Abstract: A social network (SNET) is divided into one or more circles employing separate security secrets, e.g. keys, for communication between members. A device can be a member of more than one circle, and store different keys for each of those circles in separate, restricted portions of memory. When a member leaves a circle, new keys can be generated and distributed to the remaining members. Before and after joining a circle, a level of trust associated with the device or human member can be determined based on third party trust verification and a trust history. A requirement for multiple current circle members to vouch for the prospective member can be imposed as a condition of membership. Each circle can be assigned different trust and access levels, and authorization to receive information can be checked before transmitting information between circles.

Abstract: An online sales/automatic rebate and coupon redemption system provides online customers automatic retrieval and redemption of all applicable rebates and coupons during purchase. Purchase orders from customers are selectively fulfilled and products are shipped to the customers either by the system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption or by other merchant or manufacturer environments. The system purchases from merchants using applicable coupons and rebates and then sells the products to the customers, passing the savings to them. The system makes it possible to automatically retrieve coupons and rebates for items in a shopping cart during the activity of an online purchase at an electronic mall or an online merchant site. The system provides coupons to potential customers via email, based on customer profile, geographical information, etc. Manufacturers and merchants can update coupon value and content based on ongoing sales and volume of customer activity.

Abstract: A method and device support the use of background network scanning to enable association with a first and at least a second wireless network, for the exchange of exchange of multimedia information. Representative embodiments of the present invention may sniff radio frequency spectrum and determine at least one characteristic of detected wireless networks having capacity for exchange of the multimedia information. More than one wireless network may be identified for use in exchanging the multimedia information, which may be communicated concurrently over the identified wireless networks. User defined criteria may be employed in adjusting communication of the multimedia information to meet a quality of service level desired by a user. A lack of wireless network capacity may result in adjustments to, for example, protocols used to represent multimedia information, frame rate, and spatial or color resolution, in order to maintain or enable communication.

Abstract: A search engine server supports delivery of search results using an international search string option by identifying websites that provide support in English as well as the language of the international search string. The international search string is a search string in any of the languages that are listed/supported by the search engine server. The search engine server delivers web links of websites that provide support in both English as well the language of the international search string by identifying conjugate English terms, strings or phrases for the international search string, that provide exact or approximate equivalent meaning for searching. In addition, the search engine server also provides web links of websites that provide international language support by utilizing a thesaurus in English that provides synonyms for the conjugate English terms. The search engine server also translates websites where there is no support in the language of the search string.

Abstract: A method and system for the consumption of simulcasted or multicasted multimedia information via a wireless personal or local area network by a broadband access gateway, is disclosed. A user of an access device such as, for example, a mobile multimedia handset may engage in a call served by a wireless wide area network, and may consume components of multimedia information via the wireless wide area network. Additional components of the multimedia information may be provided to the user via a second communication path, based upon user-defined parameters in a user profile. Selected components or all of the multimedia information may be communicated to a broadband access gateway, where it may be cached, or simulcast to a plurality of access devices in a wired fashion, or wirelessly via a personal area and/or wireless local area network.

Abstract: An online sales/automatic rebate and coupon redemption system provides online customers automatic retrieval and redemption of all applicable rebates and coupons during purchase. Purchase orders from customers are selectively fulfilled and products are shipped to the customers either by the system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption or by other merchant or manufacturer environments. The system purchases from merchants using applicable coupons and rebates and then sells the products to the customers, passing the savings to them. The system makes it possible to automatically retrieve coupons and rebates for items in a shopping cart during the activity of an online purchase at an electronic mall or an online merchant site. The system provides coupons to potential customers via email, based on customer profile, geographical information, etc. Manufacturers and merchants can update coupon value and content based on ongoing sales and volume of customer activity.

Abstract: A system and method for establishing a group of wireless devices having shared media stored thereupon associates each group member device of the group of wireless devices, communicates with at least some of the group member devices of the group of wireless devices to identify shared media and upon receiving a request transmitted by a group member device of the group of wireless devices, supports access to shared media. The shared media may be stored on a different group member device, upon a managing server computer, or a media server. Upon a successful validation, the group member device that made the request is notified to facilitate the access to the shared media. The notification includes access information.

