Mobile wireless internet portable radio
View Patent ↗An Internet-capable radio has a communication port for connection to a modem, a connection function for connecting to the Internet upon user initiation while connected to the modem, sound circuitry for rendering audio data packets received over the Internet as analog audio output, and for delivering the audio output to one or more speaker ports, two or more stored hyperlinks addressing Internet broadcast servers; and a user input adapted to enable a user to select among the stored hyperlinks. Selection of one of the stored hyperlinks by the user input invokes the hyperlink and connects the radio to the server addressed by the hyperlink, initiating thereby an audio data stream as data packets from the broadcast server to the radio, and wherein the radio renders the data stream as analog audio data delivered to the one or more speaker ports. The user input in preferred embodiments has a plurality of pushbuttons associated with hyperlinks, which can be asserted by activating a pushbutton. In some embodiments a directory server is used for editing user profiles and programming connected Internet-capable radios.
1. A wearable Internet radio, comprising:
a housing configured to be worn by a user;
a port coupled to the housing and configured for Internet communication;
a digital data repository disposed with the housing and configured for storing a plurality of assertable addresses of Internet audio data streams;
one or more electronic components within the housing for rendering a currently received audio data stream corresponding to an asserted address as audio output; and
at least one user-operable input disposed on the housing, and configured to enable a user to change to receive another audio data stream associated with another address by asserting a different one of the stored assertable addresses;
wherein the radio is programmed to automatically access a specific directory server on the Internet in response to connection to the Internet, to download at least one URL from, and stored on, the directory server, and to associate each downloaded URL one-to-one with an individual one of the at least one user-operable input, the at least one downloaded URL providing a link to one or more broadcast servers that are separate from the directory server.
2. The wearable Internet radio of claim 1 , wherein the housing is configured to be worn on the user's belt or other clothing.
3. The wearable Internet radio of claim 1 , wherein the housing is configured to be worn on the user's head.
4. The wearable Internet radio of claim 1 , further comprising an audio output port coupled to the housing and configured for driving at least one associated speaker.
5. The wearable Internet radio of claim 4 , wherein the at least one speaker is part of a wearable headset.
6. The wearable Internet radio of claim 1 , wherein the at least one URL is present in a downloadable list of URLs.
7. The wearable Internet radio of claim 6 , wherein the list of URLs is associated with a specific user before being downloaded.
8. The wearable Internet radio of claim 7 , wherein the radio is configured to enable access to a server to amend a user's URL list.
9. An Internet radio system, comprising:
a wearable receiver and audio output component having a housing, a central processing unit for managing functions of the wearable receiver and audio output component, the functions including rendering a currently received data stream associated with asserted address as audio output to an earphone or other speaker, and at least one user operable input disposed on the housing, and configured to enable a user to change to receive a different audio data stream associated with another asserted address; and
an Internet network appliance having a digital data repository configured to store a plurality of assertable addresses of Internet audio data streams, at least one component configured to assert individual ones of the stored assertable addresses,
wherein the Internet appliance is configured to assert addresses, download audio data streams from destinations of the asserted addresses, and send downloaded audio data streams to the wearable receiver and audio output component in a form usable by the audio output component for audio rendition,
wherein the radio is programmed to automatically access a specific directory server on the Internet in response to connection to the Internet, to download at least one URL from, and stored on, the directory server, and to associate each downloaded URL one-to-one with an individual one of the at least one user operable input, the at least one downloaded URL providing a link to one or more broadcast servers that are separate from the directory server.
10. The Internet radio system of claim 9 , wherein the Internet network appliance is contained with the housing.
11. The Internet radio system of claim 9 , wherein the Internet network appliance is coupled to the housing.
12. The Internet radio system of claim 9 , wherein the housing is configured to be worn on a user's belt or other clothing.
13. The Internet radio system of claim 9 , wherein the housing is configured to be worn on a user's head.
14. The Internet radio system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one URL is present in a downloadable list of URLs.
15. The Internet radio system of claim 14 , wherein the list of URLs is associated with a specific user before being downloaded.
16. The Internet radio system of claim 15 , wherein the radio is configured to enable access to a server to amend a user's URL list.
17. A method comprising:
automatically accessing by a computing device a specific directory server on the Internet in response to connection to the Internet, wherein the computing device is disposed in a wearable Internet radio;
downloading by the computing device at least one URL of audio data from, and stored on, the directory server, the at least one downloaded URL providing a link to one or more broadcast servers that are separate from the directory server;
storing by the computing device in a digital data repository the at least one URL;
associating by the computing device each downloaded URL one-to-one with an individual one of at least one user operable input;
receiving by the computing device an indication of selection of an individual URL, the selection received by assertion of one of the at least one user-operable input; and
rendering by the computing device a received data stream associated with an asserted address as audio output.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein rendering by the computing device a data stream as audio output comprises rendering by the computing device a data stream as audio output to an output component of the wearable Internet radio.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one URL is present in a downloadable list of URLs.
20. An apparatus comprising:
means disposed in a wearable Internet radio for automatically accessing a specific directory server on the Internet in response to connection to the Internet;
means disposed in the wearable Internet radio for downloading at least one URL of audio data from, and stored on, the directory server, the at least one downloaded URL providing a link to one or more broadcast servers that are separate from the directory server;
means disposed in a wearable Internet radio for storing in a digital data repository the at least one URL;
means disposed in a wearable Internet radio for associating each downloaded URL one-to-one with an individual one of at least one user operable input;
means disposed in a wearable Internet radio for receiving an indication of selection of an individual URL, the selection received by assertion of one of the at least one user-operable input; and
means disposed in a wearable Internet radio for rendering a data stream as audio output.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein means for rendering a data stream as audio output comprises means for rendering a data stream as audio output to a wearable component.
22. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the at least one URL is present in a downloadable list of URLs.