...that the Slinky toy was the result of a failed attempt by engineer Richard James to produce an antivibration device for ship instruments? His goal was to develop a spring that would instantaneously counterbalance the wave motion that rocks a ship at sea. Instead, he developed the Slinky.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8104068 | Program replacing method A program replacing method capable of updating a program by executing instead a temporarily downloaded program without deleting the existing program as well as capable of easily restoring such existing program. Moreover, when a function not equipped to the existing ... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8056113 | Mobile consumer electronic applications on internet video platform A request to transfer a consumer electronics (CE) application from a consumer electronics device to a TV device is received at the TV device. The CE application is received from the consumer electronics device. Application state information associated with the CE ap... | 11/08/2011 |
| 7992186 | Broadcasting receiver and volume control method thereof A broadcasting receiver implements volume control by first software (OCAP application) for volume control obtained from outside or second software (receiver application) for volume control pre-installed. The broadcasting receiver determines whether the first softwar... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7895637 | Broadcast receiver and method for providing diagnostic information A host includes a controller configured to receive a request self-diagnostic to the host, wherein the request is for diagnostic information associated with memory allocated for an application. The controller is further configured to collect the requested diagnostic ... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7849494 | Digital television receiver A digital television receiver for use in a digital television broadcast system in which a plurality of digital television data streams can be provided in respective streams of television broadcast packets forming the lowest layer of a layered digital television stru... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7836481 | Set top terminal for generating an interactive electronic program guide for use with television delivery system A set top terminal is disclosed for use with a television delivery system. The terminal receives a television signal and extracts from the signal individual programs for display on a user's television associated with the terminal. The terminal receives a selection o... | 11/16/2010 |
| 7793331 | Communications method for an intelligent digital audiovisual reproduction system Method for communication between a central server and a computerized juke-box which operates in a conference mode, including: sending a header before any transaction, which includes the identity of the destination together, the identity of the emitter, and the size ... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7735113 | Receiving apparatus, and display apparatus and television broadcasting system therewith During sleep mode, a power-source control section stops the power supply to a tuner, a demodulation section, an AV-data processing section and a microcomputer, and delivers a power supply only to a standby tuner. The standby tuner receives a start signal which is tr... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7694326 | Signal processing system and method, signal processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program When an algorithm bay is connected to a signal processing apparatus according to a first connection mode, a selector of the algorithm bay selects and sets a first function provided by a first function provider as the signal processing function of the signal processi... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7634799 | Method for updating system BIOS after service event in order to support re-enablement of an O.C.U.R. device A method for reprovisioning a tuner device in an information handling system. The method includes storing a unique identifier in a hidden location within the information handling system, accessing the unique identifier when the tuner device requires reprovisioning, ... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7526791 | System and method for an interactive broadband system-on-chip with a reconfigurable interface A method and apparatus are disclosed, in an interactive broadband set-top box receiving broadband signals from a headend, to facilitate communications with an installed card within the set-top box using a single IC chip that processes the broadband signals. The sing... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7519983 | Method and apparatus for filtering SDTV channels of digital video broadcasting A method for filtering the SDTV channels in a DVB is provided, including the following steps: using the video frequency ID and center frequency of the SDTV channel of the user's choice to look up a table to obtain at least a remaining video frequency ID different fr... | 04/14/2009 |
| 7444657 | Event masking for television signal receiver having an emergency alert function A television signal receiver having an emergency alert function provides a masked list of emergency events during a user setup process for the emergency alert function which makes the setup process easier for users, and also ensures that the emergency alert function... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7425992 | Method and apparatus for upgrading a television system A television upgrade system allows a consumer to upgrade applications or features in a television (TV) simply by inserting an external device containing an upgrade file into the TV. The TV then executes a boot loader code which automatically replaces an executable c... | 09/16/2008 |
| 7406706 | Method and system for devices efficiently sharing information regarding the content of a digital television bit-stream A method and system for efficiently allowing a controller device to receive information from a tuner device regarding the content of a digital television bit-stream. The present invention first receives a digital television bit-stream at a tuner device. The digital ... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7382784 | Apparatus and method for switching broadcast channel using VCC information An optical transmission network is disclosed that classifies digital broadcast channel data according to virtual channel connection (VCC) before transmission. In the optical transmission network, an optical signal receiver converts an optical signal from an optical ... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7363278 | Copyright detection and protection system and method A method for detecting against unauthorized transmission of digital works comprises the steps of maintaining a registry of information permitting identification of digital copyrighted works, monitoring a network for transmission of at least one packet-based digital ... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7360077 | Production line boot sector lock Hacking of a class of Set-Top Boxes known as Integrated Receiver-Decoders (IRDs) used to receive satellite broadcasts for display on television sets is prevented by use of connections to the reprogramming enable pin of a flash memory. If a user attempts to reprogram... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7353267 | Targeted network video download interface A system provides a user with free Internet network access, in which an access control system sends video advertising files to a user who gains access to the Internet through a network connection that includes a viewer program that operates independently of the user... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7342488 | System and method for providing home awareness A system and method for providing home awareness are disclosed. In one embodiment, a sensor is associated with a household amenity. In response to the occurrence of an event, a wireless signal is transmitted to a monitoring unit which, in turn, superimposes a text m... