A method and system for real-time customizing and synchronizing media by a client device in communication with a server device. A client device customizes stock media content based on user preferences, and synchronizes the customized content for playback with a server-side playback of the stock media content.

A facility for selectively suppressing notifications on a portable device is described. The facility accesses data characterizing the condition of the portable device. The facility infers from the accessed data that that the portable device is being carried by a person who is viewing content being played by a media player device. In response to this inference, the facility determines whether notifications should be suppressed on the portable device. If the facility determines that notifications should be suppressed on the portable device, it causes a wireless communication to be transmitted to the portable device instructing the portable device to suppress notifications.

A mobile device configurable for direct communication in a wide area wireless network may join a local service domain and receive services through a gateway of that local service domain. The mobile device may be removed from the local service domain if the mobile device has been inactive for a threshold time period, the gateway device receives data indicating that the mobile device has been added to a different service domain, or a reply for a polling message sent to the mobile device has not been received.

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method including initiating a creation of a personalized channel responsive to equipment of a user requesting to create the personalized channel, providing a search request to equipment of a content provider for content for the personalized channel according to the request, retrieving content from the content provider according to the search request as retrieved content, classifying the content for the personalized channel according to the content of the retrieved content to generate classified content according to a content type and a content source of the retrieved content, sequencing the classified content to generate sequenced content, assigning the sequenced content to a time slot in a schedule of the personalized channel as ready-for-broadcast content, and delivering the ready-for-broadcast content to the personalized channel according to the time slot in the schedule. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A method includes, at a media bridge configured to distribute a plurality of media streams among a plurality of client devices connected to the media bridge over a network during a real-time communication (RTC) instance, receiving a plurality of quality of experience (QoE) preferences from the plurality of client devices via the media bridge, the plurality of QoE preferences being transmitted as a real-time transport protocol (RTP) control protocol (RTCP) extension header of a transmitted data packet. The method also includes receiving a plurality of QoE metrics at the media bridge, and in response to a determination that a degradation in network conditions of the network has occurred, downgrading at least one of the plurality of media streams based on the plurality of QoE preferences.

The present principles of the embodiments generally relate to an apparatus and a method for downloading of media content. In one exemplary embodiment, a mechanism for downloading multiple media assets in the form of a batch download is dependent on a profile of user which takes into account of media content consumption habits or behavior of a user. The mechanism can be used, for example, to efficiently download multiple episodes of a show such as, e.g., a television series.

A method for presenting content items to a user of a device having a network interface and a controller configured to generate a GUI, the method comprising the following steps within the device: receiving, from a data provider, content description data for a plurality of content items; receiving, from a recommendation server, recommendation data for the plurality of content items; selecting the content items that meet predefined recommendation criteria to be presented as recommended content items; and presenting the recommended content items in the form of an EPG list within the GUI to allow the user to navigate and select the content item of interest; characterized in that the EPG list has a form of a minimized list that comprises a group of cells arranged along a line as a list, wherein each cell is assigned to a particular content item depending on the recommendation score for that content item.

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for providing a definition of a word encountered by the user during media consumption when a profile of the user reflects an insufficient understanding of the word. To this end, a media guidance application may detect a word appearing in media, and may determine that the word satisfies a user-specific criterion. Further, the media guidance application may determine that the exposure of the user to the word reflects an insufficient understanding of the word by calculating the level of exposure of the user to the word and comparing the level of exposure to an exposure criterion. The media guidance application may then provide a definition of the word to the user.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to solicit an appraisal for each of a plurality of media programs presented by the media processor for composing a proposal to update one or more operational features of the media processor according to one or more consumer preferences determined from one or more supplied appraisals. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A method and apparatus for providing an object corresponding to output content are provided. The method includes outputting content on a screen, extracting a fingerprint of the content at predetermined time intervals, transmitting the extracted fingerprint to a server, receiving event information related to the content, and in response to an output mode being set as a first mode, displaying an object corresponding to the content on the screen, and in response to the output mode being set as a second mode, displaying additional information of the object corresponding to the content on the screen.