U.S. patent application number 12/698240 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-16 for system and method for associating a media recommendation with a media item.
This patent application is currently assigned to NAPO ENTERPRISES, LLC. Invention is credited to Waymen J. Askey, Eugene Matthew Farrelly.
Application Number | 20120041967 12/698240 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42398515 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120041967 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Askey; Waymen J. ; et
al. |
February 16, 2012 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSOCIATING A MEDIA RECOMMENDATION WITH A
MEDIA ITEM
Abstract
A first peer device includes a communication interface and a
controller associated with the communication interface configured
to receive a selection of a media item recommendation of a media
item, the media item recommendation including media item metadata
and originating at a second peer device, and execute a search of
one or more publicly accessible third party media content providers
utilizing the media item metadata based upon one or more search
content preferences. The search results thusly obtained are then
received and displayed.
Inventors: |
Askey; Waymen J.; (Cary,
NC) ; Farrelly; Eugene Matthew; (Cary, NC) |
Assignee: |
NAPO ENTERPRISES, LLC
Wilmington
DE
|
Family ID: |
42398515 |
Appl. No.: |
12/698240 |
Filed: |
February 2, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61149216 |
Feb 2, 2009 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
707/769 ;
707/E17.108 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/686 20190101;
H04L 67/306 20130101; H04L 65/60 20130101; G06N 20/00 20190101;
G06F 16/4387 20190101; G06F 16/635 20190101; G06N 5/02 20130101;
G06N 5/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/769 ;
707/E17.108 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A first peer device comprising: a communication interface; and a
controller associated with the communication interface configured
to: receive a selection of a media item recommendation of a media
item, the media item recommendation comprising media item metadata
and originating at a second peer device; execute a search of one or
more publicly accessible third party media content providers
utilizing the media item metadata based upon one or more search
content preferences; and receive and display one or more search
results associated with the executed search.
2. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein the one or more
publicly accessible third party media content providers is
established by a user of the first peer device.
3. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one
or more search content preferences is established by a user of the
first peer device.
4. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one
or more search content preferences is selected from a group
consisting of title, artist, album, score, and genre.
5. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein the controller is
further configured to determine if a location of the media item can
be locally resolved and, if the location can be locally resolved,
to locally resolve the location of the media item and play the
media item.
6. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein the controller is
further configured to locally resolve the location of the media
item by accessing a client services repository comprising one or
more links to an instance of the media item on one or more publicly
accessible third party media content providers.
7. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein the controller is
further configured to execute the search based, at least in part,
upon information retrieved from a client services repository.
8. The first peer device of claim 7 wherein the information
comprises one or more destination specific query formats for
searching one or more third party media content providers.
9. The first peer device of claim 7 wherein the client services
repository forms a part of a client services server.
10. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein the selection is
automatically generated.
11. The first peer device of claim 1 wherein the controller is
further configured to enable browsing of the one or more search
results by a user of the first peer device.
12. The first peer device of claim 11 wherein the browsing is
hierarchical.
13. A computer readable medium embodied in an article of
manufacture encoded with instructions for directing a processor of
a first peer device to: receive a selection of a media item
recommendation of a media item, the media item recommendation
comprising media item metadata and originating at a second peer
device; execute a search of one or more publicly accessible third
party media content providers utilizing the media item metadata
based upon one or more search content preferences; and receive and
display one or more search results associated with the executed
search.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the one or
more publicly accessible third party media content providers is
established by a user of the first peer device.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein at least one
of one or more search content preferences is established by a user
of the first peer device.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein at least one
of the one or more search content preferences is selected from a
group consisting of title, artist, album, score, and genre.
17. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the processor
is further directed to determine if a location of the media item
can be locally resolved and, if the location can be locally
resolved, to locally resolve the location of the media item and
play the media item.
18. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the processor
is further directed to locally resolve the location of the media
item by accessing a client services repository comprising one or
more links to an instance of the media item on one or more publicly
accessible third party media content providers.
19. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the processor
is further directed to execute the search based upon information
retrieved from a client services repository.
20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 wherein the
information comprises one or more destination specific query
formats for searching one or more third party media content
providers.
21. The computer readable medium of claim 19 wherein the client
services repository forms a part of a client services server.
22. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the selection
is automatically generated.
23. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the processor
is further directed to enable browsing of the one or more search
results by a user of the first peer device.
24. The computer readable medium of claim 23 wherein the browsing
is hierarchical.
25. A method comprising: receiving a selection of a media item
recommendation of a media item, the media item recommendation
comprising media item metadata and originating at a peer device;
executing a search of one or more publicly accessible third party
media content providers utilizing the media item metadata based
upon one or more search content preferences; and receiving and
displaying one or more search results associated with the executed
search.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/149,216, filed Feb. 2, 2009, the disclosure
of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a system and method for
acquiring recommended media items and other media items related
thereto from public sources.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In recent years, there has been an enormous increase in the
amount of digital media, such as music, available online. Services
such as Apple's iTunes enable users to legally purchase and
download music. Other services such as Napster and RealNetwork's
Rhapsody provide access to millions of songs for a monthly
subscription fee. As a result, music has become much more
accessible to listeners worldwide. However, the increased
accessibility of music has only heightened a long-standing problem
for the music industry, which is namely the issue of linking
audiophiles with new music that matches their listening
preferences.
[0004] Many companies, technologies, and approaches have emerged to
address the issue of music recommendation. Some companies have
taken an analytical approach. They review various attributes of a
song, such as melody, harmony, lyrics, orchestration, vocal
character, and the like, and assign a rating to each attribute. The
ratings for each attribute are then assembled to create a holistic
classification for the song that is then used by a recommendation
engine. The recommendation engine typically requires that the user
first identify a song that he or she likes. The recommendation
engine then suggests other songs with similar attributions.
Companies using this type of approach include Pandora
(http://www.pandora.com), MusicIP (http://www.musicip.com), and
MongoMusic (purchased by Microsoft in 2000).
[0005] Other companies take a communal approach. They make
recommendations based on the collective wisdom of a group of users
with similar musical tastes. These solutions first profile the
listening habits of a particular user and then search similar
profiles of other users to determine recommendations. Companies
using this technology include Last.fm (http://www.last.fm),
betterPropaganda (http://www.betterpropaganda.com), eMusic
(http://www.emusic.com), genielab (http://genielab.com/), upto11
(http://www.upto11.net/), Napster (http://www.napster.com), and
iTunes (http://www.itunes.com).
[0006] Recently, there has been proposed a method whereby song
recommendations from peer devices are shared. For example, U.S.
application Ser. No. 11/484,130 titled "P2P Network for Providing
Real Time Media Recommendations", and incorporated herein in its
entirety, discloses such a method. For example, each time a song is
played by a music player of a first peer device, a recommendation
engine provides a recommendation identifying the song to at least
one other peer device via a P2P network. The media item
recommendation does not include the song but rather includes
information identifying the song. When the user of the at least one
other peer device selects a media item recommendation, such as one
forming a part of a playlist, the song associated with the
recommendation is accessed and played.
[0007] One problem with these recommendation systems is that they
often result in the recommendation of media items, such as songs,
to which the user of a peer device does not have access, such as
via a paid subscription service. It would therefore prove
advantageous to provide a system and method for acquiring access to
media items referenced in a media item recommendation from publicly
available sources.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In accordance with an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment
a first peer device includes a communication interface and a
controller associated with the communication interface configured
to receive a selection of a media item recommendation. The media
item recommendation includes a recommended media item and media
item metadata. In one exemplary embodiment, the media item
recommendation originates at a second peer device. Once the media
item recommendation is selected a search of one or more publicly
accessible third party media content providers is executed
utilizing the media item metadata based, at least in part, upon one
or more search content preferences. The search results thusly
obtained are then received and displayed.
