Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8146126 | Request for information related to broadcast network content A request for information (RFI) system is provided for use in communications networks including broadcast networks and the internet. In one implementation, a viewer of a cable television network enters an RFI input (1) to a digital set top box using a user re... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8132220 | Method and apparatus for facilitating toggling between internet and TV broadcasts A TV-Internet Integration Box allows display of first data broadcast over a TV subscriber channel simultaneously together with second data broadcast over a digital data communications network has respective first and second inputs for receiving at a user premises th... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8127335 | Communication error message for TV internet adapter A communication error message is displayed on a TV when an error is noted on a control data link between the TV and an Internet adapter module connected thereto. ... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8065710 | Apparatuses and methods for interactive communication concerning multimedia content An apparatus for use with an output device coupled to one or more sources of multimedia content comprises an operator interface, a record generator and a network interface. The operator interface receives information responsive to a user's observation of a segment o... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8028320 | System and method for providing media to media playback device Systems and methods for delivering media to media playback devices are provided. When a media playback device requests suspension of a media stream, the media is stored in a storage area associated with the media playback device. A media playback device can then req... | 09/27/2011 |
| 7895633 | Method and apparatus for secure transfer and playback of multimedia content A method and apparatus for secure transfer and playback of multimedia content enables the secure transfer of multimedia content from a digital video recorder (DVR) to a personal computer (PC) and further to a handheld device. A DVR determines which devices on a Loca... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7865927 | Enhancing media system metadata Systems and methods for providing enhanced metadata to a user. Systems and methods can include extraction of data from metadata and searching for related metadata based upon the the extracted data. ... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7861275 | Multicast data services and broadcast signal markup stream for interactive broadcast systems A system and method for producing and receiving interactive broadcasting having a broadcast signal with a hypermedia channel and a logical multicast data channel. The logical multicast data channel has a broadcast signal markup stream (BSMS). The system users have a... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7840987 | Television messaging vocal response generation In a messaging system adapted to operate in a television environment, the invention teaches a method and apparatus for allowing a user to enter textual outgoing message, which is translated to speech by text to speech module. The speech is than delivered to a target... | 11/23/2010 |
| 7774819 | System for managing, converting, and transmitting video content for uploading online to a digital TV services provider system A video-on-demand (VOD) content delivery system has a VOD Application Server which manages a database of templates ordered in a hierarchy for presentation of video content elements of different selected types categorized in hierarchical order. The templates include ... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7721315 | Method and system for on-demand delivery of personalized internet-based content to television viewers A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a subscription television service for display on their televisions, the method comprising: (a) converting Internet-based content from an Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a customer'... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7712123 | Method, system, and apparatus for acquiring information concerning broadcast information A technology is provided for a viewer of broadcast information or recorded information to easily obtain information related to the broadcast information or recorded information from a server, in which, in a system in which a viewer apparatus and a content providing ... | 05/04/2010 |
| 7681225 | Content distribution system, content distribution control apparatus, content distribution control method, content distribution control program and content distribution control program storage medium A content distribution method where a user PC reserves a distribution channel at the live casting server in order to distribute content to the client PCs and requests the live casting server to post program presentation information on the content to be distributed o... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7676827 | Content distribution system, content distribution control apparatus, content distribution control method, content distribution control program and content distribution control program storage medium A server for providing to a user terminal an additional service on a web page during setting a predetermined service including a determining unit configured to determine whether a request for provision of the additional service is received from the user terminal; a ... | 03/09/2010 |
| 7650622 | Interactive session establishment based on initiation failure detection Systems and methods for implementing a communication mode for a communication terminal are provided. An embodiment of a method for implementing a communication mode includes receiving a plurality of messages from a remotely located network control system and impleme... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7631336 | Method for converting, navigating and displaying video content uploaded from the internet to a digital TV video-on-demand platform Video content is uploaded via the Internet to a video-on-demand (VOD) server identified by a title and a hierarchical address of categories and subcategories for categorizing the title. The VOD server converts and stores the video content at a storage address in a v... | 12/08/2009 |
| 7624416 | Identifying events of interest within video content Instant messages sent by a viewer of a video while the video is perceivable to the viewer may be monitored. An event of interest occurring in the video may be identified based on the monitored instant messages. Metadata that describes the event of interest may be ge... | 11/24/2009 |
| 7590997 | System and method for managing, converting and displaying video content on a video-on-demand platform, including ads used for drill-down navigation and consumer-generated classified ads A video-on-demand (VOD) content delivery system for a digital television service provider manages a database of templates ordered in a hierarchy for presentation of video content elements of different selected types categorized in hierarchical order. The hierarchica... | 09/15/2009 |
