Abstract: A reception apparatus, method, computer program, and information providing apparatus for providing one or more alert services. The reception apparatus includes a receiver, a display interface, an input unit, and a processor. The receiver receives a notification of an alert service. The display interface presents the notification of the alert service on a display. Further, the input unit receives a request from a user of the reception apparatus to subscribe to the alert service. In response to receiving the subscription request, the processor registers a location of new content information associated with the alert service in a memory. Further, the processor determines whether new content corresponding to the alert service is available based on the new content information. When the new content is determined to be available, the processor downloads the new content and causes the display interface to present a pop-up alert based on the new content.

Abstract: Systems and methods for monitoring a user's viewing progress of media in a series are provided. The user may setup a media profile containing a list of program series to be monitored. The interactive media monitoring application may track the user's viewing progress of programs in the program series on the user equipment and update the user's media profile. The user may request and watch programs in the series at the user's leisure while peripheral media content may be filtered to be consistent with the user's viewing progress in the series.

Abstract: Systems and methods are operable to record a user-specified media content event at a media device. An exemplary embodiment grabs a series of subsequently received image frames from a preceding broadcasting media content event after a monitored real time reaches a closing credits monitor time, wherein the closing credits monitor time is a recording start time less a predefined duration. The embodiment then analyzes each of the image frames to identify an occurrence of text presented in the analyzed image frame, determines that the identified text corresponds to closing credits of the preceding broadcasting media content event if the at least one attribute of the identified text matches a corresponding predefined closing credits attribute, and initiates a start of the recording of the user-specified media content event in response to determining that the identified text corresponds to the closing credits of the preceding broadcasting media content event.

Abstract: A system and method for providing an electronic program guide for television or radio programs includes presenting listings of present or future programs on-screen, presenting listings of past programs on-screen and indicating whether the past program is available again at a future time. Also, a system and method for handling information controllable from an electronic program guide for television or radio programs comprises receiving information in a user's system, storing the received information in the user's system, displaying access to the stored information by means of a user interface and enabling the user to select one of a plurality of management options for controlling the operation of the stored information through the user interface.

Abstract: An example implementation includes a computer-implemented method including generating at a user device a dynamic user-interactable graphical interface using a performance summary including viewer traffic statistics for a first show. The performance summary includes an inbound viewer rate and an outbound viewer rate for each of a plurality of discrete time intervals of the first show. The interface includes a graphical traffic meter that visually comparatively displays the inbound viewer rate and the outbound viewer rate corresponding to a selected time interval. The method further provides the interface for display via a display device associated with the user device, receives from an input device associated with the user device a user input selecting from the interface a time interval of the first show, and updates the meter to comparatively display the inbound viewer rate and the outbound viewer rate corresponding to the time interval selected by the user input.

Abstract: Systems and methods for monitoring a user's viewing progress of media in a series are provided. The user may setup a media profile containing a list of program series to be monitored. The interactive media monitoring application may track the user's viewing progress of programs in the program series on the user equipment and update the user's media profile. The user may request and watch programs in the series at the user's leisure while peripheral media content may be filtered to be consistent with the user's viewing progress in the series.

Abstract: A graphical user interface is disclosed which achieves an easy search for a desired item. When an operation inputting section accepts a selective operation input for selection of one of plural processing functions, plural representation images individually representing plural processing object items of the processing function are displayed in an array along one direction of a display screen such that one of the representation images can be selected as a noticed representation image by an inputting operation through the operation inputting section. A decision section decides whether plural processing object items of the selected processing function are divided in a plurality of groups. If the processing object items are divided in groups, then the group name of the group to which the processing object item of the noticed representation image belongs is displayed in the proximity of the noticed representation image.

Abstract: Methods and systems for accessing content are provided. A non-tunable device (e.g., a device without the capability to tune to a particular channel) can access a particular channel via a tunable device (e.g., a device with the capability to tune to the particular channel). A computing device can facilitate content tuning. As an example, the non-tunable device can send user information (e.g., a request for content) to the computing device. The computing device can reserve the available tuner and transmit the tuning information (e.g., tuner reservation identifier) to the non-tunable device. Upon receiving the tuning information, the non-tunable device can transmit a tuning request (e.g., all or portion of tuning information, device identifier) to the tunable device. Upon receiving the tuning request, the tunable device can tune to the particular requested channel and transmit a data asset (e.g., requested content, tuning denial) to the non-tunable device.