[0009] In accordance with another exemplary and non-limiting
embodiment a computer readable medium embodied in an article of
manufacture is encoded with instructions for directing a processor
of a first peer device to receive a selection of a media item
recommendation. The media item recommendation includes a
recommended media item and media item metadata. In an exemplary
embodiment, the media item recommendation originates at a second
peer device. Once the media item recommendation is selected a
search of one or more publicly accessible third party media content
providers is executed utilizing the media item metadata based, at
least in part, upon one or more search content preferences. The
processor is further directed to receive and display one or more
search results associated with the executed search.
[0010] A method includes receiving a selection of a media item
recommendation of a media item, the media item recommendation
comprising media item metadata and originating at a second peer
device. Next a search of one or more publicly accessible third
party media content providers is executed utilizing the media item
metadata based upon one or more search content preferences. Lastly,
the one or more search results associated with the executed search
are received and displayed.
[0011] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the
present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing
figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0012] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming
a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the
invention, and together with the description serve to explain the
principles of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates a system incorporating a peer-to-peer
(P2P) network for accessing media items associated with media item
recommendations from one or more third party content providers
according to an exemplary embodiment;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the
system of FIG. 1 according to an exemplary embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) for
entering one or more search content preferences according to an
exemplary embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a GUI for entering one or more search
destination preferences according to an exemplary embodiment;
[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates a GUI for displaying media item
recommendations and search results according to an exemplary
embodiment;
[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates another GUI for displaying media item
recommendations and search results according to an exemplary
embodiment;
[0019] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a peer device
according to an exemplary embodiment; and
[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of a client services
server according to an exemplary embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary
information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the
invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention.
Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying
drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the
concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these
concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood
that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the
disclosure and the accompanying claims.
[0022] In accordance with an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment
a first peer device includes a communication interface and a
controller associated with the communication interface configured
to receive a selection of a media item recommendation. The media
item recommendation includes a recommended media item and media
item metadata. In one exemplary embodiment, the media item
recommendation originates at a second peer device. Once the media
item recommendation is selected a search of one or more publicly
accessible third party media content providers is executed
utilizing the media item metadata based, at least in part, upon one
or more search content preferences. The search results thusly
obtained are then received and displayed.
[0023] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment there is provided
a peer-to-peer (P2P) network for providing media item
recommendations. The media item recommendations may include, but
are not limited to, song recommendations and video recommendations.
Peer devices provide recommendations identifying and recommending
media items to other peer devices in the P2P network. A peer device
having received one or more media item recommendations from another
peer in the P2P network attempts to obtain and play the media item
associated with the media item recommendation. If the selected
media item is not stored locally by the peer device, the peer
device submits a query to a third party media content provider. In
one embodiment, the peer devices are portable devices forming the
P2P network via local wireless communication. In another
embodiment, the peer devices may be any type of device and form the
P2P network via a Wide Area Network (WAN) such as the Internet.
[0024] As used herein and described more fully below, a "media item
recommendation" is a formatted data construct including a reference
to at least one media item and information and/or metadata
associated with the media item including, but not limited to,
recommender id, song title, artist, genre, album, and the like.
Further, as used herein, "media item" refers broadly to any and all
formatted media compositions, especially those searchable by and
available from third-party sources, including, but not limited to,
songs, videos, articles, photos and the like. When referring to a
selection or other manipulation of a media item defined in and
associated with a media item recommendation, a "media item
recommendation" and the "media item" associated therewith may be
used interchangeably.
[0025] In accordance with some exemplary and non-limiting
embodiments described herein, a user of a peer device may engage in
playing a media item recommendation, such as one included in a
playlist and received from another peer device, without
subscription to a media content provider by relying upon media
items stored locally as well as by accessing media content freely
available from a third party media content provider. This is
accomplished through the creation of a query formatted using user
selected metadata associated with a media item recommendation and
the subsequent submission of the query to a third party media
content provider selected by the user.
