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Time-based graphical user interface for multimedia contentRelated Patent Categories: Interactive Video Distribution Systems, Program, Message, Or Commercial Insertion Or SubstitutionTime-based graphical user interface for multimedia content description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060020962, Time-based graphical user interface for multimedia content. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/567,177, entitled "Browser For Multimedia Content," filed Apr. 30, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [0002] The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket # 931086.409), entitled "Time-Based Graphical User Interface For Television Program Information" and filed concurrently, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD [0003] The present disclosure generally relates to techniques for reviewing, manipulating and presenting content, such as to manage multimedia content via a time-based graphical user interface ("GUI") of a computing device. BACKGROUND INFORMATION [0004] In the current world of television, movies, and related media systems, many consumers receive television programming-related content via broadcast over a cable network to a television or similar display, with the content often received via a set-top box ("STB") from the cable network that controls display of particular television (or "TV") programs from among a large number of available television channels, while other consumers may similarly receive television programming-related content in other manners (e.g., via satellite transmissions, broadcasts over airwaves, over packet-switched networks, etc.). In addition, enhanced television programming services and capabilities are increasingly being provided to consumers, such as the ability to receive television programming-related content that is delivered "on demand" using Video on Demand ("VOD") technologies (e.g., based on a pay-per-view business model) and/or various interactive TV capabilities. Consumers generally subscribe to services offered by a cable network "head-end" or other similar content distribution facility to obtain particular content, which in some situations may include interactive content and Internet content. [0005] Consumers of content are also increasingly using a variety of devices to record and control viewing of content, such as via digital video recorders ("DVRs") that can record television-related content for later playback and/or can temporarily store recent and current content to allow functionality such as pausing or rewinding live television. A DVR may also be known as a personal video recorder ("PVR"), hard disk recorder ("HDR"), personal video station ("PVS"), or a personal television receiver ("PTR"). DVRs may in some situations be integrated into a set-top box, such as with Digeo's MOXI.TM. device, while in other situations may be a separate component connected to an STB and/or television. In addition, electronic programming guides ("EPGs") are often made available to aid consumers in selecting a desired program to currently view and/or to schedule for delayed viewing. Using an EPG and a DVR, a consumer can cause a desired program to be recorded and can then view the program at a more convenient time or location. [0006] However, as the cable industry grows and as additional types of content are increasingly being stored and made available to consumers, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to effectively manage the content and the related capabilities of the various devices that are available. Moreover, the proliferation of networked presentation devices within homes (e.g., televisions, handheld and desktop computing systems, stereos, speakers, cell phones, etc.) makes the task of effectively managing the content, including its presentation via the various devices, even more difficult. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0007] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a content management ("CM") system environment that can provide a time-based GUI to manage content. [0008] FIGS. 2-27 and 29-31 show example embodiments of a GUI for a content management system. [0009] FIG. 28 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a routine for generating and operating embodiments of a time-based GUI. [0010] Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with reference to the figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0011] Techniques are described below for managing various types of content in various ways, such as via a time-based graphical user interface ("GUI") of a Content Management ("CM") system executing on a computing device. In some embodiments, at least some of the content being managed includes television programming-related content, with the CM system receiving EPG information for the content (e.g., via interactions with an STB). In such embodiments, the television programming-related content can then be managed via the CM system GUI in a variety of ways using a time-based scheme, such as to allow a consumer to locate and identify content of potential interest, to schedule recordings of selected content, to manage previously recorded content (e.g., to play or delete the content), to control live television, etc. In addition, the CM system can further manage various other types of contents and perform various other types of content management functions, as described in greater detail below. [0012] In at least some embodiments, the CM system GUI includes at least first and second time scales, and simultaneously displays different types of information related to content using the multiple time scales. In embodiments in which the content includes television programming, various types of details may be provided about television programs with scheduled presentation times such that the programs will be available for display on one or more channels during the relatively short second period of time, while indications of or other limited details may be provided about other television programs of potential interest that will be available for display during some or all of the relatively long first period of time. In embodiments in which the content includes one or more of various other types of content that has associated time-based information (e.g., photographs, music, video clips, etc.), various types of details may be provided about such content whose time-based information corresponds to the relatively short second period of time, while indications of or other limited details may be provided about content whose time-based information corresponds to the relatively long first period of time. As discussed in greater detail below, various techniques are provided in various embodiments for displaying, sorting, identifying, filtering, and otherwise managing content using the multiple time scales and other GUI tools. [0013] For illustrative purposes, some embodiments are described below in which specific types of content are managed in specific ways via specific example embodiments of the CM system GUI. However, the techniques can be used in a wide variety of other situations, and that the invention is not limited to the specific illustrative details discussed. More generally, as used herein, multimedia "content" generally includes television programs, movies and other video information (whether stored, such as in a file, or streamed), photos and other images, music and other audio information (whether stored or streamed), presentations, video/teleconferences, videogames, Internet Web pages and other data, and other similar video or audio content. [0014] Referring first to FIG. 1, a