Abstract:
Method and system for sharing information related to bookmarked music clips between users of electronic music marker devices which includes a communications port for direct exchange of unique identification corresponding to each marker device, and optionally establishing third party user access permission level with a corresponding access level flag transmitted with each exchange of device identification with other music marker devices to allow convenient and easy exchange of information related to bookmarked music clips and playlists is provided.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to electronic music markers. More particularly, the present relates to electronic markers which are capable of interfacing with other electronic markers to exchange information related to marked information by exchanging or transferring marker identification code to third party marker users for accessing marked information through the e-marker.com account.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    With increase in portable electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled mobile telephone and so on, there has been a steady increase in these devices capable of performing more operations.  
           [0005]    Sony Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary, Sony Electronics, Inc., introduced a so called e-marker which is capable of “bookmarking” a music clip while being played on a radio and is capable of recalling the information related to the bookmarked music clip such as the name of the song, the artist, the album containing the song and so on. Using the e-marker, a user can conveniently access the music clip information that the user listened to on the radio at a later time without the need to memorize the information or wait hopefully for the disc jockey on the radio to provide that information. In this manner, if the user wants to, for example, purchase the music album which the user has marked using the e-marker, the user can easily identify the necessary information related to the marked music clip from the e-marks provided by the e-marker.  
           [0006]    Further information relating to the operation of the e-marker can be found in pending application Ser. No. 09/126,007 filed on Jul. 29, 1998 and application Ser. No. 09/401,103 filed on Sep. 22, 1999, both assigned to Sony Corporation, joint assignee of the present application with Sony Electronics, Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated in their entirely by reference for all purposes.  
           [0007]    While e-marker provides the ability to bookmark broadcast music clips for accessing information related to the bookmarked music clips at a later point in time, for example, by accessing the user&#39;s e-marker.com account, it is configured to only provide information related to bookmarked music clips that the account holder has bookmarked. As the market for emarker device grows, and likewise, the user&#39;s emarker.com account, it would be desirable to be able to exchange bookmarked music clip information by allowing access to each other&#39;s playlists of bookmarked music clips, for example.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    In view of the foregoing, a system for exchanging information between data marker devices of one embodiment includes a first data marker having a first marker identification, and a second data marker configured to transmit a request for a marker identification to the first data marker, and in response thereto, receiving the first marker identification.  
           [0009]    A method of another embodiment includes receiving a device identification information, transmitting the received device identification information, and receiving information corresponding to a device having the device identification.  
           [0010]    A method of yet another embodiment includes detecting a communication from a user terminal, receiving a device identification information, retrieving a playlist information corresponding to the device identification information, and transmitting the playlist to the user terminal.  
           [0011]    A method of still a further embodiment includes detecting a transmission of a third party device identification information, receiving the third party device identification and an access level flag, storing the received third party device identification and the access level flag.  
           [0012]    A system for exchanging information between data marker devices of still a further embodiment includes first marking means having a first identification, and second marking for transmitting a request for an identification to the first marking means, and in response thereto, receiving the first identification.  
