Systems and methods for providing a similar offline viewing experience of online web-site content

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, an intelligent delivery system (IDS) delivers offline content on a client that provides a user experience similar to corresponding content accessed via a network, such as content experienced by a user visiting a web-site on the Internet. Through a background delivery process, the IDS transparently provides offline content automatically to the client. A user may display online content via a browser the first time visiting a content provider, such as a web-site, and from thereafter, the IDS automatically provides a second application to display offline content downloaded from the content provider. The user interface provided by the offline content stored on the client has a substantially similar appearance and behavior to the user interface presented by the online content. Using the second application locally on the client, the user displays and experiences offline content substantially similar to and corresponding to portions of the online content communicated via the Internet. For example, the user may display in the second application a high-definition video from storage of the client in a user interface that is substantially similar to the user interface of the web-site for streaming video.

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 providing a user experience of content accessed on a client similar to corresponding content accessed via a network, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing, by a client, a first user interface having at least a portion communicated via a network;(b) displaying, by the first user interface, a first set of one or more user interface elements displaying a video media communicated via the network, the first set of one or more user interface elements having an appearance and a behavior;(c) displaying, by the client, a second user interface provided via content stored in a storage of the client, the second user interface having a second set of one or more user interface elements corresponding and substantially similar to the appearance and behavior of the first set of one or more user interface elements of the first user interface; and(d) displaying, by the second user interface via the second set of one or more user interface elements, the video media from the content stored in the storage of the client.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising displaying, by a browser, the first user interface, the browser in communication via the network with a server.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising displaying, by an application on the client, the second user interface, the application obtaining content for the second user interface from the storage of the client instead of via the network.

4. The method of claim 3, comprising, displaying by the application, for the second user interface at least one user interface element communicated via the network.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising displaying the second user interface instead of the first user interface in response to a request by a user via an element of the first user interface.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising displaying the second user interface in response to detecting the client is not connected to the network.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising while displaying the first user interface, automatically downloading from a content source the content comprising the video media and the second user interface.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising automatically downloading the content as a background process transparent to the user.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising downloading the video media to the storage of the client as a background process transparent to the user while the first user interface displays the video media on the client communicated via the network.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising selecting, by the user, an element of the first user interface to display the video media in a higher definition of video quality, and invoking, by the first user interface, the second user interface to display the video media from the storage on the client, the video media from the storage providing the higher definition of video quality.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the video media stored in the storage of the client comprises a desired video characteristic not provided by the video media communicated via the network.

12. The method of claim 11, 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.

13. A client providing a user experience of content accessed on the client similar to corresponding content accessed via a network, the client comprising: a first user interface having at least a portion communicated via a network, the first user interface providing a first set of one or more user interface elements displaying a video media communicated via the network, the first set of one or more user interface elements having an appearance and a behavior;a second user interface provided via content stored in a storage of the client, the second user interface having a second set of one or more user interface elements corresponding and substantially similar to the appearance and behavior of the first set of one or more user interface elements of the first user interface; andwherein the second user interface displays via the second set of one or more user interface elements the video media from the content stored in the storage of the client.

14. The client of claim 13, comprising a browser displaying the first user interface, the browser in communication via the network with a server.

15. The client of claim 13, comprising an application displaying the second user interface, the application obtaining content for the second user interface from the storage of the client instead of via the network.

16. The client of claim 15, wherein the application displays for the second user interface at least one user interface element communicated via the network.

17. The client of claim 13, wherein the second user interface is displayed instead of the first user interface in response to a request by a user via an element of the first user interface.

18. The client of claim 13, wherein the second user interface is displayed in response to detecting the client is not connected to the network.

19. The client of claim 13, comprising, while displaying the first user interface, a download manager automatically downloading from a content source the content comprising the video media and the second user interface.

20. The client of claim 19, comprising automatically downloading the content as a background process transparent to the user.

21. The client of claim 13, comprising a download manager downloading the video media to the storage of the client as a background process transparent to the user while the first user interface displays the video media on the client communicated via the network.

22. The client of claim 13, wherein the first user interface comprises an element selectable, by the user to display the video media in a higher definition of video quality, and in response to a selection of the element, the first user interface invokes the second user interface to display the video media from the storage on the client, the video media from the storage providing the higher definition of video quality.

23. The client of claim 13, wherein the video media stored in the storage of the client comprises a desired video characteristic not provided by the video media communicated via the network.

24. The client of claim 23, 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.