Methods for recognizing thumbnails may include operations of receiving an identification of a thumbnail source for content, receiving the thumbnail, computing a hash value for the thumbnail, and associating the hash value with the thumbnail. Operations for content characterization may include launching an image analysis application, selecting a top level category to apply to a thumbnail, providing the thumbnail to the image analysis application, applying the selected top level category to the thumbnail to determine if the thumbnail satisfies the top level category, if satisfied, associating the top level category with the thumbnail, and repeating the one or more of the above operations with respect to a second category. Operations may include receiving an identification of a node to receive a thumbnail, obtaining a node selected category, receiving a proposed thumbnail to provide to the node, and determining if the proposed thumbnail has been previously recognized and categorized.

A media sharing and communication system, including a recording mechanism that records a desired portion of media upon activation by a first individual user, a first user transmitter/receiver that transmits the portion of media and a message generated by the first individual user regarding the portion of media to a second individual user and is capable of transmitting a message to a second individual user, a confirmation mechanism that confirms that the second individual user is authorized to view the portion of media and a notification mechanism that notifies the first individual user if the second individual user is not authorized to receive the portion of media, and a second user transmitter/receiver that receives the portion of media and voice message upon authorization of the second individual user, wherein the systems are capable of receiving and executing voice commands. A method of sharing portions of media.

Disclosed is an electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus includes a first communicator, a second communicator; and a processor configured to determine whether or not an external electronic apparatus outputting input speech is connectable to a network connectable through the first communicator, based on the input speech, and to transmit a signal for controlling the external electronic apparatus to the external electronic apparatus through the first communicator or the second communicator depending on whether or not the external electronic apparatus is connectable to the network.

In some embodiments, methods and systems for pushing audiovisual playlists based on a text-attentional convolutional neural network include a local voice interactive terminal, a dialog system server and a playlist recommendation engine, where the dialog system server and the playlist recommendation engine are respectively connected to the local voice interactive terminal. In some embodiments, the local voice interactive terminal includes a microphone array, a host computer connected to the microphone array, and a voice synthesis chip board connected to the microphone array. In some embodiments, the playlist recommendation engine obtains rating data based on a rating predictor constructed by the neural network; the host computer parses the data into recommended playlist information; and the voice terminal synthesizes the results and pushes them to a user in the form of voice.

In one aspect, an example method to be performed by a vehicle-based media system includes (a) receiving audio content; (b) causing one or more speakers to output the received audio content; (c) using a microphone of the vehicle-based media system to capture the output audio content; (d) identifying reference audio content that has at least a threshold extent of similarity with the captured audio content; (e) identifying visual content based at least on the identified reference audio content; and (f) outputting, via a user interface of the vehicle-based media system, the identified visual content.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to identify media sources are disclosed. Example apparatus disclosed herein include an exclusivity determiner, a unique asset identifier, and a signature matcher. The exclusivity determiner is to determine whether media is exclusive to a provider. The unique asset identifier is to associate a first signature of the media with the provider if the media is exclusive to the provider. The signature matcher is to identify the provider based on a second signature, the second signature matching the first signature, the second signature extracted from media presented at a media presentation location.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a controller to cause a people meter to emit a prompt for input of audience identification information at a first time and determine a first audience count based on the input, an audio detector to determine a second audience count based on signatures generated from audio data captured in the media environment, and a comparator to cause the people meter to not emit the prompt for at least a first time period after the first time when the first audience count is equal to the second audience count.

Described herein are various embodiments for customizing search results in a multi-content source environment. An embodiment operates by receiving input corresponding to a search from a user and retrieving a content history indicating which content was previously viewed by the user. It is determined that the content of the content history is organized into one or more preconfigured categories. A new category of content is generated based on the content history for the user. The content of the content history for user is arranged based on both the new category and at least a subset of the one or more preconfigured categories. The arranged content is displayed in a manner customized to the user.

A system for quantifying viewer engagement with a video playing on a display includes at least one camera to acquire image data of a viewing area in front of the display. A microphone acquires audio data emitted by a speaker coupled to the display. The system also includes a memory to store processor-executable instructions and a processor. Upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the processor receives the image data and the audio data and determines an identity of the video displayed on the display based on the audio data. The processor also estimates a first number of people present in the viewing area and a second number of people engaged with the video. The processor further quantifies the viewer engagement of the video based on the first number of people and the second number of people.

The playback of video content upon a display is enhanced through the unobtrusive presentation of extrinsic data upon the same display. A video content feature is rendered on a display. A quantity of extrinsic data relevant to a current time in the video content feature is determined based at least in part on viewing history of a user. A graphical element presenting at least a portion of the extrinsic data is rendered on the display while the video content feature is also being rendered on the display.