Patent Application
20080091771
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, an embodiment of the invention includes a portable media player 100 illustrated in
The portable media player 100 shown in
In one embodiment, the profile includes one or more of the following parameters: a tag (e.g., a nickname) of the member, a picture, a favorite genres of media, a media motto, a media strip, a member identifier, a time stamp of last profile change, a favorite media playlist, a most played tracks list, a media preference, a media achievement, a personal playlist, a compatibility indicator, a fan list, an achievement trophy case, a personal history of media consumption, a peer history, a media score of the member based on the media achievements of the member, a presence status (e.g., online, offline, away), mood of the member (e.g. happy, sad), a location of the user (e.g., home, school, work, at a club), events the member has attended or plans to attend, and a count of the number of times a detailed profile associated with the first tag has been viewed. The member has the ability to tune his or her privacy settings to control parameters of the profile from unwanted exposure to other members of media community 300. For example, user interface 114 presents the member with the option of showing one or more of the profile parameters to everyone, just friends, or no one. In an alternative embodiment, the member may select particular identifying information to be included in the media card 102.
The member's profile may be stored at a location associated with the media community 300 along with profiles of other community members. For example, media community 300 operates a server computer (not shown) accessible via a data communication network such as the Internet for storing and publishing the profiles. It is to be understood that the member may manage his or her profile via a personal computer, the portable media player 100, or other computing device connected via the network to the storage location associated with media community 300.
In addition to identifying information, media card 102 includes at least one actionable element 112 that allows the member to interact with the media community 300. In an embodiment, the media card 102 is an object embedded in a memory area 116 of the portable media player 100. Furthermore, the media card 102 may be embedded in a web page, email, phone, gaming console, and PC client. The memory area 116 of the portable media player 100 includes computer storage media in the form of removable and/or non-removable, volatile and/or nonvolatile memory.
According to aspects of the present invention, media card 102 enables media community members to access information relating to one or more favorite media genre elements 206A, 206B, 206C of the member. In one embodiment, the favorite genre elements 206A, 206B, 206C identify music genres such as country, pop, and alternative rock, etc. In another, the favorite genre elements 206A, 206B, 206C include movie genres such as action, drama, and comedy, etc. Alternatively, the favorite genre elements 206A, 206B, 206C include a mix of movie and music genres. In the media card 102, the three favorite genre elements 206A, 206B, 206C are not limiting in any way, and three are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any number of genres for various media types may be identified for the member in media card 102 without deviating from the scope of the present invention.
Referring further to
In one embodiment, the media strip 208 includes references to the favorite media files 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E of the member. In this case, the member designates his or her favorite media files 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E. In another embodiment, the media strip 208 includes the references to a top five list or the like. The references included in the list are the media files 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E most often rendered by the member on the portable media player 100. In this case, the portable media player 100 tracks the number of times a media file is rendered and automatically updates the top five list on a periodic basis (e.g., daily or weekly). In the media card 102, the five media files 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E are not limiting in any way, and five are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any number of references to media files 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E may be included in the media strip 208 without deviating from the scope of the present invention. Advantageously, the tag 202, favorite genres, media motto, and picture elements of media card 102 permit the member to anonymously interact with the media community 300 while maintaining a unique, individualized persona within the media community 300.
One or more of the elements of the media card 102 are actionable. In one embodiment, the actionable element 112 of the media card 102 enables one or more of the following: sending email to the member; sending a media recommendation to the member; sending an instant message to the member; rendering a media file associated with the member; transmitting a media file to the portable media player associated with the member; displaying the status of the member; and viewing a detailed profile of the member. In one embodiment, the picture 204, the tag 202 and media strip 208 are actionable elements. For example, if the picture 204 of the media card 102 is selected, a detailed profile of the member associated with the media card 102 is displayed on the portable media player 100. In another example, if the tag 202 of the media card 102 is selected, an electronic message or instant message is sent to the member associated with the media card 102. And in a third example, if the media strip 208 of the media card 102 is selected, the media files 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E of the media strip 208 are rendered on the portable media player 100. Advantageously, because one or more of elements of the media card 102 are actionable, the member can interact directly with the media community 300 via the portable media player 100, when the media player is connected to the network, without the need of a personal computing device.
Referring again to
By way of example and not limitation, media storage area 104 includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, media files 106A, 106B, 106C, or other data. For example, computer storage media include RAM, ROM, compact flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store the desired information and that may be accessed by portable media player 100.
