DYNAMIC AUDIO FILE AND METHOD OF USE
A method of creating a dynamic audio file may comprise associating a tag with an audio file having audio content and the tag may comprise a location file path of a source of the audio content. A method of updating a dynamic audio file may comprise sending a dynamic audio file, receiving a request for updated audio content, and sending the updated audio content in response to the request. In various embodiments, the dynamic audio file may comprise a tag and initial audio content and the tag may comprise a location file path of the audio content.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/013,825 filed Dec. 14, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
COPYRIGHT NOTICEThis application contains material that is subject to copyright protection. Such material may be reproduced by any person exactly as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records. The copyright owner otherwise reserves all rights to such material.
BACKGROUNDFrom a media user's point of view, media files are “static.” In other words, the content of a media file does not change. In the context of a media playlist of country and western music, for example, a media file of George Strait's “Ace in the Hole” contains only that song when played on a media player. A user cannot update the content of that file with new content and still keep that file's place in the playlist. To add new content, a user must create a new file or playlist entry for that content. Thus, there exists a need for a system and method for updating media content within a playlist.
SUMMARYAccordingly, a method of creating a dynamic audio file may comprise associating a tag with an audio file having audio content and the tag may comprise a location file path of a source of the audio content. A method of updating a dynamic audio file may comprise sending a dynamic audio file, receiving a request for updated audio content, and sending the updated audio content in response to the request. In various embodiments, the dynamic audio file may comprise a tag and initial audio content and the tag may comprise a location file path of the audio content.
Table 1 is a listing of metadata attributes associated with an embodiment of a dynamic audio file.
Table 2 demonstrates how metadata attributes map to ID3v2 frames in an embodiment of a dynamic audio file.
Table 3 provides a listing of attributes of an embodiment of an assembly XML file that may be used to create a dynamic audio file.
Table 4 is an implementation matrix for a graphical user interface in connection with an embodiment of assembly software.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe user may have stored a library of media files on her computer 3 in a format suitable for playback on a media player. In this embodiment, the media player may be an application installed on the computer 3. For example, the user may have stored a library of songs in MP3 format for playback on a Windows Media Player application installed on the computer 3. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various other media players may be supported, such as iTunes, RealPlayer, WinAmp and the like, and that the media players may be web-based or otherwise provided to the user for playback of locally-stored content, or a mix of locally-stored and remotely-provided content, or remotely provided content. The user may have further arranged some of those media files into a playlist. In one embodiment, the media files may comprise songs arranged so as to provide a particular listening experience. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that a user may maintain a library of media files on a computer, and manage that library using a suitable media player application which also allows media file management, such as Apple's iTunes software. Those skilled in the art will further recognize that a user may use that media management/media player application to create a playlist that may be played using the media management/media player application, or transferred to mobile media player, such as Apple's iPod media player, for playback. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the updater software disclosed herein may be provided as part of a media management or media player application, or may incorporate features of media management and media player applications.
The user may desire listen to more than an unbroken series of songs or similar audio elements. Thus, a dynamic audio file may be included in the user's playlist to allow the user to listen to perishable, or relatively time-sensitive, content or other types of content. Examples of perishable content include daily news, sports scores, DJ chatter, traffic reports, emergency information, public service announcements (PSAs), talk show programs, personal messages and weather reports. A dynamic audio file may also be included in the user's playlist to provide new songs, e.g., updatable incorporation of Top-10 songs into the playlist, or other content, such as advertisements and station jingles. By including one or more dynamic audio files, a playlist may provide, for example, a more radio-like listening experience. Accordingly, the user may download from server 1 a dynamic audio file, and include the dynamic audio file in the playlist. The user may also download updater software provided to allow the user to set dynamic audio file preferences. Those having skill in the art will recognize that the user may obtain a dynamic audio file and updater software in other ways, such as on CD or by RSS feed.
