Systems and methods for providing intreractive media guidance on a wireless communications device

[0001] The present invention relates to interactive application systems for navigating the media, and more specifically interactive application systems for navigating the media, wherein the function of the application for navigating the media can be implemented by means of a wireless communication device or coordinated between the wireless communication device and at least one user device.

[0002] US Publication No. 2009/0165051 A1 discloses an apparatus for presenting an interactive media navigation application that allows users to locate and navigate content related to video content, which is, for example, advertising.

[0003] Interactive applications for navigating the media are usually implemented, at least in part, on a user's device (e.g. set-top box). Examples of interactive applications for navigating the media are interactive program guides, e-mail applications, shopping applications, bookmaking applications and other e-commerce applications, financial applications, web browsers, games and other applications installed on the user's device. Launching these applications usually excludes other users from watching media content other than the application being used. In addition, running such applications on a desktop platform on a user's device may prevent users from accessing the functions of such systems when they are away from the desktop platform.

Summary of the Invention [0004] According to one aspect, the method of interacting with user devices using a wireless communication device is to: receive user input on the wireless communication device to form at least one command, generating on the display of a wireless communication device at least one interface screen associated with at least one command without displaying the interface screen on the user's device, generating an advertisement display on a wireless communication device while receiving user input, choosing the displayed ad based on at least one command type, sending at least one command to the user's device and receiving confirmation data from the user's device. According to another aspect, the system of interacting with user devices using a wireless communication device having a control circuit configured to: receive user input on the wireless communication device to form at least one command, generating on the display of a wireless communication device at least one interface screen associated with at least one command without displaying the interface screen on the user's device, generate an ad display on a wireless communication device while receiving user input, Choose the displayed ad based on at least one command type sending at least one command to the user's device and receiving confirmation data from the user's device.

[0005] The wireless communication device may be any suitable wireless communication device, such as a touch screen remote control, palmtop (PDA), cell phone or other wireless communication device.

A wireless communication device may provide the user with access to the interactive application function for navigating media remotely or while browsing media content.

[0006] In one suitable aspect, a client version of an interactive media navigation application that sends a request for application data from an application server running on a user's device can be installed on a wireless communication device. In another suitable aspect, the wireless communication device may function as an independent platform on which the interactive application is installed, which may operate independently and communicate with a similar interactive application installed on the user's device. For example, the wireless communication device may have an interactive mobile media navigation application installed that supports various functions of an interactive program guide, an online program guide and / or other relevant applications (e.g. shopping application).

[0007] Interactive applications for navigating the media can be, for example, applications presenting information or performing functions related to media content, such as interactive program guides, shopping applications, bookmaking applications, e-mail applications and applications for transaction execution. financial.

[0008] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may be equipped with a touch screen LCD display and at least one communication interface for communication with the user device, such as, for example, a television, computer, media server etc. The communication interface can be an infrared interface, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or any other suitable interface. The on-screen keyboard can be displayed on the touch screen, and the user can use it to enter search strings and commands. The keys can be context-sensitive, which means that only the relevant keys are displayed at a time. In some embodiments, the communication interfaces may allow the user to use the wireless communication device as a remote control designed to control at least one user equipment. In some embodiments, a wireless communication device may connect to multiple devices simultaneously. The wireless communication device can also automatically point to the correct device (e.g. TV, set-top box, media server, etc.) that should receive a command (e.g. move to a higher channel) by touching or clicking the keys by the user. In addition, a wireless communication device may detect its distance from individual user devices to indicate the correct device to receive the command. For example, you can use RFID recognition protocol, GPS or a wireless location service to determine the distance.

[0009] A wireless device may support a variety of interactive program guide functions, such as display by time, channel, category, favorite channels or any other function related to navigation, without interrupting the presentation of media content on the user's device. In this way, users can set reminders that will be displayed on the wireless communication device, both in the form of an audio alert and on the display. With the return paging function, you can, for example, use your device to set reminders or remotely schedule recording. A wireless communication device can also be used to collect data. You can use it, for example, to send surveys. You can also use it to collect viewership information. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may be connected to a suitable point-of-sale device, for example to issue electronic coupons and other forms of incentive.

[0010] The wireless communication device may also offer other functions typical of smartphones. For example, it may have e-mail applications, calendars, contact lists, Internet browsing, calculator, or any other suitable application. It may support data services such as news, weather forecasts, sports news, traffic news or any other relevant data services. It can also be used as a pager.

Brief Description of the Figures [0011] The objects and advantages of the present invention, those set forth above and others, will become clear upon reading the following detailed description, including references to the accompanying figures, in which reference marks refer to identical parts, and of which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative screen based on a web format and for navigating through various types of media content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an illustrative screen based on a mosaic format for navigating through various types of media content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an illustrative user device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram of an illustrative interactive media system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the wireless communication device illustrated in FIG. 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the wireless communication device illustrated in FIG. 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative menu screen according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative viewing display according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative information screen according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative pay-per-view order placement screen according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative pilot screen according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative home screen screen according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates an overview of recommended items according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14a and 14b show illustrative pages of user television program offers according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14c is an illustrative page with program offers grouped by criteria according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a pictorial screen of introductory information according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of illustrative steps for providing interactive media navigation and other application functions using the wireless communication device illustrated in FIG. 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of illustrative steps of coordinating functions between main applications installed on the user equipment of FIG. 4 and slave applications running on the wireless communication device of FIG. 4.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of illustrative steps of providing an interactive application function for navigating the media using the wireless communication device illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of illustrative steps for executing a command on a user equipment by means of the wireless communication device illustrated in FIG. 4.

Detailed description [0012] The amount of media available to users in any particular media content delivery system can be large. Therefore, many users are looking for a form of interface for navigating the media that will allow users to efficiently navigate the media collections and easily identify media that may be of interest to them. The application providing such a way of navigating in this document is called an interactive application for navigating the media, and in places an application for navigating the media or an application for navigating the content.

[0013] Interactive applications for navigating the media can take different forms, depending on the media on which the application allows you to navigate. One of the typical applications for navigating the media is an interactive guide to TV programs.

Interactive TV program guides (sometimes called electronic TV programs) are well-known applications for navigating content, which, among other things, allow users to locate and navigate many types of media content, including conventional television programs (offered by traditional terrestrial television, cable and satellite television, Internet or other media), as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (on demand film systems (VOD)), web content (e.g. streaming media, download media, webcasts, etc.) and other types of media or video content.

Content navigation applications also allow users to locate and navigate content related to video content, such as video clips, articles, ads, chat sessions, games, etc. Using the application to navigate content, users can also navigate and locate media content. As used herein, the term multimedia content means media and content that occurs in at least two different forms of content, such as text, sound, photos, animation, video and interactive content forms. Multimedia content can be recorded and played back, displayed and played back by means of information content processing equipment such as computerized and electronic devices, but it can also be part of a live performance. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention discussed in relation to media content also apply to other types of content such as video, sound and / or multimedia.

[0014] With the spread of the Internet, mobile computer devices and high-speed wireless networks, users have gained access to the media on personal computers (PCs) and other devices that they have not previously used for this purpose, such as laptops, PDAs, mobile phones and other mobile devices. With these devices, users can navigate and locate the same media content that is available on TV. Therefore, it is also necessary that these devices provide a way to navigate the media. The method of movement may relate to navigating through media content only available through television, media content only available through at least one of these devices, or media content available both through television and at least one of these devices. Applications for navigating the media can be made available as online applications (i.e. available on the website) or as independent or client applications on mobile devices such as PDAs, cell phones or other mobile devices. Applications for navigating the media, which are described in more detail below, can be implemented on various devices and platforms. [0015] One of the functions of the application for navigating the media is to provide users with media offers and information about them. FIG. 1-2 present demonstrative screens that can be used to navigate the media, in particular media offers. The screens shown in FIG. 1-2 can be implemented on any suitable device or any suitable platform. It is true that the content on the screens shown in FIG. 1-2 are displayed in full-screen mode, however, they may fully or partially overlap the displayed media content. The user can indicate the willingness to access media information by selecting an option available on the screen (e.g. menu options, program options, icons, hyperlinks, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g. GUIDE button) on the remote control or other device or user input interface. In response to user guidance, the media navigation application can display a screen containing media information organized according to one of several ways, e.g. by time and channel in a grid, by hour, by channel, by type of medium, by category (e.g. movies, sports, news, children's programs or other categories of programs) or according to another predefined or user-defined criterion.

[0016] FIG. 1 presents an illustrative screen 100 containing an offer of programs in the form of a grid arranged by time and channel, also enabling access to various types of media content from a single screen. Screen 100 may include a grid 102 consisting of: (1) a channel / media type identifier column 104, each channel / medium type identifier (appearing as a cell in a column) indicates a different type of channel or medium, and (2) a row of time identifiers 106, wherein each time identifier (appearing as a cell in a row) indicates a program time block. Grid 102 also contains program cells 108, with each offer including the title of the program broadcast on the channel and at the time associated with the offer. Using the user's input device, the user can select the program offer by moving the selection area 402. In the program information area 112, information about the offered program selected in the 402 selection area can be displayed. Area 112 may contain, for example, the title of the program, the description of the program, the broadcast time of the program (if applicable), the channel on which the program is broadcast (where applicable), the audience of the program and other desired information.

[0017] In addition to providing access to the program schedule line layout, the media navigation application also provides access to a non-line program schedule that is not displayed on the schedule. A non-linear program may contain content from various media sources, including on-demand media content (e.g. VOD), web content (e.g. streaming media, media available for download, etc.), locally saved media content (e.g. video content recorded on a digital video recorder (DVR), digital video disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD) etc.) or other time-independent media content.

On-demand media content can contain both movies and original media content made available by a particular media content provider (e.g., an HBO station that provides the series "The Soprano Family" and "Restrain Enthusiasm" on demand). HBO ON

DEMAND is a service mark of Time Warner Company LP et al., And THE

SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (functioning in Polish translation as "Soprano Family" and "Stop Enthusiasm", respectively) are trademarks of Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content may contain network events, such as a chat session or webcast, or content available on demand, such as streaming media or media available for download via a website or other form of internet access (e.g. FTP server).