As described above, the user interface 114 of portable media player 100 may display the friend list 108. In one embodiment, friend list 108 references one or more tags 110A, 110B, 110C of other members of the community. In an alternative embodiment, the friend list 108 references one or more media cards 102 of other members of the media community. By selecting the actionable element 112 of a tag 110A, 110B, 110C from the friend list, one member can directly interact with the other members of the media community 300 via the network. In one embodiment, the actionable element 112 of the media card 102 and tag 110A, 110B, 110C enables one or more of the following: sending email to the member; sending a media recommendation to the member; sending an instant message to the member; rendering a media file associated with the member; transmitting a media file to the portable media player 100 associated with the member; and viewing a detailed profile of the member. In an alternative embodiment, the actionable element 112 of the media card 102 and tag 110A, 10B, 110C displays the status of the associated member. This status information enables a first member to determine one or more of the following regarding a second member: whether the second member is currently using a second portable media player associated with the second member; whether the second member is logged into the media community; the time the second member last logged into the media community; and whether the second member is proximately located to the first member. Although three friend list tags are illustrated for convenience, it is to be understood that the number is merely illustrative and any number of additional tags may be added to the friend list 108 within the constraints of user interface 114. Moreover, one skilled in the art will appreciate that tags 110A, 110B, and 110C may have generally the same, or slightly different, construction as media card 102 without deviating from the scope of the invention.
Additionally, a media achievement 308A,308B,308C may be associated with the profile 302A, 302B, 302C of the member 304A, 304B, 304C if certain conditions, defined by the media community, are met. The purpose of the media achievements 308A, 308B, 308C is to reward members 304A, 304B, 304C for their collections, accomplishments, and participation within the media community 300; encourage members 304A, 304B, 304C to collect media; to give members 304A, 304B, 304C a way to show-off and compare media; to provide conversation starters that bring members 304A, 304B, 304C together; to create greater enjoyment for media community members 304A304A, 304B, 304C; and to encourage members 304A, 304B, 304C to participate in the media community 300, and to generally promote social interaction.
The portable media players 306A, 306B, 306C illustrated in
Referring now to
At 404, the first media card 102 is created from the profile. In one embodiment, the first media card 102 includes an actionable element 112 that enables the first member to interact with the media community 300 via the first portable media player 100. In another embodiment, the first member designates the parameters of the profile included in the first media card 102. Proceeding to 406, the first media card 102 is provided to the first member. In one embodiment, the first media card 102 is an object that is embedded in the memory area 116 of the first portable media player 100. Appendix A contains an exemplary data definition for the first media card 102 according to an embodiment of the invention.
In one embodiment, at 408, the first member creates a friend list. The friend list comprises the media cards 102 of one or more other members of the media community 300. In a first alternative, the friend list comprises the tags 202 of one or more other members. In a second alternative, the friend list includes contacts from other communities, such as gaming communities and instant messaging communities. The first member interacts with the second member of the community via the actionable element 112 of a second media card 102 of the friend list; the second media card 102 is associated with the second member. In an embodiment, the interactions enabled by the actionable element 112 of the second media card 102 include: sending a message to the second member; sending a media recommendation to the second member; transferring media to the second member; and viewing the profile of the second member.
Alternatively, the media community 300 recommends a friend, i.e., the second member, to the first member. The first member may accept or reject a friend recommendation of the second member. The media community 300 recommends the second member to the first member as a function of one or more of the following: a compatibility index of first member; the awards or achievement earned by the first member; and other criteria from profile of first member. The compatibility index is a measure of “sameness” between the first member's media collection and other media community 300 members' media collection. Alternatively, the compatibility index may be generated as a function of first member's preferences, media achievements, or media collection. In an embodiment, the compatibility index is constantly updated as the first member interacts with other members of the media community 300 and the first portable media player 100.
In yet another embodiment, at 408, the first member creates a playlist. The playlist comprises a reference to a media file of the first portable media player 100. The playlist can be created by the first member or through the first member's interactions with the first portable media player 100. For example, in a favorite's playlist, the first member creates a playlist by designating his or her favorite all time media files. But in a top five (or ten, twenty, etc.) playlist, the playlist is automatically populated with the five most rendered media files of the first member for a periodic basis (e.g. daily, weekly, or all time). Furthermore, when a playlist is associated with the first media card 102, the playlist of the first media card 102 is automatically updated as the playlist is updated. For example, suppose on Monday the first member of the media community 300 adds the second media card 102 of the second member to his or her friend list and that a favorite's playlist of the second member is associated with the second media card 102. On Monday, the first member views the favorite's playlist of the second member and sees five songs, A, B, C, D, and E. On Tuesday, the second member deletes song C and adds song F to the favorite's playlist. If the first member views the favorite's playlist of the second media card 102 on Wednesday, the first member will see songs, A, B, D, E and F. In one embodiment, the playlist associated with the second media card 102 is updated when the first member syncs the first portable media player 100 with the media community 300. In another embodiment, the sync can occur via a personal computing device. Alternately, the first portable media player 100 can sync by directly connecting to a network associated with the media community 300.