           [0013]    These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 illustrates an overall e-marker information exchange system in accordance with one embodiment;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic bookmarking device shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 illustrates an electronic music marker device and cradle-type docking connection;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is one embodiment of a database illustration of the bookmarks in a storage unit of the electronic music marker device;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is one embodiment of a database illustration of marker device ID exchange information in a storage unit of the electronic a music marker device;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the electronic music marker device operation;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of downloading data from the user&#39;s e-marker account to the music marker device;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a user terminal of the e-marker information exchange system shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of the server terminal of the e-marker information exchange system shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a user account database of the server terminal storage unit shown in FIG. 9;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of a playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 9;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 12 illustrates one embodiment of a user playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 9;  
         [0026]    FIGS.  13 A- 13 B are flowcharts for illustrating one embodiment of electronic music marker device ID exchange procedure; and  
         [0027]    FIGS.  14 A- 14 B are flowcharts for illustrating one embodiment of retrieving and transmitting playlist of other music marker devices after ID exchange procedure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 illustrates an overall e-marker information exchange system in accordance with one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, e-marker information exchange system  100  includes a plurality of user terminals  103 A- 103 C each connected to data network  104  such as the internet via connection protocols such as TCP/IP, Appletalk, using connection interface unit (not shown) such as a dial-up modem through an internet service provider (ISP), a broadband network such as a DSL or cable modem, a T1 or LAN connection, or any other means for connecting to the internet. Each user terminal  103 A- 103 C is configured to connect to a respective electronic music marker device  101 A- 101 C via a cradle type connection unit  102 A- 102 C, and configured to receive, upon synchronization operation with the respective music marker devices  101 A- 101 C, bookmark information stored in music marker devices  101 A- 101 C. In one embodiment, the bookmark information transmitted from music marker devices  101 A- 101 C to the respective user terminals  103 A- 103 C may include corresponding music marker device  101 A- 101 C unique device identification code, the number of stored bookmarks, and corresponding date and time stamp for each stored bookmarks, as well as device ID exchange information including IDs of other marker devices and optionally, the corresponding access level flags.  
         [0029]    Also shown in FIG. 1 is server terminal  105  connected to data network  104  for communicating with user terminals  103 A- 103 C for data transfer. Moreover, as further shown in FIG. 1, server terminal  105  is coupled to playlist provider  106 . Playlist provider  106  is configured to transmit playlist information corresponding to registered radio station broadcasts such as the title, artist and album information for the music broadcast from the registered radio station. In one aspect, playlist provider may be configured to periodically transmit information related to the music broadcast from the registered radio stations over a predetermined period of time. For example, depending upon factors such as the target market for the registered radio station or the geographic location of the registered radio station, playlist provider  106  may be configured to transmit broadcast music clip information to server terminal  105  within ten minutes from the termination of the respective music broadcast, or alternatively, within 12 or 24 hours from a predetermined broadcast cutoff time such as 10 PM or midnight. Moreover, while playlist provider  106  is shown as communicating with server terminal  105  via a dedicated connection, within the scope of the present invention, server terminal  105  and playlist provider  106  may communicate via a connection through data network  104  for data transfer.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic music marker device shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, music marker device  101  includes memory  201  such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) and a Read-Only Memory (ROM), and stored thereon is a unique bookmarking device identification code  202  which can include a predetermined combination of letters or numbers, or a combination of both. In one embodiment, identification code  202  can include a thirteen-digit number which is unique to each bookmarking device and is pre-stored in the ROM portion of memory  201 . It should be noted that the description of music marker device  101  set forth herein applies equally to each device  101 A- 101 C shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0031]    Referring to FIG. 2, also included in memory  320  is ID exchange database  208 . As will be discussed in further detail below, ID exchange database  208  in one embodiment is configured to store music marker device IDs of other device holders who have transmitted their unique IDs along with an access level flag. Using the unique IDs of other music marker device holders, it is possible to retrieve playlists of music clips bookmarked by the other device holders. Access level flag in one embodiment is provided to establish the permitted level of access by other device holders to retrieve playlists of bookmarked music clips.  
         [0032]    Further shown in FIG. 2 is controller (CPU)  204  which is configured to control the various components of bookmarking device  101  as shown such as display unit  207 , input units  203 A,  203 B such as bookmarking buttons for bookmarking broadcast music clips over a registered radio or television station, or for bookmarking locations, input/output (I/O) interface  205 , clock/timer  206 , and memory  201 . As can be seen from FIG. 2, upon receiving an input signal from a user of music marker device  101  via input units  203 A,  203 B, controller  204  may be configured to access the various components of device  101  depending upon the input command received from the user, to perform one or a plurality of processings, executing the input command of the user.  