[0026] By allowing the user to establish the metadata to be used
when forming the query, the system can be used to achieve a
spectrum of results. For example, if a user establishes preferences
which result in a search for media items matching the title,
artist, album and genre of a selected media item recommendation,
selection of any one of the returned search results is likely to
result in the system functioning as a playlist facilitator whereby
a version of each media item associated with a media item
recommendation is played upon selection. Conversely, if a user
establishes preferences which result in a search for media items
matching, for example, only the artist, the system functions more
as a recommendation system providing the user with selections of
additional media items that are not necessarily the same as the
selected media item recommendation but are nonetheless likely of
interest to the user.
[0027] The following example highlights the utility of the system.
For example, a user A operating an associated peer device receives
a media item recommendation for a song from a user B operating an
associated peer device. User A has configured a client application
operating on peer device to automatically generate a search query
using the "artist" of any selected media item and submit the query
to YouTube.com. The client application determines that a local copy
of the recommended media item is available and proceeds to begin
playing the song. At approximately the same time, the search
results from the query are displayed to user A. The search results
include a video clip of a music video for the song and a segment of
a movie scene where the song is played. User A pauses the playback
of the song and watches both YouTube.com clips. In this manner, the
system operates to find and play the recommended media item as well
as identify and display related media items from a free third party
media content provider. As used herein, "third party media content
provider" refers to a publicly accessible third party provider of
media content that does not require a fee, such as in the form of a
subscription fee, to access media items and content.
[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 incorporating a P2P network
for locating and providing one or more media item links associated
with a media item recommendation according to one exemplary
embodiment. Note that while the discussion herein focuses on song
recommendations for clarity and ease of discussion, the invention
is equally applicable to providing media item recommendations for
other types of media presentations such as video presentations and
textual compilations, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill
in the art upon reading this disclosure. Exemplary video
presentations include, but are not limited to movies, television
programs, and the like. Exemplary textual compilations include, but
are not limited to, documents, blogs, e-books and the like. In
general, the system 10 includes a number of peer devices 12, 14
which are optionally connected to a client services server 16 via a
network 18, which may be a distributed public network such as, but
not limited to, the Internet. Peer devices 12, 14 are further
connected to at least one third party media content provider 20 via
network 18. Note that while two peer devices 12, 14 are
illustrated, the invention may be used with any number of peer
devices. Further, communication between peer devices 12, 14 may be
direct, may utilize network 18 and may involve transit via a server
(not shown).
[0029] In this embodiment, the peer devices 12, 14 are any
computing devices capable of receiving inputs, performing
computations upon the inputs and providing outputs to a user.
Exemplary peer devices include, but are not limited to, personal
computers, laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable
audio players, mobile telephones, or the like. Peer devices 12, 14
can include local wireless communication interfaces (FIG. 7)
communicatively coupling the peer devices 12, 14 to form a
peer-to-peer (P2P) network. The wireless communication interfaces
may provide wireless communication according to, for example, one
of the suite of IEEE 802.11 standards, the Bluetooth standard, or
the like.
[0030] Peer device 12 includes a media item repository 22, a
preferences repository 24, a client executable 26, and a client
services repository 28. In general, a client executable 26, such as
might be stored as software, hardware, or a combination of the two,
may be executed on the peer device 12 to implement the exemplary
embodiments described herein. As described more fully below, the
client executable 26 proceeds to perform a search of publicly
accessible third party media content providers 20 for media items
that satisfy a search query formed, at least in part, from data
included in a media item recommendation. The results of the query
are subsequently displayed to a user of the peer device 12.
[0031] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, a client
services server 16 may be communicatively coupled to the one or
more peer devices 12, 14, for example, via network 18. Client
services server 16 may include a client services repository 28 for
storing, for example, information related to destination specific
query formats for searching third party media content providers 20
as well as links to locations of media items described more fully
below.
[0032] In accordance with some exemplary and non-limiting
embodiments, a third party media content provider 20 stores and
provides upon request media content. Examples of third party media
content providers 20 include, but are not limited to, YouTube.com,
Hulu.com, and the like.
