Abstract: A method and system for navigation within a two-dimensional grid object displayed on an electronic device includes determining a starting location and a circular motion of a touch gesture on the touch sensitive interface. Advancement of the circular motion of the touch gesture is mapped into a continuous navigation along an axis of the displayed grid object. The mapping into a navigation direction within the grid object is based on the starting location and the circular direction of the touch gesture. The results of the navigation, such as an indication of navigation direction and a location within the grid object are displayed.

Abstract: Selection of an advertisement by a user for playout to at least one member of an audience of distributed members commences by establishing a content recommendation from the one audience member based on the one audience member's interaction with the at least one piece of content.

Abstract: This disclosure offers an approach that curates social messages that are then offered to the user with timing appropriate to a second-screen application that may not be entirely focused on the social messaging aspect. This is valuable when it is desirable for second-screen applications that want to integrate social messaging with other aspects of the media experience like bonus content, trivia and advertising.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a mechanism for associating a message to a specific point in time relative to the start of media content (such as video). Social messages employing these techniques can be associated to specific points in time within the particular content. For example, social messages can be associated with an opening scene that sparks social commentary and later for other arbitrary points in the media timeline. This example becomes even more relevant when a piece of media is replayed at a later time.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed towards a method and system for providing an alternate view of content being displayed on a first or primary screen on a second screen device. This alternate view can be synched with the primary view and displayed on the second screen device without interrupting the view or playback on the primary screen device.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for encoding identifiers into a media item, the method including: embedding a sequence of identifiers equally and in order over a duration of a content of the media item; and storing a mapping between the embedded identifiers and the media item; wherein the sequence of identifiers is created by: (a) generating a subsequence of 2M unique identifiers, M being an integer greater than one; (b) shifting every other identifiers in the generated subsequence to the right by two positions in the subsequence and with the identifier at the end cycling around to the corresponding position at the beginning to generate a new subsequence; (c) repeating step (b) up to M?1 times; and (d) concatenating the generated subsequences to create the sequence of identifiers.

Abstract: The disclosed methods and devices make use of a second screen to provide dynamic advertising regarding content based on social media commentary. By tracking a user's social messages based on content being viewed, advertising relating to topics of their social messages can be presented in a timely and unobtrusive manner on a second screen device.

Abstract: A spherical remote control, including: a spherical shell; a surface sensor to detect a contact on the spherical shell; an accelerometer to detect a movement of the remote control; a circuit to transmit a signal based on the detected contact, orientation and movement; and a first induction coil to receive power for charging a battery in the circuit. The spherical remote control can be placed on a cradle which includes: a power supply; and a second induction coil for providing power to the first induction coil.

Abstract: Eye contact between remote and local video conference participants is advantageously maintained by displaying the face of a remote video conference so the remote video conference participant having his or her eyes positioned in accordance with information indicative of image capture of the local video conference participant. In this way, substantial alignment can be achieved between the remote participant's eyes with those of the local participant.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed towards a method and system for synching content on a second screen with content being displayed on a first or primary screen. The method and system of the present disclosure supports multiple synching mechanisms as well as prioritization between the different multiple synching mechanism.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed towards a method and system method for providing a graphical representation of social messages on a second screen relating to content displayed on a first screen. The disclosure involves monitoring social media for one or more messages relating to content being displayed on a first screen, processing the one or more message relating to content being displayed on the first screen to associate messages with a time segment of the content being displayed on the first screen, and providing a graphical representation of the one or more social messages, associated with one or more time segments of the content being displayed on the first screen, on the second screen.

Abstract: A user interface that displays a number of cards or windows is described where a user can move the cards in a horizontal direction freely. When a card resides in a locked zone, as defined by a user, the card will be able to be manipulated in a vertical direction, while cards that reside in a regular zone will not be able to be moved vertically. In addition, only cards that are in the locked zone can be subjected to a user action such as cutting content from the card, pasting content to the card, enlarging the contents of the card, or shrinking the contents of the card.

Abstract: A user interface is used for selecting a time duration for a media collection shelf. The media shelf can be populated with graphical elements corresponding to selected media assets, where the cumulative time duration of selected media assets should not exceed the time duration of the media collection shelf. When placed within the media collection shelf, a graphical element corresponding to a media asset is scaled in proportion to the time duration of the media asset as compared to the time duration of the media collection shelf. Optionally, selected media assets within the media collection shelf are played back in a particular order specified by a user.

Abstract: A user is provided with an indication of a button's functionality on a viewing device before the button is actually selected. The user receives haptic/tactile feedback to let the user know that they are about to select a button and that its functionality indicator is shown on the viewing device. Thus, the haptic or tactile feedback in combination with on-screen display elements is utilized in a remote control device to eliminate the need for shifting focus away from a viewing device.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed towards having a user interface being selected for display on an input device to control the playback of a media asset or media service. A determination is made of the media asset or media service to be played and a lookup operation is performed to select the corresponding user interface for the input device. The user interface will change depending on the media asset or media service being selected for playback.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed towards having a user interface that displays a number of cards or windows. A user can implement a command where the user interface will automatically change the position of the displayed cards to show regions of interest which are the parts of the cards that a user may have interested in. The user interest can be determined in accordance with user preference information. Optionally, cards which do not have regions of interest are removed from a display area and such cards are replaced with new cards that do have regions of interest.

Abstract: The sharing an image of a local participant in a group with at least one other participant in that group commences by establishing, for that local participant, orientation information indicative of an orientation of the communication channel local participant relative to a display screen and a video camera. The local participant sends his or her image of the local participant along with the orientation information to at least one other participant. The orientation information enables display of the image of the local participant with a common orientation recognized by the at least one other participant.

Abstract: A system, method and user interface for providing media or content recommendations are provided. More specifically, the system, method and user interface provide media recommendations including enabling a user to select a first media object the first media object having a first set of characteristics, enabling the user to select a second media object, the second media object having a second set of characteristics, and recommending a plurality of additional media objects, each of the plurality of additional media objects having at least one characteristic in common with the first set of characteristics and at least one characteristic in common with the second set of characteristics.

Abstract: The disclosed methods and systems are related to a navigation of user interfaces that is vector based. Vector based navigation combines the efficiency of orthogonal direction navigation (up/down/left/right) with the flexibility of pointer-based (e.g. mouse/touch-pad) navigation. User interface elements can be arranged arbitrarily in 2D (or 3D) space and described in term of vector relationships from the currently active UI element. Directional gestures coming from control devices such as a track-ball, touch-pad, or gyroscopic remote can be translated into vector movements to affect navigation between UI elements.

Abstract: Digital cinema exhibition facilities make use of a show play list (SPL) specifying a time sequence of the events to occur during the presentation of digital cinema content. One or more cues in the show play list trigger certain activities, such as displacing the screen curtain and dimming the house lights. To achieve an aesthetic, showman-like presentation, the cues in the show play undergo re-cuing. For each cue, a determination is made automatically of the prefire interval, that is, the interval by which the cue should be advanced. The execution the cue to trigger a corresponding activity is advanced by the automatically determined pre-fire interval.