In another embodiment, playlists enable the first member to interact with the media community 300 by publishing his or her playlists. Once the playlist has been published, other members of the media community 300 can view, download and rate the playlist. In alternative embodiment, the first member earns media achievements by publishing the playlist. Furthermore, the published playlist encourages other media community 300 interactions. For example, other members of the media community 300 may comment on playlist or contact the first member for more information about the media files of the playlist.
At 502, one or more media achievements are defined. In an embodiment, media achievements are awarded based on the following three categories: (1) contributing content to the media community (e.g., media, reviews, comments, testimonials, feedback, bugs, etc.); (2) purchasing content from the media community (e.g. music, movies, TV, specific genres, types, etc.); and (3) interacting with content in the media community (e.g., streaming, sharing, DJing, syncing, playing, mixing, etc.). The media achievements awarded by the media community 300 include one or more of the following: owning a portable media player 100 associated with the media community 300; converting a media library to a format compatible with the media community 300; recommending membership in the media community 300 to another person; authoring one or more media reviews; streaming media to another member of the community; sharing media with another member of the community; hosting a disc jockey session for other members of the media community 300; being a superfan; being a genre aficionado; rating media of the portable media device; being an audiophile; being a moviephile; being a music critic; being a movie critic; distributing media files using a syndication feed; and being a good media community 300 citizen. The media achievements according to an embodiment of the invention are listed and described in Appendix B.
At 504, the member's interactions with the media community 300 are tracked into the profile of the first member. At 506, the media achievement is award as a function of the member's interactions with the media community 300. In a first example, an Audiophile media achievement is awarded to a member who owns a minimum number of music media files. In another example, a member who owns or buys 50 songs is awarded a Music Hobbyist achievement; a member who owns or buys 100 songs is awarded a Music Enthusiasts; a member who owns or buys 250 songs is awarded a Audiophile achievement; and a member who owns or buys 500 songs is awarded a Music is my life achievement.
Dynamic Achievements are media achievements that are associated with a member's profile as long as he or she meets and maintains the criteria of the achievement. For example, suppose a Music Aficionado achievement is awarded to the member 304A, 304B, 304C in
Traveling Cup Achievements are media achievements 308A, 308B, 308C similar to a sporting event where the winner gets to own and display “the cup” until someone else defeats them. In one embodiment, the “cup” goes to the member 304A, 304B, 304C who has the longest listening time/viewing time per time period. Alternatively, the “cup” goes to the member 304A, 304B, 304C who owns the most media files. For example, suppose member 304B currently owns 120 media files, member 304B currently owns 150 media files, and member 304C currently owns 140 media files. The “cup” achievement for owning the most media files will be associated with the profile 302B of member 304B. Now suppose member 304C purchases 11 new media files bringing her total to 151 media files. The “cup” achievement for owning the most media files will no longer be associated with the profile 302B of member 304B and instead will be associated with the profile 302C of member 304C.
Referring further to
The media membership component 602 creates the profile of a member associated with the portable media player 100 in the media community 300. The media card 102 created from the profile and is an object that represents the self-described identity of the member. Furthermore, as described in detail above, the media card 102 includes one or more actionable elements which enable the member to interact with the media community 300. In an embodiment, the media card 102 is provided to the member associated with the profile and embedded in the memory area the portable media player 100.
The interface component 604 enables the member to access the actionable element 112 of a media card 102, to manage the friends list, and to create or share the playlist. The playlist references one of more media files of the portable media player 100 and is associated with the profile of the member. In an embodiment, the playlist is associated with at least one actionable element of the media card 102. For example, in the friend list, the first member associated with a portable player adds the tag 202 of a second member to his or her friend list. The second member has created a playlist and associated it with the tag 202. The actionable element of the tag 202 enables the first member to render the media files referenced in the playlist on the first portable media player 100.
In an alternative embodiment, the interface component is a drag and drop interface such that the first member selects and drags the media file of the first portable media player 100 to the tag 202 of the friend list or the first member selects and drags the tag 202 of the friend list to the media file of the first portable media player 100. In this case, the media file (or a reference to the media file) of the first portable media player 100 is transferred to the portable player associated with the second member associated with the tag 202.
The media achievement component 606 defines a media achievement associated with the member's interactions with the media community 300. The media achievement component 606 also tracks the member's interaction with the media community 300 into the profile associated with the member. Media achievements are awarded to the member as a function of the tracked interactions of the member. Once awarded, the media achievement is associated with the profile of the member. In an alternative embodiment, an actionable element of the media card 102 associated with the profile of the member is enabled to display the media achievements associated with the member.
For purposes of illustration, programs and other executable program components, such as the media membership component 602, the interface component 604, and the media achievement component 606, are illustrated herein as discrete blocks. It is recognized, however, that such programs and components reside at various times in different storage components of the portable media player 100, and are executed by the data processor(s) of the devices.
