Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7051351 | System and method of inserting advertisements into an information retrieval system display Systems and methods for selecting and inserting advertisements in an information document displayed to a user, wherein the selection is based at least in part on television programming viewed by the user. The systems and methods may be implemented using the Internet... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7039933 | Enhanced TV broadcasting method and system using tags for incorporating local content into a program data stream A system, method and program product uses tags as markers for incorporating local content in a communications stream, e.g., TV broadcast, cable transmission. A transmitter generates a communication stream including program content for transmission to a receiver. The... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6993789 | DTV data service application and receiver mechanism A system for providing a data broadcast service for digital television receivers. The system includes a data authoring system for creating a program description, a data service encoder for combining the description with other information and encoding it, and a multi... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6990679 | Program surf grid A viewer-defined group of channels allows a viewer to quickly navigate through the channels in the group. A channel matrix is used to display channels having program types or transmission characteristics that are selected by a user in a manner that allows the viewer... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6986159 | Method and system for receiving and recording digital broadcast programs The present invention relate to a digital broadcast system, and it is an object of the invention to record contents quickly in a broadcast system which implements interactivity by transmitting a set of data repeatedly, wherein a digital broadcast receiver separates ... | 01/10/2006 |
| 6983483 | Scheduler apparatus employing a gopher agent for use in a television receiver In a television system in which at least program title information for programs which are to be transmitted in the future is transmitted in advance to form a channel guide listing, apparatus is provided for searching the listing for specific user-entered information... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6981275 | Television receiver A television receiver in which a summary of an electronic mail can be displayed along with a television picture. A central processing unit (CPU) receives an electronic mail by an electronic mail function via a modem 4 adapted for connection to an external mai... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6978471 | System for acquiring and processing broadcast programs and program guide data Decoder system initialization involves scanning to associate a particular program guide with individual channels. A similar procedure is also performed upon introduction of a new channel. A system for acquiring program guide information conveyed on one of a pluralit... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6978474 | Media interface device A Residential Gateway (RG) for distributing video, data and telephone services to multiple devices within a residence is disclosed. The RG receives signals from a telecommunications network, converts the signals to formats compatible with the multiple devices, and t... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6973668 | Method and apparatus for locating a faulty component in a cable television system having cable modems A method and system for locating faulty components in a cable modem network configured within a hybrid fiber-coaxial cable television system by tabulating modem performance data are described. A method of isolating problematic components in a cable modem network inc... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6964060 | Conditional access system for controlling the access to a data content A conditional access system for controlling the access of receivers of end-users to data transmitted from a data content source in an uplink system. The uplink system comprises a scrambler for scrambling the content supplied from the content source, an entitlement c... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6948183 | Dynamic security for digital television receivers A system that allows service providers, consumer electronic (CE) manufacturers or standards bodies to define flexible security policies (110) for the execution of downloaded applications (120) on digital television (DTV) receivers (160). The cur... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6922843 | Interactive television program guide system with multiple account parental control A system with parental control features is provided. The system may be switched between single account control and multiple account control. Each account may have a program control code and a purchase control code. A user may set parental control criteria for contro... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6922844 | Method and apparatus for distinguishing program guides according to originating network A system and method for providing program guide information to subscribers is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method is applied to a broadcasting system having a plurality of service networks, each broadcasting a set of programs and program guide information descr... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6918133 | Method for identifying extender text table of electronic program guide in digital TV A method for identifying extender text tables of an electronic program guide in a DTV is disclosed. In the present invention, the extender text tables are identified by processing an ETT section in the same manner as other tables using a value capable of identifying... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6904611 | Method and system for directing the download of software and firmware objects over a network such as a cable television system A Download Control Message instructs a set-top terminal in a cable television system to located and immediately begin downloading a code or other data object available over the cable system. The Download Control Message specifies, for example, the size, name, versio... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6904610 | Server-centric customized interactive program guide in an interactive television environment Techniques to create, generate, and deliver customized interactive program guide (custom-IPG). In one method, selections indicative of a set of channels to be included in the custom-IPG are received. In response, one or more custom-IPG screens having included therei... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6889386 | Apparatus for processing data of program guide A program guide data processing apparatus which can effectively use a frame_filter by effectively combining SCIDs of an SCID_filter (corresponding to the conventional PID_filter) and frame_headers of a frame_filter (correponding to the conventional section_filter), ... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6868552 | Ingress noise control system and ingress noise blocking device The present invention concerns an ingress noise control system and an ingress noise blocking device which are used in a cable system to suppress ingress noise. In the cable system providing two-way communication using different frequency bands for transmission of up... | 03/15/2005 |
