Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

U.S. Philips Corporation

Palm, Incorporated

David Berkowitz

Matthew William Crowley

Keith D Saft

Nevenka Dimitrova

Jan Hermanus Elenbaas

Thomas Mc Gee

Eugene Leyvi

Carolyn Ramsey

A software control mechanism is disclosed for use with a plurality of media applications. The software control mechanism comprises a media control panel structured for use with a plurality of media applications. The media control panel is independent of each media application. Each media application is displayed within a computer screen. The software control mechanism is structured to control a function of a presently interfaced media application on the display screen. Further, as the presently interfaced media application changes on the display screen, the media control panel for that media application is displayed along a same boundary of the computer screen.

Master multimedia software controls

A content management system stores location information indicating a location within a content item where a user exited from or last-accessed the content item. This location information is synchronized or otherwise shared between or among a plurality of devices associated with the user. With this information stored on or accessible to these multiple devices, the system enables the user to start from that location when subsequently accessing the content item on any of these devices. The user's experience with the content item is thus preserved over time and independently of the device on which the content item is accessed.

Preserving a user experience with content across multiple computing devices using location information

A commercial detection apparatus includes a frame grab thread which acquires frames from an input data stream to be analyzed by a cut detector thread and a filter thread. A commercial detection thread determines whether a commercial has occurred from data created by the cut detector thread and the filter thread stored in a memory. A factor used by the commercial detection thread is whether a black frame has occurred. The input data stream is divided into a plurality of regions and then a maximum and minimum value for a section of these regions is determined and compared to one another. If the maximum and minimum values are close enough, and the maximum value is below a threshold, then the frame is deemed to be black. The commercial detection thread also looks at the average cut frame distance, cut rate, changes in the average cut frame distance, the absence of a logo, a commercial signature detection, brand name detection, a series of black frames preceding a high cut rate, similar frames located within a specified period of time before a frame being analyzed and character detection. During playback, the detected commercials are either skipped or substituted with alternate content.

Apparatus and method for locating a commercial disposed within a video

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

David Berkowitz