Patent ID: 8046800
Filing Date: 2011-10-25
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. In a network server that communicates over a network with a recording apparatus that is configured to record television programs, a method for enabling the server to control the recording of one or more selected television programs by the recording apparatus, the method comprising the acts of: storing a programming schedule at a server; storing recording control information at the server, the recording control information including at least one record command that is transmittable over a network to a recording apparatus that is configured to record television programming; the server receiving a user request, which is transmitted to the server through the Internet, for a webpage containing the programming schedule and that identifies one or more television programs; in response to the user request, the server providing a user Internet access to the programming schedule in the form of a navigable webpage and from which a particular television program can be selected by the user for recording; receiving, at the server, a user selection of the particular television program to be recorded, the selection of the particular television program to be recorded being made from the navigable webpage provided to the user through the Internet; and in response to the particular television program being selected for recording, the server transmitting recording control information to the recording apparatus over the network, the recording control information comprising recording instructions that are configured to cause the recording apparatus to record the particular television program and such that the recording apparatus will thereafter be set up to record the particular television program, and wherein the recording instructions are transmitted to the recording apparatus from the server through at least one of a television signal and the Internet.