A data processing method is applied to a digital interface, which includes: reading data cached by a data source, where the data source includes a video source and an auxiliary data source; outputting video data, if the video data cached by the video source is not empty, where when the video data is output, corresponding position marks are at start and end positions of a frame structure of the video data and at start and end positions of a row structure of the video data; and outputting auxiliary data, if the video data cached by the video source is empty, the auxiliary data cached by the auxiliary data source is not empty and the frame structure or the row structure of the video data has been output, where when the auxiliary data is output, corresponding position marks are at a start position and an end position of the auxiliary data.

Methods, systems, computer readable media, and apparatuses for enabling chat sessions are presented. In response to detecting that a first user is viewing a first program, a chat invitation may be automatically transmitted to a second user. The chat invitation may identify the first user and the first program, and further may invite the second user to initiate a chat session with the first user. An updated chat invitation may be automatically transmitted in response to detecting that the first user has changed to viewing a second program, and a chat session that has been initiated may subsequently be transferred to another device. Content prioritization settings may be accounted for in transmitting one or more chat invitations, and before a chat invitation is transmitted, it may be determined that a sufficient amount of time has elapsed to suggest that the user will continue viewing the first program.

A natural language processing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise: a memory for storing a first channel named entity dictionary including basic channel names and a synonym of each of the basic channel names; a communication interface for receiving, from a display device, voice data corresponding to a voice instruction uttered by a user; and a processor which: acquires multiple channel names included in electronic program guide information; extracts channel names matching the acquired multiple channel names from the first channel named entity dictionary so as to acquire a second channel named entity dictionary; acquires the intention of a speech of the voice instruction on the basis of text data of the voice data and the second channel named entity dictionary; and transmits the acquired intention of the speech to the display device through the communication interface.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to control of consumption of content in an appliance. The content can include linear programming and non-linear assets. Such control can permit (i) changing a channel in the appliance (e.g., a CPE without upstream functionality) and thus selecting a linear-programming asset, a non-linear asset, and so forth, and (ii) controlling consumption of such assets. In one aspect, a device with upstream network connectivity can control the consumption of media in the appliance. The device can leverage data management and control functionality of a service provider network to acquire information related to assets available for consumption and to transmit asset requests to the service provider network, which can transmit content and signaling to the appliance in accordance at least in part with the asset request, thus controlling media consumption in the appliance.

A television receiver may present live television programming along with a sports gaming interface that indicates various betting options that are selectable by a television viewer via a remote control. The television receiver may receive a selection of a betting option presented in the sports gaming interface. A request may then be sent to a mobile device of the television viewer. The television receiver may in response to the selection, transmit a bet identifier of the selected betting option and an account identifier to the television service provider system. After a user has funded the bet and completed the transaction via a mobile device, the sports gaming interface may indicate the active bet.

A cloud-based computing system is configured to (i) maintain a scheduled playlist of media items, a current playback position within the scheduled playlist, and a priority media item for playback, (ii) receive, from a first playback device associated with a user account, a first request to play back the scheduled playlist, (iii) transmit the priority media item to the first playback device for playback before any media item from the scheduled playlist, (iv) receive, from a second playback device associated with the user account, a second request to play back the scheduled playlist, (v) determine that the priority media item should not be transmitted to the second playback device, and (vi) after determining that the priority media item should not be transmitted to the second playback device, transmit one or more media items from the scheduled playlist to the second playback device based on the current playback position within the scheduled playlist.

A transmitting and/or receiving system for cable networks.

A media rendering device and method for scan of channels on the media rendering device is provided. The media rendering device determines a first geographical region associated with a location of the media rendering device. A first set of over-the-air (OTA) channels may be communicated in the first geographical region. The media rendering device determines a second geographical region within a threshold distance from the location of the media rendering device. A second set of OTA channels may be communicated in the second geographical region. The media rendering device receives a first user input to scan the first set of OTA channels and the second set of OTA channels, and configures the first set of OTA channels and the second set of OTA channels on the media rendering device, based on the scan of the first set of OTA channels and the second set of OTA channels.

A main stream contains successive content elements of video and/or audio information that encode video and/or audio information at a first data rate. A computation circuit (144) computes main fingerprints from the successive content elements. A reference stream is received having a second data rate lower than the first data rate. The reference stream defines a sequence of the reference fingerprints. A comparator unit (144) compares the main fingerprints with the reference fingerprints. The main stream is monitored for the presence of inserted content elements between original content elements, where the original content elements have main fingerprints that match successive reference fingerprints and the inserted content elements have main fingerprints that do not match reference fingerprints. Rendering of inserted content elements to be skipped. In an embodiment when more than one content element matches only one is rendered. In another embodiment matching is used to control zapping to or from the main stream. In another embodiment matching is used to control linking of separately received mark-up information such as subtitles to points in the main stream.

A computing system compares various reference fingerprints each representing a reference media stream broadcast on a different respective known channel, and the computing system determines that a plurality of the reference fingerprints match each other, thus defining a multi-match group of the matching reference fingerprints. In response, the computing system identifies a fingerprint feature that could define a distinction between the reference fingerprints, and the computing system resolves the multi-match based on the identified feature, thereby determining the channel carrying the media stream being rendered by the media presentation device. And the computing system could then take channel-specific action based on the determined channel.