In this embodiment, the user has elected to include in the listening experience a news report from radio station WOAI in San Antonio, Tex. The user may thus download a dynamic audio file from the WOAI radio station server, and include it at two locations in her playlist 6. As may be seen in the playlist 6 of
The audio content associated with a dynamic audio file may be replaced with updated audio content. As such, a radio broadcaster may distribute updated audio content which will be associated with one or more dynamic audio files that already reside on a user's computer. A dynamic audio file may serve as a content placeholder so that when updated content is distributed, the location of the updated content in the playlist will be the same as the location of the replaced content. In other words, a single library or playlist element reference may be provided for each dynamic audio file and all subsequent updates to each file.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that dynamic audio files may be of any suitable format, such as .acc, .wmp, .wma, .wav, .ogg, .ra, .m4a, and .mp3, to name a few examples. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that a dynamic audio file may have “default” or initial content. For example, a user may download a dynamic audio file that already includes the latest news reports from a particular radio station and is further configured to include updated news reports when those updates are accessed. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a user may, after downloading, change her preferences with respect to that dynamic audio file.
A dynamic audio file may be moved, played, or otherwise manipulated in a manner similar to known audio files, in addition to other capabilities described herein. From a user's perspective, a dynamic audio file may not appear to be any different from a traditional audio file. For example, a dynamic audio file may be named “WOAI News” file while the artist name may be provided as “WOAI.” A user may browse through their media library using their media player's available searching tools to find the “WOAI News” file and play the audio content in the “WOAI News” file on demand or put the “WOAI News” file in a playlist with other audio files. As described above, a user may, for example, play the same “WOAI News” dynamic audio file incorporated into her playlist again and again, yet hear more current content within that playlist 6 as made available for updating. A user may also play dynamic audio files in a static mode, i.e., when the user's computer is not connected to a network or otherwise able to communicate with the content source. In such a circumstance, the dynamic audio file may contain the most-recently updated content. Thus, the exemplary “WOAI News” dynamic audio file retains its place in the user's media player library and playlist while providing updated content.
A media provider may thus make dynamic audio files and updater software available to users for downloading or other transfer. The updater software may be used by a user to automatically retrieve updated audio content from the broadcaster's website and replace the previous content with the updated content. Updated audio content may thus be automatically associated with the dynamic audio file. Updater software may comprise executable instructions installed on a user's computer (or other media device) to allow the user's computer to download new audio files from the broadcaster's computer. Updater software may give the broadcaster the ability to automatically update dynamic audio files and distribute audio content without the user having to affirmatively request such an update. Also, a dynamic audio file may contain update instructions that may be extracted by the updater software and stored at the user's computer. Updater software may periodically connect to the broadcaster's server to check for and receive updated audio content with which to replace audio content already associated with the user's dynamic audio files.
In some embodiments, updater software may manage and control the update process without requiring any user interaction. As previously discussed, updater software may be downloaded onto a user's computer. Alternatively, updater software may reside on a broadcaster's computer and perform the audio content updating from the broadcaster's computer. The updater software may also interact with the user's computer to perform the update process described herein. Of course, updating audio content may also be initiated automatically when a user plays back, moves, changes settings for, or otherwise manipulates a dynamic audio file.
Referring to
Referring still to the exemplary method of
Once updated content has been downloaded, the updater software may determine whether the dynamic audio file to be updated is in use or locked, as indicated at 40. If not, the updater software may replace the previous content in a dynamic audio file with updated content by associating updated content with the dynamic audio file, as indicated at 42. That may be accomplished, for example, by deleting the old audio content, renaming the updated audio content with the name of the old audio content, and placing the renamed updated audio content in the location file path of the old audio content. If the dynamic audio file to be updated is in use or if there is a file lock on the file when an update is downloaded, the updated content may be held in local memory (or, in other embodiments, discarded and downloaded again later) and previous content in a dynamic audio file may continue to play or be used, as indicated at 50. When the previous content is no longer in use, or the file lock is relinquished, updated content may replace previous content and be associated with the dynamic audio file, as indicated at 42. As indicated at 44, programming hooks in the updater software may alert a media player and library management system of updated content such that identifying information of the updated content may be incorporated. For instance, if the updated content has a different duration or title than the previous content, the new duration or title may be noted accordingly by the media player and library management application as a result of such programming hooks. In other embodiments, programming hooks may not be necessary if the user's media player or library management system automatically detect updates to content. As shown at 46, after previous content is updated, the updated content may be played upon the next playback of the respective audio file.
