Method of enhancing rendering of content item, client system and server system

Abstract

A method and system of providing further information on a content item is described. The method may include receiving a portion of the content item via a microphone of a user device. The received portion of the content item may be distinct from an identifier associated with the content item. Characteristic features are extracted from the portion of the content item to compute a digital fingerprint for the received portion of the content item. Further information on the content item may then be accessed using the digital fingerprint. The further information is to be displayed on the user device and the accessing may comprise searching the database using the computed fingerprint.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a portion of a content item, the received portion of the content item captured at a user device and being distinct from an identifier associated with the content item, the content item comprising audio and/or video content;   processing the received portion of the content item, using at least one processor coupled to a memory, to compute, from the received portion of the content item, a digital fingerprint for the content item, the fingerprint being suitable for interrogating a database to determine further information associated with the content item, the processing comprising computing the fingerprint from characteristic features extracted from the portion of the content item; and   accessing the further information on the content item using the determined identifier, the further information to be displayed on the user device and the accessing comprising searching the database using the computed fingerprint.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing of the received portion of the content item is performed at the user device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing of the received portion of the content item is performed at a server computer system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using the fingerprint to add the content item to a list at the user device for future reference by a user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the further information includes a title associated with the content item. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the further information includes an offer to sell a further content item. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristic features comprise audio characteristics associated with the received portion of the content item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user device is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fingerprint is communicated from the user device to a server computer system via one or more wireless transfer devices. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more wireless transfer devices form part of a mobile communication network. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more wireless transfer devices are wireless base stations of a telephone network. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a software button on a touch-screen of the user device; and   receiving a user input via the software button to process the received portion of the content item.   
     
     
         14 . A system comprising:
 a receiver module to receive a portion of a content item, the received portion of the content item captured at a user device and being distinct from an identifier associated with the content item, the content item comprising audio and/or video content;   a fingerprint module, using at least one processor, to process the received portion of the content item, using the at least one processor, to compute, from the received portion of the content item, a digital fingerprint for the content item, the fingerprint being suitable for interrogating a database to determine further information associated with the content item, the processing comprising computing the fingerprint from characteristic features extracted from the portion of the content item; and   a lookup component to access the further information on the content item using the fingerprint, the further information to be displayed on the user device and the accessing comprising searching the database using the computed fingerprint.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the fingerprint module resides at the user device. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the user device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the fingerprint module resides at a server computer system. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a tracking buffer to store the fingerprint on the user device for future use. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the further information includes a title associated with the content item. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein a portion of the further information includes an offer to sell a further content item. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the characteristic features comprise audio characteristics associated with the received portion of the content item. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the portion of the content comprises video content. 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sets of instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:
 receive a portion of a content item, the received portion of the content item captured at a user device and being distinct from an identifier associated with the content item, the content item comprising audio and/or video content;   process the received portion of the content item, using at least one processor coupled to a memory, to compute, from the received portion of the content item, a digital fingerprint for the content item, the fingerprint being suitable for interrogating a database to determine further information associated with the content item, the processing comprising computing the fingerprint from characteristic features extracted from the portion of the content item; and   access the further information on the content item using the determined identifier, the further information to be displayed on the user device and the accessing comprising searching the database using the computed fingerprint.   
     
     
         24 . A method of providing further information on a content item, the method comprising:
 receiving a portion of the content item via a microphone of a user device, the received portion of the content item being distinct from an identifier associated with the content item;   processing, using at least one processor coupled to a memory, characteristic features extracted from the portion of the content item to compute a digital fingerprint for the received portion of the content item; and   accessing further information on the content item using the digital fingerprint, the further information to be displayed on the user device and the accessing comprising searching the database using the computed fingerprint.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the processing of the received portion of the content item to compute the digital fingerprint is performed at the user device. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the user device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the processing of the received portion of the content item is performed at a server computer system. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the user device is a mobile phone and the portion of the content item is audio. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the fingerprint is communicated from the user device to a server computer system via one or more wireless transfer devices. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the one or more wireless transfer devices form part of a mobile communication network.