[0018] Grid 102 presents a non-linear program offer including an on-demand offer 114, an offer of recorded media content 116, and an offer of Internet content 118. The screen containing content offers from various types of media content sources is sometimes called the "mixed media" screen. It is possible to display various permutation types of offers, other than those shown on the screen 100, which can be based on the choice made by the user or the definition of the application to navigate the content (e.g. displaying only recorded and available media on the television offer, only media on demand and available on the television offer, etc.). The offers 114, 116 and 118 in the figure cover the entire time block displayed on the grid 102, indicating that the selection of these offers may provide access to a screen dedicated to on-demand offers, recorded offers or online offers, respectively. In other embodiments, this type of media content can be included directly in the grid 102. Additional offers may be displayed in response to a user selecting at least one navigation icon 120. (Pressing the arrow key on the user input device can affect the display in the same way as selecting navigation icons 120).

[0019] Screen 100 may also include video area 122, ad 124 and option area

126. The video area 122 may allow users to view and / or view programs currently available, at a later time or earlier. The content of the video area 122 may relate to at least one offer displayed in the grid 102 or may be independent of it. Screens in the form of a grid having a video area are sometimes called screens with a guide image (PIG). PIG screens and their functions are described in more detail in US Patent No. 6,564,378, Satterfield et al., Published May 13, 2003. and in US Patent No. 6,239,794, Yuen et al., published May 29, 2001. PIG screens can be embedded in other application screens for navigating the media of the present invention.

[0020] The advertisement 124 may be an advertisement of multimedia content which, depending on the viewer's access rights (e.g. for subscription programs) is available for viewing, will be available for future viewing, or may never be available for viewing, and may also be associated with or unrelated to one or more media content offerings in grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also relate to products or services related to or not related to the media content displayed in grid 102. Advertising 124 may be an object of choice and may provide additional information about media content, product or service information, enable the purchase of media content, a product or service, provide media content related to advertising, etc. The advertisement 124 may be targeted depending on the user's profile / preferences, monitored user activity, type of displayed content or other relevant basis of targeted advertising.

[0021] Although the advertisement 124 is displayed in the shape of a rectangle or banner, the advertisements may have any suitable size, shape and any position on the screen of the navigation application. For example, ad 124 may have a rectangular shape adjacent horizontally to grid 102. Sometimes this layout is called panel advertising. In addition, ads can overlap with media content or the screen of the navigation application, or can be embedded on the screen. Ads may also contain text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other types of media content. The advertisements can be saved on the user's device together with the navigation application, in a database connected to the user's device, in a remote location (including on servers for streaming media) or in other recording means or their combinations. The presentation of advertisements in the media navigation application is discussed in more detail in, for example, US Patent Application No. 10 / 347,673, Knudson et al., Filed January 17, 2003, US Patent No. 6,756,997, Ward, III et al., Published June 29 2004 and US Patent No. 6,388,714, Schein et al., Published May 14, 2002. It is understood that advertisements may be embedded in other media navigation application screens of the present invention.

[0022] Option area 126 may provide the user with access to various types of media content, application screens for media navigation and / or application functions for media navigation. Option area 126 may be part of the screen 100 (and other screens of the present invention) or may be called by the user by selecting the screen option or pressing a dedicated or programmable button on the user input device. The options available for selection in the option area 126 may relate to functions related to programs offered in grid 102 or may include options available from the main menu screen. Features related to program offers may include searching for other broadcast times or how to receive a program, record a program, enable recording a program series, set a program and / or channel as a favorite, purchase a program or other functions. Options available from the main menu level may include search options, VOD options, parental control options, access to various types of offer screens, subscription to the premium service, option to edit the user profile, access to the browser overlay, or other options.

[0023] The application for navigating the media can be personalized depending on the user's preferences. A personalized media navigation application allows the user to customize screens and functions to create a customized media navigation application. Customization can be achieved by enabling the user to make such adjustments and / or implementing monitoring of user activity in the media navigation application to determine various preferences. Users can access their own personalized navigation application by logging in or otherwise confirming their identity in the navigation application. The application for navigating the media can be adapted according to the user profile. You can customize elements such as presentation schemes (e.g. screen color scheme, text font size, etc.), display aspects of the offered media content (e.g. only HDTV programs, user-specified TV channels based on the choice of favorite channels, changing the order of displayed channels, recommended media content, etc.), desired recording functions (e.g. recording or serial recording for specific users, recording quality, etc.), parental control settings and other desired settings.

[0024] The media navigation application enables the user to provide information regarding the user profile or can compile such information automatically. The media navigation application may, for example, monitor user choices and / or other user interactions with the navigation application. In addition, an application for navigating the media may acquire all or some other user profiles associated with a specific user (e.g. from other websites used by the user, e.g. tvguide.com, from other applications to navigate the media used by the user, from other interactive applications used by the user, from the user's mobile device, etc.) and / or obtain information about the user from sources other than the navigating application through the media to which this application has access. Therefore, the user can use the unified navigation application schemas on different user's devices. This kind of ergonomics and attractiveness is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 4. Additional personalized application functions for navigating the media are described in more detail in U.S. Patent Application No. 11 / 179,410, Ellis et al., Filed July 11, 2005, U.S. Patent Application No. 09 / 437.304, Boyer et al., Filed November 9, 1999 r. and U.S. Patent Application No. 10 / 105,128, Ellis et al., filed February 21, 2002.

[0025] Another screen arrangement for navigating the media is shown in FIG. 2. The screen with the mosaic video 200 has available options 202 for information and media content organized by media type, genre and / or other criterion. On the screen 200, the TV offer option 204 is selected, therefore the offers 206, 208, 210 and 212 are TV offerings. In contrast to the offers presented in FIG. 1, offers visible on screen 200 are not limited to plain text (e.g. program title) and icons describing the media. On the screen, 200 offers may contain images, including covers, photos from media content, previews of video clips, video from media content broadcast live or other types of media indicating to the user the media content described by the offer. Each graphic offer may be accompanied by a text providing additional information on the media content associated with the offer. For example, offer 208 may contain more than one part, including media part 214 and text part 216. Media part 214 and / or text part 216 may be available for selection, enabling video display in full screen mode or displaying program offers related to video material displayed in media part 214 (e.g. displaying offers for the channel on which the video is broadcast). [0026] The offers available on the screen 200 have different sizes (i.e. offer 206 is larger than offers 208, 210 and 212), but if necessary all offers can be of the same size. Offers may have different sizes or graphic accents to indicate to the user degrees of interest or emphasis on a particular element of content, depending on the media provider or user preferences. Various systems and ways of graphically accentuating media offers have been discussed, for example, in US Patent Application No. 11 / 324,202, Yates, filed December 29, 2005.

[0027] Users can navigate to media content and applications to navigate the media (and its screens described above and below) from at least one user device. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment of an illustrative user device 300. More specific implementations of user devices are discussed below with reference to FIG. 4. User equipment 300 may receive media content and data via the I / O path 302 (hereinafter referred to as the I / O path). The I / O path 302 can provide media content (e.g. television program, on-demand program, internet content and other video or audio content), as well as data for 304 control circuits consisting of 306 processing circuits and 308 memory. Commands, requests, and other relevant data can be sent and received using control circuits 304 using the I / O path 302. The I / O path 302 may connect control circuits 304 (specifically, processing circuits 306) to at least one communication path (described below). One or more communication paths can perform I / O functions, however, for the sake of clarity of the figure in FIG. 3 single path shown.

[0028] Control circuits 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuits 306, such as processing circuits based on at least one microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, programmable logic device, etc. In some embodiments, control circuit 304 executes application instructions for moving after the media stored in memory (i.e. in memory

308). In client-server-based embodiments, the control circuit

304 it may contain a communication circuit suitable for communicating with the navigation application server or other networks or servers. The communication circuit may include a cable modem, an integrated digital service network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem or a wireless modem for communication with other devices. Such communication may include the Internet or any other suitable communication networks or paths (described in detail with reference to FIG. 4). In addition, the communication circuit may include a circuit (e.g. Bluetooth) enabling communication of user devices on a peer-to-peer basis or communication of user devices in locations distant from each other (which is described in more detail below).

[0029] The function of the memory 308 forming part of the control circuit 304 may be the memory (e.g. random access memory (RAM), read-only memory, or any other suitable memory), hard drives, optical disks, or any other permanent or removable memory device (e.g. DVD recorder, CD recorder, VCR or other suitable recording device). Memory 308 may contain at least one of the above types of memory devices. For example, the user equipment 300 may include a hard disk for DVR recording (sometimes called a personal video recorder or PVR) and a DVD recorder as an additional storage device. Memory 308 may be used to store various types of media described herein and navigation application data, including program information, navigation application settings, user preferences or profile information, or other data used to operate the navigation application. You can also use non-volatile memory (e.g. to execute startup and other instructions).

[0030] The control circuit 304 may include a video generation circuit and a tuning circuit, such as at least one analog tuner, at least one MPEG-2 decoder or other digital decoding circuit, high resolution tuner or any other suitable tuning or video circuit or combination such circuits. A coding circuit may also be envisaged (e.g. to convert wireless, analog or digital signals to MPEG signals for recording). The control circuit 304 may also include a conversion circuit for converting the media to better or worse quality in order to obtain an output format preferred for the user equipment 300. Circuit 304 may also include a digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converter circuit for conversion between the digital and analog signal. The user equipment may use a tuning and coding circuit to receive and display, play or record media content. The tuning and coding circuit can also be used to receive navigation data. The circuit described herein including, for example, a tuning, video generating, coding, decoding, scaling, and analog / digital processing circuit can be implemented using software installed on at least one universal or specialized processor. Multiple tuners can be used to support simultaneous tuning (e.g. viewing and recording functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, recording with multiple tuners, etc.). If the memory 308 is a separate device from the user equipment 300, the tuning and coding circuit (including multiple tuners) may be associated with the memory 308.

[0031] The user may control the control circuit 304 via the user input interface 310. The user input interface 310 may be any suitable interface, such as a remote control, mouse, ball manipulator, keyboard, touch screen, touch panel, stylus, joystick, voice recognition interface or other user input interface. The display 312 may be an independent device or may be integrated with other elements of the user device 300. The display 312 may be at least one monitor, television set, liquid crystal display (LCD) of the mobile device or any other suitable device for displaying images. In some embodiments, the 312 display may support HDTV technology. The 314 speakers can be integrated with other components of the user device 300 or they can be independent units. The audio component of movies and other media content displayed on the 312 display can be played back via the 314 speakers. In some embodiments, the audio signal may be sent to a receiver (not shown) that processes the audio signal and emits sound through the speakers 314.

