Systems and methods for a single development tool of unified online and offline content providing a similar viewing experience

Abstract

The present invention provides a comprehensive development platform and client-side technology for intelligent and cost-effective delivery of video, audio and broadband content over a network, such as the Internet, to desktop, mobile computing, and network connected devices. In one embodiment of the present invention, a content development environment provides a single tool for developing unified online and offline content. With the content development tool, the user interface of the offline content has a substantially similar appearance and behavior to the user interface presented by the online content. As such, the user interface for the both the online and offline content may be generated from a single user interface design. The content development tool generates and publishes a set of online content files and a set of offline content files from the single design. In some embodiments, the offline content is published to a web-site of a content provider as a download package to be automatically downloaded for local use by a client using other techniques of the present invention. In some cases, the content development tool automatically creates and configures a mechanism in the online content to download the corresponding and substantially similar offline content to the client. As such, a content provider may use a single development tool to create a consistent and desired user experience, including branding and interactive content, for both online and offline content.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent and may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams of embodiments of a computing device for practicing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an embodiment of an intelligent delivery client system;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of an illustrative network environment for practicing an embodiment of the intelligent delivery client system;

FIG. 3A is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of content structure for source content;

FIG. 3B is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of content structure for local content;

FIG. 3C is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of content structure in using a download order to download from the source content to the local content;

FIG. 3D is another diagrammatic view of another embodiment of content structure to download from the source content to the local;

FIG. 3E is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of content structure in using temporary directory structure with a download order to download from the source content to the local content;

FIG. 3F is a flow diagram of steps performed in practicing an embodiment of downloading content with download orders;

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of local content structure updated according to an embodiment of the flipping technique depicted in FIG. 4B;

FIG. 4B is a flow diagram of steps performed for practicing an embodiment of a flipping technique;

FIG. 5A is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of a hashing and virtual file system of local content structure;

FIG. 5B is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of a hashing and virtual file system of local content structure;

FIG. 5C is a diagrammatic view of yet another embodiment of a hashing and virtual file system of local content structure;

FIG. 5D is a flow diagram of steps performed in practicing an embodiment of caching and virtual file system content storing techniques;

FIG. 5E is a flow diagram of an embodiment of steps performed in accessing content stored via the illustrative caching and virtual file system related techniques of FIG. 5D;

FIG. 6A is a block diagram view of an embodiment for storing downloaded content using a shuffle storage technique;

FIG. 6B is a diagrammatic view of embodiments of various shuffle storage technique examples;

FIG. 6C is a flow diagram of example steps performed in practicing an embodiment of the shuffle storage technique in view of FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B;

FIG. 7A is a block diagram view of another embodiment for downloading and storing content from multiple servers;

FIG. 7B is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing an embodiment of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading technique in view of FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8A is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of downloading according to a delivery behavior;

FIG. 8B is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of a phased delivery behavior;

FIG. 8C is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing one or more download behavior techniques in view of FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B;

FIG. 9A is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of the intelligent client delivery system providing a user interface and user experience via online content;

FIG. 9B is an example embodiment of the user interface and user experience of the online content depicted diagrammatically in FIG. 9A;

FIG. 9C is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of the intelligent client delivery system for providing a user interface and user experience via offline content;

FIG. 9D is an example embodiment of the user interface and user experience of the offline content depicted diagrammatically in FIG. 9A;

FIG. 9E is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of providing offline access to online content;

FIG. 9F is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of providing a user a similar offline experience as the online user experience;

FIG. 10A is a block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligent client delivery system for providing a content development environment;

FIG. 10B is an embodiment of the user interface of the designer tool of the content development environment;

FIG. 10C is another embodiment of the user interface of the designer tool of the content development environment;

FIG. 10D is an embodiment of the user interface of the editor tool of the content development environment;

FIG. 10E is another embodiment of the user interface of the editor tool of the content development environment;

FIG. 10F is an embodiment of the user interface of a content download selector mechanism;

FIG. 10G is another embodiment of the user interface of a content download selector mechanism;

FIG. 10H is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of providing offline and online content from a single content development tool;

FIG. 11A is a block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligent client delivery system for providing authentication and authorization of users for access to content;

FIG. 11B is a block diagram of an embodiment of a media player for providing authentication and authorization of users for access to content;

FIG. 11C is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of providing authenticated and authorized access to media files;

FIG. 12A is a block diagram of an embodiment of a networked environment for practicing synchronization techniques;

FIG. 12B is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of synchronizing transmission of streaming media for a user;

FIG. 12C is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of synchronizing playing downloaded media for a user;

FIG. 12D is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of synchronizing content between devices of a user;

FIG. 13A is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of requesting from one computing device a download to another computing device; and

FIG. 13B is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method performed in practicing a technique of changing the download from one computing device to another computing device.