network diagram illustrates an example use of an embodiment of the CM system in a home environment 395 for entertainment purposes, although the CM system could similarly be used in business or other non-home environments and for purposes other than entertainment. In this example, the home environment includes an STB or other media center 350 receiving external content 360a that is available to one or more consumers (not shown) in the home environment 395, such as television programming-related content 360a for presentation on a television 370. Other types of audio and/or video content could similarly be received by and/or stored by the media center 350 and presented to the consumer(s) on the television and/or optional other content presentation devices 380 (e.g., other televisions, a stereo receiver, stand-alone speakers, the displays of various types of computing systems, a digital picture frame, etc.) in the home environment 395. [0015] The home environment 395 also includes an example computing system 300 suitable for executing an embodiment of the CM system, as well as one or more optional other local computing systems and/or storage devices 390 with which the computing system 300 can interact via local network 385 (e.g., a wireless or wired/cabled LAN). The computing system includes a CPU 305 or other processor(s), various I/O devices 310, storage 320, and memory 330. The illustrated I/O devices include a display 311, a network connection 312, a computer-readable media drive 313, and other I/O devices 315 (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a pointing device, speakers, etc.). In some embodiments the computing system 300 may further interact with one or more external computing systems (not shown), such as via the Internet and/or the World Wide Web, such as to receive additional external content 360b and/or other information or services. [0016] In the illustrated embodiment, the computing system 300 interacts with the media center 350 in a variety of ways (e.g., via a direct connection, as part of local network 385, or as part of another network, not shown), including to receive information about current and/or future television programming-related content 360a and/or other content 360a. In this example, the information received by the computing system 300 includes EPG metadata information for the television programming-related content (e.g., from a cable network operator), and can further include a variety of other types of metadata for the content 360a, whether from the cable network operator or other third-parties (e.g., from various external computing systems, not shown, such as via external content 360b). This received content metadata is then stored in a content metadata database 322 (or other suitable data structure) in the illustrated embodiment for use by the CM system. [0017] An embodiment of the CM system 335 is executing in memory 330. As discussed in greater detail below, the CM system provides information about the available content to one or more users, such as via a GUI using first and second time scales that is displayed on the display device 311 and/or on one or more of the content presentation devices 370 or 380 or other computing systems 390. For example, the CM system may provide some or all of the stored content metadata 322 to the users, and also allow the user to manipulate the content in a variety of ways (e.g., to select content for current presentation, for future recording, etc.). As the user provides instructions related to manipulation of the content, those content manipulation instructions are in the illustrated embodiment stored in a database 324 (or other suitable data structure) on storage 320 for later retrieval and use by the CM system, and at least some such content manipulation instructions may additionally in some embodiments be provided to the media center 350 for use in actually performing the tasks to satisfy the manipulation instructions. In addition, in some embodiments the CM system may also interact with other executing programs in order to provide additional information and/or functionality to the user(s), such as one or more optional executing other programs 339 in memory 330 or instead remote executing programs (not shown) on another computing system. [0018] In the illustrated embodiment, the CM system does not itself present the external content 360a to the user(s), instead interacting with the media center 350 to control the display of the content to the user via the TV and/or one or more of the other content presentation devices. However, in other embodiments the CM system may instead receive some or all of the external content 360a, whether via the media center 350 or instead directly from the source of that content, and if so could directly control the presentation of that content to the user(s) on the display device 311 and/or other content presentation device 370 or 380 or other computing system 390. Conversely, in the illustrated embodiment the computing system 300 and/or media center 350 may have access to additional content, such as external content 360b (e.g., from remote computing systems over the Internet), locally stored other content 360c on storage 320, and/or other locally accessible content (not shown), such as from one or more of the other computing systems/storage devices 390--if so, the computing system 300 may in some embodiments directly present some or all of that content to the user(s), such as on display device 311 (e.g., as part of the CM system GUI) and/or on one or more other content presentation devices 370 or 380 or other computing system 390, while in other embodiments may present some or all of that content to the user(s) by instead interacting with the media center 350 to facilitate the presentation (e.g., by providing the additional content to be presented and/or associated instructions to the media center). As previously noted, the additional content may be content related to the external content 360a but from another source (e.g., additional television-related programming, such as streamed or downloaded over a computer network) and/or multimedia content of other types (e.g., movies and other video information, photos and other images, music and other audio information, presentations, video/teleconferences, videogames, Internet Web pages and other data, etc.). [0019] The functionality of the CM system can be accessed in various ways in different embodiments. For example, some users may have physical access to the computing system 300, and if so can interact with the various I/O devices 310 to provide and/or receive information. Alternatively or additionally, other users can use other client computing devices to remotely access the CM system, such as other local computing systems 390 or instead remotely (e.g., via the Internet and/or the World Wide Web). Such remote users can use software or other functionality provided on the client computing systems (not shown), such as a browser, to interact with the CM system. In other embodiments, users may receive functionality and/or information from the CM system indirectly via interactions with one or more other devices, such as the media center 350, which may directly receive that functionality or information from the CM system before providing it to the users. Continue reading about Time-based graphical user interface for multimedia content... Full patent description for Time-based graphical user interface for multimedia content Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Time-based graphical user interface for multimedia content patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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