         [0033]    Moreover, I/O interface  205  of music marker device  101  shown in FIG. 2 may be configured to, under the control of controller  204 , interface with server terminal  105 . Additionally, I/O interface  205  is provided with transceiver  205 A which may be used to communicate directly with other marker devices to exchange data. Display unit  207  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma-type display, and the like, configured to display text or image data, or a combined text and image data. Furthermore, as discussed above, the input unit  203 A,  203 B may include spring-loaded type input buttons for operation by the user&#39;s finger. Alternatively, input unit  203 A,  203 B may include a touchpad-type screen integrated with display unit  207  for simultaneously inputting and displaying information, where the user can tap the pressure-sensitive screen using a stylus or the like to enter input commands. Timer/clock  206  of music marker device  101  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention may be configured to provide actual time information as well as generate an elapsed time information depending upon the input command from the user under the control of controller  204 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 3 illustrates an electronic music marker device and cradle-type docking connection of one embodiment. It should be noted that the description of music marker device  101  and the cradle-type docking connection set forth herein applies equally to each device  101 A- 101 C and the respective cradle-type connections  102 A- 102 C shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 3, music marker device  101  includes a housing comprising body  301  and cap  302 . Body  301  is provided with e-mark button  303  which is configured for user input commands. Also provided on body  301  are display panels  304   a  and  304   b  which are configured to display the number of user inputted e-marks and the type of registered broadcast station for the corresponding e-marks, respectively. Finally, body  301  includes communication port  305  such as a USB port which is integrated onto body  301  such that, as will be discussed in further detail below, body  301  may be placed on top of cradle type connection  102  with communication port  305  capable of being plugged into the corresponding port on cradle  102 .  
         [0035]    Cap  302  can be attached to body  301  when access to communication port  305  is unnecessary. As shown, cap  302  is provided with a pair of release/lock buttons  306  on either side of cap  302  such that by depressing release/lock buttons  306  when cap  302  is locked with body  301 , cap  302  can be released from a locked position and communication port  305  may be accessed. Furthermore, cap  302  is provided with hole  307  substantially at its edge position such that link chain  308  can be looped through hole  307  to allow the user to attach the music marker device  101  to a key chain or the like.  
         [0036]    Referring back to FIG. 3, cradle-type connection  102  is provided with cradle base  310  substantially flat on its bottom surface (not shown) to rest cradle  102  on a flat surface such as a desktop and a book shelf. On the other side of the bottom surface of cradle  102  is receiving section  311  substantially positioned on the middle of cradle  102 , where communication port  312  such as a USB port is provided for connection to communication port  305  of the music marker device  110 . Also shown in FIG. 3 is cable  313  attached to cradle connection  102  with a communication port  314  at its other end. In this manner, cradle  102  may be connected to user terminal  103  accessing the user&#39;s e-marker account over an internet connection.  
         [0037]    Additional detailed information relating to the operation of the electronic music marker device  110  may be found in pending application Ser. No. 09/126,007 filed on Jul. 29, 1998 and application Ser. No. 09/401,105 filed on Sep. 22, 1999, both assigned to Sony Corporation, joint-assignee of the present application with Sony Electronics, Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated in their entirely by reference for all purposes.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 4 is one embodiment of a database illustration of the bookmarks in a storage unit of the electronic music marker device. Referring to FIG. 4, storage unit such as a random access memory (RAM) and/or a read-only memory (ROM) may be configured to store device ID unique for each marker device  101  in device ID field  410 . Additionally, storage unit of marker device  101  may also be configured to store bookmarks input by the user in bookmark field  420 , with a corresponding date and time information (for example, a time stamp) for the respective bookmarks in date field  430  and time field  440 , respectively. In this manner, when music marker device  101  is connected to server terminal  105  via user terminal  103 , information stored in marker device storage unit such as the bookmarks and the corresponding date and time stamp information may be transmitted to server terminal  105 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 5 is one embodiment of a database illustration of marker device ID exchange information in a storage unit of the electronic a music marker device. Referring to FIG. 5, ID exchange database  500  for device having ID “K01-U23-N45-I67” stored in device ID field  510  includes received ID field  520 , access level field  530  and ID reciprocity level field  540 .  