[0032] The navigation application can be implemented using any suitable architecture. It can be, for example, an independent application fully implemented on the appropriate device 300. With this approach, application instructions are stored locally and data used by the application is periodically downloaded (e.g. from the VBI of the TV channel, from an out-of-band source or using another appropriate approach) In another embodiment, the media navigation application is a client-server based application. The data used by the Thick Client or Thin Client on the user's device 300 is downloaded on demand by sending requests to a remote server relative to the user's device 300. In one example of a client-server navigation application, control circuit 304 supports a web browser that interprets websites provided by a remote server.

[0033] In yet other embodiments, the media navigation application is downloaded and interpreted, or otherwise run using an interpreter or virtual machine (supported by control circuit 304). In some embodiments, the navigation application can be encoded in an ETV (EBIF) binary exchange format, received by control circuit 304 as part of the corresponding source signal and interpreted by a user agent installed in control circuit 304. The navigation application can be, for example, an EBIF widget. In other embodiments, the navigation application can be defined by a series of JAVA-based files received and run by a local virtual machine or other appropriate middleware executed by control circuit 304. In some such embodiments (e.g. schemes that use MPEG-2 or other digital media coding schemes), the navigation application can, for example, be encoded and transmitted in the MPEG-2 carousel using MPEG audio and video packages.

[0034] The user equipment 300 shown in FIG. 3 can be implemented in the system 400 shown in FIG. 4 as user device 402, user computer device 404, wireless communication device 406 or any other type of user device suitable for opening media, such as a stationary game console. For simplicity, these devices will collectively be referred to as user devices in this document. User devices on which the application for navigating the media is installed may act as independent devices or may form part of the device network. You can implement various network configurations of devices, which is discussed in detail below.

[0035] The user equipment 402 may be a set-top box, an integrated receiving decoder (IRD) for operating satellite television, a television receiver, a digital memory device, a DVD recorder, a video recorder (VCR), a local media server or other user equipment. If desired, at least one of these devices can be integrated into one device. The 404 user's computer device may be a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, WebTV set, internet television (PC / TV), media PC server, media PC center or other computer device. WEBTV is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. The 406 wireless communication device may be a PDA, mobile phone, portable video player, portable music player, portable game console or other wireless device. The wireless communication device 406 may function as a remote control of the user device 402. Remote control commands entered via the touch screen of the 406 wireless communication device can be automatically sent to the appropriate device, depending on the entered command. For example, if the user enters a command to go up one channel, then the wireless communication device 406 may automatically specify that the recipient of the command should be a television set. In addition, the wireless communication device 406 may determine which device should receive the command based on its proximity. For example, if the 406 wireless communication device is closest to the set-top box, it may specify that the command you entered is intended for the set-top box. The distance can be assessed, for example, using RFID or GPS.

[0036] It should be noted that with the advent of television cards for personal computers, WebTV, and video integration with other user's devices, the classification of the device as one of the above devices has become unobvious. Indeed, each user device 402, user computer device 404 and wireless communication device 406 may utilize at least some of the functions of the systems described above with reference to FIG. 3, and therefore each of these devices is characterized by flexibility in terms of media content available on the device. User device 402 may, for example, be connected to the Internet, allowing access to Internet content, while user computer device 404 may include a tuner providing access to television programs. The application for navigating the media can also have the same layout on various types of user devices or can be adapted to the display parameters of the user device. For example, on the user's computer device, the navigation application may be in the form of a website accessible from a web browser. In another example, the navigation application can be simplified for wireless communication devices.

[0037] In the system 400, there is usually more than one device of individual types, however, for the sake of clarity of the figure in FIG. 4 only one device of each type is shown. In addition, each user may use more than one type of user device (the user may have, for example, a television set and computer), as well as more than one device of each type (the user may have, for example, a PDA and a cell phone and / or multiple television sets).

[0038] The user may also configure various settings to maintain consistency of the application settings for navigating the media between home and remote devices. These settings include those described in this document, as well as favorite channels and programs, program preferences used by the navigation application to display recommended programs, display preferences, and other desired navigation settings. For example, if a user sets a channel as a favorite, for example on a page <a href="http://www.tvguide.com">www.tvguide.com</a> on your personal computer in the office, then, if desired, the same channel will be displayed as a favorite on home devices (e.g. user's devices and user's computer devices) and mobile devices. Therefore, changes made to one user's device may change the way they navigate the content on another user's device, regardless of whether both devices are of the same type. In addition, the changes can be based on the settings entered by the user, as well as user activity monitored through the navigation application.

[0039] The user equipment may be connected to a communication network 414. That is, user device 402, user computer device 404 and wireless communication device 406 are connected to communication network 414 via communication paths 408, 410 and 412, respectively. The 414 communication network may be at least one network, including the Internet, cellular network, network of devices (e.g. Blackberry), a public switched telephone network or other type of communication network, or a combination of communication networks. BLACKBERRY is a service mark of Research In Motion Limited Corp. Paths 408, 410 and 412 may separately or jointly contain at least one communication path, such as a satellite path, fiber optic path, wired path, path supporting Internet communication (e.g. IPTV), connections for transmission in open space (e.g. for transmitting television signals or other wireless signals) or any other suitable path for wired or wireless communication, or a combination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn by a dashed line, indicating that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 this is a wireless path, and paths 408 and 410 are drawn with a solid line, which indicates that they are wired paths (although they may be wireless paths if desired). One or more of these communication paths may be responsible for communication with user devices, however, for the sake of clarity of the figure in FIG. 4 only one path is shown.

[0040] User devices can communicate with each other directly, via communication paths such as those described above for paths 408, 410 and 412, as well as point-to-point communication paths with short range 424, such as USB cables, cables IEEE 1394, wireless paths (e.g. Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x etc.), or other short-range wired or wireless communication paths. BLUETOOTH is a certification mark belonging to the Bluetooth SIG, INC. Company. The wireless communication device 406 may, for example, send or receive remote control commands to the user device 402 via infrared. User devices can also communicate with each other directly via an intermediate path via communication network 414.

[0041] System 400 includes a media content source 416 and a data source for navigating media 418 connected to communication network 414 via communication paths 420 and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of the communication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410 and 412. Communication with the media content source 416 and the data source for navigating the media 418 may be via at least one communication path, however, for the sake of clarity of the figure in FIG. 4 only one path is shown. In addition, there may be more than one occurrence of each media content source 416 and data source for navigating media 418, however, for clarity of the figure in FIG. 4 only one of them is shown. (The various types of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, the media content source 416 and the data source for navigating media 418 can be integrated to form one source device. It has been shown that communication between sources 416 and 418 and user devices 402, 404 and 406 takes place via communication network 414, in some embodiments sources 416 and 418 can communicate with user devices 402, 404 and 406 directly via communication paths (not shown) as described above for lanes 408, 410 and 412.

[0042] The source of media content 416 may be at least one type of media distribution device, including terrestrial television distribution installation, HES cable television system, satellite television broadcasting station (e.g. broadcasting stations such as NBC, ABC, HBO etc. .), indirect installations and / or distribution servers, internet providers, media servers on demand and other media content providers.

NBC is a trademark of National Broadcasting Company, Inc. ABC is a trademark of ABC, INC., And HBO is a trademark of Home Box Office, Inc. A 416 media content source can be a creator of media content (e.g. broadcasting station, Webcast service provider, etc.) or may not be the creator of the media content (e.g. on-demand media content provider, online video content provider for downloadable TV programs, etc.). The media content source 416 may include cable sources, satellite television providers, on-demand content providers, internet providers or other media content providers. Media content source 416 may also include a remote media server used to record various types of media content (including user-selected video content) in a remote location from at least one user device. Systems and methods for remotely storing media content and delivering media content stored at a remote location to a user device are discussed in more detail in connection with US Patent Application No. 09 / 332,244, Ellis et al., Filed June 11, 1999.

[0043] A data source for media navigation 418 can provide data for media navigation, such as media offers, media related information (e.g.

broadcast times, broadcast channels, media titles, media descriptions, rating information (e.g. parental controls, critics, etc.) genre or category information, actor information, logotype data for broadcasting stations or suppliers, etc.), media format (e.g. standard resolution, high resolution etc.), advertising information (e.g. text, images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, or any other type of data about navigating content that helps the user navigate and locate selected, desired media.

[0044] Application data for navigating the media can be provided to user devices using any suitable method. In some embodiments, the navigation application may be an independent interactive TV program guide receiving data to navigate through a data stream (e.g., a continuous data stream, a narrow data stream, or data during a vertical channel deviation period).

[0045] Program schedule data and other navigation data may be provided to the user equipment in the sideband of the television channel, during the period of blanking the vertical deviation of the channel, by means of an in-band digital signal, out-of-band digital signal or any other suitable data transmission technique. Program schedule data and other navigation data can be provided to the user's device on many analogue or digital television channels. Program schedule data and other navigation data can be delivered to the user's device at any appropriate frequency (e.g. continuously, every day, with a frequency defined by the user, with a frequency defined in the system, in response to a request from the user's device, etc.). In some approaches, navigation data from a 418 data source for media navigation can be provided to a user device based on a client-server architecture. For example, a client navigation application on a user's device may initiate sessions with a source 418 to receive navigation data when needed. The data source for navigating the media 418 can provide to the user devices 402, 404 and 406 the same application for navigating the media or software updates of the application for navigating the media.

[0046] Applications for navigating the media can be, for example, independent applications installed on user devices. In other embodiments, applications for navigating the media may be client-server applications in which only the client is installed on the user's device. Applications for navigating the media can for example be installed partly as a client application in the control circuit 304 of the user device 300, and partly on a remote server or application server (e.g.

data source for navigating the media 418). Navigation application screens can be generated by a data source for navigating 418 media and sent to user devices. The data source for navigating the media 418 can also send data to be stored on the user's device, which will then generate screens of the navigation application based on the instructions processed by the control circuit.

[0047] The Media Navigation System 400 is intended to illustrate the many architectures or network configurations by which user devices and sources of media content and navigation data can communicate with each other to gain access to the media and provide media navigation. The present invention can be applied to any of these approaches or a subset thereof, or in a system in which other approaches are used to provide media and provide access to them. The three approaches set out below are specific illustrations of the generalized example shown in FIG. 4.

[0048] In the first architecture, user devices can communicate with each other within a home network. User devices can communicate with each other via the short-range point-to-point communication schemes described above, via intermediate paths through a hub or other similar device belonging to the home network or via a communication network 414. Each of the many people in the same house can use different user devices on the home network. In this connection, it may be desirable to communicate various settings or information regarding media navigation between different user devices. For example, users may want to maintain consistent application settings for navigating the media on various user devices in a home network, as described in more detail in U.S. Patent Application No. 11 / 179,410, Ellis et al., Filed July 11, 2005. Various types of user devices on a home network can also communicate with each other to send media content. For example, the user may transfer media content from the user's computer device to a portable video or music player.