Abstract: A sales portal system supports a plurality of buyer computers used by a corresponding plurality of buyers. The sales portal system supports a first seller's computer to support sales of a first plurality of products a second seller's computer to support sales of a second plurality of products. The sales portal accesses first product data from the first seller's computer and second product data from the second seller's computer and responds to a query received from one of the plurality of buyer computers by delivering selections from the associated first product data and the associated second product data. The sales portal manages a single sales transaction for a first product of a first seller and a second product of a second seller. The sales portal rates sellers. The sales portal apportions payment, fulfillment, delivery instructions, and other sales components to the first and second sellers.

Abstract: A sales portal system supports a plurality of buyer computers used by a corresponding plurality of buyers. The sales portal system supports a first seller's computer to support sales of a first plurality of products a second seller's computer to support sales of a second plurality of products. The sales portal accesses first product data from the first seller's computer and second product data from the second seller's computer and responds to a query received from one of the plurality of buyer computers by delivering selections from the associated first product data and the associated second product data. The sales portal manages a single sales transaction for a first product of a first seller and a second product of a second seller. The sales portal rates sellers. The sales portal apportions payment, fulfillment, delivery instructions, and other sales components to the first and second sellers.

Abstract: A social device including capabilities for participating in a social network group via a social infrastructure. Various functions and resources of the social device are accessible by members of the social network group. Likewise, the social device may be configured to access services and other resources of the social network group. The social device may participate in the social network group through an autonomous, automated or member-triggered process. In one embodiment, the social device functions as a social gateway to communicatively couple a child node and a social network group. The social gateway may comprise a set top box or mobile communication device, and the child node may be a human user that interacts with the social gateway through a user interface. In a further embodiment, the social gateway may concurrently operate as a child device that communicates with a social network group through another social device.

Abstract: A communication system is described that allows co-located viewers to simultaneously consume different media content, such as different video content, via the same display screen, wherein video content delivered to at least one co-located viewer is not visible to the other co-located viewer(s). The communication system comprises an infrastructure that includes multiple pathways for delivering media content from one or more media sources to the eyes of each of the co-located viewers, wherein each pathway passes through the pixels of a pixel array included in the shared display screen. The pathways also include distributed or non-distributed processing circuitry that manages certain resources that are shared among the multiple pathways, wherein such shared resources may include shared display resources (e.g., pixels of the pixel array and light generated thereby) and shared data communication resources (e.g., bandwidth on data communication links and processing resources of nodes located on such links).

Abstract: A social networking environment enables interaction between social networking (SNET) groups. Some interactions between SNET groups can include docking various SNET groups based upon interactions between a member and some part of a social network. Various hierarchies of social networking infrastructure can enable hierarchical interactions between social devices, SNET groups, and other elements associated with various social networking infrastructures. Capabilities provided by various elements in various SNET infrastructures can be docked to create combined SNET groups, and capabilities provided by an SNET group can be accessed via interaction with a representative view of the capabilities. Various interactions can be managed based upon inputs, trigger events, authorizations, and the like provided by various processing systems, devices, members, or the like. Various interactions can enable members associated with an SNET infrastructure to access capabilities provided by an SNET group via a docked SNET group.

Abstract: A search engine server delivers search results to a web browser of a client device communicatively coupled to the search engine server via the Internet. The system identifies new web pages in a source language during crawling, translates them into a plurality of destination languages, creates reverse indexes in respective languages, and stores both reverse indexes and cache web pages in a database. Upon the entry of search strings by a user using a web browser, the search engine server responds by delivering links of web pages in the user-desired language (the language of the search string or a language chosen by the user) as well as web pages translated from a plurality of destination languages, ranked based upon popularity or other means. The search engine server contains a plurality of translators that translate new web pages, links that are obtained during crawling, in to a plurality of destination languages.

