User managed internet links from TV

Abstract

A method of providing access to content associated with a television program consistent with certain embodiments involves acquiring information that identifies a currently playing television program; accessing a specified web site that contains a database that relates television programs with links to associated content on the Internet; querying the specified web site for a link associated with the currently playing television program; receiving a response from the specified web site that provides the link associated with the currently playing television program; presenting a displayed offer to navigate to associated content using the link; receiving an instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and navigating to the link to acquire the associated content. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

1 . A method of providing access to content associated with a television program, comprising:
 acquiring information that identifies a currently playing television program;   accessing a specified web site that contains a database that relates television programs with links to associated content on the Internet;   querying the specified web site for a link associated with the currently playing television program;   receiving a response from the specified web site that provides the link associated with the currently playing television program;   presenting a displayed offer to navigate to associated content using the link;   receiving an instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising storing the link to a memory. 
   
   
       3 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving a link command from a user interface;   retrieving the link from memory; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       4 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving a link command from a user interface;   retrieving the link from memory;   presenting the displayed offer to navigate to the associated web site using the link;   receiving the instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the presenting is carried out by display of the offer in one of a Picture in Picture (PIP) image, Picture Outside Picture (POP) display, full screen display, a display of a display enabled remote control, and a transparent overlay of the television display. 
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide. 
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide (EPG), and wherein the program guide is obtained by optical character reader processing of EPG data provided from an access device. 
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by a combination of an approximate physical location and service provider plus date, time and selected channel. 
   
   
       9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the method is carried out in a television remote controller. 
   
   
       10 . A method of providing access to content associated with a television program, comprising:
 acquiring information that identifies a currently playing television program;   accessing a specified web site that contains a database that relates television programs with links to associated content on the Internet;   querying the specified web site for a link associated with the currently playing television program;   receiving a response from the specified web site that provides the link associated with the currently playing television program;   storing the link to a memory;   receiving a link command from a user interface;   retrieving the link from memory;   presenting a displayed offer to navigate to associated content using the link;   receiving an instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the presenting is carried out by display of the offer in one of a Picture in Picture (PIP) image, Picture Outside Picture (POP) display, full screen display, a display of a display enabled remote control, and a transparent overlay of the television display. 
   
   
       12 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide. 
   
   
       13 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide (EPG), and wherein the program guide is obtained by optical character reader processing of EPG data provided from an access device. 
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by a combination of an approximate physical location and service provider plus date, time and selected channel. 
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein at least a portion of the method is carried out in a television remote controller. 
   
   
       16 . A method of providing access to content associated with a television program, comprising:
 receiving a link command from a user interface;   acquiring information that identifies a currently playing television program;   accessing a specified web site that contains a database that relates television programs with links to associated content on the Internet;   querying the specified web site for a link associated with the currently playing television program;   receiving a response from the specified web site that provides the link associated with the currently playing television program;   storing the link to a memory;   receiving an instruction to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the presenting is carried out by display of the offer in one of a Picture in Picture (PIP) image, Picture Outside Picture (POP) display, full screen display, a display of a display enabled remote control, and a transparent overlay of the television display. 
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide. 
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide (EPG), and wherein the program guide is obtained by optical character recognition processing of EPG data provided from an access device. 
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by a combination of an approximate physical location and service provider plus date, time and selected channel. 
   
   
       21 . A digital television receiver device that provides access to content associated with a television program, comprising:
 means for acquiring information that identifies a currently playing television program;   an programmed processor that controls an Internet connection that accesses a specified web site that contains a database that relates television programs with links to associated content on the Internet, and queries the specified web site for a link associated with the currently playing television program;   means for receiving a response from the specified web site that provides the link associated with the currently playing television program;   a user interface that presents a displayed offer to navigate to associated content using the link;   the user interface further receiving an instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   a browser function that navigates to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       22 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , further comprising a memory that stores the link. 
   
