Remote access to personal video profile
View Patent ↗A system for providing a user-specific list of programs for online viewing based on a user profile stored in a DVR of a user, said system comprising: (a) a preference server linked to a wide area network and in communication with said DVR and at least one content server having a library of programs available for online delivery to a remote device; and (b) a User Menu hosted by said preference server and particular to said user, said User Menu providing said user-specific list of programs based on said user profile stored in said DVR.
1. A method comprising:
identifying programs recorded or scheduled to be recorded on a DVR;
determining that one or more of the programs recorded or scheduled to be recorded on the DVR is also stored on a content server and available for delivery from the content server to a remote device;
transmitting, to the remote device, a list of programs that includes only the one or more programs, wherein the list is transmitted in an interactive user menu to the remote device; and
communicating to the DVR that a selected program had been delivered from the content server to the remote device.
2. An apparatus comprising:
a computing device configured to:
communicate with a DVR to retrieve a user profile indicating programs locally recorded or scheduled to be recorded on said DVR;
communicate with at least one content server having a library of programs available for online delivery from the at least one content server to a remote device different from said DVR;
compare the user profile and the library of programs to produce a list of programs, wherein each program included in the list is both available for online delivery from the library of programs and locally recorded or scheduled to be recorded on said DVR; and
deliver, to the remote device, a user menu providing the list of programs.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said user menu is interactive and permits a user of said remote device to select one of said programs from said list for streaming from the content server.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said apparatus is configured to connect said remote device to said at least one content server to download said selected program directly to said remote device over a network.
5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said list of programs is also based on a subscription of a user to view the programs available on said at least one content server.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said computing device is configured to update said user profile in said DVR in response to a selection of one of said listed programs for downloading to the remote device from said at least one content server.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein said user menu provides a user of said remote device with a choice to update said user profile in said DVR to indicate the selected program has been watched.
8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the user menu at the remote device organizes the list of programs, which are available for online delivery to said remote device from the at least one content server, according to dates the list of programs were locally recorded on the DVR.
9. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the DVR is a user's virtual DVR.