Granted Patent B2

US 7,849,481 · App. 11/693,528 · Granted Dec 7, 2010

Abstract

Claims (65)

1. A method, comprising:

providing, on a video display device, a program guide comprising a plurality of entries, each entry identifying a program of a plurality of programs, at least one entry, of the plurality of entries, including one or more interactive icons visually representing a plurality of types of interactive content with which the at least entry is associated,

where providing the program guide comprises:

filtering the plurality of entries based on whether interactive content is available for the programs;

providing a particular program of the plurality of programs or information associated with the particular program on the video display device, the particular program corresponding to one entry of the at least one entry;

receiving information associated with interactive content,

where the received information associated with the interactive content is indicative of an association between the interactive content and the program, and indicative of a particular type of the plurality of types of interactive content, the interactive content corresponding to the particular type; and

providing, by a set top box, an interactive content icon on the video display device, based on the received information associated with the interactive content, the interactive content icon indicating that the interactive content is available for the particular program, and visually representing the particular type of the plurality of types of interactive content.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving selection of an interactive content button on a remote control; and

providing the interactive content on the video display device.

3. The method of claim 1 , where providing the particular program or the information associated with the particular program includes providing one of a program information page or a program status bar.

4. The method of claim 3 , where providing the interactive content icon includes providing the interactive content icon on the program information page or the program status bar in connection with the particular program.

5. The method of claim 3 , where providing the interactive content icon includes overlaying the interactive content icon on the program.

6. The method of claim 1 , where the receiving the information associated with the interactive content comprises:

receiving a tag that identifies the interactive content and the particular type of the plurality of types of interactive content; and

determining the interactive content icon based on the received tag.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a tag for the particular program, the tag identifying the particular type of the plurality of types of interactive content.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining the interactive content icon based on the received tag.

9. The method of claim 1 , where providing the program guide comprises:

filtering the plurality of entries based on whether a particular type of interactive content is available for the programs.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

permitting a user free access to a for-pay program when the user agrees to be presented with the interactive content.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an indication of a user's desire for the interactive content; and

partitioning a screen of the video display device into a first portion and a second portion, where the program is provided within the first portion and the interactive content is provided within the second portion.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a feed of the particular program, the feed of the particular program comprising the information associated with the interactive content.

13. A system, comprising:

means for providing, on a video display device, a program guide comprising a plurality of entries, each entry identifying a program of a plurality of programs, at least one entry, of the plurality of entries, including one or more interactive content icons visually representing a plurality of types of interactive content with which the at least one entry is associated;

means for filtering the plurality of entries, based on one type of the plurality of types of interactive content, to provide a filtered plurality of entries;

means for providing a particular program, corresponding to one of the filtered plurality of entries, on the video display device, the particular program being associated with the one type of the plurality of types of interactive content;

means for receiving information associated with interactive content, the received information comprising information associated with the one type of the plurality of types of interactive content, the interactive content corresponding to the one type of the plurality of types of interactive content;

means for identifying an interactive content icon based on the information received by the means for receiving, the identified interactive content icon being indicative of the one type of the plurality of types of interactive content; and

means for providing the identified interactive content icon overlaid on the particular program on the video display device, the identified interactive content icon indicating that the one type of interactive content is available for the program.

14. The system of claim 13 , where the system includes a mobile device and the video display device includes a display of the mobile device.

15. The system of claim 13 , where the system includes a computer device and the video display device includes a monitor associated with the computer device, or

where the system includes a set-top box and the video display device includes a television.

16. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:

means for receiving other information associated with another, different interactive content for the particular program, the received other information comprising information associated with another, different type of the plurality of types of interactive content; and

means for providing another, different interactive content icon overlaid on the program on the video display device, the other, different interactive content icon indicating that the other, different type of interactive content is also available for the program.

17. A system, comprising:

a memory to store data or instructions; and

a processor, connected to the memory, to:

provide, on a video display device, a program guide comprising a plurality of entries, each entry identifying a program of a plurality of programs, at least one entry, of the plurality of entries, including one or more interactive content icons visually representing a plurality of types of interactive content with which the at least one entry is associated,

filter the plurality of entries based on a type of interactive content of the plurality of types of interactive content, to provide a filtered plurality of entries, each entry of the filtered plurality of entries including an interactive content icon visually representing the type of interactive content of the plurality of types of interactive,

provide a particular program, corresponding to one of the filtered plurality of entries, on the video display device, the particular program being associated with the type of interactive content of the plurality of types of interactive content,

provide the interactive content icon, visually corresponding to the type of interactive content of the plurality of types of interactive content, with the provided particular program,

receive selection of the provided interactive content icon, and

provide the type of interactive content of the plurality of types of interactive content while continuing to provide the particular program.

18. The system of claim 17 , where, when receiving selection of the interactive content icon, the processor is to:

receive selection of an interactive content button on a remote control.

19. The system of claim 17 , where, when providing the interactive content icon, the processor is to provide the interactive content icon on a program information page or a program status bar.

20. The system of claim 17 , where when, providing the interactive content icon, the processor is to overlay the interactive content icon on the program.

21. The system of claim 17 ,

where the processor is further to filter the list of the plurality of entries based on whether a particular type of the plurality of types of interactive content is available for the programs.

22. The system of claim 17 , where, when providing the type of interactive content of the plurality of types of interactive content, the processor is further to:

partition a screen of the video display device into a first portion and a second portion, where the particular program is provided within the first portion and the type of interactive content of the plurality of types interactive content is provided within the second portion.

23. The system of claim 17 , the processor further to:

associate a plurality of tags with one or more of the plurality of programs in a data structure, each tag identifying a particular type of the plurality of types of interactive content or a particular interactive content corresponding to the particular type of interactive content, each entry in the data structure associating a particular tag of the plurality of tags with a particular program of the one or more of the plurality of programs,

where, when providing the program guide, the processor is to:

access the data structure, and

retrieve, from the data structure, the one or more interactive content icons associated with the at least one entry.

Assignments (8)