[0033] In the discussion that follows, the flowchart of FIG. 2 is
described with reference, when appropriate, to various user GUIs
illustrated in FIGS. 3-6. FIG. 2 is an illustration of a flowchart
of a method according to an exemplary embodiment. First, a client
program is executed such as on peer device 12 (step 100). Next, in
an exemplary embodiment, a user may establish, such as via
interfacing with the client program, one or more search content
preferences specifying which metadata (e.g., artist, title, album,
etc.) from a media item recommendation is to be utilized and the
manner in which that metadata is to be utilized when searching for
related media items (step 110).
[0034] FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary GUI 30 through
which a user may specify search content preferences 32. Once
selected, search content preferences 32 may be stored for later use
such as in user preferences repository 24. As used herein, "search
content preference" is an indication of which one or more
components of a media item recommendation is to be used when
searching for additional content related to the media item
recommendation. As described more fully below, a song
recommendation may include metadata related to the song including,
but not limited to, an artist, an album, song title, song genre and
the like. For example, a song recommendation may include ID3 data.
ID3 is a metadata container most often used in conjunction with the
MP3 audio file format. ID3 allows information such as the title,
artist, album, track number, and other information about the file
to be stored in the file itself. As illustrated, a user may use the
GUI 30 to select the song recommendation metadata to be used when
performing a search.
[0035] The more specific a user is when selecting the search
content preferences, the more the system 10 operates as a content
provider to acquire and output the recommended media items. For
example, if the song title and the album on which the song appears
are selected as the search content preferences 32, the resulting
search query will return results comprised of search hits
comprising some version of the particular song appearing in the
song recommendation. Conversely, the less specific a user is when
selecting the search content preferences, the broader the results
returned from a search query. For example, if only "genre" is
selected as the search content preferences 32, the resulting search
query will likely return a broad array of search results related to
each other solely on the basis of belonging to the same general
genre.
[0036] Returning to FIG. 2, a user may interface with the client
program to establish one or more search destination preferences
specifying which source or sources of content are to be utilized
when searching for related content (step 120).
[0037] FIG. 4 is an illustration of a GUI 34 through which a user
may specify search destination preferences 36. As used herein,
"search destination preference" is an address or indicator, such as
a URL, of a repository of media content to be accessed when
searching for additional content related to a media item
recommendation. As illustrated, a user may select from exemplary
search destinations such as YouTube.com and Hulu.com. In other
exemplary embodiments, a user may enter, such as by typing in a
text box, a desired search destination preference 36. Once
selected, search destination preferences 36 may be stored for later
use such as in user preference repository 24.
[0038] Continuing, the flowchart of FIG. 2 is further described
with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 is an exemplary
embodiment of GUI 38 such as may be utilized to display and utilize
one or more song recommendations. GUI 38 includes a song
recommendation queue 40. Song recommendation queue 40 displays one
or more song recommendations. As illustrated, song recommendation
metadata includes song title, time, artist, score, recommender id,
album and genre. In an exemplary embodiment, song recommendations
displayed in the song recommendation queue 40 were assembled from
recommendations received by other peer devices 14 and based upon a
playlist input preference 42 selected by the user. Playlist input
reference 42 is a link to a playlist comprised of one or more media
items that may be accessed and played by a user. Such a playlist
input reference 42 may be stored, for example, in the media item
repository 22. GUI 38 includes browser component 44. Browser
component 44 displays one or more search results 46 from a search
query.
[0039] Browser component 44 may further include a search
destination input 48. Search destination input 48 may default to a
display of one or more current search destination preferences as
may be retrieved from the user preferences repository 24. Search
destination input 48 further allows a user to dynamically change
the identity of external repositories of media content to be
searched. Such changes may be entered for use in a current session
related to the playback of a current playlist or may be saved for
later in, for example, preferences repository 24.