[0049] For the second architecture, users may have many types of user devices with which they will have access to media content and the ability to navigate the media. For example, some users may have home networks that can be used with home and mobile devices. Users can control home devices through a media navigation application installed on a remote device (e.g. wireless communication device 406). For example, users can switch to online applications for navigating the media on a website using a personal computer in the office or a mobile device, such as a PDA or mobile phone with a network service enabled. The user can configure various settings (e.g. recordings, reminders or other settings) in the online navigation application to control your home devices. The online guide can control user's devices directly or through communication with the application to navigate the media on user's home devices. Various systems and communication methods for user devices in which user devices are spaced apart are discussed, for example, in U.S. Patent Application No. 10 / 927,814, Ellis et al., Filed August 26, 2004.

[0050] For the third architecture, users of user devices at home and away from home can use their media navigation application to communicate with the media content source 416 to access the media content. Specifically, at home, users of user devices 404 and user computer devices 406 can use the media navigation application to navigate and locate the desired media content. Users can also use the application to navigate the media content outside the home, using 406 wireless communication devices to navigate and locate the desired media content.

[0051] Although in the discussion the media content refers primarily to video content, it is assumed that the principles of navigating the media can be applied to other types of media content such as music, images etc.

[0052] As used herein, the term "main application" will mean an interactive application running on user device 402 and / or user computer device 404. The main application can be a server application that provides application data to the 406 wireless communication device in response to at least one application communication event, or an application version that works with the version of the application running on the 406 wireless communication device. As used herein, the term "slave" will mean an interactive application running on a 406 wireless communication device. A slave application can be a client application that retrieves data from the main application or a version of an interactive application that works with the main application and retrieves application data from a 416 media content source or a 418 data source

[0053] Primary and subordinate applications may communicate with each other by exchanging at least one form of application communication. The form of application communication can be any communication construct based on client-server or peer-to-peer architecture, suitable for exchange of interactive application data or other data (such as digital frames and screens to be displayed by means of a 406 wireless communication device) between the main application and slave via communication path 424 or communication network 414 via communication paths 412 and 408. The 424 communication path can be an infrared link, a Wi-Fi link, a Bluetooth link, a combination of such links, or any other suitable link for wireless communication. The form of application communication can include, for example, requests, commands, messages, or remote procedure calls.

[0054] Application communication may also include composite communication between application constructs installed on wireless communication device 406 and user device 402 and / or user computer device 404. For example, application communication can be based on objects. Objects installed in the main and sub conductors can, for example, communicate using an ORB ( Object Request Broker). Interactive application data can, for example, be contained in COM objects Component Object Model) and attached to the stream transmitted through communication path 424 and / or communication network 414. Application communications can also include, for example, documents in the HTML formatting markup language (e.g. websites) exchanged between the 406 wireless communication device and the internet service system. [0055] User device 402 (and / or user computer device 404) and wireless communication device 406 may communicate via communication path 424. There can be only one communication path 424, used, for example, to download application data by the wireless communication device 406 only from the user device 402. Additionally or alternatively, wireless communication device 406 may retrieve application and media content data directly from media content source 416 or data source for navigating media 418, e.g., from communication network 414.

[0056] If multiple communication paths 424 are used, different media and schemes may be used in different communication paths 424. For example, at home, as a communication path 424, you can use a radio link (RF), an infrared link or a Bluetooth link instead of a more complex link that works better for data transmission in larger geographical areas. Conversely, if wireless communication device 406 communicates directly with a media content source 416 or a data source for navigating media 418, the communication path 424 may be a link better suited to data transmission in larger geographical areas, such as an internet connection.

[0057] Wireless communication device 406 may communicate with user device 402 using any suitable network and transport layer protocols. They can communicate, for example, by using a protocol stack containing SPX / IPX protocol layers Sequenced Packet Exchange / Internetwork Packet Exchange), TCP / IP layers ( Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), ATP / DDP (Layer AppleTalk Transaction Protocol / Datagram Delivery Protocol), WAP layer (ang. Wireless Access Protocol) or any other suitable network or transport layer protocol. The 406 wireless communication device and the 402 user device must also be part of a home network using, for example, the Sun Microsystems Jini network protocol. If necessary, the network and transport layer protocols can be bypassed in the system. In various embodiments, the wireless communication device 406 and user device 402 may be DLNA and UVNP compliant devices.

[0058] Application data may be broadcast by the data source for navigating media 418 only to user device 402, to user device 402 and wireless communication device 406 or only to wireless communication device 406 using any suitable scheme. Application data can be provided, for example, as a continuous stream, or transmitted at any appropriate frequency (e.g. once per hour). In the case of continuous transmission, it may not be necessary to save data locally on the user's 402 device or on the 406 wireless communication device. Instead, user device 402 or wireless communication device 406 can extract data on an ongoing basis as needed. If desired, a media content source 416 or a data source for navigating media 418 may periodically query a user's device 402 or a wireless communication device 406 for specific information (e.g.

account information for a paid program or information about programs purchased and viewed using locally generated authorization techniques). Application data can also be provided based on the Internet or client-server architecture.

[0059] In various embodiments, the main application can be fully run on the user's device 402 and / or the user's computer device 404. A slave application installed on the wireless communication device 406 may download application data via the user's device 402 and / or the user's computer device 404. A slave application may retrieve application data from the main application (acting as a server) via application messages sent to user device 402 or user computer device 404 via communication path 424. According to another suitable approach, the slave application may retrieve data directly from user device 402 or user computer device 404 bypassing the main application.

[0060] User device 402 may, for example, download application data as a continuous data stream, periodically or in response to polling requests from media content source 416 or data source for navigating media 418. For such approaches, application data may be automatically provided to a wireless communication device 406, so that the slave application does not need to request them from the main application.

[0061] According to yet another approach, application data may be recorded by the user device 402 and transmitted to the wireless communication device 406. This approach may be desirable, for example, when data transfer rates between the transmitting station 104 and the user device 402 and between the user device 402 and the 406 wireless communication device are not equal.

[0062] An illustrative arrangement of a wireless communication device 406 is shown in FIG. 5. The 406 wireless communication device can be any suitable PDA, cell phone, portable video player, portable music player, portable game console or other portable wireless device. The functions performed by the 406 wireless communication device for the user's needs may be different, depending on the processing circuits, communication circuits and memory used in it. The portable 406 application device can be a smartphone or PDA device compatible with the Windows CE standard or based on the JAVA language, or it can be supported by any other suitable operating system designed for wireless communication devices. Wireless communication device 406 may have a user interface 52, processing circuit 54, memory 56 and communication device 58.

[0063] The user interface 52 may be any suitable input or output device or system of this type, and may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), touch screen, speech synthesis and recognition circuit, microphone, speaker, hand buttons or keys, a keyboard or other appropriate hardware or other appropriate input or output software. Preferably, the user interface 52 includes a touch screen or keyboard. The touch screen can simplify navigation of various types of interactive TV applications. In some embodiments, only the buttons or controls that relate to a particular screen being viewed by a user or a particular task being performed by a user must be displayed on the touch screen of the wireless communication device 406. In addition, the interface displayed on the touch screen may change according to the type of data that the user intends to enter in the TV application. For example, a keyboard may be displayed to allow the user to enter at least one character, or a numeric keypad to simplify the input of numerical data. The user interface 52 may also contain appropriate handwriting recognition software installed on the wireless communication device.

[0064] According to yet another suitable approach, the wireless communication device 406 may include a combination of buttons and displays. Each button on the displays can be marked with text or graphics to indicate to the user the function associated with the button. When the user opens other interactive applications, the display content may change depending on the open application.

[0065] When, for example, an interactive bookmaking application is opened, the contents of "bet" and "information" can be displayed on two screens. When the user changes the application, for example, to an interactive program guide, the messages "next channel" and "previous channel" may appear on the same display. For each application, pressing the specific button performs the indicated function. Control codes can be downloaded, e.g., from user equipment 402 (FIG. 4) via Bluetooth, infrared, Wi-Fi or other wireless connection to the 406 wireless communication device to indicate to the wireless 406 communication device the appropriate labels and functions of each button.

[0066] Processing circuit 54 may include any suitable processor such as Intel

Pentium®, AMD or other microprocessor. Wireless communication device 406 may also include memory 56. Memory 56 may be any suitable memory or other memory device, e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, magnetic or optical disk, or other memory suitable for the wireless communication device.

[0067] Wireless communication device 406 may also include a communication device 58. Communication device 58 may be any device suitable for supporting communication between wireless communication device 406 and user device 402 via communication path 424 (FIG. 4) and between wireless communication device

406 (FIG. 4) and the source of media content 416 (FIG. 4) and a data source for navigating the media 418 (FIG. 4) via communication path 412 (FIG. 4). The communication device 58 may be, for example, a communication port (e.g. serial port, parallel port, USB port, etc.), modem (e.g. any suitable analogue or digital modem or cellular modem), network card (e.g. Ethernet card, Token Ring card, etc.), wireless transmitter / receiver (e.g. infrared, radio, cellular or other suitable transmitter or receiver (analog or digital) or other suitable communication device for a wireless communication device. In particular, the communication device 58 may be a paging frequency transmitter / receiver. If necessary, a wireless communication device

406 it may contain multiple communication devices 58. One communication device 58 can be used for communication via communication path 412 and another for communication via communication path 424. Each communication device 58 may be designed to support a different type of communication path. For example, one communication device 58 can be used to download application data or another exchange of access messages, and another communication device, such as an infrared transmitter, can be used to control a user device 402 and other home entertainment devices having infrared ports. The paging frequency transmitter can be used, for example, to send device type information and retrieve infrared codes. When used in this mode, the 406 wireless communication device may display keys and the user may generate commands by touching those keys. The keys can be context-sensitive, which means that only the relevant keys are displayed at a time. In operation, the wireless communication device 406 may retrieve user commands from the user interface 52, process the commands via the processing circuit 54, and generate a corresponding screen for the user on the user interface 52. When the user indicates a request to access a slave application function that requires the application to download application data, the processing circuit 54 may instruct the communication device 58 to initiate a session with the user device 402 (FIG. 4), a source of media content 416 (FIG. 4) or a data source for navigating the media 418 (FIG. 4).

