Sony Corporation

Sony Electronics Inc

Sony Electroics Inc.

Tracy Ho

Steven Friedlander

Yuko Nishikawa

Sabrina Yeh

Sabrina Tai-Chen Yeh

Edgar Allan Tu

Travis Charles Baurmann

John Salisbury

Manish Satyapal Gupta

Ted Dunn

Hyehoon Yi

Hiroki Sugimoto

A method for providing content related to a multimedia program on a display device where currently viewed multimedia programs are monitored so that content related to the currently viewed multimedia program may be retrieved from a content source and displayed on a flexible user interface on the display device upon request by the user, in which the user is able to adjust a size and position of the flexible user interface on the display device.

Interactive access to media or other content related to a currently viewed program

An example television Widget movement method involves receiving a dedicated command from a remote controller that activates the plurality of Widget programs, when in Display mode, display Widget representations on a display; receiving a command that establishes one of the plurality of displayed Widget programs as the Widget program that is currently in focus; and receiving a command that places the Widget program currently in focus in Move Mode. The Widget can be moved about the display while in Move Mode, where when the Widget is in Move Mode, the Widget representation is responsive to navigation commands to move about the display. Such movement is animated using a 3 dimensional graphics engine and accompanied by an audio sound effect. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

TV widget animation with audio

A favorites GUI for a TV includes a carousel-type display of icons representing user-defined favorites that is overlaid on the current background video of the TV, with the center-most icon being the 'current' icon and being enlarged relative to the other icons. Live video appears in icons representing TV channels. Other icons can represent, e.g., favorite photo/music files, favorite games from a game console, favorite content from an ambient player, etc.

Favorite GUI for TV

A television system presents the user with a list of recently viewed objects as a History list that meets one of a set of History list criteria. The History list is maintained as an ordered stack list with a limited number of entries, the order being an order in which the most recently met rule appears at the top of the list. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

Automatic generation of TV history list that stacks TV channels and other objects

Intuitive user interfaces are disclosed for a TV showing a favorites channel pane that can transition to a channel history pane, etc. in response to remote control commands.

TV user interface for viewing selected sub-groups of channels

TV display with graphical user interface for TV favorites

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Tracy Ho