Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a communication method for communication on a first communication device over a network. The method includes creating media and transmitting over the network the created media on the first communication device. The method also includes receiving over the network at the first communication device media associated with the transmitted media. Together, the associated transmitted and received media constitute a conversation between the first communication device and one or more participants sending the received media over the network. The method further includes storing on the first communication device the transmitted and received media associated with the conversation. In accordance with the method, a number of rendering options are provided, including a near real-time mode or a time-shifted mode. In the near real-time mode, the received media of the conversation is rendered as the media is received over the network. In the time-shifted mode, the media of the conversation is not rendered as the media is received over the network. The method further includes pausing the rendering of the media of the conversation in the near real-time mode and resuming the rendering of the media of the conversation after pausing the conversation. In alternative embodiments, the resumption of the rendering of the media in the near real-time mode after the pause may be either (i) immediate without first reviewing the media of the conversion received and stored while the conversation was paused; or (ii) after reviewing the stored media received during the pause.

1 . A communication method for communication on a first communication device, comprising:
 creating media on the first communication device;   transmitting over the network the media created on the first communication device;   receiving over the network at the first communication device media associated with the transmitted media, the associated transmitted and received media constituting a conversation between the first communication device and one or more participants sending the received media over the network;   storing on the first communication device the transmitted and received media associated with the conversation;   providing rendering options on the first communication device to render the received media of the conversation in either a near real-time mode or a time-shifted mode, wherein the first communication device either:   (a) renders the received media of the conversation as the media is received over the network while in the near real-time mode; or   (b) does not render the media of the conversation as the media is received over the network in the time-shifted mode;   pausing of the rendering of the media of the conversation in the near real-time mode by selecting the time-shifted mode; and   resuming the rendering of the media of the conversation after pausing the conversation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein resuming the rendering of the media of the conversation further comprises:
 first reviewing the media of the conversion received and stored while the conversation was paused; and   resuming the rendering the media of the conversation in the near real-time mode after the media received during the conversation pause has been reviewed.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein resuming the rendering of the media of the conversation further comprises immediately resuming the rendering the media of the conversation in the near real-time mode after the conversation pause without first reviewing the media of the conversion received and stored while the conversation was paused. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reviewing in the time-shifted mode the media of the conversation by:
 selecting a previous point in time of the conversation;   retrieving the media of the conversation from the selected previous point from storage; and   rendering the retrieved media on the first communication device.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising automatically transitioning to the near real-time mode from the time-shifted mode when the media retrieved from storage has been rendered and becomes concurrent with the media of the conversation as it is being received or transmitted at the first communication device over the network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising optionally rendering the retrieved media from storage at an increased rendering rate, the increased rendering rate relative to the rate at which the media was originally encoded. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the rendering rate is variable. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rendering the received media of the conversation in the time-shifted mode by:
 retrieving the retrieved media from storage after a delay; and   rendering the media retrieved from storage after the delay, wherein the delay has a duration that is defined by a user of the first communication device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein rendering the media of the conversation in the near real-time mode as it is being received over the network further comprises progressively rendering the received media as the media arrives over the network. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a plurality of rendering options for rendering the media of the conversation, the rendering options including one or more of the following: pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising segmenting the created and the received media into messages. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising threading the messages into the conversation. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the created and received media of the conversation comprises one or more indexed media payloads, each of the indexed media payloads having time and sequence information associated therewith. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the created and received indexed media payloads are stored and are retrievable from storage in their time and sequence order. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the media comprises one or more of the following: voice, video, text, sensor data, radio signals, position or GPS information, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication device comprises one of the following: a land-line phone, a wireless or cellular phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, or a tactical radio or phone. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a packet-based network, a circuit-based network, a cellular network, a wireless network, a wired network, a radio network, a satellite network, or a combination thereof.