Claims
- 1. An interactive media-on-demand system, comprising:
a plurality of user equipment that are each configured to present media-on-demand programming delivered from a remote media-on-demand server, configured to allow a user to request to freeze delivery of a media-on-demand program, and configured to allow the user to request to have the delivery resumed from the point at which the delivery was frozen; and the remote media-on-demand server being configured to deliver media-on-demand programming to each of the plurality of user equipment, configured to freeze the delivery of the media-on-demand program when the remote media-on-demand server receives a request to freeze delivery from a first one of the plurality of user equipment, and configured to resume the delivery to a second one of the plurality of user equipment when a request to resume delivery is received from the second user equipment.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote media-on-demand server includes user-allocated storage space partitioned for different users to store user-specific data.
- 3. The system of claim 1 wherein at least the first one of the user equipment is configured to display a relocate option in a display screen to allow the user to request to freeze the delivery of the media-on-demand program.
- 4. The system of claim 1 wherein at least the second one of the user equipment is configured to display an option in a display screen to allow the user to request to have the delivery resumed.
- 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote media-on-demand server saves a current position of the media-on-demand program when the request to freeze delivery is received from the first one of the user equipment.
- 6. The system of claim 5 wherein the media-on demand program is resumed on the second one of the user equipment when the remote server retrieves the current position and plays the media-on-demand program on the second one of the user equipment starting from the current position.
- 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote media-on-demand server begins recording the media-on-demand program when the request to freeze delivery is received from the first user equipment.
- 8. The system of claim 7 wherein the media-on-demand presentation is resumed on the second user equipment when the remote media-on-delivery server retrieves the beginning of the recorded media-on-demand program and plays the media-on-demand program from the beginning of the recorded media-on-demand program on the second user equipment.
- 9. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote media-on-demand server and the plurality of user equipment are configured to provide the user with an opportunity to log into the system from the plurality of user equipment.
- 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the first one of the user equipment is configured to display a display screen that includes a login option to provide the user with an opportunity to login and be permitted to request to freeze the delivery.
- 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the second one of the user equipment is configured to allow the user to request to resume delivery when the user has logged into the system.
- 12. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote media-on-demand server and the plurality of user equipment are configured to provide the user with an opportunity to log out of the system from the plurality of user equipment.
- 13. The system of claim 12 wherein the first one of the a user equipment is configured to display a logout option to provide the user with an opportunity to log out of the system.
- 14. The system of claim 13 wherein the first one of the user equipment is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to request to freeze delivery is provided in response to the logout option being selected.
- 15. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote media-on-demand server and the first one of the user equipment are configured to provide the user with an opportunity to upload that user's personal media from the first one of the user equipment to the remote media-on-demand server.
- 16. The system of claim 1 wherein remote media-on-demand server is configured to save the point at which the media-on-demand program was frozen to the a user-specific storage space on the remote media-on-demand server.
- 17. The system of claim 1 wherein the request to freeze delivery saves the point at which the media-on-demand program was frozen on the user-allocated storage space on the remote media-on-demand server.
- 18. A method, comprising:
presenting a media-on-demand program on a first user equipment; freezing the presentation of the media-on-demand program upon a request to freeze delivery from the user from the first user equipment; providing users with an opportunity to log into the system through a second user equipment; resuming the presentation of the media-on-demand program upon a request to resume delivery from the second user equipment; and providing a remote media-on-demand server that can communicate with the first and second user equipment; and
- 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising storing user-specific data in user-allocated storage space partitioned for different users in the remote media-on-demand server.
- 20. The method of claim 18 further comprising displaying a relocate option in a display screen on the first user equipment to allow the user to request to freeze the delivery of the media-on-demand program.
- 21. The method of claim 18 further comprising displaying an option in a display screen on the second user equipment to provide an opportunity for the request to resume delivery.
- 22. The method of claim 18 further comprising saving a current position of the media-on-demand program on the remote media-on-demand server when the request to freeze delivery is received.
- 23. The method of claim 18 wherein the resuming comprises:
retrieving the current position at the remote media-on-demand server; and playing the media-on-demand program from the current position on the second user equipment.
- 24. The method of claim 18 further comprising recoding the media-on-demand program on the remote media-on-demand server when the request to freeze delivery is received from the first user equipment.
