Methods and apparatus for initiating a playback pause operation on one device and resuming playback on another playback device
Methods and apparatus that support implementing a pause, e.g., of a broadcast, on a device, recording the paused program and resuming playback of the paused program on a device associated with a user's account, are described. The pause function allows a user to pause a broadcast on a device and initiate recording of the paused program, e.g., to network storage. The pause initiating device displays a pause indicator indicating that the program output has been paused. A user logging into the user's account from a device other than the device from which the pause was initiated is presented an opportunity to resume the paused playback. Playback is resumed from the pause point on the playback device from which a resume signal is received. Upon resumption of playback on a device other than the device from which the pause was initiated, the pause indicator on the pause initiating device is removed.
1. A method of supporting a multi-device pause function, comprising:
receiving, at a control device, a pause signal from a first playback device;
initiating, in response to receiving said pause signal, recording of a portion of a program, said program being a first program that was being output by said first playback device prior to initiation of a pause at said first playback device;
receiving, at the control device a resume playback signal from a second playback device;
determining, at the control device, if the resume playback signal is from a device to which pause information was provided, said second playback device being a different playback device than said first playback device and being a device to which pause information was provided; and
sending, in response to determining that the resume playback signal is from a device to which pause information was provided, a control signal from the control device to said first playback device, to switch from a pause mode of operation to a normal playback mode of operation.
2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein said pause information is a list of paused programs;
wherein the pause signal is sent by the first playback device due to a user initiating a pause; and
wherein said first playback device and second playback device are different devices associated with a customer account corresponding to the user, and wherein said user uses the first playback device to implement said pause and uses said second playback device to resume playback.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein an opportunity to resume playback of a paused program includes a list of paused programs for which playback can be resumed.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said paused program is one of a plurality of programs that have been paused from different devices associated with a customer account.
5. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the first and second playback devices are different playback devices corresponding to the same user, the method further comprising;
providing to the second playback device, in response to the resume playback signal from the second playback device, said portion of said program that has been recorded.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
sending, in response to receiving the pause signal, a switch control signal to said first playback device, said switch control signal controlling said first playback device to switch to a pause mode of operation and output a pause indicator.
7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining if playback of said program has resumed from said second playback device and said program has been played back until the end of said program; and
deleting said recorded portion of the program from a paused programs storage when it is determined that playback of said program has resumed from said second playback device and said program has been played back until the end of said program.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining if a first retention time period associated with said recorded portion of said program that has been recorded has expired; and
deleting said recorded portion of the program from a paused programs storage when it is determined that said first retention time period has expired.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said first retention time period is a time period for which said portion of the program that was recorded is retained in a paused programs storage; and
wherein said first retention time period is shorter than a second retention time period for which a user selected recording is retained in a user selected recordings storage.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, in response to receiving the pause signal, a switch control signal to said first playback device, said switch control signal controlling said first playback device to switch to a pause mode of operation and output a pause indicator.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said pause information is a list of paused programs.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said program is a program which was being supplied to the first playback device via a broadcast; and
wherein initiating, in response to receiving said pause signal, recording of said portion of the program includes recording remaining portion of said broadcast.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first playback device and said second playback device are associated with the same customer account.
14. A control device, comprising:
a transmitter;
a receiver configured to receive signals from other devices; and
a processor configured to:
process a pause signal received by said receiver from a first playback device;
initiate, in response to receiving said pause signal, recording of a portion of a program, said program being a first program that was being output by said first playback device prior to initiation of a pause at said first playback device;
receive a resume playback signal from a second playback device;
determine if the resume playback signal is from a device to which pause information was provided, said second playback device being a different playback device than said first playback device and being a device to which pause information was provided; and
control said transmitter to transmit, in response to determining that the resume playback signal is from a device to which pause information was provided, a control signal to the first playback device to control the first playback device to switch from a pause mode of operation to a normal playback mode of operation.
15. The control device of claim 14 , wherein said processor is further configured to:
detect a user login to a customer account from said second playback device; and
control said transmitter to send a control signal to said second playback device, in response to detecting a user login to said customer account from said second playback device, to present an opportunity to a user of said second playback device to resume playback of a paused program.
16. The control device of claim 14 , wherein said processor is further configured to:
determine if playback of said program has resumed from said second playback device and said program has been played back until the end of said program; and
delete said recorded portion of the program from a storage device when it is determined that playback of said program has resumed from said second playback device and said program has been played back until the end of said program.
17. The control device of claim 14 , wherein said processor is further configured to:
determine if a first retention time period associated with said recorded portion of said program that has been recorded has expired; and
delete said recorded portion of the program in a storage device when it is determined that said first retention time period has expired.
18. The control device of claim 14 , wherein said processor is further configured to: determine if playback of said program has resumed from said second playback device and said program has been played back until the end of said program;
determine if a first retention time period associated with said recorded portion of said program has expired; and
delete said portion of the program from the paused programs memory portion when it is determined that at least one of the following is true: i) playback of said program has resumed from said second playback device and said program has been played back until the end of said program, or ii) the first retention time period has expired.
19. The control device of claim 14 , wherein said processor is further configured to:
control said transmitter to send, in response to receiving said pause signal, a switch control signal to said first playback device, said switch control signal controlling said first playback device to switch to a pause mode of operation and output a pause indicator.
20. The control device of claim 14 , wherein said processor is further configured to:
control said transmitter to send, in response to said resume playback signal from the second playback device, at least a portion of the recorded program.