In various embodiments, updates to the audio content of a dynamic audio file may be determined by various settings, specified either by a user or by a radio broadcaster. For example and not by way of limitation, in some embodiments a user may provide settings as to various types of music, news, or radio talk shows that the user would prefer to be downloaded. These settings may be part of a playlist processing module provided as part of the updater software. Alternatively, playlist processing as described herein may be provided separate from the updater software. A playlist processing module may process an offline playlist for timing analysis and content insertion, or analyze an online playlist and add audio content as needed based on user settings. A playlist may comprise a time-based or other arrangement of audio content, such as a listing of songs to be played in a specified order. For example, a user may specify that music should be updated every week, news should be updated every day, and radio talk should be updated every hour. Alternatively, a user may request that a certain percentage of various types of music be played each hour, such as 50% Jazz and 50% Rock. In this example, 50% of the dynamic audio files downloaded may be “JAZZ” dynamic audio files, and the other 50% may be “ROCK” dynamic audio files. The playlist processing module may analyze the playlist and request updates to fulfill these settings. In addition, a user may create a playlist having static audio files and specify that news be played on a certain time interval, for instance every 60 minutes during the time that the playlist having traditional audio files is being played. When the user is playing the playlist, the playlist processing module may analyze the playlist and estimate where to insert and update dynamic audio files, e.g., those having news content.
The playlist processing module may analyze the playlist in real-time and obtain updated perishable content, e.g., news, based on the time that passed since perishable content was last played. A user may elect to receive audio content from a plurality of different content sources, e.g., radio stations. For instance, if a user prefers the music from station A, the news from station B, and the traffic report from station C, a user may download one or more dynamic audio files having music content from station A, one or more dynamic audio files having news content from station B, and one or more dynamic audio files having traffic report content from station C. A user may then set how often music, news, and traffic reports should be updated, or how often those files should be should be played during a particular playlist. If each dynamic audio file has a different content source link, content may be updated from each of the three radio stations, A, B, and C, for the type of content selected by the user. Those skilled in the art will recognize that one or more servers may provide content for radio stations A, B and C. Alternatively, updater software may provide the ability for a user to update content on demand. A user may manually request an update, for instance if a user is following a particular breaking news story and wishes to manually control the timing of updates.
A radio broadcaster may also have control over the timing and manner of updates to dynamic audio files. For instance, a radio broadcaster may create and provide for downloading on their website a dynamic audio file for “Breaking Music” where the song may be changed every week, day, hour or minute. This embodiment may allow a radio broadcaster to generate and maintain listener interest because the listener has the ability to request that the newest music be distributed to them. Alternatively, a radio broadcaster may provide a series of dynamic audio files which, when downloaded, are automatically assembled into a playlist 6 that presents a musical sequence such as “Today's Top 10 Songs.” Each day, the content of the dynamic audio files may be automatically replaced with that day's top ten songs. In addition, a radio broadcaster may distribute “Test Music” dynamic audio files in order to distribute test music to listeners to gauge their reactions and preferences. In another embodiment, a radio broadcaster may distribute advertisements based on user registration information that may be gathered by updater software. For instance, a user may be asked to enter a residence address, and other user information, before downloading the updater software or before receiving dynamic audio files. “Advertisement” dynamic audio files may be distributed and the redirection content source links may be utilized by the radio broadcaster to direct updates to the “advertisement” dynamic audio file based on user information, such as redirecting audio content to provide advertisements particular to the geographic area where the user resides. Of course, other information about the user may be used to determine where to retrieve updated content such as advertisements. In yet another embodiment, a radio broadcaster may distribute a plurality of dynamic audio files that may be used each day to distribute an entire radio broadcast for that day or for a day part. A radio broadcaster may update the audio content in a plurality of dynamic audio files several times throughout the day to create and distribute a traditional radio broadcast over a network. Those skilled in the art will recognize that “push” or “pull” technology could be used to effect those embodiments.
In various embodiments, the dynamic audio file format may contain a number of attributes. Of course, the following description is for exemplary purposes only and a dynamic audio file may have a variety of attributes. Metadata attributes may be associated with a dynamic audio file that may be retrieved through use of an audio watermark. Such an audio watermark may make the actual audio content format arbitrary.
