SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING DIGITAL MEDIA CONTENT AND DOWNLOADING THE CONTENT OR A PORTION THEREOF TO A MOBILE DEVICE
A system and method are provided for identifying an article of commerce, e.g., digital media content, and downloading all or part of content related to the article of commerce to mobile devices such as portable digital media players and/or mobile phone devices. The present disclosure will enable a user to find an existing digital entertainment product of interest such as but not limited to a music CD, music DVD, electronic game, text (such as a book,) or a movie/television DVD, to identify that product and then to transfer full or selected content, or associated content, to a mobile device, e.g., a portable digital media player and/or a mobile phone device. The system and method of the present disclosure will provide on the spot delivery of the exact content identified by the user, or a portion thereof, on the user's portable digital device(s).
1 . A method for delivering media content to a mobile device over a network, the method comprising the steps;
identifying a specific article of commerce;
acquiring an image of the article by using a mobile device;
transmitting the acquired image of the article of commerce from the mobile device to a server on the network;
determining, by the server, at least one available content related to the article of commerce based on the acquired image of the article of commerce; and
transmitting the at least one available content from the sever to the mobile device.
2 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising purchasing the selected at least one available content via a user interface of the mobile device.
3 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the at least one available content is a ring tone, a game, video content, audio content, multimedia content, text or a software application.
4 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising presenting on a user interface of the mobile device a list of purchase prices from a plurality of vendors for the at least one available content.
5 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a device type identification code to the server and determining the at least one available content related to the article of commerce based on the acquired image of the article of commerce and the device type identification code.
6 . The method as in claim 5 , wherein the device type identification code indicates a mobile phone and the at least one available content is a ring tone, a game, video content, audio content, multimedia content, text or a software application.
7 . The method as in claim 5 , wherein the device type identification code indicates a portable media player device and the at least one available content is a game, video content, audio content, multimedia content, text or a software application.
8 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the acquired image includes a barcode of the article of commerce.
9 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the article of commerce is printed matter and the at least one available content is text.
10 . A system for delivering media content to a mobile device over a network, the system comprising:
a mobile device for playing content configured to acquire an image of a specific article of commerce and to transmit the acquired image of the article of commerce to a server; and
the server configured for receiving the acquired image, determining at least one available content related to the article of commerce based on the acquired image, and transmitting the at least one available content to the mobile device.
11 . The system as in claim 10 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to purchase the selected at least one available content via a user interface disposed on the mobile device.
12 . The system as in claim 10 , wherein the acquired image includes a barcode of the article of commerce.
13 . The system as in claim 10 , wherein the at least one available content is a ring tone, a game, video content, audio content, multimedia content, text or a software application.
14 . The system as in claim 10 , wherein the mobile device is configured for transmitting a device type identification code to the server and the server is configured for determining the at least one available content related to the article of commerce based on the acquired image of the article of commerce and the device type identification code.
15 . The system as in claim 10 , wherein the article of commerce is printed matter and the at least one available content is text.
16 . A mobile device comprising:
an image capture device configured to capture an image of an article of commerce;
image recognition software disposed in a memory, the image recognition software configured, when executed by a processing module, to decode the captured image of the article of commerce to determine the identity of the article of commerce;
a transmission module configured to transmit the identity of the article of commerce to a server, the transmission module further configured to receive from the server and store in the memory at least one available content related to the article of commerce; and
a display module configured to display the at least one available content.
17 . The mobile device as in claim 16 , further comprising an input module configured to receive a purchase input from the user, the purchase input indicating an intention to purchase the selected content.
18 . The mobile device as in claim 16 , wherein the additional content includes at least one of a ring tone, a game, video content, audio content, multimedia content, text or a software application.
19 . The mobile device as in claim 16 , wherein the acquired image includes a barcode of the article of commerce.
20 . The mobile device as in claim 16 , wherein the article of commerce is printed matter and the at least one available content is multimedia content.
21 . A system for delivering content to a mobile device over a network, the system comprising:
a mobile device including:
an image capture module configured to capture an image of an article of commerce; and
a transmission module configured to transmit the captured image to a server on the network; and
the server including image recognition software, the image recognition software configured, when executed by a processing module, to decode the captured image of the article of commerce to determine the identity of the article of commerce, the server further configured to determine at least one available content related to the article of commerce based on the determined identity of the article of commerce and transmit the at least one available content to the mobile device,
wherein the transmission module of the mobile device is further configured to receive from the server and store in a memory the at least one available content related to the article of commerce and
the mobile device including a display module configured to display the at least one available content.