Tagging media assets, locations, and advertisements

Abstract

An accessory communicates with a PMD to store tags associated with broadcasts in a file maintained in a storage medium of the accessory. In one embodiment, the accessory sends a command to the PMD to create or open a tag file that resides on the PMD. Once opened, the tag file is held open by the PMD until the accessory closes it (or disconnects), allowing multiple tags to be written to one file. Each time the user requests a new tag, the accessory generates a tag containing information descriptive of the broadcast material (e.g., song title, artist, radio station identifier, time of tagging, etc.) and writes the tag to the tag file using a write command to the PMD.

1 . A method for tagging locations, the method comprising:
 receiving a broadcast indicative of a location;   determining whether the location is to be tagged;   based on the determination, generating a tag comprising identifying information for the location; and   instructing a portable media device to store the tag in a storage medium of the portable media device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining the information is to be tagged is to be tagged includes receiving an instruction to tag the location. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the tag includes a plurality of metadata items descriptive of the location. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the plurality of metadata items descriptive of the location includes one or more items selected from a group consisting of a latitude, a longitude, an altitude, an address, a city, a state, a postal code, and a country. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the tag includes a plurality of metadata items descriptive of a broadcaster of the location. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the plurality of metadata items descriptive of the broadcaster includes one or more items selected from a group consisting of an identifier associated with the broadcaster, an area associated with the broadcaster, a network or group with which the broadcaster is affiliated, and a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the broadcaster. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving the broadcast includes:
 receiving a plurality of metadata fields associated with the location.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein generating the tag includes:
 populating an XML dictionary with a plurality of key-value pairs, each key-value pair corresponding to one of the plurality of metadata fields.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  where the tag includes a representation of the location. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein generating the tag includes:
 obtaining a metadata item associated with the location from a source other than a source of the received broadcast data.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the source of the received broadcast data is a location broadcasting station and the source of the at least one metadata item is a data network. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the location broadcasting station is the Global Positioning System. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the location broadcasting station is a WiFi hotspot. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving information based on the location.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the information includes one or more items selected from a group consisting of directions, reviews, guides, menus, advertisements, coupons, media tracks, media channels, and a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with a social network. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 displaying information about the location.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein displaying the information about the location includes displaying the information on a display device of an accessory. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein displaying the information about the location includes providing displayable information about the location to a portable media player, wherein the portable media player displays the displayable information on a display device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein determining whether the location is to be tagged includes:
 receiving, while the information about the location is displayed, a signal indicative of a request from a user to generate a tag.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving another broadcast indicative of the location;   determining whether the location has previously been tagged; and   performing an action when the location has previously been tagged.   
     
     
         21 . An accessory for use with a portable media device (“PMD”), the accessory comprising:
 a receiver component configured to receive a broadcast indicative of a location;   a tag extraction engine configured to capture a tag comprising information related the location; and   an interface configured to communicate the captured tag from the tag extraction engine to a PMD, wherein the PMD is configured to store the tag in a storage medium.   
     
     
         22 . The accessory of  claim 21  further comprising:
 a user input component adapted to receive a user input indicating that the location should be tagged; and   wherein the tag extraction engine is further adapted to capture the tag comprising information related to the location in response to the user input.   
     
     
         23 . The accessory of  claim 21  wherein the tag extraction engine is further configured to capture, as part of the tag, metadata received with the broadcast indicative of the location. 
     
     
         24 . A computer readable medium configured to store a set of instructions which when executed by a set of processors cause the processors to tag locations, the computer readable medium comprising:
 code for receiving a broadcast indicative of a location;   code for determining whether the location is to be tagged;   code for, based on the determination, generating a tag comprising identifying information for the location; and   code for instructing a portable media device to store the tag in a storage medium of the portable media device.   
     
