APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HANDLING INTERACTIVE MEDIA CONTENT REQUESTS USING MOBILE MEDIA MANAGER AND VIRTUAL LOCATION MEDIA SERVERS

1 . A method for media content selection and play comprising the steps of:

receiving, by a master media manager controller, a user request requesting a specific media for play on a specified audio-visual playback device;

accessing by the master media manager controller a store of media content;

providing at least one virtual location media server in communication with the master media controller, the at least one virtual location media server residing in a computer readable medium of a computing device;

disposing at least one audio-visual device in communication with the at least one virtual location media server; and

transmitting the identified digital media by the master media controller through the at least one location media server to the selected at least one audio-visual device for play of the media in the user request by the selected at least one audio-visual device.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing a plurality of virtual location media servers; and

at least one audio-visual device disposed in communication with each virtual location media server.

3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of:

configuring each of the virtual location media servers for receiving a user request.

4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising:

determining by the one of the virtual location media servers that receives an incoming user request if the receiving location media server can service the user request;

if yes, the receiving one location media server determining the availability of the virtual location media server disposed in communication with the selected a least one A/V device identified on the user request; and

if yes, the one receiving location media server forwarding the media content specified in the user request to the selected at least one A/V device.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

coupling a streaming audio-video server in communication with the master media manager controller and each of the virtual media manager controllers; and

executing, by the streaming audio-video server, a stored controlled program for converting a digital format media to a streaming audio-video signal.

6 . The method of claim 5 further comprising:

coupling the streaming audio-video server in communication with the Internet for transferring a streaming audio-video signal to a selected one of the location media servers for play on a selected audio-video device.

7 . An apparatus for media content selection and play comprising:

means for receiving, by a master media manager controller, a user request requesting a specific digital media for play on one audio-visual playback device;

means for accessing by the master media manage controller a store of media content;

means for providing at least one virtual location media server in communication with the media manager controller, the at least one virtual location media server residing in a computer readable medium of a computing device;

means for disposing at least one audio-visual device in communication with the at least one virtual location media server; and

means for transmitting the digital media by the master media manager controller through the at least one location media server to the selected at least one audio-visual device for play of the digital media in the user request by the selected audio-visual device.

8 . An apparatus for digital content selection and play comprising:

at least one audio-visual playback device capable of playing digital audio-visual media, the audio-visual playback device having a distinct identifier;

a master media manager controller configured for receiving a user request from a user interface separate from the at least one audio-visual playback device, the user request identifying a distinct audio-visual media content and the distinct identifier of the at least one audio-visual playback device;

at least one virtual media manager controller embodied in a computer executable medium in a computing device coupled to the master media manager controller; and

the at least one virtual media manager controller coupled by a first communication path with the at least one location media server for transferring media content to the at least one audio-visual playback device.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

the at least one virtual location media server including a plurality of virtual location media servers; and

independently communicating by the master media manager controller with each of the plurality of virtual location media servers.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising:

the at least one of the virtual location media server coupled to a plurality of audio-visual playback devices.

11 . The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

a streaming audio-video server coupled in communication with the master media manager controller and each of the virtual media manager controllers; and

the streaming audio-video server executing a stored controlled program for converting a digital format media to a streaming audio-video signal.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:

the streaming audio-video server coupled in communication with the Internet for transferring a streaming audio-video signal to a selected one of the location media servers for play on a selected audio-video device.