectively. The first server 16a and/or the content provider 24 may transmit the digital media 26 and/or the RID 38 for the rendezvous point 36 of the digital media 26 to the devices 12a-12c. The devices 12a-12c may access the digital media 26 and/or the RID 38 for the rendezvous point 36 via the servers 16a, 16b and/or the networks 18, 20. The devices 12a-12c may connect to the rendezvous point 36 via the networks 18, 20 and/or the RID 38 of the digital media 26 for communicating during consumption of the digital media 26 by the devices 12a-12c. The devices 12a-12c may connect to and/or may communicate with each other at the rendezvous point 36 without disrupting consumption of the digital media 26. The users 14a-14c of the devices 12a-12c, respectively, may share an experience of consuming by transmitting the communications between the devices 12a-12c at the rendezvous point 36 during consumption of the digital media 26. The rendezvous point 36 may have a subgroup 40 which may relate to the attribute of the users 14a-14c, the devices 12a-12c, the digital media 26 and/or the experience of the digital media 26.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is, therefore, intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/851,355 filed Oct. 12, 2006.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60851355 | Oct 2006 | US |