Method and apparatus for playlist synchronization

1. A method for synchronizing a playlist between multiple mobile terminals through a server, wherein the multiple mobile terminals are communicatively coupled to the server via a communication network, the method comprising:

detecting a user update operation on a playlist of multimedia documents associated with a user account at a first mobile terminal;

generating an update operation code according to the user update operation on the playlist, the update operation code including (1) an identifier of the playlist, and (2) a progress timestamp of a multimedia document in the playlist indicating at what time point the play of the multimedia document is suspended at the first mobile terminal;

extracting identification information, the identification information including a user identifier of the user account and a globally unique identifier (GUID) of the first mobile terminal;

determining a second mobile terminal that has logged into the user account using the same user identifier and is currently in an online state and has a GUID different from the GUID of the first mobile terminal;

sending the update operation code and the identification information to the server, wherein the server is configured to send the update operation code to the second mobile terminal according to the identification information such that the second mobile terminal can perform a synchronization operation to the playlist of multimedia documents at the second mobile terminal according to the update operation code, wherein the synchronization operation performed by the second mobile terminal includes playing, in response to a user selection of the multimedia document, the multimedia document starting at a time point rolled back by a predetermined time period before the progress timestamp indicating the time point the play of the multimedia document was suspended at the first mobile terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured to:

extract the user identifier from the identification information;

extract the identifier of the playlist from the update operation code;

select, among a plurality of mobile terminals, the second mobile terminal that matches the user identifier and the identifier of the playlist; and

return an acknowledgement message to the first mobile terminal, the acknowledgement message including the GUID of the second mobile terminal.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the second mobile terminal is registered as being in an online state at the server simultaneously while the first mobile terminal is registered as being in an online state at the server.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the server is configured to associate the GUID of the first mobile terminal and the GUID of the second mobile terminal with the user identifier before receiving the update operation code and the identification information from the first mobile terminal.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the update operation code further includes an identifier of a multimedia document and information associated with a predefined action on the multimedia document, and the synchronization operation performed by the second mobile terminal further includes:

searching for the multimedia document according to the identifier of the multimedia document; and

when the multimedia document is found, applying the predefined action on the multimedia document; and

when the multimedia document is not found,

sending a request for the multimedia document to the server, receiving the multimedia document from a server-specified location, and applying the predefined action on the multimedia document.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the server-specified location is the first mobile terminal.

7. A server that is communicatively coupled to multiple mobile terminals, the server comprising:

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more program modules stored in the memory, wherein the one or more program modules, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the server to:

receive an update operation code and identification information from a first mobile terminal, wherein the update operation code is generated according to a user update operation on a playlist of multimedia documents associated with a user account at the first mobile terminal, the update operation code including (1) an identifier of the playlist and (2) a progress timestamp of a multimedia document in the playlist indicating at what time point the play of the multimedia document is suspended at the first mobile terminal, and wherein the identification information includes a user identifier of the user account and a globally unique identifier (GUID) of the first mobile terminal;

identify a second mobile terminal that has logged into the user account using the same user identifier and is currently in an online state and has a GUID different from the GUID of the first mobile terminal according to the update operation code and the identification information; and

send the update operation code to the second mobile terminal according to the GUID of the second mobile terminal such that the second mobile terminal can perform a synchronization operation to the playlist of multimedia documents at the second mobile terminal according to the update operation code, wherein the synchronization operation performed by the second mobile terminal includes playing, in response to a user selection of the multimedia document, the multimedia document starting at a time point rolled back by a predetermined time period before the progress timestamp indicating the time point the play of the multimedia document was suspended at the first mobile terminal.

8. The server according to claim 7 , wherein the server is further configured to:

extract the user identifier from the identification information;

extract the identifier of the playlist from the update operation code;

select, among a plurality of mobile terminals, the second mobile terminal that matches the user identifier and the identifier of the playlist; and

return an acknowledgement message to the first mobile terminal, the acknowledgement message including a GUID of the second mobile terminal.

9. The server according to claim 8 , wherein the second mobile terminal is registered as being in an online state at the server simultaneously while the first mobile terminal is registered as being in an online state at the server.

10. The server according to claim 8 , wherein the server is further configured to associate the GUID of the first mobile terminal and the GUID of the second mobile terminal with the user identifier before receiving the update operation code and the identification information from the first mobile terminal.

11. A method for synchronizing a playlist between multiple mobile terminals through a server, wherein the multiple mobile terminals are communicatively coupled to the server via a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving, at a second mobile terminal, an update operation code from the server, wherein the update operation code is generated by a first mobile terminal according to a user update operation on a playlist of multimedia documents at the first mobile terminal and then sent to the server, wherein the update operation code includes a progress timestamp of a multimedia document in the playlist indicating at what time point the play of the multimedia document is suspended at the first mobile terminal, wherein the first mobile terminal and the second mobile terminal, each having a globally unique identifier (GUID), have logged into a user account at the server using a same user identifier and are both registered as being in an online state at the server simultaneously before the update operation code is generated; and

performing a synchronization operation to the playlist of multimedia documents at the second mobile terminal according to the update operation code, comprising: playing, in response to a user selection of the multimedia document, the multimedia document starting at a time point rolled back by a predetermined time period before the progress timestamp indicating the time point the play of the multimedia document was suspended at the first mobile terminal,

wherein the update operation code further includes an identifier of the multimedia document and information associated with a predefined action on the multimedia document, and the synchronization operation performed by the second mobile terminal further includes:

searching for the multimedia document according to the identifier of the multimedia document; and

when the multimedia document is found, applying the predefined action on the multimedia document; and

when the multimedia document is not found,

sending a request for the multimedia document to the server, receiving the multimedia document from a server-specified location, and applying the predefined action on the multimedia document.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the update operation code further includes an identifier of a multimedia document and a predefined action on the multimedia document, and the synchronization operation performed by the second mobile terminal further includes:

searching for the multimedia document according to the identifier of the multimedia document; and

when the multimedia document is found, applying the predefined action on the multimedia document; and

when the multimedia document is not found:

sending a request for the multimedia document to the server, receiving the multimedia document from a server-specified location, and applying the predefined action on the multimedia document.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the server-specified location is the first mobile terminal.