The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing, editing, and playing video contents and the method thereof, which provide an application program allowing a user to produce contents made by one's own producing and editing and also playing the video contents; a video contents provision platform for selling and purchasing the video contents based on social network services; and a device of controlling the playback of the original video content file and the method thereof, being capable of storing the video content editing information as an additional data file while keeping the original video content stream intact.

Disclosed is a dynamically adaptable stream segment prefetcher for prefetching stream segments from different media streams with different segment name formats and with different positioning of the segment name iterator within the differing segment name formats. In response to receiving a client issued request for a particular segment of a particular media stream, the prefetcher identifies the segment name format and iterator location using a regular expression matching to the client issued request. The prefetcher then generates prefetch requests based on the segment name format and incrementing a current value for the iterator in the segment name of the client issued request.

Disclosed is a dynamically adaptable stream segment prefetcher for prefetching stream segments from different media streams with different segment name formats and with different positioning of the segment name iterator within the differing segment name formats. In response to receiving a client issued request for a particular segment of a particular media stream, the prefetcher identifies the segment name format and iterator location using a regular expression matching to the client issued request. The prefetcher then generates prefetch requests based on the segment name format and incrementing a current value for the iterator in the segment name of the client issued request.

Dynamic uniform resource locator (URL) insertion may be provided for allowing a user to view a linear video content item along with additional content in order to provide a richer and deeper viewing experience giving more control to the user during video viewing. An indication may be provided to the user indicating the availability of additional interactive content associated with the linear video in a variety of different ways, for example, display of an icon overlaid on a viewing guide user interface, a menu option, etc. Upon request, the content associated with the URL may be presented to the user in order to present the linear video content combined with the additional content in a hybrid fashion. The inserted URL may be static, or the URL may be dynamically updated based on one or more factors, such as time of day, content or action by the user or content provider.

Dynamic uniform resource locator (URL) insertion may be provided for allowing a user to view a linear video content item along with additional content in order to provide a richer and deeper viewing experience giving more control to the user during video viewing. An indication may be provided to the user indicating the availability of additional interactive content associated with the linear video in a variety of different ways, for example, display of an icon overlaid on a viewing guide user interface, a menu option, etc. Upon request, the content associated with the URL may be presented to the user in order to present the linear video content combined with the additional content in a hybrid fashion. The inserted URL may be static, or the URL may be dynamically updated based on one or more factors, such as time of day, content or action by the user or content provider.

A method, system, computer medium, and other embodiments for integrating unrelated web services with stand-alone media-based devices are provided. Users can access and control the media-based device conveniently with a web-browser through various portals on the Internet. In an embodiment directed to a single web session, users program the media-based device by clicking on one or more hyperlinks or hypertexts in the form of advertisements of upcoming broadcasts. The advertisements may be web-hosted or sponsored by web portals.

A method, system, computer medium, and other embodiments for integrating unrelated web services with stand-alone media-based devices are provided. Users can access and control the media-based device conveniently with a web-browser through various portals on the Internet. In an embodiment directed to a single web session, users program the media-based device by clicking on one or more hyperlinks or hypertexts in the form of advertisements of upcoming broadcasts. The advertisements may be web-hosted or sponsored by web portals.

Devices, systems, and methods are provided for enhanced parsing of manifest files for streaming media. A method may include receiving, by a media player, a first media manifest including tags indicative of first temporal segments for media content; identifying, using a parser, a first tag indicative of a first temporal segment; identifying, using the parser, a second tag indicative of a second temporal segment; parsing, using the parser, the first tag; based on at least one of the parsing or a user preference indicative of a starting location for playback of first media content of the media content or a preferred bandwidth, refraining from parsing the second tag; retrieving, by the at least one processor, based on a time associated with the first temporal segment, an address of the first video content; and presenting, by the at least one processor, the first media content based on the address.

Devices, systems, and methods are provided for enhanced parsing of manifest files for streaming media. A method may include receiving, by a media player, a first media manifest including tags indicative of first temporal segments for media content; identifying, using a parser, a first tag indicative of a first temporal segment; identifying, using the parser, a second tag indicative of a second temporal segment; parsing, using the parser, the first tag; based on at least one of the parsing or a user preference indicative of a starting location for playback of first media content of the media content or a preferred bandwidth, refraining from parsing the second tag; retrieving, by the at least one processor, based on a time associated with the first temporal segment, an address of the first video content; and presenting, by the at least one processor, the first media content based on the address.

In some embodiments, a method receives a plurality of viewing policies for a media program. The plurality of viewing policies include an action to perform for the media program and an audience. The action for at least a portion of the plurality of viewing policies is reviewed to determine a first viewing policy that includes the action of sending a base content stream for the media program. The method selects a first audience associated with the base content stream in the first viewing policy and one or more second audiences associated with actions in one or more second viewing policies. An audience definition for the media program defining one or more restrictions on viewing the media program is generated. The one or more restrictions are based on the first audience and the one or more second audiences. Then, the method stores the audience definition for the media program.