In one embodiment, metadata attributes may be stored in an ID3 version 2 (“ID3v2”) file tag or header made part of an MP3 audio file. In this embodiment, an ID3v2 tag may be 256 MB in size, and contain a number of 16 MB frames. Those skilled in the art will recognize that ID3 tags may be of variable size, and contain a variety of frames. The ID3v2 tag is described here by way of example. An ID3v2 tag may also include without limitation text and encryption, as well as linked information and weblinks. Thus, the dynamic audio file may be, in this embodiment, an ID3v2-tagged mp3 file that is instantiated as described herein. A device or media player that does not have the updater software installed may recognize this embodiment of a dynamic audio file as an mp3 file that has some proprietary ID3v2 tags in a vendor-specific or private frame, and the ID3v2 tag will not prevent such recognition. Of course, dynamic audio files may be provided in other formats, such as those mentioned above, with the tags or headers pertaining to those formats.
Table 1 shows exemplary metadata attributes that may be associated with an mp3 file in an ID3v2 compliant mp3 header to create a dynamic audio file. Table 1 describes each attribute and how the attribute may be used. In Table 1, an attribute with “yes” in the “Preferred” column indicates that the attribute may be preferred for implementation of an embodiment of the updater software. In this embodiment, the optional attributes, indicated with a “No” in the “Preferred” column may be optional in the ID3v2 public standard, so the updater software may not consider their absence a failure condition. In some embodiments, each preferred attribute in Table 1 may be placed into a private frame value for robustness. In other embodiments, however, less than all of those attributes, or other suitable attributes may be used to create a dynamic audio file. For example, a dynamic audio file preamble having information about dynamic audio files may be skipped by using the “ContentStartTime” attribute so that the audio content immediately plays when the dynamic audio file is played. Various software applications may read from the attributes.
In some embodiments, various attributes that are shown in Table 2 may also be placed in other standard, non-overloaded ID3v2 fields, to trigger complementary behavior of media players in this embodiment that support the ID3v2 header standard. In Table 2, an “n/a” in the “ID3v2 Frame” column indicates that the attribute may not be relevant to the embodiment of Table 2. Such behavior may include, for example, graphically depicting the source of the audio content of the dynamic audio file, which may be desirable in other embodiments. Table 2 describes how various attributes listed in Table 1 may map to ID3v2 frame values. The updater software may examine the ID3v2 frames to determine whether to treat the mp3 as a dynamic audio file. In other embodiments, all of the attributes in Table 2 are placed in a private vendor area of the ID3v2 file header. In other embodiments, some of the file attributes may be placed in the standard public areas of the ID3v2 file header, if the meaning and use of the dynamic audio file attribute matches the meaning and intended use of that same attribute in the ID3v2 header.
In some embodiments, updater software may provide a user interface that may be launched when, for example, a user clicks on an updater software “tray” or on a start menu item.
If a user clicks on the Audio Token Files tab 60, an Existing Audio Token Files section 68 of that tab may be provided that lists various dynamic audio files saved on the user's computer and registered with the updater software. A linked title may identify a dynamic audio file by name, for example “KZOK Weather” 72. A user may click on the linked title “KZOK Weather” 72 to launch a dynamic audio file detail window 80 as shown in
Turning to
Referring back to
Additionally, dynamic audio files on a user's computer that are not registered with the updater software may be found using drop down menu 112 to select a directory or location to search for new dynamic audio files. A user may also click on a Search button 114 to search a directory or location selected via drop down menu 112. Clicking on the Search button 114 may open up a new user interface for searching computer memory or remote databases. If unregistered dynamic audio files are found, the updater software may register those dynamic audio files and add those files to the list of registered dynamic audio files displayed in section 68.