         [0040]    In one embodiment, ID exchange database  500  is configured to store device IDs received from other music marker devices and/or the corresponding access level for each received ID. Furthermore, ID exchange database  500  may also include ID reciprocity level field  540  in the case where the marker device which received another marker device ID also transmitted its own device ID to the device whose device ID it received.  
         [0041]    Referring back to FIG. 5, it can be seen that device with ID “K01-U23-N45-I67” has stored in its ID exchange database  500  device ID “A11-K21-K34-F23” in received ID field  520  with an “unrestricted” flag stored in the corresponding access level field  530  as well as an “unrestricted” flag stored in the corresponding ID reciprocity level field  540 , and corresponding to device ID “B32-F32-V67-J88” stored in received ID field  520 , a “restricted” flag and an “unrestricted” flag are respectively stored in the access level field  530  and ID reciprocity level field  540 . Furthermore, as can be seen, device ID “B33-D23-D45-K12” stored in received ID field  520  of ID exchange database  500  has corresponding thereto an “unrestricted” flag and a “restricted” flag stored in access level field  530  and ID reciprocity level field  540 , while device ID “Q01-C42-Q86-P11” stored in received ID field  520  has corresponding thereto “restricted” flags stored in both access level field  530  and ID reciprocity level field  540 .  
         [0042]    In this manner, it can be seen from ID exchange database  500  of music marker device with device ID “K01-U23-N45-I67” has received device IDs from four separate music marker devices having the corresponding device IDs stored in the respective rows in received ID field  520 , and each device ID stored in received ID field  520  including a flag in access level field  530  indicating the access level granted by the respective music marker devices for accessing their respective bookmarked playlists and other information provided from their emarker.com account, and a flag in ID reciprocity level field  540 .indicating the level of access granted to each marker device whose device ID and the corresponding access level flag has been received.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the electronic music marker device operation. Referring to FIG. 6, at step  610 , electronic music marker device  101  detects user&#39;s input operation of e-mark buttons  203 A,  203 B. Then, at step  620 , music marker device  101  illuminates or flashes a corresponding e-mark display panel  304   a,    304   b.  As discussed above, in one embodiment, the corresponding e-mark display panel  304   a,    304   b  may be configured to display time and/or date information of the user&#39;s input operation of e-mark buttons  203 A,  203 B.  
         [0044]    At step  630 , music marker device  101  determines whether all available e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  are being used (for example, illuminated or flashing in response to user&#39;s input operation of e-mark button  203 A,  203 B). If it is determined that there are e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  available, music marker device  101  waits for further input operation by the user at step  610 . On the other hand, if it is determined at step  530  that all available e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  are in use, then at step  640 , electronic music marker device  101  generates an output signal to inform the user that music marker device  101  has reached its maximum number of e-marks that it can handle, and the procedure ends. In one embodiment, the output signal from music marker device  101  to inform the user that it has reached its maximum number of e-marks it can handle may be an audible output signal such as an audible tone via an audio output terminal (not shown). Alternatively, music marker device  101  may be configured to flash all e-mark display panels  203 A.  203 B simultaneously for a predetermined period of time to visually indicate to the user that it has reached its maximum number of e-marks that it can handle.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 7 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of downloading data from the user&#39;s e-marker account to the music marker device. Referring to FIG. 7, at step  710 , music marker device  101  detects a connection to user terminal  103  connected to the internet. After the user enters the user&#39;s account information and performing necessary e-marker account access steps at user terminal  103 , at step  720 , data corresponding to the e-marks (bookmarks) stored in music marker device  101  is transmitted to the user&#39;s e-marker account via gateway terminal  130 , and in response, the corresponding text and/or image (including video) data are retrieved from server terminal  105  of e-marker.com web site and transmitted to the user&#39;s e-marker account. Then, at step  730 , the text and/or image data corresponding to each e-marks are downloaded onto music marker device  101 . At step  740 , the downloaded text and/or image data are displayed on each corresponding e-mark display panel  304   a,    304   b  on music marker device  101 .  
