Streaming media search and playback system

Abstract

A method is provided for playing back media from a network. The method includes receiving a search criteria from a network enabled device. The method further includes accessing a database comprising a plurality of network addresses, where the database associates each address with one or more classes of information. The addresses in the database each access a media network resource. The method further includes selecting at least one address in the database using the search criteria, and signaling the selected address to the network enabled device. The method also includes controlling the network enabled device so as to automatically access and play back the media resource of the selected address.

1 . A system for sharing media playback from a network between a plurality of terminals, the plurality of terminals including a first terminal and a second terminal, the system comprising:
 a play-list component locatable on the network by a selectable link, the play-list component identifying a plurality of links to form a play-list, each link in the play-list locating a media file on the network;   a network server module signaling the plurality of links that form the play-list to the first terminal, the network server module being able to receive a signal to transmit the selectable link to the second terminal to enable the second terminal to locate the play-list module.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the network server module signals the plurality of links that form the play-list to the second terminal upon the selectable link being transmitted to the second terminal is selected. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the messaging module transmits the selectable link as a content of a message. 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the play-list module transmits the selectable link with a corresponding message to the second terminal so that the selectable link is selected when the message opened. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the play-list module identifies the plurality of links to form a plurality of play-lists, and wherein the messaging module transmits the selectable link with identifiers that identify the play-list being signaled to the first terminal. 
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the messaging module transmits the selectable link with identifiers that identify the media file being played back on the first terminal. 
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the network server module identifies the link in the play-list being played back on the first terminal and transmits the identified link with a remainder of the links in the play-list to the second terminal, so that the first terminal and the second terminal simultaneously playback the same media files while the links in the play-list are signaled to each of the first terminal and the second terminal. 
   
   
       8 . A network enabled device comprising:
 a media playback component configured to communicate with a network-side module to receive a first plurality of links, each of the first plurality of links locating a media file on a network;   a web browser component configured to receive a second plurality of links, each of the second plurality of links hosting a media file located by one of the first plurality of links, the web browser component displaying the web site for each of the second plurality of links that corresponds to the media file being played back by the media playback component.   
   
   
       9 . The network enabled device of  claim 8 , further comprising a user-interface including user-interactive features for controlling media output from media files located by the first plurality of links. 
   
   
       10 . The network enabled device of  claim 9 , wherein the user-interface is displayed in a first window, and the web browser component displays the web site for each of the second plurality of links in a second window. 
   
   
       11 . The network enabled device of  claim 10 , wherein the media playback component is configured to sequentially receive the first plurality of links from the network-side module, and the web browser displays the web sites hosting media files for each of the web sites in the sequence.