If a user selects the Player Integration tab 62 of the user interface 70 illustrated in
In some embodiments, the updater software may automatically, at various intervals, search for new dynamic audio files on a user's computer. If a new dynamic audio file is discovered that is not registered in the updater software, the new dynamic audio file may be added to an index of dynamic audio files in the updater software, including adding information regarding when the new dynamic audio file expires (“expire time”) and thus when the dynamic audio file may be updated. The expire time may be adjusted to local time using the GMToffset attribute in an embodiment with attributes as described in Table 1. In order to prevent every single dynamic audio file from being updated at the same time, the expire time placed into the updater software's index may not be the literal expire time attribute (e.g., DateTimeExpires). Rather, {DateTimeExpires+Random(0-ExpiresResolution)seconds} may be used such that all dynamic audio files needing updates may be randomly distributed across a specified time window or time resolution (e.g. ExpiresResolution), e.g., a fifteen (15) minute time span, for updating rather than at the same time. Also, if the updater software has a setting that media players be updated with information regarding the new dynamic audio file, such information may be updated at that time.
Referring still to
The installation for the updater software may be simple and user-friendly, with defaults being automatically set for optimal operation. The user may be given a notice stating that they can change these settings after the updater software is installed. A link to the updater installer may be placed into an ID3v2 predefined URL frame, e.g., official audio file webpage frame, since this is the URL most likely to be automatically or easily linked in a variety of browsers. A preamble comprising audio content in each dynamic audio file may also audibly refer to the location of the updater installer, so that if a user has downloaded the dynamic audio file and does not have the updater installer already, the user may be informed that additional functionality is available.
A dynamic audio file having the format described above may be updated according to the following exemplary process, e.g., when the computer system time matches the expire time (e.g., DateTimeExpires). If the ContentType is “EmergencyAlert” and there is no file present in the primary source link (e.g., SourceURL), the alternative source link (e.g., BackupSourceURL), or the redirection source link (e.g., AlertURL), the dynamic audio file may be deleted from the updater software's registry, the file system, and if the user has specified media player integration, the playlists of the user's media players.
If the ContentType is anything other than “EmergencyAlert”, the redirection source link may still be checked for the presence of updated “EmergencyAlert” content. If updated “EmergencyAlert” content is present at the redirection source link, the updated “EmergencyAlert” content may be downloaded and given its own separate entry in the updater software's registry. If the user has specified that a notice be provided when updated “EmergencyAlert” content is downloaded from the redirection source link, a dialogue box may pop up notifying the user that “the following emergency alert was issued on <DateTimePublished>: <Title>”. The <Title> area may be hot linked, and may launch the updated “EmergencyAlert” content in a default media player.
Regardless of whether or not updated “EmergencyAlert” content was present at the redirection source link, the updater software may next check the primary source link and the alternative source link for updated media content. If updated media content is found, then the updated media content may be downloaded and the preamble, if any, removed. The updated media content may then overwrite the previous media content in the dynamic audio file in the file system, provided there is not a file lock preventing overwriting. If there is a file lock on the file, for instance if the user is playing the dynamic audio file, the updater software may wait for the file lock to be released and then the dynamic audio file may be updated in the updater software's registry with the updated media content and a new expire time value. If the user has specified player integration, media players may be updated with the new duration of the audio content and any other attributes that are relevant and available through the media player APIs. If the user has specified that anonymous usage data be sent out (as described below), a notification may be sent having usage data to a web service location specified in a configuration file. If updated media content is not found, the updater software may keep trying based on a “New file not found retry interval” that may be provided in the configuration file as noted below.
Furthermore, in some embodiments, upon installing a dynamic audio file on the user's computer, an XML configuration file may be placed in the installation directory with the following values: About Dynamic Audio Files text, About Updater Software text, Privacy Policy URL, Anonymous Reporting Web Service URL, User Profile Page URL, New file not found retry interval (in minutes), SendtoFriendSubject, and SendtoFriendText.
A dynamic audio file may be created either manually or automatically by use of assembly software. For example, a radio broadcaster may utilize XML assembly software on its computer systems before distributing audio content, such that distributed audio content is incorporated into dynamic audio files. Table 3 discloses exemplary attributes that may be contained in an assembly XML file that may be used to create a dynamic audio file. In some embodiments, an assembly XML file may contain all of the attributes listed in Table 3 for the header portion of the dynamic audio file. An assembly XML file may also contain information about where to find the audio content and where to save and how to name the output file. In Table 3, an “n/a” in the “Destination” column indicates that the attribute may not be relevant to Table 3 in some embodiments.