         [0046]    When the user disconnects music marker device  101  from user terminal  103 , the termination of the is detected at step  750 , and at step  760 , music marker device  101  is reset such that previously stored e-marks inputted by the user may be erased from the storage unit of music marker device  101 , and correspondingly, the illuminated e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  are turned off. The user may then operate e-mark button  203 A,  203 B again to input additional bookmarks of music clip broadcasts from registered radio and television broadcast stations.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a user terminal of the e-marker music find system. Referring to FIG. 8, user terminal  103  in one embodiment may include controller  810 , storage unit  820 , I/O interface unit  830 , input unit  840 , output unit  850  and clock  860 . Storage unit  820  of user terminal  103  may include one or more of an internal or an external storage device such as a hard disc drive (HDD), a CD-RW drive, or a zip drive. Input unit  840  of user terminal  103  may include one of or a combination of a keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad input device and a voice-recognition type input terminal including a microphone with corresponding software installed in user terminal  103  for performing input operations by voice commands. Controller  810  is coupled to input unit  840  and accordingly, may be configured to process the input data received from input unit  840 . Storage unit  820  is similarly coupled to controller  820 , and may be configured to store inputted data received from input unit  840  or other data received by user terminal  103 . Clock  860  also coupled to controller  810  may be configured to provide time information to controller  810  which, in turn, may be stored in storage unit  820  as discussed in further detail below.  
         [0048]    Referring back to FIG. 8, I/O interface unit  830  in one embodiment may be coupled to controller  810 , and may be configured to interface with other user terminals  103  in the network or to communicate with server terminal  105 . In one embodiment, I/O interface circuit  830  of user terminal  103  may include a communication port configured to connect to the date network  104  such as the internet via connections such as, but not limited to, a modem dial-up through an internet service provider (ISP), a DSL or cable modem-type connection, and a T1, IDSN or LAN type connection. Communication port integrated in I/O interface circuit  830  may include, among others, one of a USB port, a serial port, a parallel port, an IEEE  1394  communication port, a IrDA communication port, and a Bluetooth enabled communication port.  
         [0049]    Referring again to FIG. 8, output unit  850  of user terminal  103  may include display unit  851  and speakers  852 . Display unit  851  may be configured to output text, image (for example, in .jpg or .gif formats) or video data (for example, in .avi or .mpeg formats) while speakers may be configured to output sound data in the form of, for example, .wav file format. In this manner, user terminal  103  in one embodiment may be configured to communicate with server terminal  105  over the internet connection  104 .  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a server terminal in the e-marker information exchange system. Referring to FIG. 9, server terminal  105  includes display unit  920 , input unit  910 , controller  930 , input/output (I/O) interface unit  940 , memory (RAM/ROM)  950 , and storage unit  960 . Display unit  920  may be configured to display various information including the status of server terminal  105  connection, data transfer processing status, data upload information, and any other information related to the operation of server terminal  105 .  
         [0051]    Input unit  910  of server terminal  105  may be configured to provide input means for operations such as server terminal maintenance, data backup, data query and so on. As can be seen, both display unit  111  and input unit  910  are coupled to controller  930 . In one embodiment, controller  930  may be configured to control the display of information on display unit  920  in accordance with input operations received from input unit  910 . Alternatively, server terminal  105  may exclude display unit  920 .  
         [0052]    Referring back to FIG. 9, controller  930  of server terminal  105  is further coupled to memory  950 , storage unit  960  and I/O interface unit  940 . In one embodiment, controller  930  may be configured to control data access, retrieval and updating of the stored data in storage unit  960 . Moreover, controller  930  may further be configured to control the operation of I/O interface unit  940  which communicates with other terminals connected in the network over the internet connection  104 . In one embodiment, I/O interface circuit  840  may include a communication port configured to connect to other terminals in the network via connections such as, but not limited to, a modem dial-up through an internet service provider (ISP), a DSL or cable modem-type connection, and a T1, ISDN or LAN type connection. Communication port integrated in I/O interface circuit  840  may include, among others, one of a USB port, a serial port, a parallel port, an IEEE  1394  communication port, a IrDA communication port, and a Bluetooth enabled communication port.  
