A service management system communicates via wide area network with gateway devices located at respective user premises. The service management system remotely manages delivery of application services, which can be voice controlled, by a gateway, e.g. by selectively activating/deactivating service logic modules in the gateway. The service management system also may selectively provide secure communications and exchange of information among gateway devices and among associated endpoint devices. An exemplary service management system includes a router connected to the network and one or more computer platforms, for implementing management functions. Examples of the functions include a connection manager for controlling system communications with the gateway devices, an authentication manager for authenticating each gateway device and controlling the connection manager and a subscription manager for managing applications services and/or features offered by the gateway devices. A service manager, controlled by the subscription manager, distributes service specific configuration data to authenticated gateway devices.

An image generation apparatus, system, and method that include an image recording unit that records at least one image containing photography position information corresponding to a photography position of the image, an input unit for selecting a selected image from the at least one image recorded in the image recording unit, a map-image unit that acquires at least one map image corresponding to the photography position information of the selected image, a direction detection unit that detects a photography direction of the selected image from the photography position information and acquires at least one surrounding map image viewable from the photography position when the selected image was recorded, and a virtual image generation unit that generates at least one virtual image of a scene viewable from the photography position when the selected image was recorded based on the photography position information and the at least one surrounding map image.

An image generation apparatus, system, and method that include an image recording unit that records at least one image containing photography position information corresponding to a photography position of the image, an input unit for selecting a selected image from the at least one image recorded in the image recording unit, a map-image unit that acquires at least one map image corresponding to the photography position information of the selected image, a direction detection unit that detects a photography direction of the selected image from the photography position information and acquires at least one surrounding map image viewable from the photography position when the selected image was recorded, and a virtual image generation unit that generates at least one virtual image of a scene viewable from the photography position when the selected image was recorded based on the photography position information and the at least one surrounding map image.

A method of enabling processing of a video stream is described. The method comprises establishing a slice width for frames of the video stream; receiving the video stream; dividing, for each frame of the video stream, the frame into vertical slices having the slice width; storing a frame of the video stream in a re-ordered slice based format. Computer-readable storage medium and a device for enabling processing of a video stream are also described

Methods, systems, and media for interacting with content using a second screen device are provided. In some implementations, the method comprises: receiving, from a remote media streaming device, a request to present media content items; sending, over the Internet, interactive content to the media streaming device as a stream of video; causing the interactive content to be presented by the media streaming device; causing a notification to be sent to a computing device associated with the media streaming device indicating that the content being presented by the media streaming device is interactive content; receiving instructions from the computing device to control how an object depicted in the interactive content is presented; updating the interactive content based on the instructions; sending the updated interactive content to the media streaming device as a stream of video; and causing the updated interactive content to be presented by the media streaming device.

Systems and methods that effectuate synchronized advertisement playback across navigation experiences and transitional states, are provided. In an aspect, a system includes an advertisement component configured to play a pre-roll media advertisement associated with a first media item prior to playing of the first media item, a request component configured to receive a request play a second media item prior to completion of the pre-roll media advertisement, and a streaming component configured to initiate playing of the second media item in response to the request, wherein the advertisement component is configured to continue to play the pre-roll media advertisement prior to playing of the second media item.

Described are method and system embodiments for monitoring segmentation messages of a digital video stream. In some embodiments, a method is performed at an electronic device with a display and operated by a user. The method includes monitoring the digital video stream for segmentation messages and detecting a segmentation message in the digital video stream. Then, a validity of the detected segmentation message is determined based on a previously-detected segmentation message. The user is notified of the determined validity of the segmentation message using the display.

Systems and methods for automatically adjusting volume of a media asset are provided. A display of a content navigation page is generated. The content navigation page is associated with a media asset. A navigation distance from a current position in the content navigation page to the media asset within the content navigation page is determined. The navigation distance is cross-referenced with a database of volume levels associated with navigation distances to identify a volume level that is associated with the navigation distance. Audio of the media asset is caused to be presented at the identified volume level.

Systems and methods for automatically adjusting volume of a media asset are provided. A display of a content navigation page is generated. The content navigation page is associated with a media asset. A navigation distance from a current position in the content navigation page to the media asset within the content navigation page is determined. The navigation distance is cross-referenced with a database of volume levels associated with navigation distances to identify a volume level that is associated with the navigation distance. Audio of the media asset is caused to be presented at the identified volume level.

A system for managing delivery of video content. The system includes a controller and one or more players. The controller may be configured to control generation of a plurality of streams containing the video content based upon feedback regarding decoding at least one of the plurality of streams. The one or more players may be configured to select a stream from the plurality of streams, generate decoding statistics for the selected stream, and send the decoding statistics to the controller as the feedback.