In other embodiments, a command line executable may be used to create a properly formatted dynamic audio file. A command line executable may take a single input file path, for example, either the full path to a specific assembly XML file or a directory path containing multiple assembly XML files. If the input file path is a directory path to a directory containing multiple assembly XML files, the assembly software may look at every XML file in that directory and attempt to parse each XML file as if it were an assembly XML file. If the assembly software does not recognize the XML file as an assembly XML file, the assembly software may output the failure and the reason therefor to an error log. The assembly software may then move on to the next XML file and proceed to either create a dynamic audio file or output a failure and reason therefor to an error log. The assembly software may work through each XML file in the foregoing manner until all XML files have been reviewed in the directory path.
In still other embodiments, the assembly software may provide a user interface to assist a broadcaster in creation of a dynamic audio file. An exemplary user interface of the assembly software may have a “Create a New Dynamic Audio File” function with a form providing a windows control appropriate to one or more of the exemplary attributes specified in Table 4. A user interface provided by the assembly software may also have a directory file browse function so that a user may visually select the input for the command line executable file. A “Create File” button may be selected which would launch an executable file having the selected input. In some embodiments, the assembly software may comprise a configuration file which may provide default values for certain attributes that appear in the user interface. This configuration file may also provide attribute values for attributes that may not be changed or selected through the user interface of the assembly software. Table 4 provides data used for an embodiment of the assembly software to create a dynamic audio file. Table 4 provides both the user interface elements of the assembly software and the items that may appear in some embodiments of an assembly XML file. Table 4 also contains information about how some of the data elements may behave in the operation of some embodiments of the assembly software.
The interface 166 may include a Create Assembly File tab 160 that provides a number of sections that a user may access to set dynamic audio file variables and preferences. A General File Information section 168 may provide a content file path menu 170 for a user to input a source file for the audio content that may be used in the dynamic audio file being created, and a Browse button (not shown) that allows a user to browse their computer's local drives (or remote sources) for the audio content. A file identification number may be entered in a field 172 or a checkbox 174 may be selected to use the source file name as the identification number. A user may enter a title for the file in field 176 and may select the type of content by use of drop down menu 178. The expiration time, or length of time after which the content will be deemed stale, may be set by using drop down menus 182 and 184. An Output Directory may be selected via menu 180 or selected using a Browse button (not shown). The output file name may be the Title entered into field 176 by selecting the Use Title option button 186. Alternatively, the source file name may be selected as the output file name by selecting button 188. In yet another alternative embodiment, a user may enter a custom output file name in field 190 by selecting button 192.
An Advanced Settings section 194 may allow a user to select a preamble file location by using drop down menu 196 and selecting the location on the user's computer from which the assembly software may retrieve the preamble. A user may specify how many minutes the expiration time may be delayed by selecting a precision value from drop down menu 198. The precision value may allow the updater software or content server to advance or delay updating slightly to avoid content server overload.
A Set Information section may allow a user to identify a file as being a member of a set of files by selecting checkbox 200. The number of dynamic audio files in the set may be selected through menu 202 and the location in the set may be altered by a Position menu 204. In some embodiments, the dynamic audio file's position in the set may be selected by using menu 204. A dynamic audio file may also be added to the set by entering the dynamic audio files fields 206, 208 and 210. Alternatively, the primary source link may be entered into field 206 and the alternative source links may be entered into fields 208 and 210. In other embodiments, those fields may be used, or other fields may be provided for fail-over and redirection source links. A source, such as a radio station, that distributes the dynamic audio file may be entered into a field 212 with the source's homepage being entered into another field 214. In various embodiments, the source may be an Internet radio station. A user may indicate that the dynamic audio file should be immediately processed by selecting checkbox 216. A user may save the settings as defaults for creation of other dynamic audio files by selecting checkbox 218. To create the dynamic audio file having the specified attributes, a user may select the Create Assembly File button 220.
In other embodiments, a user may click a Reset button (not shown) to clear the settings entered into interface 166. Under the Process Assembly File(s) tab 162, a user may select one or more dynamic audio files to process.