         [0053]    Referring again to FIG. 9, storage unit  960  of server terminal  105  may include internal or external storage devices such as a hard disc drive (HDD), a CD-RW drive, or a zip drive. In one embodiment, storage unit  960  may be configured to store a variety of data received by server terminal  105  and processed by server terminal  105 . In particular, storage unit  960  may include user account database  961 , playlist database  962 , and user playlist database  963 . User account database  960  as discussed in further detail below may be configured to store information related to the registered users of the emarker system such as, for example, user name, address, account name, account password, and account status. Playlist database  962  may be configured to store playlists for each registered radio station broadcasts periodically received from playlist provider  106 . Additionally, user playlist database  963  may be configured to store music clip broadcast playlists corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarks.  
         [0054]    As further shown in FIG. 9, controller  930  is coupled to memory  950  for accessing software and drivers for performing the various functions and processes of server terminal  105  for the e-marker fund music system. Indeed, in one embodiment, the e-marker information exchange system may be embodied as a computer program developed using an object oriented language that allows the modeling of complex systems with modular objects to create abstractions that are representative of real world, physical objects and their interrelationships. However, it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the various embodiments as described herein may be implemented in many different ways using a wide range of programming techniques as well as general purpose hardware systems or dedicated controllers.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 10 illustrates a user account database of server terminal  105  storage unit  960  shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 10, user account database  1060  may include a user name field  1010 , a marker identification (ID) field  1020 , a user account name field  1030 , a user billing information field  1040 , and a user contact information field  1050 . As can be seen from the figure, user name field  1010  may be configured to store the name of the user of music marker device  101 , while marker ID field  1020  may be configured to store the music marker device ID corresponding to the respective device user name. For example, marker ID field  920  corresponding to the user John First may be configured to store the value “A11-K21-K43-F23” which corresponds to the marker device ID of John First. Moreover, marker ID field  1020  corresponding to the user Matt Sawyer may be configured to store the value “K01-U23-N45-I67” as the marker ID for Matt Sawyer. In this manner, for each user and their respective electronic music marker devices, a unique marker ID may be stored in user account database  961 .  
         [0056]    Referring back to FIG. 10, user account name field  1030  may be configured to store each user&#39;s account name, typically provided by the user, or alternatively, automatically assigned by the server terminal  105  (FIG. 1) upon user registration at the e-marker web site. For example, user account name field  1030  corresponding to the user John First may include “FirstJ” indicating John First&#39;s account name. While the user account names stored in the user account name field  1030  are shown as a combination of each user&#39;s initials and/or names, in one aspect, the user account name may be a combination of letters and number, a unique series of number, or any other data string which may uniquely identify the respective user.  
         [0057]    As can be further seen from FIG. 10, user billing information field  1040  may be configured to store billing information such as credit card number, expiration date, and the type of credit card for each user. For example, user billing information field  1040  corresponding to the user Helen Owen may be configured to store the value “AM” indicating her American Express card, having a card number “1245-856978-01147”. In another aspect, user billing information field  1040  may include the user&#39;s bank account information such as the user&#39;s bank account name, account number, and so on. Moreover, in other embodiments, the user billing information field  1040  may include information corresponding to the user&#39;s transferable assets that the user wishes use as the preferred payment method for charges incurred, such as, for example, the user&#39;s frequent flier miles, the user&#39;s bank debit card, and so on.  
         [0058]    Referring again to FIG. 10, user contact information field  1050  may be configured to store contact information corresponding to each user. For example, in one aspect, user contact information field  1050  may be configured to store email addresses of each respective user. Alternatively, user contact information field  1050  may be configured to store a telephone number, a facsimile number, a pager number or any other type of contact information for the respective users. Moreover, user account database  961  may be further configured to store other relevant information corresponding to the users. In this manner, from the information stored in user account database  961 , server terminal  105  may retrieve information related to the respective user&#39;s account as well as to update the information stored in user account database  1061  based on received playlists from playlist provider  106  and/or the users themselves who are updating their corresponding account.  