     
         25 . A method for tagging advertisements, the method comprising:
 receiving a broadcast indicative of an advertisement;   determining whether the advertisement is to be tagged;   based on the determination, generating a tag comprising identifying information for the advertisement; and   instructing a portable media device to store the tag in a storage medium of the portable media device.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein determining whether the advertisement is to be tagged includes receiving an instruction to tag the advertisement. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the tag includes a plurality of metadata items descriptive of the advertisement. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the plurality of metadata items descriptive of the advertisement includes one or more items selected from a group consisting of product data, price data, discount data, and vending location data. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the tag includes a plurality of metadata items descriptive of a broadcaster of the advertisement. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the plurality of metadata items descriptive of the broadcaster includes one or more items selected from a group consisting of an identifier associated with the broadcaster, an area associated with the broadcaster, a network or group with which the broadcaster is affiliated, and a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the broadcaster. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 25  wherein receiving the broadcast includes:
 receiving a plurality of metadata fields associated with the advertisement.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein generating the tag includes:
 populating an XML dictionary with a plurality of key-value pairs, each key-value pair corresponding to one of the plurality of metadata fields.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 25  where the tag includes a representation of the advertisement. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 25  wherein generating the tag includes:
 obtaining a metadata item associated with the advertisement from a source other than a source of the received broadcast data.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the source of the received broadcast data is an advertisement broadcasting station and the source of the at least one metadata item is a data network. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the advertisement broadcasting station is a radio station. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the advertisement broadcasting station is a television station. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising:
 receiving information based on the advertisement.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  wherein the information includes one or more items selected from a group consisting of reviews, images, manuals, coupons, related products, and a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with a product of the advertisement. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising:
 displaying information about the advertisement.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein displaying the information about the advertisement includes displaying the information on a display device of an accessory. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40  wherein displaying the information about the advertisement includes providing displayable information about the advertisement to a portable media player, wherein the portable media player displays the displayable information on a display device. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 40  wherein determining whether the advertisement is to be tagged includes:
 receiving, while the information about the advertisement is displayed, a signal indicative of a request from a user to generate a tag.   
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising:
 receiving another broadcast indicative of the advertisement;   determining whether the advertisement has previously been tagged; and   prompting the user to purchase a product associated with the advertisement when the advertisement has previously been tagged.   
     
     
         45 . An accessory for use with a portable media device (“PMD”), the accessory comprising:
 a receiver component configured to receive a broadcast indicative of an advertisement;   a tag extraction engine configured to capture a tag comprising information related to the advertisement; and   an interface configured to communicate the captured tag from the tag extraction engine to a PMD, wherein the PMD is configured to store the tag in a storage medium.   
     
     
         46 . The accessory of  claim 45  further comprising:
 a user input component adapted to receive a user input indicating that the advertisement should be tagged; and   wherein the tag extraction engine is further adapted to capture the tag comprising information related to the advertisement in response to the user input.   
     
     
         47 . The accessory of  claim 45  wherein the tag extraction engine is further configured to capture, as part of the tag, metadata received with the advertisement. 
     
     
         48 . A computer readable medium configured to store a set of instructions which when executed by a set of processors cause the processors to tag advertisements, the computer readable medium comprising:
 code for receiving a broadcast indicative of a advertisement;   code for determining whether the advertisement is to be tagged;   code for, based on the determination, generating a tag comprising identifying information for the advertisement; and   code for instructing a portable media device to store the tag in a storage medium of the portable media device.   
     
     
         49 . A method for presenting information to a user, the method comprising:
 receiving a set of tags, each tag in the set of tags comprising identifying information specifying at least a media asset, a location, or an advertisement;   communicating a portion of the identifying information from one or more tags to an information delivery service;   receiving information from the information delivery service in response to the portion of identifying information from the one or more tags; and   presenting the received information to a user.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49  wherein the information from the information delivery services comprise one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 49  further comprising:
 determining an interest of the user based on the portion of identifying information from the one or more tags; and   wherein the information from the information delivery service comprises information relevant to the interest of the user.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 49  wherein the information from the information delivery service comprises directions from a first location identifying by the one or more tags to a second location. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 49  wherein the information from the information delivery service comprises one or more broadcast channels serving a location identified by the one or more tags. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 49  wherein the information from the information delivery service comprises a link allowing the user to join an organization related to a location identified by the one or more tags. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 49  further comprising:
 generating a user profile based on the portion of the identifying information from one or more tags; and   determining the information from the information delivery service based on the user profile.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 49  further comprising:
 receiving a broadcast of a media asset, location, or advertisement;   determining whether a tag exists for the media asset, location, or advertisement in the set of tags;   if the tag exists, performing one or more actions; and   if the tag does not exists, generating the tag comprising identifying information of the media asset, location, or advertisement.   
     
     
         57 . A system for presenting information to a user, the system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to store a set of instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
 receive at least a portion of identifying information of one or more tags from a set of tags stored on a portable media device, each tag in the set of tags comprising identifying information specifying at least a media asset, a location, or an advertisement; 
 determine information in response to the portion of identifying information from the one or more tags; and 
 deliver the information to the portable media player for presentation to a user. 
   
     
     
         58 . A computer readable medium configured to store a set of code modules which when executed by a set of processors cause the processors to present information to a user, the computer readable medium comprising:
 code for receiving a set of tags, each tag in the set of tags comprising identifying information specifying at least a media asset, a location, or an advertisement;   code for communicating a portion of the identifying information from one or more tags to an information delivery service;   code for receiving information from the information delivery service in response to the portion of identifying information from the one or more tags; and   code for presenting the received information to a user.