[0069] Wireless communication device 406 may be configured to display, for example, a main menu that may contain interactive advertisements. An interactive program guide can be one of the menu items. Selecting the guide function may cause the guide's main menu, program offer, or any other suitable guide screen to be displayed. When the user selects an offer, the device can display a description of the program associated with the offer. Ads may be associated with the program, and then selecting them may result in displaying additional information about the program, enabling setting reminders or any other suitable function. Ads for other products may allow the user to obtain additional information or to purchase the product. [0070] An illustrative layout of the user equipment 402 (FIG. 4) shown in FIG. 6. User device 402 (FIG. 4) can receive analog or digital video stream from media content source 416 at input 26. Data from the data source for navigating the media 418 can also be received at input 26. During normal TV viewing, the user can tune the user's device (e.g. set-top box 28) to the desired TV channel (analogue or digital). The signal of such a TV channel may be provided to the video output 30. The signal supplied to output 30 is usually a radio frequency (RF) signal on a predefined channel (e.g. channel 3 or 4) or an analogue demodulated video signal, however, it can also be a digital signal sent to television receiver 36 via the appropriate digital bus (not shown). The video signal at the output 30 can be received by an optional slave storage device 32.

[0071] The main application or the main application client may be installed in the adapter

STB 28, on a television receiver 36, on an optional digital memory device 31 (if the television receiver 36 or the optional digital memory device 31 has an appropriate processing circuit and adequate memory) or on a suitable analogue or digital receiver connected to the television receiver 36. The interactive TV application can also work with both TV 36 and set-top box 28. Interactive television application systems in which a cooperative interactive application to navigate a television program works on many devices, is described, for example, in US Patent Application No.

09 / 186,598, Ellis, filed November 5, 1998.

[0072] Slave storage device 32 may be any suitable type of analog or digital program storage device or player (e.g. video recorder, digital universal disc (DVD) player, etc.). Program recording and other functions can be controlled by set-top box 28 via control link 34. If the second storage device 32 is, for example, a video recorder, a typical control link 34 takes into account the use of an infrared transmitter coupled to an infrared receiver in the video recorder, which normally receives commands from the remote control.

[0073] Wireless communication device 406 can be used to control the set-top box 28, slave memory device 32 and television receiver 36. For example, the wireless communication device 406 may have various modes of operation, enabling it to act as an interface for the application and control of the user device 402 (FIG. 4) just like a remote control. Wireless communication device 406 may be programmable depending on e.g. devices in the media system 400 (FIG. 4). For example, the user can select the device types on the appropriate configuration screen. According to another suitable approach, the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can download configuration data from the application (e.g. interactive application for navigating the media content) installed on the user's device 402.

[0074] If desired, the user can record programs, save application data or their respective combinations in digital form on an optional digital memory device 31. The user can also download the software to a digital memory device 31 from the Internet or other medium. The digital storage device 31 may be a writeable optical storage device (such as a recordable DVD player), a magnetic storage device (such as a disk drive or a digital tape) or any other digital storage device. Interactive television application systems in which program guides have digital memory devices are described, for example, in US Patent Application No. 09 / 1577,256, Hassel et al., Filed September 17, 1998.

[0075] The digital memory device 31 may be embedded in the set-top box 28 or it may be an external device connected to the set-top box 28 via an output port and an appropriate interface. If necessary, the processing circuit in the STB 28 will change the format of the received video, audio and data signal to the digital file format. Preferably, the file format is an open file format such as the Moving standard

Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) MPEG-2 or Moving Joint Photographic Experts Group (MJPEG) standard. The resulting data can be streamed to a digital storage device 31 via a suitable bus (e.g. digital bus) and can be saved to a digital storage device 31. According to another suitable approach, the MPEG-2 data stream or series of files may be downloaded from a media content source 416 (FIG. 4) and saved to a digital memory device 31. For example, you can save files from user-saved programs using a remote media server in a media content source 416 (FIG. 4). If necessary, such digital files can be played to the user.

[0076] The television receiver 36 can receive video signals from the slave storage device 32 via communication path 38. Video signals transmitted via communication path 38 may be generated by slave storage device 32 during playback of a pre-recorded storage medium (e.g. video cassette or DVD for recording), through a digital storage device 31 when playing a pre-stored digital video (e.g. video to a program recorded by the user on a remote media server connected to or located in the user's home), can be transmitted through the set-top box 28, can be sent directly to the television set 36 via the set-top box 28, if the secondary storage device 32 is not built into the user's device 402 or can be received directly by the television 36. During normal TV viewing, the video signals transmitted to the TV 36 correspond to the desired channel, which the user has tuned with the set-top box 28. Video signals can be sent to television 36 using the set-top box 28 also when the set-top box 28 is used to play back information stored on the digital storage device 31 or when the set-top box 28 is used to decode a digital video stream or digital files sent from a broadcasting station television 29.

[0077] The STB 28 may include a communication device 37 for direct communication with a media content source 416 (FIG. 4) and a data source for navigating the media 418 (FIG. 4) via communication path 408 or with wireless communication device 406 via communication path 424 (FIG. 4). The communication device 37 may, for example, be a communication port (e.g. serial port, parallel port, USB port, etc.), modem (e.g. any suitable analogue or digital modem or cellular modem), network card (e.g. Ethernet card, Token Ring card, etc.), wireless transmitter / receiver (e.g. infrared, radio, cellular, Bluetooth or other suitable transmitter or receiver (analog or digital) or other appropriate communication device. If desired, the television receiver 36 itself may also have such a suitable communication device. In particular, the communication device 37 may be a transmitter / receiver with a paging frequency or a frequency of 900 MHz. If necessary, the STB 28 attachment can be equipped with many communication devices 37. One communication device 37 can be used to communicate with the transmitting station 104 and another to communicate with the wireless communication device 406.

[0078] The main and subordinate applications can be any suitable applications, in particular the shopping application, web browser, task list, bookmaker application or any other application. More specifically, the present invention will be presented in conjunction with a system in which an interactive application for navigating through programs is installed on a user device 402 (FIG. 4) and wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). According to one suitable arrangement of such a system, program guide data is distributed from a data source for navigating through media 418 (FIG. 4) to the interactive application for navigating through programs installed on the user's device 402 (FIG. 4). According to another suitable layout, an interactive application for navigating through programs can be implemented using a client-server architecture, in which the main processing power is provided by the application server located, for example, in a data source to navigate 418 media, and the user's device 402 acts as a client processor . According to yet another alternative arrangement, the interactive application for navigating through programs can download data for navigating through programs from the Internet.

[0079] Interactive program guides typically restrict users from selecting interactive objects on the screen, requiring that the objects be selected by highlighting or placing the cursor on them. For example, when a user is in a program offer column, the user may not be able to place an arrow above or below the column to select an interactive object. In addition, the user may have to use several keys to move from one object to another. However, any area can be selected on the touch screen of the 406 wireless communication device, so that the user has easier access to interactive objects. For example, the wireless communication device 406 may display a menu modeled according to the menu displayed on the user device 402 (FIG. 4) using an interactive application. The user can select a specific menu option in one step instead of the usual remote control using multiple keys to position the highlighting area in the right place.

[0080] Wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) it can support many of the features of interactive program guides, such as display by time, channel, category, favorite channels or any other function related to navigation. In this way, users can set reminders that will be displayed on the device, both in the form of an audio alert and on the display. With the return paging function, you can, for example, use your device to set reminders or remotely schedule recording. Wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can be used to collect data. You can use it, for example, to send surveys. You can also use it to collect viewership information. For example, a suitable point-of-sale device can be used to issue electronic coupons.

[0081] The slave program navigating application installed on the wireless communication device 406 may allow the user to coordinate the function of the main guide with the functions of the sub guide, thus extending the interactivity of the main and sub guides.

[0082] The touch screen of the wireless communication device 406 becomes an integral part of the screen guide. Complementary interactivity between the main and sub guides can be provided for various program guide functions without interrupting TV viewing. Features such as channel and time browsing, access to program information, ordering pay-per-view programs, setting reminders and blocking channels, can be operated by the user via a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) without interrupting the display of content on the television 36. To implement functions requiring greater user participation, such as setting favorite channels, displaying more than one channel at a time, or setting global parental locks, display of the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) it can smoothly turn into a remote control that will allow the user to navigate the screen of the main guide to perform a specific function. Alternatively, the user may navigate through the respective menus on the touch screen display of the wireless communication device 406 without at least some of the menus or intermediate screens displayed on the user device 402. When the user executes the command, wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can communicate directly with user device 402 (FIG. 4) to carry out the final order. For example, if a user wants to set a favorite channel, he can go to the appropriate menu in the sub-program guide displayed on the touch screen display of the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) and select your favorite channel. During this process on user equipment 402 (FIG. 4) various intermediate screens may not be displayed. At the end of the process, the wireless communication device 406 may communicate directly with the user device 402 to perform the final command without interrupting the display of the content on the user device 402.

[0083] FIG. 7 shows an illustrative menu screen 601 that can be displayed on a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4), for example when starting the 406 device. The menu screen 601 may contain a series of icons 603 indicating functionally coordinated child applications with the main applications installed on the user's device 402. If desired, the 601 menu screen may also contain 605 icons indicating other applications installed only on the 406 wireless communication device. The user can open a sub application to navigate through programs, for example, by touching the TV guide icon with his finger or stylus.

[0084] FIG. 8 shows the overview screen 701 that can be displayed by a sub program guide installed on a 406 portable access device. The 701 review screen can be displayed, for example, during startup or after the user selects the appropriate icon from the 601 menu screen. Overview screen 701 may include a viewing area 703 that displays program title 715 on the viewed channel 717 and time window 719. Viewing area 703 may also include the broadcast time of the program associated with the offer and its evaluation. It is also possible to display the current time 711 and the current channel 713.

[0085] The user can view program offers for other time windows and channels by touching the right, left, up and down arrows 721. The user can tune the device to the channel being viewed, for example by touching channel 717. When the user touches channel 717, the sub program guide may exchange at least one main guide application message via communication path 424, informing the main guide that the user has indicated a request to tune the device to a particular channel. The main guide may cause the user device 402 (FIG. 4) will be tuned to the selected channel. According to another suitable approach, the wireless communication device 406 can be programmed to change the channel on the user device 402 (FIG. 4).

[0086] By means of the controls on the review screen 701, another suitable function can also be used. The user can touch 719 or channel 717 to, for example, sort the on-screen offers by time or channel. According to yet another approach, the user may touch the 719 hour to display on the wireless communication device 406 a numeric keypad or a list of hours divided, for example, into half-hour windows, to allow the user to indicate the time for which he wants to view the offer. In response to touching channel 717, the 406 wireless communication device may display a numeric keypad or channel list enabling the user to select the channel whose offer he wants to view.

