Abstract: A “personal television channel” is created for a user by a television head-end server. The personal channel has its own playlist that can include, in addition to service offerings from a television-delivery service, content stored locally by the user, media sent to the user from third parties (e.g., an electronic magazine publisher), and messages from other users. The user selects the personal channel just as he would select any other television channel. He then sees a playlist for the personal channel (which may be integrated into a general electronic program guide (“EPG”) supplied by the television provider). The user selects and plays content from the playlist just as he would interact with a traditional EPG. The user can specify local content to be included in his personal channel. He can also send content to another user to be included in the playlist of the recipient's personal channel.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for modeling the cognitive impact of content displayed on a first device on a user engaged with a second device. An exemplary method involves obtaining activity by the user associated with the second device when content is displayed on the first device, determining an impact metric for the content, and correlating the impact metric with the user activity for the user. In another embodiment, an exemplary content-management system includes a campaign-management system to provide content displayed on a first device and an impact-modeling system to capture user activity on a second device when the content is displayed on the first device, determine an impact metric for the content, and correlate the impact metric to the user activity for the user.

Abstract: Subscribers to a television-delivery service can send and receive messages within a television-viewing environment. A subscriber can create a message, attach content from the television environment, and send the message to a friend, all without leaving the television environment. A television producer controls its rights to the content by allowing subscribers to select and send some content while preventing other content from being incorporated in a message. Rights can be checked at the sender site, at the recipient site, and in between by a message-transport service. In some situations, the recipient may not have sufficient rights to view the entire message. Specifically, the recipient's subscription level may not allow access to some of the message content that was pulled from the sender's television-delivery service. In this case, the recipient may take corrective action or may view the message with the restricted content replaced with alternative content.

Abstract: The pervasive visibility of television and other screens is leveraged to present task offers to users. A task broker gives the user an incentive if he accepts and successfully performs the task. To be effective, the task broker first collects profile information about the user. Some of the profile information is used to determine what tasks are appropriate for a given user based, for example, on that user's competencies. Other profile information characterizes the user's current level of activity and, based on that, his “interruptibility.” Tasks and incentives can be chosen based on user-profile information including, for example, demographics and the user's previous interactions with the task broker. Information about the user's successful completion of a task can be used to update the user's profile, and future task offers are based on this updated profile information.

Abstract: The pervasive visibility of television and other screens is leveraged to present pop-up alerts to users. These alerts can be made to appear on any channel at any time, but they are formatted in a way that suits the differing policies of the various channel providers. When an alert is received, an “alert mediator” determines which channel is currently being played on a first user device. The alert mediator reviews alert-rendering rules for that particular channel and prepares the alert according to those rendering rules. The alert is then presented either to that first user device or to a second user device. A rule can provide for “skinning” the alert so that the alert fits in with the “look and feel” of the channel. When a user device displays more than one channel at the same time, the alert mediator chooses which channel's rules to apply in displaying the alert.

Abstract: A privately addressed home network bridge is provided for each of two privately addressed home networks. These bridges couple to corresponding gateways for each of the networks. A network tunnel connection is established between the two bridges via the gateways and an intervening publicly addressed network. At least one, and preferably both, of the home network bridges then serve as a proxy/router to facilitate an exchange of messages as between network devices of the two privately addressed home networks. Pursuant to a preferred approach the home network bridges use a mapping technique to correlate private addresses as used in the two privately addressed networks.

Abstract: A network element (200) receives (101), from a plurality of different end users (205), information regarding content clips as pertain to audio-visual content and uses (102) that information to automatically infer a relative popularity of audio-visual content as corresponds to the content clips to provide popularity information. Such audio-visual content can comprise, for example, televised content. The aforementioned information can comprise, for example, such items as a start time and a stop time for a given one of the content clips, at least a portion of a given one of the content clips, a content identifier of some kind, and so forth.

Abstract: A method and architecture for managing a communication campaign direct toward a plurality of media consumption devices associated with a common user (101), including obtaining communication addresses for each of the plurality of media consumption devices (110, 116, 122) associated with the common user, associating the common user with a communication campaign, and prompting transmission of communications to the common user via the plurality of media consumption devices based on a campaign policy.

Abstract: A method for scheduling the reception of content in a content receiver, for example, in an STB/DVR, includes scheduling (210) the reception of selected content by a tuner resource of the STB/DVR at a particular time. The scheduling may be performed at the STB/DVR, or alternatively at a remote device, for example, at a cellular telephone using an EPG. A virtual tuner is provided (230) to the STB/DVR in the event that the tuner resource of the STB/DVR is not available to receive the selected content when scheduled. In one implementation, usage of the virtual tuner is conditioned on consent to viewing additional non-selected content.

Abstract: A radio frequency identification (“RFID”) device (102) having stored thereon an expiration and a set of data bits which, when presented to a processing device (602) via a RFID reader (206), causes the processing device (602) to enable a feature that would otherwise be disabled in an electronic device (600), and disable the feature when the expiration reaches a predetermined value.

Abstract: A method in a wireless communication device including requesting contextual information from a source outside the wireless communication device, the contextual information requested by a context aware application on the wireless communications device, and providing alternate contextual information to the context aware application with a contextual information discriminator of the wireless communications device when contextual information from the source from which contextual information is requested is not available.

Abstract: A wireless communications networks (100) and mobile wireless communications devices (120) that receive contextual information, which is unavailable in certain regions (160), which may not be populated with contextual information sources or due to temporary interruptions. In some modes of operation, the contextual information is provided to the wireless communications device via a contextual information discriminator, which may be located either in the network or on the wireless communications device, for example when contextual information requested is unavailable.

Abstract: A device communicates with a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) device (102) that is associated with an item (500). The device selects a promotional incentive for the item (500) and programs the promotional incentive into the RFID device (102) at one of the following events: point-of-decision to purchase the item, point-of-purchase of the item, or point-of-distribution of the item.

Abstract: A radio frequency identification (“RFID”) device (102) having stored thereon an expiration and a set of data bits which, when presented to a processing device (602) via a RFID reader (206), causes the processing device (602) to enable a feature that would otherwise be disabled in an electronic device (600), and disable the feature when the expiration reaches a predetermined value.