The order of execution or performance of the operations in embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwise specified. That is, the operations may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and embodiments of the invention may include additional or fewer operations than those disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated that executing or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneously with, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of the invention.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented with computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions may be organized into one or more computer-executable components or modules. Aspects of the invention may be implemented with any number and organization of such components or modules. For example, aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific computer-executable instructions or the specific components or modules illustrated in the figures and described herein. Other embodiments of the invention may include different computer-executable instructions or components having more or less functionality than illustrated and described herein.
When introducing elements of aspects of the invention or the embodiments thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be addition0al elements other than the listed elements.
Having described aspects of the invention in detail, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims. As various changes could be made in the above constructions, products, and methods without departing from the scope of aspects of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Appendix B is a exemplary data definition for a media card according to an embodiment of the invention.
SOAP Definition Name: MediaPictureLarge
SOAP Definition Name: MediaPictureSmall
SOAP DefinitionName:
SOAP Definition Name: MediaStyle1
SOAP Definition Name: MediaStyle2
SOAP Definition Name: MediaStyle3
SOAP Definition Name: MediaStyleString1
SOAP Definition Name: MediaStyleString2
SOAP Definition Name: MediaStyleString3
SOAP Definition Name: Top5Album1
SOAP Definition Name: Top5Album2
SOAP Definition Name: Top5Album3
SOAP Definition Name: Top5Album4
SOAP Definition Name: Top5Album5
SOAP Definition Name: OfflineUserId
SOAP Definition Name: SpecialtyAccountTypes
SOAP Definition Name: Media Motto
SOAP Definition Name: MembershipTier
SOAP Definition Name: Timestamp
SOAP Definition Name: MusicTop20
Size (bytes): 168
Below is a list of media achievements that may be award to members of the media community.
Owner—member own a portable media player of the media community.
Vested Member of media community—Member has converted the media files of the portable media player to a format compatible with the media community.
Member has designated favorite genres.
Member has recommended another user of a portable media player to the media community.
Member wrote a first media review. Further awards for a 10th review, 50th review, 100+ reviews.
Streamer—Member has streamed a media file to another member of the media community.
Member has shared media with another member 50 times. Further awards for sharing 100 times and sharing 500+ times. In another example, the member has shared playlists. For example, a member who has shared 10 public playlists earns Playlist achievement; a member who has shared 25 public playlists earns DJ achievement; a member who has shared 50 public playlists earns Mix Master achievement; and a member who has shared 100+ public playlists earns a Mix Master dlux.
Another achievement is award based on the number of members who have downloaded a playlist of a member. For example, 100 people downloading your playlist earns a ‘People like my playlist’ achievement; 250 people downloading your playlist earns ‘My mixes shake it up’ achievement; 500 people downloading your playlist earns a ‘Yeah I'm a DJ’ achievement; 1000+ people downloading you playlist earns a ‘You can call me Mr. Mix Master Dlx’; and the most downloaded playlist earns a ‘Top Mix Dog’ achievement.
Member has hosted a DJ(Disc jockey) session. Further awards for DJing to 100 people and DJing to 500+ people.
A third media achievement relates to the rating of your playlists. For example, 100 people rating the playlist with a 75% approval earns a ½ star rating increase; 250 people rating the playlist with a 75% approval earns a 1 star rating increase; 500 people rating the playlist with a 80% approval earns a 1½ star rating increase; and 1000+ people rating the playlist with a 85% approval earns a 2 star rating increase.
Member has created a Personal Playlist.
Superfan—Member owns all of the media of an artist.
Genre Aficionado—Member owns a minimum number of media related to a genre (movie or music).
Member has rated his or her entire media collection.
Audiophile—Member owns a minimum number of music media files. For example, a member who owns or buys 50 songs is awarded a Music Hobbyist achievement; a member who owns or buys 100 songs is awarded a Music Enthusiasts; a member who owns or buys 250 songs is awarded a Audiophile achievement; and a member who owns or buys 500 songs is awarded a Music is my life achievement.
Moviephile—Member owns a minimum number of movies/TV media files. For example, a member who owns or buys 25 movies is awarded a Movie Hobbyist achievement; a member who owns or buys 50 movies is awarded a Movie Enthusiasts; a member who owns or buys 100 movies is awarded a Moviephile achievement; and a member who owns or buys 250 movies is awarded a Movies are my life achievement.
Music Critic—Member has written a minimum number of reviews of music media files.
Movie Critic—Member has written a minimum number of reviews of movie media files.
A minimum number of people have subscribed to member's internet broadcast (audio and/or video) of a media file using a syndication feed.
A good community citizen—A minimum number of people have purchased media that member has shared with them or because of a review member wrote.
Member has posted to a forum of the media community.
Member has watching/listened to a minimum number of hours of media files.