[0087] Review screen 701 may include selectable advertisements 705. For example, ads with a choice of 705 may contain text and graphics advertising a program or other products or services related to or unrelated to television. When a user selects a 705 ad, the sub-guide may display information (e.g. information about pay-per-view orders, program information, etc.) or perform other activities related to the content of the ad. For example, the sub-guide may tune the user equipment 402 (FIG. 4) to the advertising type channel on which trailers of the advertised pay-per-view program are displayed. Alternatively, the sub-guide may use at least one application message to indicate to the master guide that the user has selected the advertised pay-per-view program.

The main guide may tune the user device 402 (FIG. 4) to the associated ad channel. When playing content broadcast on an advertising channel on a user's device, the sub-guide 402 allows the user to order a pay-per-view program.

[0088] Alternatively, in various embodiments, when the user selects a 705 selectable advertisement, the sub-guide may display information (e.g. information on pay-per-view orders, program information, etc.) or perform other activities related to the content of the ad without interrupting the display of the content on the television 36. Using the above example, the sub-guide can display the advertising channel and present the user the opportunity to order the pay-per-view program on the touch screen display of the wireless communication device 406 without interrupting the display of content on the television 36.

[0089] The review screen 701 may also include a logo 707, allowing the user to access the main program guide running on the device with the interactive television application 17 installed. The user can touch the 709 icon to restore the wireless communication device 406 to its default state (e.g. turn them off, return to the main screen of menu 601 etc.). If desired, the 701 review screen may contain other controls suitable for viewing offers. For example, the 701 review screen may contain controls to go to the next program, previous program, one hour ahead, one hour back, one day ahead, one day back and the current time. When selecting channels, the review screen 701 may include, for example, buttons for switching to the next and previous favorite programs, so that the user can indicate the desire to view the offers of his favorite programs. You can also use any other suitable control.

[0090] FIG. 9 shows an illustrative information screen 801 that can be displayed in a sub program guide when, for example, the user touches the program title 715 from the overview screen 701 shown in FIG. 8 or choose an ad with a choice of 705. Information screen 801 may contain information 803 about a program selected by selecting an offer. Information screen 801 may also contain advertisements with a choice of 705, current time 711, current channel 713, logo

707 and the 709 exit icon. When the user switches to information screen 801, selecting an ad with a choice of 705, only the selected ad with a choice can remain on the screen. The sub program guide may allow the user to access other known television program functions for a program indicated from information screen 801, such as tuning to a program (by pressing the watch button 807). After pressing the watch button 807, the option of watching the program on the television 36 or on the display of the wireless communication device 406 may be displayed. If the user chooses to watch the program on the screen of the 406 wireless communication device, then the program can be streamed, for example from the set-top box 28 or from the local media server (not shown) in the user's home via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

[0091] The sub-guide may allow the user to set reminders.

The user can set a reminder for a specific program, for example, by touching the 809 reminder control. When the user sets the reminder using the 406 wireless communication device, the sub-guide can coordinate the reminder with the main guide. For example, the sub-guide may send information about the program for which the reminder has been set to the main guide, listing at least one application message via path 424 (FIG. 4). At the right time (e.g. ten minutes before the program starts) the sub-guide can display the reminder on the 406 wireless communication device, and the main guide can display the reminder on TV 36. In order not to overload the memory of the wireless communication device 406, reminders can be set using the sub-guide in the main guide without storing them in the sub-guide. When the reminder appears in the main guide, the guide can exchange one or more application messages with a sub-guide, indicating the reminder of the program. This way, the reminder can also be displayed in the sub-guide.

[0092] The portable application handling device 406 may allow the user to configure the reminder display time. Users can schedule reminders, for example, between the first and fifteen minutes before the program becomes available. If desired, the wireless communication device 406 and user device 402 may display reminders at different default or user configured times. According to yet another approach, reminders can be signaled only by wireless communication device 406 or user device 402.

[0093] The sub-guide may allow the user to lock or unlock program titles, channels, ratings or time periods within parental controls. The user may request that a parental lock be set on the indicated program or one of its attributes (e.g. title, rating, channel, etc.), e.g. by touching the 811 lock control. Locking or unlocking a program title, channel, rating or time period can be integrated with some program guides from the point of view of user interaction. When a user sends a request to block or unblock a program title, channel, rating or time period, a sub program guide may exchange at least one application message with the main program guide to inform the main guide that the user wants to lock or unlock a specific program title, channel , rating or time period. Then the sub-guide can be transformed into a remote control that allows the user to navigate the parent guide's parental control screen. In guides where parental control of programs is not so important, the sub-guide may allow the user to, for example, block or unlock the program by title, channel, genre or rating.

[0094] The sub-guide may also allow the user to change the parental control code. When the user changes the parental control code, the sub-guide can send information to the main guide about the change of the parental control code and the new code, using at least one application message. Then the main guide can change the parental control code accordingly.

[0095] If desired, the information screen 801 may in addition to or instead of the controls 807, 809 and 811 comprise more control buttons (not shown). In response to more touches of the control by the user, the wireless communication device 406 may display controls supporting subordinate functions. Additional controls can be, for example, controls that allow you to order a pay-per-view program, other controls related to the time of issue, or other appropriate controls.

[0096] The sub-guide installed on the wireless communication device 406 may allow the user to order pay-per-view programs. The user can send a request for a pay-per-view program by, for example, touching an advertisement with the option of 705 advertising the pay-per-view program. FIG. 11 is a view illustrating the pay-per-view ordering screen. As with other screens displayed through a sub-guide on a 406 wireless communication device, the pay-per-view ordering screen may include the 707 brand logo, 709 exit icon, current 711 time and current 713 channel. The pay-per-view 901 ordering screen may also contain information about 907 orders. Information about order 907 may include the title of the selected program, the time of broadcast 911 of the selected program, price, short description, evaluation of the pay-per-view program and any other relevant information.

[0097] The pay-per-view 901 ordering screen may also contain 705 selectable ads. One advertisement with a choice of 705 can be displayed, for example, when the user opens the pay-per-view ordering screen by selecting the advertisement with a choice. One ad with a choice may not work. When the user opens the screen, for example, by selecting the pay-per-view program title, two advertisements can be displayed with a choice of 705. When the user selects one of the two ads with a choice of 705, the sub-guide may display the information screen about the advertised program.

[0098] When the screen 901 is initially displayed, the broadcast time 911 of the indicated pay-per-view program may start at the next available start time 913. Users can view additional broadcast times by, for example, touching the left arrow 903 or right arrow 905. When the user selects another start time 913, the sub-guide may display order information 907 for the selected start time.

[0099] The sub-guide may allow the user to navigate through the main guide and access to the main guide via wireless communication device 406. The user can request access to the main guide, for example by touching the 707 logo. FIG. 11 shows the illustrative screen of the 1000 remote. The pilot screen 1000 may include, for example, the 707 logo, 705 selectable ads, current time 711, and current channel 713. When the user selects the 707 logo from the 1000 remote screen, the sub-guide can send to the main guide a command to display the screen with the offer of programs on the TV 36. The controls available on the screen of the 1000 remote control can be screen-dependent or displayed according to the screen displayed by means of the main guide or other application, the option highlighted on a particular screen of the main application, the content or type of information displayed on the screen of the main application or any other suitable function, group function or content.

[0100] The user can navigate the screen of the main guide for example by touching the arrows 1003. Navigating the program guide screen using a wireless communication device can be done from any screen of the main application.

[0101] The sub program guide may allow the user to navigate the main program guide in other ways. The sub-guide may also allow the user to set channels as favorites in the sub-guide, main guide or both guides. For example, the user can switch between offers set as favorites by touching the "FAVORITE" 1007 button. Alternatively, the sub-guide may sort program offers so that favorite channels are in the most visible or most convenient location on the screen of wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) or user devices 402 (FIG. 4).

[0102] The user may go back one screen of the main guide, for example by touching the "LAST" button 1009. The user may return to the main screen of the main guide 100, for example by touching the "MENU" button 1011. The user may return to watching TV, for example by touching the "EXIT" button 709.

The user may request displaying information about the program for a specific offer, for example by placing the highlighting area 150 on the offer and touching the "INFORMATION" button 1013. Other illustrative controls, which can be displayed by a sub-guide on a 406 wireless communication device, when the user highlights the program offer on the screen with program offers, or the controls available on other screens can be: reminder setting, blocking the program, pay-per-view program order, displaying other broadcasting times or ordering a program-related product, such as a CD with a soundtrack, video cassette with the program or clothing produced under the program brand.

[0103] The sub-guide may also allow the user to define display objects on the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4).

For example, the user may select a help control button to invoke contextual help, a message flag indicating that wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) or user device 402 (FIG. 4) has received an email, a VCR button, a DVD button or a power off button a power supply enabling all user devices 402 (FIG. 4) and devices connected to user device 402 to be turned off (FIG. 4).

[0104] The main guide functions may be coordinated with the sub guide for any number of other relevant related program guide functions, or extended with such additional functions. The sub-guide may allow the user to use the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) for example to: send and receive e-mails (related to the guide, such as promotional messages from a cable operator, or unrelated to the guide, such as private messages); purchase of products; submitting an offer at a television auction; subscribed service orders, such as HBO; payment of the bill for the cable network; making a financial transaction for someone in another household (such as renting a PPV movie for another person or making another financial transaction based on a guide); Internet-based e-commerce (e.g. buying goods, participating in an online auction or reverse auction, etc.) or browsing the internet. These and other functions can be at least partially embedded in wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4).

[0105] Another function that can be coordinated between the master and slave conductors by means of wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) is the control of the picture-in-picture display (PIP). The PIP screen is a small video window occupying part of the screen, emitting video content from one channel, superimposed on the full-screen video material from another channel. Using the sub-guide's review function, the user can browse channels and program titles on the 406 wireless communication device and watch the same channels in PIP mode, while other viewers can still watch the channel tuned on the main screen. The sub-guide may also allow the user to call up on-demand movie trailers, TV commercials, and other video content downloaded in a PIP window using a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4).

[0106] The sub-guide (or other software installed on the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4)) can also allow the user to control the PIP mode during a multi-person video conference. For example, during a three-way video conference, the user can switch views between the other two locations by touching the appropriate controls on the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). For two-sided video conferencing, for example, the user may use wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) to switch between locations where viewers are located, using the PIP mode.

[0107] Wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) may have an appropriate processing circuit adapted to display video. The video signal can be streamed, for example as an MPEG-2 data stream to the 406 wireless communication device for display via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Video screens can also be streamed to wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) as events when the user browses program offers using a sub-guide. With this approach, the video screen may contain video to the program whose offer is displayed and which is broadcast during browsing. If system resources do not allow video streaming, similar images may be transferred instead from another user device 402 (FIG. 4) to wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). By another appropriate approach, bandwidth constraints can be compensated by using highly compressed video. The use of highly compressed video may also be desirable if, for example, the display resolution of the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) does not support high definition video.

[0108] Additionally, in some embodiments, the user may view the program on the user equipment 402 (FIG. 4) while watching another program on the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). For example, one program may be streamed from the media server to wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4), and another program can be sent via the set-top box 28 to the television set 36. Wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can offer the user the option of switching programs displayed on the respective screens. For example, during commercials broadcast during a program displayed on television 36, the user may touch a button on wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) to switch programs displayed on television 36 and wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). After the advertisements have finished, the user can touch the button again to switch the programs displayed on the television 36 and the wireless communication device 406 again (FIG. 4).

[0109] Some applications may only work on the wireless communication device 406. For example, the online program guide client may be installed on the wireless communication device 406. The user can request access to the online program guide by touching, for example, options

Online TV guide from menu screen 601 (FIG. 7). When a user requests access to an online program guide on a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) a web browser may start with the corresponding page. Alternatively, you may launch your own web browser or other remote access software that will allow you to access the web page or other proprietary page providing network access to the wireless communication device.

[0110] Another example of an application that can be installed on a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) is an application for recommending programs. The program referral application may retrieve data from user device 402 and / or user computer device 404 to determine what the user is watching and present recommended programs in real time on the touch screen of wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). For example, if the user views the Olympics, a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) may propose other sports programs that the user may be interested in. In various embodiments, the sub program guide installed at least partially on a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can send queries to the main program guide to determine what the user is currently watching on the user's device 402 or to download user profile information saved, e.g., in memory 308 (FIG. 3). Wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can then download recommended programs from the Internet (e.g. from the remote media server), based on information downloaded from the main program guide. Screens with recommended programs can be displayed simultaneously with any information displayed in FIG. 7-15.

[0111] In various embodiments, a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can determine the content viewed by the user based on how he uses the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). For example, if using a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) "Batman" movie playback from the local media server was started, then based on this information wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can view the movie "The Dark Knight" as a recommended program. In addition, in various embodiments, the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) may enable the user (e.g. by displaying on the touch screen a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) links to the website where the disc can be purchased

DVD) purchase of the movie "The Dark Knight". In addition, the 406 wireless communication device may download the "Dark Knight" movie trailer to be viewed by the user after the current movie has finished displaying (e.g., "Batman"). The trailer may be recorded on user device 402 or on wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4).

[0112] In various embodiments, a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can be used to navigate to a website containing more information about the content accessed by the user on the user's device 402 (FIG. 4). For example, if a user plays a movie from a Blueray disc, they can go to the movie studio's website for more information on, for example, the movie's soundtrack, cast, or links to various social networking services. [0113] FIG. 12 shows the demonstrative homepage of the 1401 website on a wireless communication device. When the user selects connection 1403 or another suitable type of handle, the wireless communication device 406 can download the page in HTML ( HyperText Markup Language) using the protocol

HTTP ( HyperText Transfer Protocol). Any other suitable protocol can be used. According to yet another suitable approach, the 406 wireless communication device may use appropriate remote access software, such as the Windows Remote Desktop Client (RAS), to download screenshots or to take screenshots from the server (i.e. Internet server that provides Internet access through a remote desktop). Alternatively or additionally, the wireless communication device 406 may take screenshots using a second or third tuner on the television receiver 36 (FIG. 6). FIG. 13 provides an overview page that the 406 wireless communication device can display, for example, when the user selects the "Featured" handle.

[0114] FIG. 14a and 14b show illustrative pages that a wireless communication device 406 can display, for example, when the user selects the "My TV Programs" handle 1403. As shown, the online guide client, web browser or other access application installed on the 406 wireless communication device may allow the user to view the offered programs sorted by one of many user-selected criteria. When the user selects criteria, the online guide client, web browser or application with internet access can download the offered programs that meet the selected criteria and display them as shown in FIG. 14c. If necessary, the programs offered can be downloaded based on the user profile, zip code, cable system, satellite service or other relevant criteria yes. for the user to view program offers available for him and for the appropriate time zone. Users may also be able to narrow down the programs offered by time, genre, favorites or other relevant criteria.

[0115] The online guide client, web browser or other access application installed on the wireless communication device 406 may also allow the user to view information about the application. FIG. 15 shows an application information page that wireless communication device 406 can display when, for example, the user selects the "TVG Information" handle 1403 or other appropriate handle from the main page 1401 shown in FIG. 12.

[0116] FIG. 16-19 are diagrams of illustrative steps for providing independent and coordinated application functions on a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). The stages shown in FIG. 16-19 are demonstrative and in practice can be implemented in any appropriate order. FIG. 16 shows a diagram of illustrative stages of sharing interactive television and other application functions via a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). At step 1800, application data, such as interactive TV application data or other application data is provided to the wireless communication device 406. Data can be provided directly from a data source for navigating media 418 (FIG. 4) to wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4), from a data source for navigating the media 418 (FIG. 4) to wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) via user device 402 (FIG. 4) or directly from the user's device 402 (this applies to data from the user's device 402). Interactive TV application data may include any data suitable for interactive media applications and other applications. Interactive applications for navigating the media can be, for example, applications presenting information or performing program-related functions, such as interactive TV program guides, shopping applications, e-mail applications, bookmaking applications and applications for financial transactions. As illustrative examples, you can give shopping applications and applications for the implementation of financial transactions, which can be interactive applications, if their functions are implemented through the user's device. The functions of these applications may be offered along with programs associated with such functions. For example, the purchasing application may enable the purchase of products and services presented on the purchasing television channel.

[0117] Wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) can receive application data (step 1810) and allow the user to go to the application to navigate the media using the wireless communication device 406 (step 1820). An interactive application for navigating the media can work independently as a client requesting data from the server (e.g. server in the data source to navigate 418 media or user device 402) or in cooperation with the main application installed on user device 402. At step 1830, the wireless communication device 406 may allow the user to access other applications, such as functions typical of PDAs. For example, it can support e-mail, calendar, contact list, web browser, calculator, etc. It may support data services such as news, weather forecasts, sports news, traffic news or any other relevant data services. Applications of this type can also work independently or as server applications installed on the user's device 402 and available via the wireless communication device 406. With the right hardware resources, a sub-program guide can support advanced communication features. For example, it can allow the user to monitor home devices remotely - checking if the system is turned on, on which channel, etc. It can also allow the user to listen to the soundtrack of the selected TV channel or offer audio channels.

[0118] FIG. 17 is a diagram of overview stages of the process of coordinating functions between main applications installed on a user's device 402 and subordinate applications installed on a wireless communication device 406. At stage 1900 a source of media content 416 or a data source for navigating the media

418 provides application data to the main application installed on the user's device

402. The main application can be an interactive application for navigating the media. At step 1910, the master application provides application data to a slave application installed on the wireless communication device 406, using for example at least one communication path (FIG. 4). At 1920, the slave application installed on the 406 wireless communication device displays a screen containing interface controls coordinated with the functions of the main application.

For example, the interface controls may correspond to the navigation functions of the main application. The illustrative pilot screen 1000 shown in FIG. 10 for example, includes navigation arrows 1003 that correspond to the navigation functions of the interactive program guide installed on user device 402. The user interface also includes controls for interactive guide functions such as favorites, last, more information and menus. For example, for a shopping application, interface controls may be similar to navigational controls, as well as other controls for purchasing functions, such as purchasing, information, placing items on the wish list, or any other suitable purchasing function. For example, for a home stock market application, interface controls might be similar navigational controls, as well as other controls for functions such as buying stock, selling stock, displaying additional information, or any other relevant function. In a web browser application there may be, for example, similar navigational controls, as well as other controls such as backward, forward, home page, tab, or any other suitable function. In the bookmaking application, for example, you can provide user interface elements for placing bets, displaying additional information on possible bets and for any other suitable function.

[0119] Interface controls must be coordinated with the functions of a subordinate application using the data provided by the main application. In this way, user interface controls can be dynamically configured based on the main application. If necessary, a library of standard controls can be saved using the 406 wireless communication device so that the user can use a consistent interface in the main applications. The controls provided specifically for the particular main application can be downloaded if required.

[0120] Another example of coordinating interface controls with main application functions is to provide the content of the main application to a wireless communication device 406. For example, in an interactive application for navigating programs, the wireless communication device 406 may display a television program when, for example, a user is viewing program offers while watching the program on the user's device 402.

[0121] At step 1930, the slave application controls the functions of the main application depending on the user selected controls as indicated on the wireless communication device 406. For example, you can use the exchange of at least one access message with the main application. For example, in a shopping application, the main application may initiate a purchase sequence in response to a user selecting a purchase control on a 406 wireless communication device. For example, in a stock exchange application, the main application may sell shares in response to a user selecting a sales control on a 406 wireless communication device. For example, in a web browser, the system may go back to the previously displayed page in response to the user selecting a back control element.

[0122] FIG. 18 provides a diagram of the illustrative steps of providing the interactive program guide function using a 406 wireless communication device. At step 2100, program guide data is provided to the 406 wireless communication device. Data can be provided directly from the 418 media data source to the wireless communication device 406, from the 418 media data source to the wireless communication device 406 via the user device 402 or directly from the user device 402 (this applies to data from from the user's device

402). At step 2110, the wireless communication device 406 allows the user to view program offers. Such a device can operate independently as a client relative to the main application server installed on some of the user's 402 devices or in cooperation with the main application installed on some of the user's 402 devices. Wireless communication device 406 or user device 402 may provide a television program in response to the user selecting the offer overview (step 2115).

[0123] At step 2120, the wireless communication device 406 may allow the user to set reminders. Reminders can be signaled on the portable access device 406 in both the form of an audible signal and notifications on the display (step 2125). By using the device's paging function, you can use, for example, to remotely set reminders using the interactive program guide installed on your 402 user device.

[0124] At step 2130, the wireless communication device 406 may allow the user to order pay-per-view programs or on demand. The user may request pay-per-view programs or on demand, for example, by selecting offers on a 406 wireless communication device, selecting ads on a wireless communication device, or performing any other suitable function. Ordered pay-per-view programs or on demand can be delivered to a wireless communication device 406 or to a user device 402 (step 2135).