[0040] With continuing reference to FIG. 2, a media item
recommendation comprising media item metadata is selected (step
130). In an exemplary embodiment, one or more media item
recommendations are displayed in song recommendation queue 40 as
received from peer device 14 and from a playlist selected by the
user via the playlist input reference 42. For example, with
reference to FIG. 5, a user may click on or otherwise select a
media item recommendation from the song recommendation queue 40. In
accordance with another exemplary embodiment, a media content item
may be selected automatically, such as by the client program,
following the end of processing of another media item
recommendation, such as a preceding media item recommendation on a
playlist.
[0041] Once selected, a search of one or more third party media
content providing entities each comprising an indicated destination
preference is executed using the media content metadata and based
upon the one or more search content preferences (step 140). For
example, with reference to FIG. 5, a song titled "Stuck With You"
by the artist "Huey Lewis and the News" is selected. Consider, for
example, that a user's search content preferences include "artist"
and "genre" and the user's search destination preferences include
YouTube.com. In response to the selection, a search query is
submitted to "YouTube.com" querying for all media content items
related to "Huey Lewis and the News" and of a genre "Pop".
[0042] In an alternative exemplary embodiment, in addition to or in
lieu of searching a third party media content provider 20, a search
may be performed of a third party subscription entity. As used
herein, "third party subscription entity" refers to a repository of
media items that is not publicly available but rather requires
payment of a subscription fee to gain access to media items stored
thereupon.
[0043] In an exemplary embodiment, the search may be aided by
reference to data stored in a client services repository 28 located
at, for example, a peer device 12 or client services server 16. As
different sources for media content react differently to
differently formatted search requests, information related to a
preferred manner of formatting search requests for specified
sources may be collected, stored, and outputted as requested from a
client services repository 28.
[0044] In an exemplary embodiment, a determination may next be made
as to whether a location of the selected media item recommendation
can be resolved locally (step 150). For example, a determination
can be made whether or not the selected media item resides in or is
otherwise stored in and retrievable from a memory device associated
with the peer device such as internal memory, an attached memory
device, such as media item repository 22, and the like.
[0045] In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, to "locally
resolve", may refer to the process of finding the location of an
instance of the selected media item recommendation without recourse
to searching an external repository of media content. In such an
instance, locally resolving the location of an instance of the
selected media item may involve accessing data from client services
server 16. Client services server 16 may operate to investigate, or
"crawl", the Internet to discover instances of a performance of a
media item in one or more forms of media. For example, the client
services server 16 may determine that a music video of the song
"Stuck With You" performed by "Huey Lewis and the News" resides at
YouTube.com. In response, the client services server 16 may store,
such as in client services repository 28, the URL link to the video
corresponding to the media item "Stuck With You". When queried, the
client services server 16 provides one or more links to the media
item corresponding to the selected media item recommendation. In
this manner, the client services server 16 acts as an extension to
media items stored locally at a peer device 12 such as in media
item repository 22. While the link stored and provided as a service
to a peer device 12 from the client services server 16 may
reference an instance of a media item not stored at the peer device
12, it does provide direct access to the media item via the
link.
[0046] As discussed above, the degree of generality associated with
a selection of search content preferences determines if the system
10 functions to retrieve, on one hand, media items substantially
related to the media item recommendation (i.e., same artist, title,
album, etc.) or, on the other hand, to broadly retrieve additional
media items generally related to the selected media item
recommendation. In an exemplary embodiment, the system 10
functions, as a default, to play media item recommendations stored
locally or freely available from a third-party or external
repository of media content.
[0047] In the event that it is determined that the location of a
desired media content recommendation can be resolved locally, the
located media content item may be played at the peer device 12,
such as via an output device of peer device 12 (step 160). For
example, if the located media content item is a copy of the song in
mp3 format, the song may be played via speakers forming a part of
the peer device 12. If, for example, the located media content item
is a music video, the music video may be played in the browser
component 44.