         [0059]    [0059]FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of a playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 11, playlist database  962  includes broadcast time field  1110 , name of music clip field  1120 , name of artist field  1130 , and name of album field  1140  for storing broadcast information corresponding to music broadcasts from registered radio station having call number KROK. As can be seen, broadcast time field  1110  is configured to store the beginning of the broadcast time for the corresponding music clip as well as the date of broadcast, and each of name of music clip field  1120 , name of artist field  1130 , and name of album field  1140  is configured to store the corresponding name of the music, the name of the artist and the name of the album for the broadcast music clip.  
         [0060]    Indeed, in one embodiment, for each registered radio station, playlist provider  106  may be configured to transmit information related to the broadcasted music to server terminal  105  within a predetermined time from the actual broadcast time. Server terminal  105  is then configured to store the received playlist information for each registered radio stations in storage unit  960 . Server terminal  105  may also be configured to update playlist database  962  periodically or at each predetermined interval based on playlist information received from playlist provider  106  such that the data stored in playlist database  962  is maintained as up to date as possible. Furthermore, while only one playlist database  962  is shown in FIG. 9, in accordance with the present invention, server terminal  105  may be configured to generate, store and update a playlist database similar to that shown in FIG. 11 for each radio broadcast station. Moreover, within the scope of the present invention, additional data fields may be incorporated in playlist database  962 . Such additional data may include, for example, the number of music clip broadcast over a predetermined time period such as the number of same song broadcast within one day, the frequency information corresponding to the radio station broadcasting the music clips, and the Billboard chart ranking for each broadcast music album.  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 12 illustrates one embodiment of a user playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 12, playlist database  963  stored in server terminal  105  for user John First having user account name “FirstJ” includes music title field  1210 , name of artist field  1220  corresponding to the name of the music title stored in music title field  1210 , bookmark event field  1230 , corresponding broadcast station field  1240 , and genre field  1250 .  
         [0062]    As can be seen from the Figure, for each bookmark entered by John First using his electronic music marker device, once connected and synchronized with server terminal  105  via user terminal  103 , information corresponding to the bookmarks are stored in the respective fields of user playlist database  963 . For example, it can be seen from FIG. 12 that John First bookmarked the broadcast of the song titled “Ride the Lightning” by Metallica at 12:14 PM on Feb. 1, 2001, and that the song was broadcast from a radio station having call number KROK, the song classified in the hard rock category. In this manner, for each user of music marker device, server terminal  105  is configured to generate and store in user playlist database  962  information corresponding to the music broadcasts received from playlist provider  106  and the bookmarking information from each user&#39;s music marker device  101  via user terminal  103 . Additionally, server terminal  105  may be configured to add additional data fields to user playlist database  963  as well as to modify and update user playlist database  963 .  
         [0063]    FIGS.  13 A- 13 B are flowcharts for illustrating one embodiment of electronic music marker device ID exchange procedure. Referring to FIG. 13A, in one embodiment, at step  1301 , a music marker device, for example, music marker device  101 A detects device ID exchange mode transmitted from another music marker device, for example, music marker device  101 B. At step  1302 , device  101 A receives device ID and a corresponding access level flag (for example, “restricted” to “unrestricted”) from device  101 B. Thereafter, device  101 A stores the received device ID and access level flag in the corresponding received ID field  520  and access level field  530  of ID exchange database  500  in memory  201 .  
         [0064]    Optionally, upon receiving the device ID and the corresponding access level flag from device  101 B, device  101 A may prompt its user to select whether the user wishes to transmit its own device ID and a desired access level flag to device  101 B. In the case that the user of device  101 A decides to transmit its own device ID, device  101 A may be configured to transmit its device ID and the user selected access level flag to device  101 B. In this manner, similar to bookmarking music clips broadcast over a radio or a television station, music marker devices  101  may be configured to directly exchange their respective unique device IDs and with an appropriate access level flag. As discussed previously, devices  101 A- 101 C may directly communicate with each other to transmit and receive data to and from one another via I/O interface  205  through a communication port such as, for example, a Bluetooth enabled communication port, an IrDA port, and so on.  