[0125] At step 2140, the wireless communication device 406 may allow the user to display additional program information. The user may request additional information about the program to be displayed, e.g. by selecting the program offer, selecting an advertisement (as for example shown in FIG. 9) or selecting any other suitable control element. Additional information may be provided to the wireless communication device 406 or to the user device 402 (step 2145).

[0126] FIG. 19 is a diagram of illustrative steps for executing a command on a user device 402 (FIG. 4) using a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). At step 2002, user input data is received by wireless communication device 406 to form at least one command. The command can be an application command for navigating the media, such as setting a favorite channel, setting parental lock, scheduling recording, setting a reminder, searching for media content, or any other suitable application command for navigating the media. In addition, the command can be a basic command, such as power on / off command, channel change command, play command, recording command or any other appropriate command. The user input of the user input may include, for example, touching the keys displayed on the touch screen of the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). When receiving user input to create a command, the wireless communication device 406 simultaneously plays advertisements. Ads can be targeted depending on the type of command or user input. For example, if a user enters a search string to search for comedy programs, the 406 wireless communication device may display comedy program ads. At stage 2004, the wireless communication device 406 may determine whether to display the interface screen (e.g. menu) associated with user input. For example, if the user enters a simple command to move one channel up, the 406 wireless communication device may not display any interface screens. However, if the user input is for going to a menu to perform a more complex function, such as setting a favorite channel, setting a reminder, setting parental lock or creating a search chain, then at least one of the intermediate interface screens (e.g. menu) may not be displayed on the 402 user device so as not to interrupt the display of content on the 402 user device. When receiving user input, the wireless communication device 406 also displays advertisements. Additionally, if, for example, a user enters a search chain, a wireless communication device 406 may suggest search phrases based on the user's browsing history and / or information on the user's profile. The 406 wireless communication device can automatically retrieve information from a user profile depending on which user has activated it. Wireless communication device 406 may determine user identity, e.g., based on login information, time of day, viewing patterns, or using any other suitable identification technique.

[0127] If the user enters more commands, you can go back from step 2008 to step

2002 to receive additional data entered by the user. However, if you have finished entering commands, you can move from step 2008 to step 2010. At step 2010, the wireless communication device 406 may indicate the appropriate device to receive the command entered by the user. For example, a wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) may indicate whether the command is to be received by television receiver 36 (FIG. 6), STB 28 attachment (FIG. 6) whether user device 404 (FIG. 4). A wireless communication device may indicate the appropriate device based at least in part on the command entered, supported playback and recording formats of individual devices (e.g. in high definition, standard definition and H.264) and / or the distance of the devices from the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). For example, in some embodiments, the device closest to wireless communication device 406 may be selected as a device suitable for receiving and executing a command (FIG. 4). In other embodiments, the device suitable for receiving and executing the command is determined based on the distance from the device and the type of command (e.g. power on / off commands, channel change commands, playback commands and recording commands). For example, commands that require the use of a tuner (e.g. moving one channel higher) can be sent to the set-top box 28 (FIG. 6), and commands requiring the use of a network page may be sent to the user's computer device 404 (FIG. 4). You can use GPS or Wi-Fi location to determine the distance of devices from the 406 wireless communication device. In addition, you can also use playback or recording formats supported by your devices to select the appropriate device. For example, if a user enters the command to play HD content and has two television sets, one of which does not support playback in HD mode, then the wireless communication device 406 may choose a television capable of playing HD content as the appropriate device.

[0128] When the wireless communication device 406 indicates a device suitable for receiving a command, then the wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4) as part of the stage 2012 may determine whether the device is available. For example, it can determine whether the corresponding device is within its range (in the case of communication via IR or Bluetooth) and / or whether it can connect to the appropriate device (in the case of communication via Wi-Fi). To determine if a suitable device is available, the wireless communication device may attempt to start a communication session with the device and / or diagnose the connection to the device using a ping signal.

[0129] If a suitable device is available, the wireless communication device 406 may as part of the 2014 step send a command to the respective device. For example, wireless communication device 406 may attach an identifier to the command string. The identifier can uniquely identify the appropriate device to execute the command. A device that receives a command not directed at it may ignore it. At the 2016 stage, the wireless communication device 406 may receive confirmation data from the corresponding device that carried out the command. Confirmation data may be, for example, a confirmation screen, confirmation code or search results. Then, at the 2018 stage, wireless communication device 406 may display at least some of the confirmation data on the screen of wireless communication device 406 (FIG. 4). For example, if the command was to search for media content, at least some of the search results may be displayed in 2018. Other commands may not generate information to display, and then 2018 may be skipped in the 2000 review process.

[0130] However, if at stage 2012 the wireless communication device 406 detects that the corresponding device is unavailable, the wireless communication device 406 may save the command until the corresponding device is available at stage 2020. When the corresponding device is not available, the wireless communication device 406 can still receive user input to create additional commands. Wireless communication device 406 may store at least one command directed to an inaccessible corresponding device e.g. in memory 56 (FIG. 5) until the appropriate device is available. After sharing the device, the wireless communication device 406 may send at least one command stored in memory 56 (FIG. 5) to the appropriate device at the stage of 2014. For example, at least one command may be saved in the command queue when the device is unavailable, and when the device is available, a batch command containing at least one command saved in the command queue may be sent to it. [0131] The above is merely an illustrative description of the principles of the present invention, and those skilled in the art recognize that various modifications may be made to it without departing from the scope of the present invention. The above described embodiments of the present invention are for illustrative purposes and are not limiting and the present invention is limited only by the claims below.

[0132] In addition, the following points are disclosed:

1. The method of controlling a user's device using a wireless communication device consists of:

receiving user input to create at least one command on the wireless communication device; selecting a particular device from among a plurality of user devices to receive at least one command based at least partially on at least one command; and sending at least one command to the selected device.

2. The method of item 1, wherein the type of at least one command is at least one of the following commands: power on / off, recording, playback and channel change.

3. The method of item 1, wherein in addition the selection is based at least in part on the proximity of the user equipment to the wireless communication device.

4. The method according to item 1, however, if the command type is a command to play media content, the method additionally consists in determining the supported playback formats of each of many user devices.

5. The user's device control system using a wireless communication device including:

a wireless communication device and a user device, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to:

receiving user input to create at least one command on the wireless communication device; selecting from a plurality of user devices a particular device to receive at least one command based at least partly on at least one command; and sending at least one command to the selected device.

6. The system of item 5, wherein the type of at least one command is at least one of the following commands: power on / off, recording, playback and channel change.

7. The system according to item 5, wherein in addition the selection is based at least partly on the proximity of the user device to the wireless communication device.

8. The system according to item 5, wherein if the command type is a command to play media content, the wireless communication device is additionally configured to determine the supported playback formats of each of a plurality of user devices.

9. The user's device control system using a wireless communication device including:

means for receiving user input to form at least one command on the wireless communication device; means for selecting from a plurality of user devices of a particular device to receive at least one command based at least partly on at least one command and means for transmitting at least one command to the selected device.

10. The system according to item 9, wherein the type of at least one command is at least one of the following commands: power on / off, recording, playback and channel change.

11. The system according to item 9, wherein the selection means comprise means for determining the distance of the user's device from the wireless communication device.

12. The system according to item 9 containing additionally means for determining supported playback formats of each of many user devices.

13. A method of controlling a user's device using a wireless communication device consisting of:

receiving user input to create at least one command on the wireless communication device; displaying at least one interface screen associated with at least one command on the wireless communication device without displaying the interface screen on the user's device; sending at least one command to the user's device and receiving confirmation data from the user's device.

14. The method according to item 13, where sending at least one command to the user's device consists in indicating the user's device suitable for executing at least one command.

15. The method of item 14, wherein the indication of the appropriate device is to indicate the appropriate device at least partly based on the type of at least one command.

16. The method of item 14, wherein the indication of the appropriate device is to indicate the appropriate device at least partly based on the close proximity of the device to the wireless communication device.

17. User control system using a wireless communication device that includes:

a wireless communication device and a user device, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to:

receiving user input to create at least one command on the wireless communication device; displaying at least one interface screen associated with at least one command on the wireless communication device without displaying the interface screen on the user's device; sending at least one command to the user's device and receiving confirmation data from the user's device.

18. The system according to item 17, wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to indicate a user device suitable for performing at least one command.

19. The method of item 18, wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to indicate the appropriate device at least partially based on the type of at least one command.

20. The method of item 18, wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to indicate a corresponding device at least partially based on the close proximity of the user device to the wireless communication device.

21. User device control system using a wireless communication device that includes:

means for receiving user input to form at least one command on the wireless communication device; means for displaying at least one interface screen associated with the at least one command on the wireless communication device without displaying the interface screen on the user device; means for transmitting at least one command to the user equipment and means for receiving confirmation data from the user equipment.

22. The system according to item 21 containing additional means for indicating a user device suitable for performing at least one command.

23. The system according to item 22, wherein the indication of the appropriate device consists in indicating the appropriate device at least partly based on the type of at least one command.

24. The system according to item 22, wherein the indication of the appropriate device is to indicate the appropriate device at least partly based on the proximity of the device to the wireless communication device.

25. A method of controlling a user's device using a wireless communication device consisting of:

receiving user input to create at least one application command to navigate the media on a wireless communication device; checking the availability of the user's device which is to receive at least one command; if the device becomes unavailable:

storing at least one command on the wireless communication device; and sending at least one command to the device after it has been made available.

26. The method of item 25, which additionally consists of:

sending at least one command to the device in response to its availability.

27. User control system using a wireless communication device that includes:

a wireless communication device and a user device, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to:

receiving user input to create at least one command of the application for navigating the media on the wireless communication device; checking the availability of the user device that is to receive at least one command; in the event of unavailability of the device, the wireless communication device is configured to:

storing at least one command on the wireless communication device; and sending at least one command to the device once it is available.

28. The system according to item 27, wherein the wireless communication device is configured in such a way that in response to the device availability confirmation it sends at least one command to it.

29. User control system using a wireless communication device that includes:

means for receiving user input to form at least one command of the application for navigating the media on the wireless communication device; means for checking the availability of the user's device, which is to receive at least one command; means for storing at least one command on the wireless communication device in the event of the device being inaccessible; and means for sending at least one command to the device after it has been made available.

30. The system according to item 29, additionally taking into account:

means for sending at least one command to the device after it has been made available.