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7342967 | System and method for enhancing performance of personal video recording (PVR) functions on hits digital video streams A system, method, and apparatus for reducing the video decoder processing requirements for rewinding a HITS stream are presented herein. During rewind of a HITS stream, the video decoder builds a clean reference picture. The clean reference picture is built by decod... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7337364 | Contents distribution supporting apparatus and program A contents distribution supporting apparatus which enables contents to be distributed on a network without using cash as the medium of transaction. A database records user's points, and a storage accumulates contents to be provided for the users. When contents are r... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7334248 | Conditional access filter as for a packet video signal inverse transport system A method and an apparatus for processing a packetized transport stream that determines whether a sequence of transport packets are received in a proper sequence and whether an error is present in a particular transport packet. The method includes the steps of determ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7310808 | Method of and apparatus for supporting and enabling the selection and mixing of multiple streams of audio/video data from multiple sources within a receiving device allowing external control A method of and apparatus for supporting and enabling the selection and mixing of multiple input data streams from multiple sources within a receiving device allowing external control includes a receiving device, a control device and one or more source devices. The ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7302696 | System and method to provide an interactive coupon channel a video casting network A system and method to provide an interactive coupon channel via a video casting network. A viewer can tune to the coupon channel to search for coupons by keyword or category. The coupon channel can also be accessed through another channel, such as a shopping channe... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7284261 | Broadcasting and processing multiple data formats A method broadcasts data. The method includes sending to a receiver scheduling information that includes a scheduled time and broadcasting data at the scheduled time. The scheduling information identifies an encoding format and one or more viewer applications capabl... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7275163 | Asynchronous configuration One or more embodiments of the invention provide a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for providing access to digital services. Configuration information that has been transmitted asynchronously is received in a security component (that is configured to c... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7269842 | Time shifting enhanced television triggers Enhanced television broadcasts including triggers with expires attributes may be utilized in a variety of situations where the expires attribute may adversely affect the utilization of the trigger. For example, in situations where the broadcast is recorded, playback... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7259710 | User input device A user input device (300) configured with a communication protocol for communicating transmission data with predetermined apparatus (700, 601) is disclosed. The device (300) comprises a receiving means for receiving protocol data and an associat... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7260829 | Terminal with multiple audio and video A novel advanced set top terminal capable of digital decompression, displaying picture-on-picture, outputting multiple video channels, outputting multiple audio signals, outputting multiple audio channels corresponding to a single video channel, and other advanced f... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7254824 | Encoding optimization techniques for encoding program grid section of server-centric interactive programming guide An interactive program guide (IPG) may include a program grid section and a multimedia section. The program grid section typically contains program information organized in a grid with a time axis and a channel axis. The multimedia section may include video for adve... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7239801 | Recording apparatus and method, playback apparatus and method, and recording medium therefor Audio signals and video signals are recorded as follows. Three video PES packets, each being formed of one video frame, are combined to form a video editing unit. Then, the video editing unit and the associated audio editing unit are alternately disposed on a magnet... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7224903 | Universal remote control unit with automatic appliance identification and programming System and method for automatically programming a universal remote. In the system, the remote acquires identification data from a particular device at which it is pointed. The data is processed to determine command protocols associated with the particular device. Co... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7213254 | Universal methods and device for hand-held promotional opportunities A system is described for deriving benefits from the reception and processing of composite video signals from a display device 10 by a hand-held device 12, such as a smart card, personal digital assistant (“PDA”), or mobile phone. Video signals are... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7209901 | Method for selling, protecting, and redistributing digital goods This is a method for limiting access to selected features of a freely distributed multimedia file, by disabling selected features of the file (using encryption, compression, or other access denial), distributing the file with some enabled features as an inducement t... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7164844 | Method and apparatus for facilitating reverse playback A method and apparatus for processing recorded coded audiovisual data to facilitate reverse playback permits the user to play back recorded material in a temporally reversed manner at speeds of at least 1X or greater by storing the decoded frames in a graphics accel... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7162097 | Methods and apparatus for transform coefficient filtering According to the present invention, methods and apparatus for filtering transform coefficients are provided. Transform coefficients associated with an input bit sequence can be zeroed to provide modified transform coefficients associated with an output bit sequence.... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7142255 | Transport stream and channel selection system for digital video receiver systems and associated method A transport stream and channel selection system for digital video transmissions and associated method are disclosed that use predictive analyses to tune additional digital transport streams that contain desirable or optimal groupings of multiplexed channels. An anal... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7121462 | User programmable smart card interface system A user programmable smart card interface system is disclosed having a smart card (10) and a reader/writer (1) which is able to read data from, and write data into, an electronic memory (19) carried by the card. A user terminal (100) havin... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7124210 | Method and apparatus for updating computer code using an integrated circuit interface A method and apparatus for providing computer code updates through an integrated circuit card (smart card) interface. The smart card interface within a computer control device determines whether the card that is inserted into the smart card interface is either a mem... | 10/17/2006 |