Direct search launch on a second display
View Patent ↗Apparatus and methods to implement a technique for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows the native application on the second display to directly launch the second display application with a requested search term so that the user is immediately brought to a search page with relevant search results. The search term may be derived from the native application which in turn derives from the context of the IP TV. Such a context could be metadata from a currently playing BD from a BD player or TV channel. The second display application may be a web application or a native remote controller application. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, or a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like.
1. A method of causing a second display application to launch and search on a search item, comprising:
i. receiving a search item on a second display;
ii. upon reception of the search item, instantiating a second display application, the second display application configured to control playback of content items on at least one content playback device by presenting an authentication credential of the content playback device from the second display to a content provider service, and causing the second display application to search on the search item; and
iii. displaying the results of the search within the second display application, the search results related to the search item relating to services or content items available from one or more content provider services.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving a search item includes receiving a search term in a search field.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the search field is disposed in a browser on the second display.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search item is selected from the group consisting of: metadata from a content item, a keyword, a search term, a category, an image file, or an audio file.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing the second display application to search on the search item includes sending an identifier corresponding to the search item to a server along with an identifier associated with an action corresponding to the search item.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the action corresponding to the search item is to find services or content items within content provider services related to the search item.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the assets or services are related to the search item by metadata.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the search item includes metadata from a content item, and wherein the receiving a search item includes receiving metadata from a Blu-ray® disk or from a streamed video program.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a prompt for a user to create a shortcut associated with the search to be directly launched, and upon user input, creating the shortcut.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second display application is a native remote controller application.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second display is a tablet computer, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an internet appliance, or a computing device with internet access.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displaying the results of the search includes only displaying services for which the second display or the content playback device are affiliated.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displaying the results of the search includes displaying content provider services for which the second display or an associated content playback device are unaffiliated, and further comprising displaying a screen or a link whereby the content playback device or the second display may become affiliated with the service.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 1 .
15. A method of causing a second display application to launch and search on a search item, comprising:
i. receiving a search item, the search item having been entered on a second display;
ii. upon reception of the search item, adding the search item to a launch script;
iii. sending a signal to configure a second display application, operable on the second display, to instantiate a search results page upon launch, the second display application configured to control playback of content items on at least one content playback device by presenting an authentication credential of the content playback device to a content provider service;
iv. redirecting a launch URL/URI to the second display application; and
v. returning search results to the second display for display, the search results relating to services or content items related to the search item available from one or more content provider services.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the receiving a search item includes receiving a search term entered in a browser.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising performing a search on services or content items within services similar to the search item.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein a similarity is in metadata.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein if a found service is unaffiliated with a user account associated with the second display or the content playback device, causing the display of a link or page wherein a user account or the content playback device associated with the second display may become affiliated with the service.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 15 .