   
       23 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , wherein:
 the user interface further receives a link command;   the processor retrieves the link from memory; and   the browser function navigates to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       24 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , wherein:
 the user interface further receives a link command;   the processor retrieves the link from memory;   the user interface presents the displayed offer to navigate to the associated web site using the link;   the user interface receives the instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   the browser navigates to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       25 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , wherein the user interface display presents the displayed offer in one of a Picture in Picture (PIP) image, Picture Outside Picture (POP) display, full screen display, a display of a display enabled remote control, and a transparent overlay of the television display. 
   
   
       26 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , wherein the acquiring comprises identifying the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide. 
   
   
       27 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , wherein the means for acquiring identifies the currently playing content by reference to an electronic program guide (EPG), and wherein the program guide is obtained by optical character reader processing of EPG data provided from an access device. 
   
   
       28 . The digital television receiver device according to  claim 21 , wherein the means for acquiring identifies the currently playing content by a combination of an approximate physical location and service provider plus date, time and selected channel. 
   
   
       29 . An automated method of identification of currently tuned television content tuned by a television receiver device, comprising:
 determining an approximate physical location of the television receiver device;   ascertaining a service provider identity for the service provider providing the currently tuned television content;   identifying a date and time;   identifying a selected channel; and   deducing an identity of the television content from a content database on the basis of the selected channel, current date and time, service provider and approximate physical location.   
   
   
       30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein at least one of the selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined using optical character recognition (OCR) processing of television displays. 
   
   
       31 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein at least one of the selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined by information in at least one of an electronic program guide, a program watermark, and channel change information. 
   
   
       32 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein deducing the identity of the television content is carried out by accessing a specified web site that contains the database. 
   
   
       33 . The method according to  claim 32 , further comprising relating the television content to a link to associated content on the Internet. 
   
   
       34 . The method according to  claim 33 , further comprising querying the specified web site for a link associated with the television content;
 receiving a response from the specified web site that provides the link associated with the currently playing television program;   presenting a displayed offer to navigate to associated content using the link;   receiving an instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       35 . The method according to  claim 34 , further comprising storing the link to a memory. 
   
   
       36 . The method according to  claim 35 , further comprising:
 receiving a link command from a user interface;   retrieving the link from memory; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       37 . The method according to  claim 35 , further comprising:
 receiving a link command from a user interface;   retrieving the link from memory;   presenting the displayed offer to navigate to the associated web site using the link;   receiving the instruction accepting the offer to navigate to the associated content using the link; and   navigating to the link to acquire the associated content.   
   
   
       38 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the presenting is carried out by display of the offer in one of a Picture in Picture (PIP) image, Picture Outside Picture (POP) display, full screen display, a display of a display enabled remote control, and a transparent overlay of the television display. 
   
   
       39 . A method of obtaining metadata associated with an element of television programming, wherein the method is carried out in a control device that does not have direct access to the metadata, comprising:
 instructing an access device to generate and communicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving a display, wherein the signal contains metadata suitable for rendering on a display device in a visual representation;   receiving the signal and storing a representation of the video frame;   processing the video frame using optical character recognition (OCR) to extract enough information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame;   processing the video frame to extract sufficient information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame; and   retrieving metadata associated with the identified element of television programming content from a television programming content source of metadata.   
   
   
       40 . The method according to  claim 39 , wherein at least one of a selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined using optical character recognition (OCR) processing the video frame in order to identify the element of television programming. 
   
   
       41 . The method according to  claim 39 , wherein at least one of the selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined by information in at least one of an electronic program guide, a program watermark, and channel change information in order to identify the element of television programming. 
   
   
       42 . The method according to  claim 39 , wherein identifying the television program element is carried out by accessing a specified web site that contains the database. 
   
   
       43 . The method according to  claim 39 , wherein the retrieving of the metadata is carried out over the Internet. 
   
   
       44 . The method according to  claim 39 , wherein at least a portion of the method is carried out in a television remote controller.