System and method for sharing television program information between entertainment devices

Abstract

Television programs are represented by program interface objects (PIOs) within an interactive television system. The PIOs provide at least one visual indicator for quick identification of the represented television program, attributes providing information concerning the represented television program, and actions that may be performed on or in connection with the represented television program. The PIOs may be sorted, filtered, and/or managed based on user-provided criteria. The PIOs may be transmitted between a variety of electronic devices and software applications.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the method comprising: 
 storing a plurality of program interface objects (PIOs) within a source device, each PIO comprising a plurality of attributes carrying information about a television program, a plurality of user-selectable actions performable by an entertainment device in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    receiving a selection of a stored PIO from a user of the source device; and    transmitting the at least one selected PIO to a destination device.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source device displays a GUI comprising visual indicators corresponding to the stored PIOs, and wherein receiving comprises: 
 receiving a user selection of a visual indicator.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving an indicator of the destination device.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the indicator of the destination device comprises one of a network address of the destination device, a name of a user of the destination device, and a user selection of the destination device from a displayed list.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises: 
 addressing the at least one selected PIO with a network address of the destination device.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises: 
 attaching the at least one selected PIO to an email message addressed to a user of the destination device.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises: 
 sending the at least one selected PIO from the source device to the destination device via a network.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises: 
 sending the at least one selected PIO to the destination device via infrared (IR) transmission.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises: 
 sending the at least one selected PIO to the destination device via radio frequency (RF) transmission.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises: 
 storing the at least one selected PIO on portable computer-readable media; and    transporting the portable computer-readable media to the destination device;    loading the at least one selected PIO from the portable computer-readable media into the destination device.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source and destination devices are selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, an interactive television (ITV) system, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, and a pager.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one visual indicator is selected from the group consisting of a graphical icon, an animated image, a video clip, and a text description.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least one PIO is selected from the group consisting of a JavaBean object, a Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) object, and an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) object.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one attribute is selected from the group consisting of a title, a starting time, a running time, a description, an indication of a channel on which a television program is broadcast, an Internet link, and a storage location of a television program.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to record a television program associated with a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to display a previously-recorded television program associated with a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to display an attribute of a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         18 . A method for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the method comprising: 
 receiving at a destination device a program interface object (PIO) transmitted by a source device, the PIO comprising a plurality of attributes carrying information about a television program, a plurality of user-selectable actions performable by the destination device in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    storing the PIO in a storage device; and    displaying at least one visual indicator corresponding to the received PIO in a GUI provided by the destination device.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising: 
 in response to a user selecting a displayed visual indicator: 
 receiving a user selection of an action associated with the PIO; and  
 executing the selected action within the destination device.  
   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising: 
 automatically executing a pre-selected action of the PIO.    
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the pre-selected action comprises recording the television program represented by the PIO.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the pre-selected action comprises displaying the television program represented by the PIO.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the destination device comprises a plurality of logical folders for storing PIOs, and wherein storing further comprises: 
 selecting a logical folder based on at least one attribute of the PIO; and    automatically storing the PIO within the selected logical folder.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the destination device comprises a plurality of logical folders for storing PIOs, and wherein a representation of each logical folder is displayed in the GUI, the method further comprising: 
 in response to a user moving a visual indicator to a representation of a logical folder, storing a PIO corresponding to the selected visual indicator in the logical folder.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the source and destination devices are selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, an interactive television (ITV) system, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, and a pager.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one visual indicator is selected from the group consisting of a graphical icon, an animated image, a video clip, and a text description.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one PIO is selected from the group consisting of a JavaBean object, a Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) object, and an extensible Markup Language (XML) object.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one attribute is selected from the group consisting of a title, a starting time, a running time, a description, an indication of a channel on which a television program is broadcast, an Internet link, and a storage location of a television program.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to record a television program associated with a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to display a previously-recorded television program associated with a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to display an attribute of a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         32 . A system for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the system comprising: 
 a storage device that stores a plurality of program interface objects (PIOs), each PIO comprising a plurality of attributes carrying information about a television program, a plurality of user-selectable actions performable by an entertainment device in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    a reception component that receives a selection of a stored PIO from a user;    a transmission component that transmits the at least one selected PIO to a destination device.    
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , further comprising: 
 a display component configured to display a GUI comprising visual indicators corresponding to the stored PIOs, and wherein the reception component is further configured to receive a user selection of a visual indicator.    
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 32 , further comprising: 
 a reception component that receives an indicator of the destination device.    
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the indicator of the destination device comprises one of a network address of the destination device, a name of a user of the destination device, and a user selection of the destination device from a displayed list.  
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the transmission component addresses the at least one selected PIO with a network address of the destination device.  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the transmission component attaches the at least one selected PIO to an email message addressed to a user of the destination device.  
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the transmission component sends the at least one selected PIO to the destination device via a network.  
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the transmission component sends the at least one selected PIO to the destination device via infrared (IR) transmission.  
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the transmission component sends the at least one selected PIO to the destination device via radio frequency (RF) transmission.  
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the destination devices are selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, an interactive television (ITV) system, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, and a pager.  
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein at least one visual indicator is selected from the group consisting of a graphical icon, an animated image, a video clip, and a text description.  
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein at least one PIO is selected from the group consisting of a JavaBean object, a Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) object, and an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) object.  
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein at least one attribute is selected from the group consisting of a title, a starting time, a running time, a description, an indication of a channel on which a television program is broadcast, an Internet link, and a storage location of a television program.  
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to record a television program associated with a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to display a previously-recorded television program associated with a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein at least one user-selectable action is configured to display an attribute of a corresponding PIO.  
     
     
         48 . A method for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the method comprising: 
 storing at least one program interface object (PIO) within a source device, each PIO comprising at least one attribute carrying information about a television program, at least one user-selectable action performable by an entertainment device in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    receiving a selection of a stored PIO from a user of the source device; and    transmitting the at least one selected PIO to a destination device.    
     
     
         49 . A method for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the method comprising: 
 storing at least one program interface object (PIO) within a source device, each PIO comprising at least one attribute carrying information about a television program and at least one user-selectable action performable by an entertainment device in connection with the television program;    receiving a selection of a stored PIO from a user of the source device; and    transmitting the at least one selected PIO to a destination device.    
     
     
         50 . A method for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the method comprising: 
 storing a plurality of program interface objects (PIOs) within a source device, each PIO comprising a plurality of attributes carrying information about a television program, a plurality of user-selectable actions performable by an entertainment device in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    displaying at the source device a GUI comprising visual indicators corresponding to the stored PIOs;    detecting a user selection of a displayed visual indicator;    transmitting the PIO associated with the selected visual indicator to a destination device;    receiving the transmitted PIO at the destination device; and    displaying on the destination device a GUI comprising at least one visual indicator for the transmitted PIO.    
     
     
         51 . A system for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the system comprising: 
 means for storing a plurality of program interface objects (PIOs), each PIO comprising a plurality of attributes carrying information about a television program, a plurality of user-selectable actions performable by an entertainment device in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    means for selecting at least one stored PIO for transmission; and    means for transmitting the at least one selected PIO to a destination device.    
     
     
         52 . A system for sharing television program information between entertainment devices, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving a program interface object (PIO) transmitted by a source device, the PIO comprising a plurality of attributes carrying information about a television program, a plurality of user-selectable actions performable in connection with the television program, and at least one visual indicator displayable in a graphical user interface to facilitate user interaction with the PIO;    means for storing the PIO; and    means for displaying at least one visual indicator corresponding to the received PIO in a GUI.