- 25. The method of claim 18 wherein the resuming comprises:
retrieving the beginning of the recorded media-on-demand program; and playing the media-on-demand program from the beginning of the recorded media-on-demand program on the second user equipment.
- 26. The method of claim 18 wherein the providing users comprises providing the user with an opportunity to enter personal identification information.
- 27. The method of claim 26 further comprising identifying the user based on the personal identification information.
- 28. The method of claim 26 further comprising providing the user with an opportunity to request to resume delivery when the user has logged into the system.
- 29. The method of claim 18 further comprising providing the user with an opportunity to log out of the system from the first user equipment.
- 30. The method of claim 29 wherein the providing the user with an opportunity to log out comprises displaying a display screen that includes a logout option.
- 31. The method of claim 30 further comprising providing the request to freeze delivery to the user in response to the logout option being selected.
- 32. The method of claim 18 further comprising providing the user with an opportunity to upload that user's personal media from the first user equipment to the remote media-on-demand server.
- 33. The method of claim 18 further comprising saving the point at which the media-on-demand program was frozen in user-specific data on the remote media server when the request to freeze delivery is received by the remote media-on-demand server.
- 34. A system comprising:
a plurality of user equipment, each being configured to present video and being configured to upload user-specific media to a video-on-demand server and each user equipment comprising a storage device; and the video-on-demand server being in a client-server relationship with the plurality of user equipment and being configured for on-demand delivery of media including video for presentation on one or more of the user equipment, and wherein some of the media or on-demand delivery includes user-specific media that was uploaded to the video-on-demand server from at least one of the user equipment.
- 35. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to retrieve user-specific media from the Internet for upload to the video-on-demand server.
- 36. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to retrieve the user-specific media from the storage device for upload to the video-on-demand server.
- 37. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to display an upload option in a display screen.
- 38. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to assign access rights to user-specific media that has been uploaded to the video-on-demand server.
- 39. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to assign access rights for user-specific media to be public access rights.
- 40. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to select which users will have access rights to user-specific media that has been uploaded by that user.
- 41. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to upload and the video-on-demand server is configured to store for presentation user-specific media that is a photograph.
- 42. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to upload and the video-on-demand server is configured to store for presentation user-specific media that is an audio recording.
- 43. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to upload and the video-on-demand server is configured to store for presentation user-specific media that is a video.
- 44. The system of claim 34 wherein the user equipment is configured to upload and the video-on-demand server is configured to store for presentation user-specific media that is graphics.
- 45. A method comprising:
providing a plurality of user equipment, each being configured to present video and configured to upload user-specific media to a video-on-demand server and each comprising a storage device; providing the video-on-demand server that is in a client-server relationship with the plurality of user equipment and that is configured for on-demand delivery of media including video to one or more of the user equipment; uploading some of the media to the video-on-demand server from at least one of the user equipment; and presenting the user-specific media on at least one of the user equipment.
- 46. The method of claim 45 further comprising retrieving user-specific media from the Internet for upload to the video-on-demand server.
- 47. The method of claim 45 further comprising retrieving the user-specific media from the storage device for upload to the video-on-demand server.
- 48. The method of claim 45 further comprising displaying an upload option in a display screen.
- 49. The method of claim 45 further comprising providing the user with an opportunity to assign access rights to user-specific media that has been uploaded to the video-on-demand server.
- 50. The method of claim 45 further comprising providing the user with an opportunity to assign access rights for user-specific media to be public access rights.
- 51. The method of claim 45 further comprising providing the user with an opportunity to select which users will have access rights to user-specific media that has been uploaded by that user.
- 52. The method of claim 45 further comprising uploading user-specific media that is a photograph.
- 53. The method of claim 45 further comprising uploading user-specific media that is a an audio recording.
- 54. The method of claim 45 further comprising uploading user-specific media that is a video.
- 55. The method of claim 45 further comprising uploading user-specific media that is a graphics.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/239,407 filed Oct. 11, 2000, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/252,171 filed Nov. 20, 2000, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/270,351, filed Feb. 21, 2001 which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Provisional Applications (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60239407 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
|
60252171 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
|
60270351 |
Feb 2001 |
US |