Portable media player devices are increasing in popularity. A portable media player device is a transportable device that plays one or more media file types, including text, audio, video, interactive, and other media file types. For purposes of this disclosure, a portable media player device does not include a general purpose laptop or tablet computer, nor any computing device attached or installed on a mobile vehicle (such as a dash mounted radio or DVD player in an automobile, but rather includes a handheld device (also referred to as a palm-sized device) for the purpose of displaying and/or playing media files. The hardware and/or software components embodied in the device for the displaying and playing of media files are collectively referred to as a media player. Examples of portable media player devices are the iPod available from Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif., the Zune available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the Ibiza™ Rhapsody® from Varia Mobil of Seattle, Wash., and other like devices.
In addition to allowing users to store and play media files, many portable media player devices allow users to organize media files into groups or access groups of media files organized or stored for access by a service, a content provider, or another entity. Groups of media files or their titles are sometimes referred to as “channels” or “playlists,” with playlists generally having a finite number of media file titles and channels having a continuous number of media files. Files associated with a playlist or channel may be specified in a particular order or the files may be specified in a random order. Likewise, when accessed by a user, the files associated with a playlist may also be played in the specified order or in a random order. A playlist may be static, i.e., the playlist may always be associated with the same number of media files, or it may be dynamic, i.e., the files associated with the playlist may change. For example, a dynamic playlist may be associated with the twenty most popular songs, and the songs associated with the playlist may change as the most popular songs change.
Despite the continued availability of new and interesting media files, however, most users infrequently modify or update a playlist once the playlist has been created. One reason for this may be that many portable media player devices can only be modified by a user on a computer and cannot be modified directly on a portable media player device (in part because of the constrained input capability due to the inherent size constraints of portable devices). Other portable media player devices allow sharing of playlists and media between portable media devices, but only if the portable media player devices are in an immediate proximity to the user. The shared media also typically has limited play time unless the right to play is subsequently confirmed/validated (an attempt to address the digital right issues that arise with the sharing of media). These factors significantly limit the number and variety of playlists available for sharing with a user.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds