Online Service Switching and Customizations

Abstract

A system and methods enable switching between a plurality of online media services from within an application, such as a media player application. A user can switch to any one of a number of online services made available in a services menu and thereby make that service the active service. The active service has customization opportunities that permit the service to customize parts of the media player or other application. Advantages include providing online media services with an ability to control the way in which customers discover and purchase media from within the feature rich environment of various user applications such as a PC-based media player application. From a user's perspective, the advantages include an uninterrupted media experience that can involve the entire process of discovering, purchasing and using of a wide variety of media content all from within the feature rich environment of a media player application.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, from a first online service, first data for customizing an application, wherein the first data includes a first uniform resource locator (URL);   associating, by a processor, the first URL with a graphical object of a graphical user interface, wherein the application is configured to access the first URL in response to receiving a first input associated with the graphical object;   receiving a selection of a second online service;   receiving, from the second online service, second data for customizing the application in response to receiving the selection of the second online service, wherein the second data includes a second URL different than the first URL; and   associating, by the processor, the second URL with the graphical object in response to receiving the selection of the second online service, wherein the application is configured to access the second URL in response to receiving a second input associated with the graphical object.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising removing the association of the first URL with the graphical object in response to receiving the selection of the second online service. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising causing content associated with the second URL to be displayed in response to the receiving the second input associated with the graphical object. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of receiving the first input associated with the graphical object or receiving the second input associated with the graphical object comprises receiving a user selection of the graphical object. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising causing display of a list of a plurality of online services, wherein receiving the selection of the second online service comprises receiving the selection of the second online service from the list that displays the plurality of online services. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the first online service is associated with a different domain name than the second online service. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein a service information file is associated with each of a plurality of online services that comprises the first online service and the second online service, each service information file comprising at least one corresponding URL for customizing the application. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors;   memory coupled to the one or more processors; and   an online service manager executable by the one or more processors to:
 receive, from a menu of a plurality of online services, a selection of an online service; 
 receive, from the online service, data for customizing the application in response to receiving the selection of the online service, wherein the data includes a URL; and 
 associate the URL with a graphical object in response to receiving the selection of the online service, wherein the application is configured to access the URL in response to receiving an input associated with the graphical object. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to remove the association of the first URL with the graphical object in response to receiving the selection of the second online service. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising causing content associated with the second URL to be displayed in response to the receiving the second input associated with the graphical object. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein associating the URL with the graphical object comprises replacing an association of a previous URL associated with the graphical object with the URL. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a service information file is associated with each of the plurality of online services, each service information file comprising at least one corresponding URL for customizing the application. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein each service information file is received from a corresponding one of the plurality of online services. 
     
     
         15 . One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
 receiving, from a first online service, first data for customizing an application, wherein the first data includes a first uniform resource locator (URL);   receiving, from a second online service, second data for customizing the application, wherein the second data includes a second URL different than the first URL;   associating the first URL with a graphical object on a display, wherein the application is configured to access the first URL in response to receiving a first input associated with the graphical object;   receiving a selection of a second online service from a plurality of online services; and   replacing the association of the first URL with the graphical object with an association of the second URL with the graphical object in response to receiving the selection of the second online service, wherein the application is configured to access the second URL in response to receiving a second input associated with the graphical object.   
     
     
         16 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , further comprising causing content associated with the second URL to be displayed in response to the receiving the second input associated with the graphical object. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the first online service is associated with a different domain name than the second online service. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the application comprises a media player. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein a service information file is associated with each of a plurality of online services that comprises the first online service and the second online service, a plurality of the service information files each comprising at least one corresponding URL for customizing the application. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable storage media  claim 19 , wherein each service information file of a plurality of the service information files comprises a corresponding URL associated with playing media that comprises audio media or video media. 
     
     
         21 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 19 , wherein each service information file of the plurality of the service information files comprises a corresponding URL associated with purchasing media.