Method of and system for managing client resources and assets for activities on computing devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10165339-B2
Application number	US-201614997352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2016
Priority date	Jun 20, 2005
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

A method of and system for enabling a distributed entertainment system over a computing device is described herein. When implementing a distributed entertainment system wherein the entertainment system is directly correlated to live events or televised programs, there are a number of issues that must be addressed such as differing timing and channels of television programs and separate state laws. Furthermore, there are a plethora of varying computing device models possibly requiring model-specific software. An “Activity Client” is provided to handle such concerns. Furthermore, since time is of the essence for activities based on live or televised events, it is necessary to ensure a computing device is able to receive the necessary updates for the program before the event begins. By providing only the needed components instead of entire data packages, the present invention is able to much more efficiently prepare users' computing devices in time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of implementing an entertainment service including a game of skill or chance comprising:
downloading an activity client to a mobile web-connected computing device;
selecting and registering with a service provider;
loading a set of event information related to a geographic location of the mobile web-connected computing device to the activity client, wherein the geographic location of the mobile web-connected computing device determines the set of event information to be loaded, wherein the set of information includes a schedule of multiple available events, and further wherein as the geographic location of the mobile web-connected computing device changes, different event information is presented through the activity client;
selecting an event from the activity client to participate in by a user from a list of available events;
downloading a set of activity-specific information related to a chosen activity from a server to the mobile web-connected computing device; and
executing an interactive application synchronized with the event on the mobile web-connected computing device.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the activity client is a program for managing activity information and data.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising identifying a user's legal status required to participate.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein identifying the user status includes identifying a current geographic location of the mobile web-connected computing device.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the activity client is specifically designed for the mobile web-connected computing device.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein executing the application is in real-time, synchronized with the event.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the schedule of available events includes a name of a televised event, identification of the activity or activities to be played based on the televised event, a start time of the television event and information relating to nature of prizes in relation to the television event, and the fees required to participate in the event.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising displaying the set of event information.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the set of event information is continually broadcast from the server and received at the mobile web-connected computing device.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the set of activity-specific information includes activity-specific instructions and information related to nature of the activity and event.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein an activity interpreter resident in the activity client is used to execute the application.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the activity interpreter combines the activity, event and device instructions to execute the activity in real-time.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the application is selected from the group consisting of a game of skill or chance, a survey and a poll.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mobile web-connected computing device is a wireless device.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mobile web-connected computing device includes: a set-top box, a personal computer, a gaming console, a laptop computer, a cell phone, a PDA or a combination device.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:
a. receiving a list of assets from the server;
b. comparing the list of assets with a first set of assets on the mobile web-connected computing device;
c. receiving only a second set of assets within the list of assets that are not already resident on the mobile web-connected computing device.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising improving efficiency by prioritizing the second set of assets.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17 wherein the second set of assets are grouped into a set of necessary assets and a set of preferred assets.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the schedule of available events comprises a list of genres of sports and a schedule of available events within each genre.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the genre is first selected and then the schedule of available events within the genre is revealed allowing a specific event to be selected.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the application comprises an interactive activity.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the service provider comprises a legal chance-based real-time sports prediction service.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the service provider comprises a television-related wagering service.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise multiple athletic contests taking place in a single day.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise a partial athletic contest.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise a weekly event.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise a week-long event.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the week-long event comprises a competitive game show.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise a variety of events.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise a season of events.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise events that occur on multiple days.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise multiple contests.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the multiple contests comprise athletic contests.

34. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events comprise simultaneously played card, dice, trivia, word, math and puzzle games.

35. The method of claim 1 wherein the available events include: a television-based event, a scheduled competition, a scheduled series of competitions, a sporting event, a real-time skill and chance-based sports prediction games, an event based on a video game, a computer game or electronic game, an entertainment show, a game show, a reality show, a news show or a commercial contained in a broadcast.

36. A method of implementing an entertainment service at a server comprising:
receiving registration information with the entertainment service from one or more mobile Internet-connected computing devices;
transmitting an activity client from the server to the one or more mobile Internet-connected computing devices;
determining a current, geographic location of each of the one or more mobile Internet-connected computing devices;
for each of the one or more mobile Internet-connected computing devices, sending a set of event information related to the current, geographic location of the mobile Internet-connected computing device to the activity client, wherein the current, geographic location determines the set of event information to be loaded, wherein the set of event information includes a schedule of available events, and further wherein as the current, geographic location changes, different event information is presented through the activity client;
transmitting a set of activity-specific information related to an activity from the server to the one or more of the mobile Internet-

Assignees

• Winview Inc
• Winview Inc

Inventors

• Huske Tim
• Micheli Mark J
• Berner Mark K
• Ford Matt
• Lockton David B

Classifications

• H04N21/442

  Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk {(arrangements for monitoring broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/29; arrangements for identifying or recognising characteristics with a direct linkage to broadcast information H04H60/35; monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; monitoring in wireless networks H04W24/00)} · CPC title

• H04N21/2187

  Live feed · CPC title

• H04N21/4758

  for providing answers, e.g. voting · CPC title

• H04L67/42

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N21/4307

  Synchronising the rendering of multiple content streams or additional data on devices, e.g. synchronisation of audio on a mobile phone with the video output on the TV screen · CPC title