System for streaming

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems, methods, software applications and devices for the broadcasting of short-lived personal internet radio stations. Embodiments include software applications for live broadcasting over an internet network comprising a host mode and a recipient mode, wherein the software application may be executed on a connected mobile device to broadcast to many other recipients in a substantially synchronous manner. Embodiments provide for the live broadcasting of music and video content from a personal device to many listener or viewer devices, where content may be sourced from any number of locally stored or cloud-based content repositories.

1 . A system for live broadcasting a session from a host device to multiple recipient devices over an internet network comprising:
 a software application for executing on a host device and a recipient device capable of configuring the device to program, transmit and receive the session;   a content store containing content forming at least a portion of the session; and   a streaming server for receiving a session from one or more content stores and relaying the session to multiple recipient devices;   
       wherein the session is programmed at the host device using the software application and the session is received at the multiple recipient devices using the software application. 
     
     
         2 . A system according to  claim 1  wherein the one or more content stores are located on the host device or are accessible by the host via the device. 
     
     
         3 . A system according to  claim 2  wherein at least one of the content stores is located on a cloud server. 
     
     
         4 . A system according to  claim 1  comprising an upload server for receiving at least a portion of a session from one or more content stores and transmitting the portions of the session to the streaming server. 
     
     
         5 . A system according to  claim 1  comprising a management server for storing data arising from use of the software application. 
     
     
         6 . A software application for live broadcasting a session from a host device to multiple recipient devices over an internet network comprising:
 a host mode capable of:   communicating with an application programming interface located at an internet location to transmit and receive data used to program and initiate the session,   identifying the location of the content comprised in the session, and   transmitting content comprised in the session from the location of the content to a streaming server; and   
       a recipient mode capable of:
 communicating with the application programming interface to transmit and receive data used to identify the session, and 
 receiving a relay of the session from the streaming server; 
 
       wherein the software application is capable of execution on a computing device. 
     
     
         7 . A system or software application according to  claim 1  comprising an application programming interface in communication with a management server wherein the software application may interface with the data stored at the management server via the application programming interface. 
     
     
         8 . A system or software application according to  claim 1  comprising a single application programming interface which acts as a proxy for other application programming interfaces. 
     
     
         9 . A system or software application according to  claim 7  wherein the application programming interface is capable of calling a cloud based content store. 
     
     
         10 . A computing device for live broadcasting a session from a host device to multiple recipient devices over an internet network comprising a software application according to any one of  claim 6 . 
     
     
         11 . A host device according to  claim 10  wherein the host device is a portable handheld device, a personal computer or a web server. 
     
     
         12 . A method of live broadcasting a session from a host device to multiple recipient devices over an internet network comprising the steps of:
 Executing a software application configured to program, transmit and receive the session on a host device and on a recipient device,   Launching the software application executed on a host device in host mode,   Programming the session from the host device by selecting a sequence of content items stored at one or more content stores and identifying the location of content items within the content stores,   Initiating the session by initiating the transmission of the content items of the programmed session from the content stores to a streaming server,   Relaying the session from the streaming server,   Launching the software application executed on a recipient device in recipient mode,   Identifying the session from the recipient device,   Selecting the session from the recipient device, and   Receiving the relay of the session at a recipient device from the streaming server.   
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein the duration of the session lasts no longer than the hosts session. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein an item of metadata relating to the content is transmitted whilst embedded in the session. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein the data arising from use of the software application comprises metadata relating to the content forming at least a portion of the session. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein the content items are located within cloud based content stores provided through content streaming services. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein a content store is located on the host device. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 12  further comprising the step of: Transmitting data arising from the use of the software application at the host device or at the recipient device to an application programming interface in communication with a management server. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 18  wherein the data arising from the use of the software application at the host device comprises metadata relating to the content item being transmitted, and wherein the metadata is transmitted periodically by the software application to the management server and is requested periodically by the recipient device. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein the session is initiated by transmitting the content items of the programmed session from one or more content stores to a streaming server via an upload server. 
     
     
         21 - 41 . (canceled)