Abstract: In a network-based system for recommending media content items based on user preferences, clients contact a server on a periodic basis, independent of the user. In addition to client-server interaction, clients also interact with one another in peer-to-peer fashion. Peers query one another and evaluate their similarity to each other in an interactive comparison of user preferences. When two clients are sufficiently similar, the interaction culminates in the originating client downloading content listings from the targeted peer to generate suggestions for their user. If the two clients are dissimilar, the query may be terminated, or the targeted peer may route the query to a second targeted peer. In addition to the lists of preferences, the originating client may download actual content items from the targeted peers.

Abstract: Systems and methods for monitoring a user's viewing progress of media in a series are provided. The user may setup a media profile containing a list of program series to be monitored. The interactive media monitoring application may track the user's viewing progress of programs in the program series on the user equipment and update the user's media profile. The user may request and watch programs in the series at the user's leisure while peripheral media content may be filtered to be consistent with the user's viewing progress in the series.

Abstract: Methods and systems are described for processing spatially segmented content originating from a content delivery network. One method comprises a client in a media processing device receiving a spatial manifest information comprising one or more spatial representations of a source stream, each spatial representation identifying one or more spatial segment streams, location information for locating one or more delivery nodes in said content delivery network and, optionally, position information for stitching spatial segment frames in said segment streams into a video frame for display; selecting one or more spatial segment streams and on the basis of said spatial manifest information requesting at least one delivery node in said content delivery network to transmit said one or more selected spatial segment streams to said client; and, receiving said one or more selected spatial segment streams from said at least one delivery node.

Abstract: A system and method for making program recommendations to users of a network-based video recording system utilizes expressed preferences as inputs to collaborative filtering and Bayesian predictive algorithms to rate television programs using a graphical rating system. The predictive algorithms are adaptive, improving in accuracy as more programs are rated.

Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying, in a network environment in which users watch videos that are downloaded or streamed over a network, a video in which a user is likely to be interested based on session context. For example, a server or other computing system identifies prior session contexts in which prior users watched videos and session progress data for prior sessions in which these prior users watched the videos. The server or other computing system determines a session context of a user for whom a video is to be recommended. For this user, the server or other computing system generates a recommendation identifying one or more videos in which the user is likely to be interested, where the user has not previously watched the recommended videos. The recommendation is generated based on the prior session contexts, the session progress data, and the session context of the user.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating streaming of media content. Video content is retrieved over a network from one or more client devices capturing video content. Data items associated with the plurality of video content are also retrieved. A list order for the plurality of video content is determined according to at least a portion of the retrieved data items, and a user interface is encoded for display where the user interface contains a plurality of items corresponding to the plurality of video content, the items being positioned within the user interface according to the list order.

Abstract: In accordance with one or more embodiments, digitally encoded audio may be sent by a computing system to a user system over a network. The user system may receive the digitally encoded audio, may produce a sound encoded within the digitally encoded audio, and may record a sample of the sound as produced by the user system. The sample may be analyzed, a format of digitally encoded audio may be selected based on the analysis, and audio digitally encoded in accordance with the selected format may be sent by the computing system to the user system over the network.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product are provided for detecting hacked modems in a cable network system. A cable Internet service provider can provide the disclosed heuristic to determine whether a particular cable modem has likely been hacked by obtaining a score corresponding to this likelihood. This score, as well as information regarding failure and success of various tests, can be used to generate a report identifying the likelihood that various modems have been hacked.

Abstract: Methods and systems for a media guidance application that may stimulate the senses of users. The media guidance application may determine a preferred biometric state associated with a media asset, determine a current biometric measurement of a user, cross-reference the preferred biometric state in a database to determine a difference in sensory stimulation between the current biometric state of the user and the preferred biometric state, and cause the user to be stimulated to account for the difference.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing advertisements for inclusion in video content. In one embodiment, a video is formatted into a specific format for advertising purposes. The format describes a standard for advertisement placement opportunities within a video in which a client device may select advertisements for display during these opportunities.

Abstract: An apparatus may include a control unit to control transmission of a transformed video stream over a network, in response to a reproduction control command for a video stream realized by an application executed by a browser at a client device.

Abstract: A method is implementable in a source device operable to provide, via a wireless channel, a video stream to a sink device for display by the sink device. The method includes receiving link quality information indicative of a condition of the wireless channel and/or performance of communications between the source device and the sink device via the wireless channel. The method also includes determining a measure of network congestion based on the link quality information, and, based on the measure of network congestion, skipping one or more, but not all, video frames of a plurality of video frames in the video stream, such that the one or more video frames are not provided to the sink device, reconfiguring a video encoder operating on the plurality of video frames, such that an output bit rate of the video encoder is changed, and/or changing a video format of the video stream.