Interactive media guidance system having multiple devices

Abstract

When selecting a television program for recording, a user may configure the delivery of the selected television program and associated data and interactive applications to different user equipment devices in a home network, which may have different capabilities. Because the user equipment devices in the home network may have different capabilities, the user may wish to deliver different types and amount of content, different amounts of data, and different versions of interactive applications to the user equipment devices in the home network.

1 - 35 . (canceled) 
     
     
         36 . A method for providing a user equipment device with a bandwidth-appropriate version of content stored on a network, the method comprising:
 allowing the user equipment device to access content stored on the network;   determining bandwidth capabilities of the user equipment device; and   condensing the substance of the content to generate a condensed version having a condensed version size, wherein the substance of the content is condensed based on the determined bandwidth capabilities such that the user equipment device is able to receive the condensed version of the content having the condensed version size in a predetermined amount of time with the determined bandwidth capabilities.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein condensing the content comprises splitting the content into segments at one or more locations and joining a subset of the segments to form a condensed version of the content. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising determining the locations at which to split the content is based on any of closed-captioning data, audience information, metadata, audio cues, scene changes, and commercial breaks. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein condensing the content comprises splitting the content into segments at one or more locations, condensing each of the segments, and joining the condensed segments to form a condensed version of the content. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein condensing the content comprises creating an audio or text version of the content. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising condensing the audio or text version of the content. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the text version of the content is created using closed-captioning data. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the condensed content is translated into a format that is suitable to be played by the user equipment device. 
     
     
         44 . A system for providing a user equipment device with a bandwidth-appropriate version of content stored on a network, the system comprising:
 a server accessible by a user equipment over the network, the server being configured to:
 determine bandwidth capabilities of the user equipment device; and 
 condense the substance of the content to generate a condensed version having a condensed version size, wherein the substance of the content is condensed based on the determined bandwidth capabilities such that the user equipment device is able to receive the condensed version of the content having the condensed version size in a predetermined amount of time with the determined bandwidth capabilities. 
   
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 44 , wherein the server is further configured to condense the content by splitting the content into segments at one or more locations and joining a subset of the segments to form a condensed version of the content. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the server is further configured to determine the locations at which to split the content based on any of closed-captioning data, audience information, metadata, audio cues, scene changes, and commercial breaks. 
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 44 , wherein the server is further configured to condense the content by splitting the content into segments at one or more locations, condensing each of the segments, and joining the condensed segments to form a condensed version of the content. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 44 , wherein condensing the content comprises creating an audio or text version of the content. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the server is further configured to condense the audio or text version of the content. 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the text version of the content is created using closed-captioning data. 
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 44 , wherein the condensed content is translated into a format that is suitable to be played by the user equipment device. 
     
     
         52 . A method for providing a user equipment device with a bandwidth-appropriate version of a recorded television program stored on a network, the method comprising:
 allowing the user equipment device to access the recorded television program stored on the network, wherein an interactive program guide is implemented on the user equipment device and the user accesses the recorded television program using the interactive program guide;   determining bandwidth capabilities of the user equipment device; and   condensing the substance of the recorded television program to generate a condensed version having a condensed version size, wherein the substance of the content is condensed based on the determined bandwidth capabilities such that the user equipment device is able to receive the condensed version of the recorded television program having the condensed version size in a predetermined amount of time with the determined bandwidth capabilities.