Apparatus for distributing and playing audio information
The present invention comprises a system that allows the user to select, receive and listen to audio programs that are stored or made available at a location remote to the user. A receiver is provided that allows the user to start a program at a selected position in the program, move forward and backward within a program, and pause and resume a program. The receiver comprises a network interface, user controls, an audio decompresser, an audio output driver, a central processing unit (CPU), and a power supply. The receiver may also comprise a radio broadcast receiver and a media player.
1 . A method for selecting information in a system for distributing audio programs and information over the internet comprising:
identifying a user of the system for distributing audio programs over the Internet;
identifying user characteristics of the user;
determining relevant information based on the user characteristics, said relevant information selected from a group of relevant information comprising: commercials, programs, news, weather, and system generated messages stored on a server;
determining an insertion point of the relevant information in the audio program; and
playing the relevant information at the insertion point in the audio program for the user.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein user characteristics may be any characteristic selected from the list of characteristics comprising: age, sex, preferences, profession, income, residence, language, interests and audio receiver ownership.
3 . A method for selecting information in a system for distributing audio programs and information over the internet comprising:
identifying a user of the system for distributing audio programs over the Internet;
identifying user characteristics of the user;
determining relevant information based on the user characteristics, said relevant information selected from a group of relevant information comprising: commercials, programs, news, weather, and system generated messages stored on a server; and
selecting an arrangement of programs based on the relevant information determined.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein user characteristics may be any characteristic selected from the list of characteristics comprising: age, sex, preferences, profession, income, residence, language, interests, and audio receiver ownership.
5 . A method for selecting information in a system for distributing audio programs the internet comprising:
an audio receiver automatically connecting to an audio server;
requesting a list of programs that are currently available from the audio server to a particular user of the system;
transmitting a list of programs available from the audio server to the user to the audio receiver;
selecting a program from the list of programs available to the user; and
transmitting the selected program from the audio server to the audio receiver.