Patent ID: 8028081
Filing Date: 2011-09-27
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method of operation of a user device comprising: receiving a stream of a media item from a streaming media source; providing playback of the stream of the media item; obtaining one or more look-ahead segments of the media item, wherein the one or more look-ahead segments are one or more segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device selected based on information that describes content of the one or more look-ahead segments and wherein the information is not indicative of a location of the one or more look-ahead segments in the media item; and storing the one or more look-ahead segments in local storage of the user device; wherein obtaining the one or more look-ahead segments of the media item comprises: wherein selecting the one or more look-ahead segments comprises selecting the one or more look-ahead segments from a plurality of segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device based on a comparison of information describing content of the plurality of segments of the media item and user preferences of a user of the user device.