Information service methods for facilitating browsing and purchasing of consumer commodities in a broadcast program

1. An information service method, comprising:

using a processor to carry out the following:

receiving broadcast program data and information associated with a plurality of consumer commodities that appear in a broadcast program formed of the broadcast program data, the broadcast program having a predefined order, the information associated with the plurality of consumer commodities being synchronously transmitted with the broadcast program data,

reproducing the broadcast program in its predefined order from the received broadcast program data;

displaying the reproduced broadcast program on a display,

receiving a user-provided command selecting one of the plurality of consumer commodities carried out by the user placing a cursor on that commodity while that commodity appears in the displayed broadcast program,

extracting the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities from the information associated with the plurality of consumer commodities,

displaying at least a portion of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities on a child screen superimposed on the reproduced broadcast program, and

storing information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities while the reproduced broadcast program is being displayed so that the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is accessible after the reproduced broadcast program is displayed,

wherein the cursor appears on a display portion of a remote control but does not appear on the display.

2. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method is a method for buying the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.

3. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein an image representing the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is displayed on the child screen of the displaying portion.

4. The information service method as set forth in claim 3 , wherein the display of the image representing the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities may be switched with a display of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities on the child screen.

5. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities includes information selected from the group consisting of information about a price of the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities, and information about a name that distinguishes the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.

6. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities includes information about a store from which the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities can be bought.

7. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities includes information regarding how the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is purchased through a network.

8. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the broadcast program data and the information associated with the plurality of consumer commodities are received through a bi-directional communication network.

9. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is paired with bit map addresses of a display screen of the broadcast program.

10. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the transmission of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is synchronized with an image from the broadcast program.

11. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities to an external apparatus, and receiving further information associated with the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities from the external apparatus.

12. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising: referring to the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities to access further information associated with the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.

13. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the broadcast program is selected from the group consisting of a broadcast dramatic program and a broadcast movie.

14. The information service method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein a given portion of the information associated with at least one of the plurality of consumer commodities is further associated with a particular scene of the broadcast program.

15. An information service method, comprising:

using a processor to carry out the following:

receiving broadcast program data and information associated with a plurality of consumer commodities that appear in a broadcast program formed of the broadcast program data, the broadcast program having a predefined order, the information associated with the plurality of consumer commodities being synchronously transmitted with the broadcast program data,

reproducing the broadcast program in its predefined order from the received broadcast program data;

displaying the reproduced broadcast program on a display,

receiving a user-provided command selecting one of the plurality of consumer commodities carried out by the user placing a cursor on that commodity while that commodity appears in the displayed broadcast program,

extracting the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities from the information associated with the plurality of consumer commodities,

displaying at least a portion of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities on a child screen superimposed on the reproduced broadcast program,

storing information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities while the reproduced broadcast program is being displayed so that the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is accessible after the reproduced broadcast program is displayed, and

displaying the at least portion of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities on a display portion of a remote control after the extracting step is carried out.

16. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the at least portion of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is displayed on the display portion instead of the superimposed child screen.

17. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the method is a method for buying the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.

18. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein an image representing the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is displayed on the child screen of the displaying portion.

19. The information service method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein the display of the image representing the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities may be switched with a display of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities on the child screen.

20. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities includes information selected from the group consisting of information about a price of the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities, and information about a name that distinguishes the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.

21. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities includes information about a store from which the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities can be bought.

22. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities includes information regarding how the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is purchased through a network.

23. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the broadcast program data and the information associated with the plurality of consumer commodities are received through a bi-directional communication network.

24. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is paired with bit map addresses of a display screen of the broadcast program.

25. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the transmission of the information associated with the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities is synchronized with an image from the broadcast program.

26. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , further comprising: transmitting the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities to an external apparatus, and receiving further information associated with the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities from the external apparatus.

27. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , further comprising: referring to the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities to access further information associated with the stored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.

28. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the broadcast program is selected from the group consisting of a broadcast dramatic program and a broadcast movie.

29. The information service method as set forth in claim 15 , wherein a given portion of the information associated with at least one of the plurality of consumer commodities is further associated with a particular scene of the broadcast program.