Dynamic audio files and the methods of use described herein may provide a radio broadcaster an efficient and flexible method of distributing audio content. Such dynamic audio files may serve as a “placeholder” audio file in a media library or playlist, where the content of the dynamic audio file may be updated or refreshed. Thus, “News” or “Sports” dynamic audio files, for example, allow a listener access to fresh news or sports content without having to reconstruct a playlist. Various embodiments described herein allow a user to specify how content should be distributed to them. Some embodiments are user friendly, as a user need not affirmatively request updates. Thus, such embodiments may promote and increase user interest in the content source.
Of course other embodiments may include a system and method that may be practiced by a non-broadcaster or other content provider. For example, a school district may distribute news to parents, students and teachers through the use of dynamic audio files. Or, multi-level distribution companies may use dynamic audio files to distribute content to various audiences. For example, depending on a user's profile, an audio token may be updated with different content for different users. Content may be updated to different groups of people.
Although various exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and described. Therefore, the scope of the invention is intended to be limited solely by the scope of the claims that follow.
Claims
1. A method of creating a dynamic audio file, the method comprising associating a tag with an audio file having audio content, said tag comprising a location file path of a source of the audio content.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio content comprises an audible preamble.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the format of the audio file is MP3.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag is an ID3 tag.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag further comprises a URI file path of a backup source of the audio content.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag further comprising an attribute identifying a type of the audio content.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag further comprises an attribute defining a content expiration time of the audio content.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag further comprises an attribute defining the playback start time of the audio content as the time duration of the audible preamble measured from the beginning of the audio content.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag further comprises an update time.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag further comprises an update frequency.
11. A method of updating a dynamic audio file, the method comprising:
- sending a dynamic audio file, the dynamic audio file comprising a tag and initial audio content, wherein the tag comprises a location file path of the audio content;
- receiving a request for updated audio content;
- sending the updated audio content in response to the request for storage in the location path in place of the initial audio content.
12. A method of providing a dynamic audio file, the method comprising:
- sending a dynamic audio file to a client computer over a network, the dynamic audio file comprising a tag and default audio content, wherein the tag comprises a URI file path of the source of the default audio content; and
- sending to the client computer a computer-readable program for execution on the client computer, the computer-readable program capable of causing the client computer to: after receiving the dynamic audio file, register the location of the dynamic audio file with the computer-readable program; retrieve the URI file path of the source of the default audio content from the tag; connect with the source of the default audio content over the network using the URI file path; request updated audio content from the source; receive updated audio content from the source; store the updated content after receipt thereof; and play the updated content upon playback of the dynamic audio file.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the client computer is one of a laptop computer, a mobile telephone, a PDA, a PC and an MP3 player.
14. A method of enabling a client computer to update a dynamic audio file comprising a tag and default audio content, wherein the tag comprises a URI file path of the source of the default audio content, the method comprising sending to a client computer a computer-readable program for execution on the client computer, the computer-readable program capable of causing the client computer to:
- after receiving a dynamic audio file, register the location of the dynamic audio file with the computer-readable program;
- retrieve the URI file path of the source of the default audio content from the tag;
- connect with the source of the default audio content over the network using the URI file path;
- request updated audio content from the source;
- receive updated audio content from the source;
- store the updated content after receipt thereof; and
- play the updated content upon playback of the dynamic audio file.
15. A method of enabling definition of processes with respect to a dynamic audio file comprising a tag and default audio content, wherein the tag comprises a URI file path of the source of the default audio content, the method comprising sending to a user computer a computer-readable program for execution on the user computer, the computer-readable program capable of causing the user computer to instantiate a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical user interface is capable of allowing a user to define processes comprising:
- updating a dynamic audio file;
- sending a dynamic audio file to another user;
- synchronizing a dynamic audio file with a media player;
- scanning for dynamic audio files; and
- sending data pertaining to the user's usage of a dynamic audio file.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 26, 2008
Publication Date: Jun 18, 2009
Inventors: Jeffrey D. Zigler (Omaha, NE), Richard D. Wooden (Ogallala, NE), Jacqueline J. Lockhart (Poway, CA), Kevin R. Lockhart (Ogallala, NE), Theodore A. Myers (Fort Collins, CO), Evan A. Hill (Bend, OR)
Application Number: 12/239,473
International Classification: G06F 17/30 (20060101);
