Systems and methods for facilitating the acquisition of content

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for acquiring content (e.g., a ring tone or a ring view) for a communication device.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for providing an item to a communication device, comprising:
 transmitting content to the communication device, the content comprising time-based audio data; 
 transmitting to the communication device a content identifier identifying the content and a remote system identifier identifying a remote system, wherein the content identifier and the remote system identifier are transmitted with the content; 
 while the content is being transmitted to the communication device, receiving at the remote system a message indicating that a user of the communication device desires to acquire a related item associated with the transmitted content, but different than the transmitted content; 
 after receiving the message, transmitting the related item to the communication device, which in response to receiving the related item, stores the received related item in a storage unit of the communication device. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received message comprises information identifying a capability of the communication device. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received message comprises an identifier identifying a type of content. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received message comprises an identifier identifying a type of content and information identifying a capability of the communication device. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting the content to the communication device comprises streaming the content to the communication device. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting the content to the communication device comprises multicasting the content to a plurality of communication devices such that each of the plurality of communication devices is operable to receive and play the transmitted content. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting the content to the communication device comprises unicasting the content to the communication device. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received message comprises information identifying the content. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein
 the communication device is a mobile phone, and 
 the transmitted content is not a ring tone preview or a ring tone. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the related item is a ring tone. 
     
     
       11. A method for providing an item to a user of a communication device, comprising:
 transmitting, from a content server, to the communication device a stream comprising program data comprising time-based audio data and non-program data comprising an object locator specifying the location of an object; and 
 while the communication device is playing the program data, (i) receiving at the remote server a message comprising information indicating that a user of the communication device desires to acquire an item related to the program data, but different than the program data, and (ii) in response to receiving the message, transmitting to the communication device the object, wherein the object is configured so that the user can use the object to obtain the related item, wherein the communication device is configured to display the object while playing the program data. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the program data is transmitted to the communication device without a user of the communication device having to previously request the program data. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the program data is not a ring tone preview or a ring tone. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the object locator is a uniform resource locator or a uniform resource identifier. 
     
     
       15. A method for providing content to a user of a communication device, comprising:
 transmitting to the communication device a stream comprising i) program data comprising time-based audio data and ii) non-program data comprising time-based data related to the program data; and 
 while the communication device is playing the program data, (i) receiving at a remote server a message transmitted by the communication device, the message comprising information indicating that a user of the communication device desires to acquire related content related to the program data, but different than the program data, and (ii) after receiving the message transmitting to the communication device a reply message. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the reply message comprises a license that enables the communication device to play the related time-based data. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the reply message indicates that the related time-based data may be acquired. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the non-program data is protected by a digital rights management (DRM) scheme. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the non-program data and the program data are interleaved when received at the communication device.