At&t Intellectual Property I, LP

Oleg Kashapov

Troy C Meuninck

N Peter Hill

William A Brown

Michael Branam

Ke Yu

A system that incorporates the present disclosure may include, for example, a method for receiving from a first media device a selection of replacement content, where the replacement content corresponds to a portion of media content presentable by the first media device, and where replacement content is selected according to a plurality of options presented by the first media device as the portion of the media content is being presented. The method may further include retrieving the replacement content with a metadata pointer provided with the media content, transmitting to a second media device a request to accept the replacement content, and transmitting the replacement content to the second media device for presentation at the second media device in response to receiving an acceptance response from the second media device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Method and apparatus for presenting media content

A method that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include embedding a watermark in media content for presentation at a rendering device using an editor to associate the watermark with one or more metadata pointers that point to additional media content according to an embedded link of the watermark to generate a group of one or more metadata pointers where the watermark includes an embedded link to additional media content used to modify the media content based on a content exchange between the rendering device and a computer. The method may further include storing the group of one or more metadata pointers, where a selection of the watermark invokes access to the altered media content containing the additional media content associated with the watermark, thereby producing the altered media content at the one or more user devices. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Watermarked media content in IPTV or iTV networks

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a system having a controller to detect a selection of media content from a media content source, detect that the selected media content comprises a plurality of media content types, present a plurality of media content type options, each option corresponding to one of the plurality of media content types or combinations thereof, detect a selection from the plurality of media content type options, submit a request to a targeted communication device to accept or decline the selected media content according to the selected media content type option, retrieve one or more metadata pointers from the media content source for retrieving the selected media content responsive to receiving an acceptance from the targeted communication device, and store the one or more metadata pointers and the selected media content type option. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Method and system for presenting media content

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set top box (STB) comprising a controller to analyze scheduled media content with limited temporal accessibility provided by a content provider, select a portion of the media content based on the analysis of the media content and a recipient media device to receive the portion of the media content, transmit the portion of the media content to a DVR to store the portion of the media content, and transmit a metadata pointer associated with the portion of the media content to a server. A request to accept the portion of the media content is received by the recipient media device via the server, and the portion of the media content is retrieved from the DVR by the server based on the metadata pointer when the recipient media device accepts the request. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Method and apparatus for presenting dynamic media content

A method that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may embedding a watermark in media content for presentation at a rendering device using an editor to associate the watermark with one or more metadata pointers that point to additional media content according to an embedded link of the watermark to generate a group of one or more metadata pointers where the watermark includes an embedded link to additional media content used to modify the media content based on a content exchange between the rendering device and a computer. The method may further include storing the group of one or more metadata pointers, where a selection of the watermark invokes access to the altered media content containing the additional media content associated with the watermark, thereby producing the altered media content at the one or more user devices. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Watermarked media content in IPTV or ITV networks

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set-top-box (STB) comprising a controller to analyze media content provided by a media content provider, wherein the media content is scheduled content with limited temporal accessibility, select at least a portion of the media content and at least one recipient media device to receive the portion of the media content, the selection of the portion of the media content being based on the analysis of the media content, transmit the portion of the media content to a DVR, wherein the DVR stores the portion of the media content, and transmit a metadata pointer associated with the portion of the media content stored in the DVR to a server, wherein a request to accept the portion of the media content is received by the at least one recipient media device via the server, and wherein the portion of the media content is retrieved from the DVR by the server based on the metadata pointer when the at least one recipient media device accepts the request. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media device having a controller to present a graphical user interface for a selection of replacement content where the replacement content corresponds to a portion of media content presentable by the media device, receive the selection of the replacement content, transmit the selection to a server where the selected replacement content is retrieved using one or more metadata pointers associated with the media content, and receive the replacement content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server having a controller to manage a library of pointers to altered media content, and enable a network element of an interactive media network to access additional media content responsive to detecting a selection of the watermark at the network element. The altered media content is created by embedding a watermark in media content presentable at the network element. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Alpharetta, GA, United States of America

Oleg Kashapov