Portable media device interoperability
A method of adding content to a portable entertainment device, comprising identifying DRM capabilities of the portable entertainment device, defining a first set of content, defining a second set of content which is comprised of content selected by a user from the first content set, identifying content which is not compatible with the DRM capabilities of the portable entertainment device, and obtaining rights which allow at least a subset of the identified content to be copied to the portable entertainment device. The method also allows new content to be periodically added to the portable entertainment device. Also disclosed is a user interface through which the user can build a list of content to be copied to the portable entertainment device and through which the user can obtain any necessary rights to such content.
1 . A method of adding content to a portable entertainment device, comprising:
identifying digital rights management capabilities of a portable entertainment device onto which content is to be added;
defining a first content set, wherein at least one content attribute is associated with each member of the first content set;
defining a second content set, wherein the second content set is comprised of content selected from the first content set whose content attributes match those selected by a user;
identifying as a third content set that content in the second content set which is not compatible with the digital rights management capabilities of the portable entertainment device and/or rights of the user;
obtaining rights which allow at least a subset of the third content set to be transferred to the portable entertainment device; and,
allowing the content defined in the second content set and for which appropriate rights have been obtained to be transferred to the portable entertainment device.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second content set is represented as a playlist associated with the portable entertainment device.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein additional content is added to the second content set based on the playlist.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the additional content is automatically added to the playlist.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the additional content is substituted for the least frequently accessed content in the playlist.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein additional content is added to the second content set based on the attributes selected by the user.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional content is automatically added to the second content set.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the additional content is substituted for the least frequently accessed content in the second content set.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the additional content is substituted for a plurality of content based on content size.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the content attributes are comprised of random, access frequency, size, genre, artist, and album.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the user can select from a plurality of the content attributes.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising allowing the user to order the selected content attributes.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising allowing the user to create rules based on the selected content attributes.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second content set is further comprised of content whose content attributes are similar to those selected by the user.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the degree of similarity is determined at least in part by user rankings of members of the first content set.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the degree of similarity is determined at least in part by the frequency with which the user has elected to access content from the first content set and attributes associated with the most frequently accessed content.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rights compatible with the portable entertainment device are automatically obtained for each member of the third content set.
18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rights compatible with the portable entertainment device are automatically obtained for at least a subset of the third content set.
19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rights compatible with the portable entertainment device are obtained for members of the third content set only after user authorization.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the user authorization applies to all members of the third content set.
21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the user authorization applies to at least one subset of the third content set.
22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital rights management capabilities of the portable entertainment device include the ability to support content subscription.
23 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether rights to content stored on the portable media device have expired and prohibiting access to content for which the rights have expired.
24 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising obtaining additional rights to the content for which the rights have expired.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein additional rights are obtained for at least a subset of the content for which the rights have expired.
26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the additional rights are obtained automatically.
27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the additional rights are obtained after user authorization.