[0048] Whether or not the media content item can be resolved and
played locally at the peer device 12, the search results are
displayed (step 170). With reference to the example of FIG. 5, the
search query returned a plurality of search results 46 including
videos from YouTube.com related to the artist "Huey Lewis and the
News" which are displayed in browser component 44. In an exemplary
embodiment, browser component 44 enables a user to browse the
returned data in a hierarchical fashion. Browser component 44 may
encapsulate or otherwise comprise a web browser.
[0049] With continued reference to FIG. 2, after displaying the
search results 46, a determination is made if the user desires to
browse the returned search results (step 180). If the user does not
desire to browse the search results, processing continues to step
130. In an exemplary embodiment, the passage of a predetermined
amount of time may trigger the system 10 to continue to step 130.
As a result, media item recommendations will continue to be
processed even if the user fails to browse the search results 46.
As noted above, media item recommendations may be selected
automatically when a preceding selection is finished playing. When
process flow returns to step 130, processing may continue to select
the next media item recommendation or, if the media content item
from step 160 is still playing, the system may wait to proceed
until the media content item has finished playing.
[0050] If the user desires to browse the search results 46,
processing continues to enable browsing of the returned search
results (step 190). With reference to FIG. 6, there is illustrated
an exemplary embodiment of GUI 38 wherein a user selected video is
played in the browser component 44. When browsing, in addition to
merely accessing the returned search results, a user may
dynamically cause the execution of new search queries based upon a
dynamically altered selection of search content preferences and
search destination preferences. For example, a user may access
search destination input 48 and alter the search destinations to be
used for a subsequent search. In addition, when browsing, the
playing of a media item may be paused until browsing is finished.
For example, if a media item is playing and a user wishes to view a
video clip associated with a search result 46, the playing of the
media item is paused until the video clip finishes playing at which
time play of the media item may resume.
[0051] With continued reference to FIG. 2, once it is determined
that browsing of search results 46 has been completed by a user,
processing returns to step 130 and a media item recommendation is
selected, either by the user or automatically (step 200).
[0052] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a peer device 12 of FIG. 1. As
illustrated, the peer device 12 includes a controller 50 connected
to memory 52, one or more secondary storage devices 54, a
communication interface 56, and one or more user interface
components 58 by a bus 60 or similar mechanism. The controller 50
is a microprocessor, digital ASIC, FPGA, or the like. In this
embodiment, the controller 50 is a microprocessor, and the client
executable 26 is implemented in software and stored in the memory
52 for execution by the controller 50. Further, depending on the
particular embodiment, the repositories 22, 24, 28 are stored in
the one or more secondary storage devices 54. The one or more
secondary storage devices 54 are digital storage devices such as,
for example, one or more hard disk drives. The communication
interface 56 is a wired or wireless communication interface that
communicatively couples the peer device 12 to the network 18 (FIG.
1). For example, the communication interface 56 may be an Ethernet
interface, local wireless interface such as a wireless interface
operating according to one of the suite of IEEE 802.11 standards, a
mobile communications interface such as a cellular
telecommunications interface, or the like. The one or more user
interface components 58 include, for example, a touchscreen, a
display, one or more user input components (e.g., a keypad), a
speaker, or the like, or any combination thereof.
[0053] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the client services server 16
of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As
illustrated, the client services server 16 includes a controller 62
connected to memory 64, one or more secondary storage devices 66, a
communication interface 68, and one or more user interface
components 70 by a bus 72 or similar mechanism. The controller 62
is a microprocessor, digital ASIC, FPGA, or the like. Further,
depending on the particular embodiment, the client services
repository is stored in the one or more secondary storage devices
66. The one or more secondary storage devices 66 are digital
storage devices such as, for example, one or more hard disk drives.
The communication interface 68 is a wired or wireless communication
interface that communicatively couples the client services server
16 to the network 18 (FIG. 1). For example, the communication
interface 68 may be an Ethernet interface, local wireless interface
such as a wireless interface operating according to one of the
suite of IEEE 802.11 standards, a mobile communications interface
such as a cellular telecommunications interface, or the like.
[0054] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and
modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present
invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered
within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims
that follow.
* * * * *
References