Abstract: A social networking system offers a variety of fixed and intelligent services and social device resources participating as members in a social network (SNET) group. Such members may include, for example, social billing and payment services, digital assistants and artificial intelligence functions, robotic control and training services, media content storage and playback services, data backup services, services that support distributed processes such as distributed research projects, networking elements such as network attached storage (NAS), firewalls, proxies, etc. In various embodiments, such services and resources may become available upon being selectively docked or otherwise associated (e.g., through docking of a supporting device) with a SNET group by a human member or third party via a docked user device. Selection of available services may be supported through a visual menu provided by a member device or support service.

Abstract: A search server searches web sites based upon a search string. Maxima categories are provided that sort search results based upon popularity and/or context similarity. A web browser displays the search result pages. A maxima determination module within the search server responds to the delivery of the initial search string by first categorizing search results applicability to the search string on the basis of maxima or by generating maxima categories with search results that correlated to the search string. Search results within each applicable maximum are then sorting on the basis of popularity within each of the maxima categories to effectuate popularity ranks for each search result or web page. User interaction with search results are monitored to better select search maxima and popularity ranks for subsequent search result requests for this search string, whereby the desirability of search results provided to the user improves over time.

Abstract: A search engine server interacts with a client devices and web servers to enhance the quality of search service based on statistics that are gathered by the system. The search engine server monitors the quality of service and data format (i.e. encoding needed for secured delivery) of search results or searched web pages delivered from the web servers. On the client side, the system generates page content usefulness statistics by monitoring user interaction with search results or web pages on the client device. Each of the visited web pages/links is associated with a vectoring event, and a vector event table is constructed using these vectoring events from all the visited web pages or search results. The vectoring event table from several search sessions are retrieved periodically, and used to compute/evaluate statistics for each of the web servers that host web pages.

Abstract: An online sales/automatic rebate and coupon redemption system provides online customers automatic retrieval and redemption of all applicable rebates and coupons during purchase. Purchase orders from customers are selectively fulfilled and products are shipped to the customers either by the system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption or by other merchant or manufacturer environments. The system purchases from merchants using applicable coupons and rebates and then sells the products to the customers, passing the savings to them. The system makes it possible to automatically retrieve coupons and rebates for items in a shopping cart during the activity of an online purchase at an electronic mall or an online merchant site. The system provides coupons to potential customers via email, based on customer profile, geographical information, etc. Manufacturers and merchants can update coupon value and content based on ongoing sales and volume of customer activity.

Abstract: Members of a social network (SNET) circle can share content with other members of SNET circle, members of the same SNET that are not members of the same circle, or send content to people or devices outside of SNET. Trust chain can be used alone or in conjunction with other security measures to assign or select an appropriate level of content protection and SNET access. A trust rating or level associated with a trusted human member can be conferred to a social network device, allowing that device to be included in the trust chain. Trust can also be conferred from a trusted social network device to a child device of the social network device. A trust processing module can work in cooperation with one or more trust authorities to establish initial and updated overall trust levels of a human or device associated with the SNET.

Abstract: A system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption provides customers making online purchases to automatically retrieve and redeem all applicable rebates and coupons during an online purchase. Purchase orders from customers are selectively fulfilled and products are shipped to the customers either by the system for online sales with automatic rebate and coupon redemption or by other merchant or manufacturer environments. The system makes purchases from merchants or manufacturers using all applicable coupons and rebates and then sells the products to the customers, passing the savings to them. The system automatically retrieves coupons and rebates for items in a shopping cart during the activity of an online purchase at an electronic mall or an online merchant site and to retrieve manufacturer's and merchant's coupons prior to an online purchasing activity for subsequent submission to an online merchant during a subsequent purchasing activity.

Abstract: Transcoders are provided for transcoding three-dimensional content to two-dimensional content, and for transcoding three-dimensional content of a first type to three-dimensional content of another type. Transcoding of content may be performed due to user preference, display device capability, bandwidth constraints, user payment/subscription constraints, device loading, and/or for other reason. Transcoders may be implemented in a content communication network in a media source, a display device, and/or in any device/node in between.