Augmenting television content with on-screen recording, ordering, searching and VoIP calling options
View Patent ↗Metadata associated with television commercials and television programs are received and stored in a local database at a customer premise. When received at the customer premise, those television commercials and television programs identified by the metadata are augmented with on-screen options that are user-selectable using a remote control device. A first option is to automatically record an upcoming broadcast of a first program advertised in a first commercial. A second option is to purchase a media product that includes the first program. A third option is to order a product or a service shown during a second program or a second commercial. A fourth option is to initiate a search of an inventory of a local retailer for the product or the service shown during the second program or the second commercial. A fifth option is to place a VoIP call to a vendor of the product or the service.
1. A method comprising:
receiving television content at a television receiver, wherein the television content includes a first identifier, and wherein the television content is a commercial for an upcoming episode of a particular program;
determining whether the first identifier matches at least one of a plurality of identifiers included in metadata items stored at the television receiver;
in response to determining that the first identifier matches at least one identifier associated with at least one metadata item, augmenting the television content with at least one user-selectable option indicated by the at least one metadata item to generate augmented television content; and
sending the augmented television content from the television receiver to a display device to display the augmented television content,
wherein the at least one user-selectable option is displayed simultaneously with the television content, and
wherein the at least one user-selectable option includes:
a first option to record the upcoming episode to a memory of the television receiver; and
conditioned on a season of the particular program that includes the upcoming episode being available for purchase, a second option to initiate a purchase of the season of the particular program.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one user-selectable option is selectable via a remote control device.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a request to purchase the season of the particular program in response to a selection of the second option.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata items are received at the television receiver via a first communication medium and wherein the television content is received at the television receiver via a second communication medium that is different from the first communication medium.
5. A device comprising:
a memory to store executable instructions and to store metadata items associated with television content;
a network interface device to receive the television content; and
a processor to execute the instructions and to cause the device to perform operations of:
receiving the television content, wherein the television content includes a first identifier;
determining whether the first identifier matches at least one of a plurality of identifiers included in the metadata items;
in response to determining that the first identifier matches at least one identifier associated with at least one metadata item, augmenting the television content with at least one user-selectable option indicated by the at least one metadata item to generate augmented television content;
sending the augmented television content from the device to a display device to display the augmented television content, wherein the at least one user-selectable option is displayed while displaying the television content and wherein the at least one user-selectable option includes a first option to initiate a search of inventories of a plurality of local retailers for a product associated with the television content; and
in response to a selection of the first option, sending results of the search from the device to the display device.
6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the device comprises a set top box.
7. The device of claim 5 , wherein the device comprises a personal computer.
8. The device of claim 5 , wherein the device comprises a personal digital assistant.
9. The device of claim 5 , wherein the device comprises a wireless telephone.
10. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining if a payment mechanism has been set-up and saved for a subscriber of the television content in response to receiving the request.
11. The device of claim 5 , wherein the television content comprises on-demand content.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving payment information when no payment mechanism has been set-up and saved for the subscriber.
13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining if multiple payment mechanisms have been set-up and saved for the subscriber.
14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving a selection of one payment mechanism from multiple payment mechanisms.