| 7571455 | TV having language selection function and control method of the same A television (TV) with a language selection function and an associated control method is provided which allows a user to select a desired display language regardless of a language in which programming is broadcast. The TV includes a network interface which allows a ... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7434243 | Response apparatus method and system A remote response system utilizes portable response devices that receive user input and transmit user input over existing communication systems. Certain response devices communicate over wireless systems such as paging systems, while other response devices communica... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7418193 | Video receiving and recording apparatus A video receiving and recording apparatus which can record a momentarily overlooked scene of a television broadcast and which can realize a reduction in power consumption and the like is provided. This video receiving and recording apparatus includes a short-time si... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7412169 | FTTH system for convergence of broadcasting and communication through switched broadcasting A fiber to the home FTTH network for convergence of broadcasting and communication is disclosed. The network includes: an OLT for receiving and converting a first predetermined number of broadcast signals and an Ethernet signal into a plurality of converted optical ... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7404201 | Data distribution server A copy computer includes a storage device which stores a copy of contents from a distribution computer and a module which creates a copy of updated contents based on a copy request and which sends a copy of contents requested by a search computer to a distribution r... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7386875 | Freezing live video frames with interactive links An embodiment of the present invention allows a user to maintain the display of a video frame containing one or more interactive links while also maintaining access to the links. Thus allowing the user to select and examine any desired links at his own pace. For one... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7380029 | Disk driver cluster management of time shift buffer A file allocation system for a hard disk drive includes a memory with driver logic and a processor configured with the driver logic to receive a request to allocate hard disk space of a defined size for a buffer file. In some embodiments, the processor is configured... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7376896 | System for recording world wide web browsing sessions navigation on a real-time basis and for subsequently displaying the recorded sessions as surrogate browsing sessions with user enabled real-time modification An implementation for the generation of a surrogate Web browsing session at a Web receiving display station by a user who does the basic browsing or searching for a principal user, e.g. the physically limited individual or the executive/professional ordering the bro... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7376153 | Interactive streaming media production tool using communication optimization The invention provides interactive streaming mixed media production. A mixed media content creation tool includes a resource-computation element that computes the likely resource load to be imposed on a server, communication link, and client device, when sent by the... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7372872 | System and method for monitoring upstream and downstream transmissions in cable modern system A network monitor includes means for monitoring downstream traffic from a cable modem termination system (CMTS) to a cable modem (CM), means for monitoring upstream traffic from the CM to the CMTS, and means for identifying a data format used by the CMTS and the CM ... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7370016 | Music distribution systems Music is blanket transmitted (for example, via satellite downlink transmission) to each customer's user station where selected music files are recorded. Customers preselect from a list of available music in advance using an interactive screen selector, and pay only ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7370114 | Software downloading using a television broadcast channel A software distribution architecture having a television broadcast system as its infrastructure. Software from a software repository (1600) is mixed into a television broadcast system and transmitted into one or more selected channels at prescribed dates and ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7369744 | Signal receiving apparatus and signal recording method A signal receiving apparatus includes a tuner (102) for selecting a broadcasting station or a program, which becomes a reception subject, a program recording/playing circuit (202) for recording a received signal of the reception subject, and a control ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7363649 | Media content descriptions A media content description system receives media content descriptions from one or more metadata providers. The media content description system associates each media content description with the metadata provider that provided the description. The media content des... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7363646 | Video on demand methods and systems An entertainment head-end provides broadcast programming, video-on-demand services, and HTML-based interactive programming through a distribution network to client terminals in subscribers' homes. A number of different features are provided, including novel user int... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7360230 | Overlay management A method of personalizing a broadcast channel, comprising: receiving an input from a user (110); and personalizing the broadcast channel; and transmitting the personalized broadcast channel to the user using a compressed video transport method. Preferably, co... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7360078 | Communication methods and apparatus A method of authenticating communication between a receiver/decoder and a remote server is disclosed. The method involves using an identifier of the receiver/decoder to authenticate the communication, the identifier being based on a smartcard number. Also disclosed ... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7360231 | System for obtaining data regarding customer use of interactive television A system and method for obtaining data regarding customer use of interactive television, where application servers residing at a broadcast center include application programs that provide customers with a graphical user interface. Customers may retrieve the applicat... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7349552 | Connected audio and other media objects Media objects are transformed into active, connected objects via identifiers embedded into them or their containers. In the context of a user's playback experience, a decoding process extracts the identifier from a media object and possibly additional context inform... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7350155 | Resizing internet document for display on television screen Methods and systems for scaling down a Web page image enables the image to be displayed on a standard television without horizontal scrolling of the image. A Web page image that initially has a horizontal dimension larger than the horizontal dimension of a televisio... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7346919 | Television messaging vocal response generation In a messaging system adapted to operate in a television environment, the invention teaches a method and apparatus for allowing a user to enter textual outgoing message, which is translated to speech by text to speech module. The speech is than delivered to a target... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7346164 | Communication installation for collective data reception A communication installation for communal reception of digital television and/or of multimedia data, which receives a plurality of signals emanating from separate sources. The installation of the invention comprises a network linking a multiplicity of descrambler/de... | 03/18/2008 |
