Abstract: A virtual communication bus for sharing information between applications is provided. When a user accesses media content on a television or content via an application on a virtual communication bus, data associated with the media content or the application content may be stored in a communal memory in a standard format, and may be accessed by one or more other applications on the virtual communication bus. The data may include data associated with interactions between the user and an application and interaction between applications. The data may be utilized to determine relevant information to provide the user. When a user accesses another application (on a same or another device), information determined to be relevant to the user may be provided. Data may be stored and shared between applications on the virtual communication bus.

Abstract: Identification of keywords from media content metadata including caption data is provided. When a piece of media content is received by a user, media content metadata and caption data may be provided to a data mining engine operable to identify and tag keywords. Identified keyword data may be provided to one or more native or third party applications for providing information to the user relevant to what he is watching.

Abstract: Allowing a subscriber to modify a data transfer rate or available bandwidth associated with an Internet subscription tier for a selected or predetermined time period is provided. Upon receiving an indication of a selection to decrease an allowed amount of bandwidth or to boost or increase a data transfer rate to a next available service tier, a request may be sent to a gateway device associated with the subscriber to override firmware on the gateway device to restrict access to an amount of bandwidth or to allow access to additional bandwidth respectively.

Abstract: A determination of a minimum data transfer rate needed to effectively perform a data transfer activity is provided. If the minimum data transfer rate needed to effectively perform the activity is greater than the amount of bandwidth available according to an associated subscription tier, a notification may be provided to a subscriber that a bandwidth adjustment is available and may be desirable for a better quality experience of the data transfer activity. The notification may be in the form of a text message, an email, a pop-up window, or a user interface control, and may include a selectable functionality, which when selected, may send a request to adjust the amount of bandwidth available to the subscriber.