The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 22, 2006
Filed:
Apr. 21, 2001
Tadamasa Kitsukawa, San Diego, CA (US);
Tsutomu Akiyama, San Diego, CA (US);
Shigeharu Kondo, San Diego, CA (US);
Tadamasa Kitsukawa, San Diego, CA (US);
Tsutomu Akiyama, San Diego, CA (US);
Shigeharu Kondo, San Diego, CA (US);
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Sony Electronics Inc., Park Ridge, NJ (US);
Abstract
A system and method for interactive television (ITV) includes presenting both TV channels and 'virtual channels' on an ITV. A virtual channel can be a Web page stored in memory of the ITV (or remote therefrom) and accessed by a microprocessor in the ITV when a user selects the virtual channel number using a conventional TV remote control. The particular Web page can be established based on consumer data, such as demographic data supplied by the consumer or consumer responses to prompts displayed along with a channel. The Web page associated with the virtual channel can be updated or changed by sending data to the ITV through the VBI of a TV signal or via the Internet, through a modem on the ITV.