Claims

1. A method for creating online and offline content from a single development environment to provide offline content similar to corresponding online content, the method comprising the steps of: (a) creating, via a content development tool, a first user interface comprising a first set of one or more elements for displaying a video media communicated via a network, the first set of one or more elements having an appearance and behavior;(b) identifying, via the content development tool, an element of the first user interface capable of downloading content comprising the video media from a content source to a storage of a client, the content stored in the storage of the client to provide a second user interface comprising a second set of one or more elements for displaying the video media stored in the storage of the client; and(c) generating, by the content development tool, a first set of files for displaying on the client the first user interface via a browser, and(d) generating, by the content development tool from the first user interface, a second set of files for providing the content to be downloaded to the storage of the client to display the second user interface on the client via an application, the second set of one or more elements of the second user interface of the generated second set of files corresponding and substantially similar to the appearance and behavior of the first set of one or more elements of the first user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the element of the first user interface is capable of invoking the application to display the video media from the storage of the client via the second set of one or more elements.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising configuring the element of the first user interface to display the video media from storage instead of via the network upon selection of the element by a user of the browser.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising configuring the element of the first user interface to invoke the application to display the second user interface from the storage of the client.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising configuring the element of the first user interface to download the content to the storage of the client as a background process transparent to a user of the browser.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising configuring the element of the first user interface to automatically download the content to the storage of the client upon request by the user of the browser to display the video media in a form having a desired video characteristic.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the desired video characteristic comprises one or more of the following: a resolution, an aspect ratio, a size, a quality, a bit per pixel, a compression, a frame rate, and a bit rate.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising configuring the element of the first user interface to automatically download the content to the storage of the client upon displaying of the first user interface in the browser.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising providing the first set of files to a web server.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising providing the second set of files to a content source for download to the client.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising generating the second set of files to display the second user interface to appear as one of related to or a portion of the first user interface.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the video media of the second set of files to be stored in the storage of the client comprises a higher definition of quality than the video media communicated via the network.

13. A content development tool for creating both offline and online content, wherein the offline content corresponds and is similar to the online content, the content development tool comprising: a development user interface for creating a first user interface comprising a first set of one or more elements for displaying a video media communicated via a network, the first set of one or more elements having an appearance and behavior;a configuration mechanism for configuring an element of the first user interface capable of downloading content comprising the video media from a content source to a storage of a client, the content stored in the storage of the client to provide a second user interface comprising a second set of one or more elements for displaying the video media stored in the storage of the client; anda content generator for generating a first set of files for displaying on the client the first user interface via a browser, and from the first user interface, a second set of files for providing the content to be downloaded to the storage of the client to display the second user interface on the client via an application, the second set of one or more elements of the second user interface of the generated second set of files corresponding and substantially similar to the appearance and behavior of the first set of one or more elements of the first user interface.

14. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein the element of the first user interface is capable of invoking the application to display the video media from the storage of the client via the second set of one or more elements.

15. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein a user via the configuration mechanism configures the element of the first user interface to switch to displaying the video media from storage upon selection of the element by a user of the browser.

16. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein a user via the configuration mechanism configures the element of the first user interface to invoke the application to display the second user interface from the storage of the client.

17. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein the element of the first user interface is configured to download the content to the storage of the client as a background process transparent to a user of the browser.

18. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein the element of the first user interface is configured to automatically download the content to the storage of the client upon request by the user of the browser to display the video media in a form having a desired video characteristic.

19. The content development tool of claim 18, wherein the desired video characteristic comprises one or more of the following: a resolution, an aspect ratio, a size, a quality, a bit per pixel, a compression, a frame rate, and a bit rate.

20. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein the element of the first user interface is configured to automatically download the content to the storage of the client upon displaying of the first user interface in the browser.

21. The content development tool of claim 13, comprising a publishing tool to publish the first set of files to a web server.

22. The content development tool of claim 13, comprising a publishing tool to publish the second set of files to a content source for download to the client.

23. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein the element is configured and the second set of files generated to display the second user interface to appear as one of related to or a portion of the first user interface.

24. The content development tool of claim 13, wherein the video media of the second set of files to be stored in the storage of the client comprises a higher definition of quality than the video media communicated via the network.