| 6826774 | Geometrically segmented program guide A display is generated for viewing on a display screen. The display indicates any or any combination of a function of the display screen control parameters and/or information relating to channels and/or programmes which can be viewed on the screen. The display furth... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6826777 | Rack mounted digital video The present invention provides a method and system for providing a rack mounted computer system which transmits a digital video signal through multiple computers. The computer system includes a plurality of computers and a plurality of cables connecting the pluralit... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6817028 | Reduced screen control system for interactive program guide An apparatus and method for browsing and viewing television programs while viewing a television program guide. In other words, a user is able to remain inside the program guide while viewing various television programs. In another aspect, a server system operator is... | 11/09/2004 |
| 6813777 | Transaction dispatcher for a passenger entertainment system, method and article of manufacture A computer is used to manage communication over a network between one or more network addressable units and a plurality of physical devices of a passenger entertainment system. The system is configured and operated using software to provide passenger entertainment s... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6807675 | Apparatus and method for selecting viewers' profile in interactive TV The interactive multimedia devices is based on network structures involving: a broadcasting network (120) and a return path network (140). On the broadcasting network, the interactive data are multiplexed with the broadcast audiovisual signals so as to... | 10/19/2004 |
| 6804824 | Systems and methods using multiple tuners The present invention enhances a user experience by using multiple tuners to simultaneously tune multiple channels. The multiple tuners channels included in programming content, so that a user is able to rapidly tune the channels without having to wait. Other featur... | 10/12/2004 |
| 6798463 | Television receiving apparatus A microcomputer 50 searches all the frequency bands included in each of the channel plans for TV and CATV almost continuously, determines whether or not there is a broadcasting station in the channel frequencies assigned to each of the channel plans, judges w... | 09/28/2004 |
| 6782884 | Method and apparatus for locating a faulty component in a cable television system having cable modems A method and system for locating faulty components in a cable modem network configured within a hybrid fiber-coaxial cable television system by tabulating modem performance data are described. A method of isolating problematic components in a cable modem network inc... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6779197 | Reverse path upstream signaling for status monitoring A reverse path signaling circuit is described which provides less noise and interruption when injecting signals upstream to a head end. The reverse path signaling circuit includes a low pass filter, a status monitor, and a common emitter amplifier. The common emitte... | 08/17/2004 |
| 6772438 | Method and apparatus for retrieving data from a broadcast signal A broadcast signal is received that includes a data identifier that identifies data associated with the broadcast signal. The broadcast signal also includes the data associated with the broadcast signal encoded in the broadcast signal. The data associated with the b... | 08/03/2004 |
| 6757910 | Adaptive filter for reducing ingress noise in CATV return signals An adaptive high pass filter is used to reduce signal noise such as that occurring on a CATV upstream carrier. A signal detector senses a lowest active frequency on a CATV transmission. A high pass filter is then adjusted to cut off transmissions at frequencies belo... | 06/29/2004 |
| 6754906 | Categorical electronic program guide The invention is a device for generating a display of an electronic program guide on a screen. Invention is comprised of a receiver which includes a tuner for receiving an input stream of television content and electronic program guide data. The receiver separates t... | 06/22/2004 |
| 6754908 | Intrusion detection for object security According to the invention, an apparatus and methods for detecting modifications to information within a content receiver are described. In one embodiment, a method for detecting modification to a content receiver within a conditional access system is disclosed. In ... | 06/22/2004 |
| 6742186 | Method and apparatus for enhancing periodic ranging for cable modems Disclosed is a cable modem termination system (CMTS) capable of outputting periodic ranging opportunities. The CMTS includes an upstream receiver and demodulator capable of receiving an upstream signal, a downstream transmitter and modulator capable of transmitting ... | 05/25/2004 |
| 6742184 | Electronic television program guide with calendar tool The present invention is described by an electronic program guide with a calendar tool, and a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving the electronic program guide. The apparatus includes a transmission station and a plurality of receiver stations. The tr... | 05/25/2004 |
| 6721958 | Optional verification of interactive television content A system and method implemented in an interactive television system for selectively controlling the verification of interactive television content delivered to a receiver wherein a notification is provided to the receiver to identify content which can be trusted and... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6718552 | Network bandwidth optimization by dynamic channel allocation An information delivery system provides programming, such as video programming, by dynamically allocating the programming to channel slots, based on the availability of the channel slots. Programming with high viewership statistics is transmitted substantially conti... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6708335 | Tracking viewing behavior of advertisements on a home entertainment system Systems and methods for tracking viewing behavior of advertisements on home entertainment systems. A processing device associated with the home entertainment system determines that an advertisement is being displayed. For example, the processing device can recognize... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6704929 | Tracking viewing behavior of a home entertainment system Systems and methods for providing and tracking viewing behavior of home entertainment systems. A viewer event such as tuning to a selected television channel, occurs at a home entertainment system. The event is coupled with information describing the prog... | 03/09/2004 |
| 6701526 | Method and apparatus for capturing broadcast EPG data for program title display A method for providing programming information to a viewer. The method includes steps of capturing an image of a broadcast video signal that includes EPG data; extracting programming information from the captured image; storing the extracted programming i... | 03/02/2004 |
| 6684401 | Method and system for independent incoming and outgoing message dispatching in a home audio/video network In a home audio video network of connected network devices, a method of routing a received message to a software controller. An incoming message is received from a network bus by an intelligent device having a plurality of software controllers for communi... | 01/27/2004 |
