Abstract: A server system enables a subscriber to select a specific broadcast program for recording and a specific location and time frame for play-out of the recorded program.

Abstract: A player who comes up with an innovative strategy in an electronic game is given benefits in the game environment and/or in the players' community because of creating this strategy. This extra dimension stimulates the involvement of the players and contributes to the evolution of the game.

Abstract: Alternative advertising is provided to substitute to an original advertisement that a user seeks to bypass in content. A user of an electronic device can request the device to skip the original advertisement. The skipping is enabled however an alternative advertisement representative of the original advertisement is presented to the user. The alternative advertisement is of a lower perceived intrusiveness than the original advertisement.

Abstract: An electronic device has a UI that provides first user-selectable options. Second user selectable options are made available upon selection of a specific one of the first options. An information resolution of the first options, when rendered, differs from the information resolution of the second options when rendered. Also, a first modality of user interaction with the UI for selecting from the first options differs from a second modality of user interaction with the UI for selecting from the second options.

Abstract: A device is provided with two complementary input systems. One of the two input systems is ambiguous in the senses that it associates a first given user input with more than one potential data. The device cannot recognize from this first input system which actual data is sought by the user. To resolve the plurality of potential data the user provides a second user input through the second input system. From the second user input, a processing unit is capable of identifying from the plurality of potential data, the one actually sought by the user.

Abstract: A home network is controlled as a super state machine consisting of a plurality of state machines of electronic consumer appliances attached to the home network. Setting the state of the home network results in setting the states of multiple appliances that are connected to the network. The system can automatically determine whether a particular network state would be reliable. For example, the system may present the user with a selection of reliable network states and the user can select a reliable network state that is meaningful to the user. The selected meaningful state may be stored or may be immediately implemented upon the user selection.

Abstract: A user control interface is provided that is location dependent. Context control parameters are associated with location, and the user control interface is customized to the context within which the device is being operated. The control interface includes the presentation of context sensitive information and the communication of corresponding context sensitive user commands via the interface. The location determination is effected using any number of commonly available techniques, such as direct entry, infrared sensors and active badges for relative positioning, as well as the conventional absolute positioning devices such as LORAN and GPS. Preferably, the device communicates with a remote information source that provides the context sensitive control information. The remote information source may be a home network server, an Internet server, a public service network, or other communication network.

Abstract: Electronic content information is being catered via a data network. A consumer is enabled to request delivery via the network of a specific piece of content before a deadline selectable by the consumer. The catering service then completes the delivery before the deadline under control of a bandwidth profile of data traffic on at least a segment of the network. The scheduling of delivery deadlines enables the service to optimize usage of the network's bandwidth while maintaining a quality of service.

Abstract: An ID is being calculated in a manner distributed among devices of the user's personal area network (PAN). The devices communicate in a wireless manner. A server runs a simulation of the PAN. If the server and the PAN calculate matching results, it is assumed that the user's ID is correct for purposes of conditional access. The distribution of the calculation of the ID among the user's PAN devices and its, for practical purposes, stochastic nature render the system very hard to hack.

Abstract: The Internet is searched in order to find resources that provide streamable audio such as live Internet broadcasts. The resources are identified based on their file extension and are categorized according to, e.g., the natural language or music style. The user is enabled to browse the collection based on textual or musical input.

Abstract: A wireless client is enabled to communicate with a data network via an access point. The access point assigns an address to the client, based on the network address of the access point itself and a unique identifier (e.g., MAC) of the client. The unique identifier is used to generate a port number that gets assigned to the client, e.g., for a certain duration. In this manner, an interruption in the wireless communication avoids assigning a new port number to the same client, which would lead to address collisions.

Abstract: A data processing system has first and second components that together perform a system functionality. The first and second components each have a respective power source. When the components are attached to each other, the power source of one of the components serves as a charger for the power source of the other component. When detached from each other, the components can communicate wirelessly with one another.

Abstract: A broker of the invention proposes a centralized distribution scheme for the consumer electronics market. This distribution scheme comprises an electronic presentation of a plurality of information services, among which an individual can choose. Each information service is offered by one or more service providers. Upon selection by the individual of a specific service, the broker enables one of the providers associated with the specific service to provide the service to the individual. The broker may have a database of records of service providers. Besides, the broker may also build a profile of the user so that the provider can be selected based on a match of the record of the provider with the profile.

Abstract: The Internet is searched in order to find resources that provide streamable audio such as live Internet broadcasts. The resources are identified based on their file extension and are categorized according to, e.g., the natural language or music style. The user is enabled to browse the collection based on textual or musical input.

Abstract: An electronic device has a timepiece with a dial face. The dial face comprises a display monitor for providing a graphical representation of a scheduled event. The representation comprises a segment whose length is associated with the duration of the event and whose graphical attributes correspond with a type of the scheduled event as specified by the user in advance. The device is, for example, a watch that communicates with the user's PDA through a Bluetooth link in the user's Personal Area Network (PAN).

Abstract: Components in an information processing system are represented by software objects whose properties can be changed through function calls. Setting a property of an object controls the associated component. Properties are connected through routes that propagate state changes throughout the system without the need for a running client application. Two-way property routes are used to keep consistence among a controlled object and multiple controlling objects without the risk of endless loops. To achieve this, the two-way route is executed to change a state of a specific one of the properties upon a change of state of another one of the properties if the change of state of the other property was caused by an effect other than the route itself.

Abstract: A control network for home appliances comprises a module for interfacing an appliance to the network. The module adopts the identity of the appliance when the module and the appliance are being interconnected. The appliance comprises a tag, e.g., in its power plug, with identifying information that gets read by the module and transferred to a controller. The module itself can have a location dependent identifier to enable topology dependent software applications.

Abstract: Electronic email or voicemail messages are mapped onto personalized graphical representations for providing a concise GUI.

Abstract: An electronic content delivery system uses a network of end-user devices around a hub. Each end-user device has storage capability. Content is stored in a distributed fashion on the network of these end-user devices for being made available to individual ones of these devices in a P2P fashion so as to cut download time and reduce transmission errors.

Abstract: A geographic region has a network of beacons. Each beacon transmits a short-range facilitation signal for receipt on a user's mobile communication device. The facilitation signal initiates associating the facilitation signal with a service and conditionally alerts the user to the service via the device dependent on a user profile. The user-profile and the association between facilitation signal and service are user-programmable.