         [0065]    Referring to FIG. 13B, a user initiation of device ID exchange procedure is shown. In particular, at step  1311 , the user of a music marker device, for example, device  101 B decides to share (or transmit) the device ID with a desired access level to another device, for example, device  101 C so that the user of device  101 C may access the bookmarked music clips of device  101 B. In one aspect, the user of device  101 B may initiate the device ID exchange mode by operating one of input units  203 A- 203 B by, for example, hard pressing one of input units  203 A- 203 B for a predetermined time period such as three seconds, for example.  
         [0066]    Then, the user is prompted to select a desired access level to be attached to the transmission of its device ID to device  101 C. In particular, in one embodiment, a prompt signal may be displayed on display unit  207  of device  101 A for the user to choose between a “restricted” flag and an “unrestricted” flag. Once the user selects the desired access level for the particular device ID transmission to device  101 C at step  1312 , then at step  1313 , the device ID stored in device ID database  202  in memory  201  of device  101 A is retrieved, and with the selected access level flag, transmitted to device  101 C via I/O interface unit  205  of device  101 B. Optionally, device  101 B may be configured to generate and store a log of all transmission of its device IDs and the selected access level flags in memory  201  at step  1314 .  
         [0067]    In this manner, users of music marker devices may exchange their device IDs with a corresponding access level flags selected by the users such that other music marker devices may access the playlists of music clips bookmarked by the device users. Accordingly, in one embodiment, music marker device users may conveniently exchange bookmarked music clip playlists with friends, colleagues and acquaintances, and any other users of music marker devices and access that information through their respective emarker.com accounts without the need to recall the bookmarked music clip information.  
         [0068]    FIGS.  14 A- 14 B are flowcharts for illustrating one embodiment of retrieving and transmitting playlist of other music marker devices after ID exchange procedure. Referring to FIG. 14A, at step  1401 , marker device is coupled to user terminal for connection to e-marker.com server terminal. At step  1402 , user terminal  103  is configured to transmit stored bookmarks of music clips and device IDs with access level flags received from other devices to server terminal  105  via data network  104 . Thereafter, the user receives at user terminal  103  prompts to access playlists corresponding to the transmitted device IDs from server terminal  105  in addition to the information corresponding to its bookmarked music clips. Upon selection of the desired device ID(s), at step  1404 , information corresponding to bookmarked music clips such as playlists of selected devices is received at user terminal  103  from server terminal  105 .  
         [0069]    In one embodiment, the information corresponding to bookmarked music clips such as playlists of selected devices received from server terminal  105  is similar to the information received from server terminal  105  corresponding to its own bookmarked music clips. For example, in one embodiment, for received device ID with access level flag “unrestricted”, the user of marker device that received this device ID may receive from server terminal all information related to the bookmarked music clips corresponding to the device with the received device ID such as the bookmarked music title information, time and date information corresponding to each bookmarked music. On the other hand, in the case where the access level flag for the received device ID is “restricted”, then the user of marker device who received this device ID may only be provided with limited information such as only the bookmarked music title information.  
         [0070]    Referring to FIG. 14B, server terminal processing for device ID exchange is shown. In particular, at step  1411 , server terminal  105  detects a connection or a plurality of connections from user terminal(s)  103 . Then at step  1412 , bookmarks and device IDs with corresponding access level flags are received from the connected user terminal(s)  103 . Upon receiving the bookmarks and the device ID(s), server terminal  105  is configured to access user playlist database  963  of storage unit  960  corresponding to the received device ID(s) to retrieve information stored therein related to the bookmarked music clips from, for example, playlists stored in user playlist database  963  corresponding to the users of the received device ID(s). Thereafter at step  1414 , server terminal retrieves playlists and information related to the playlists from the accessed user playlist database  963  based on the access level flag corresponding to the received device ID(s). The retrieved information and playlists are then transmitted to user terminal(s)  103  that transmitted the device ID(s) for output display on display unit  207  of user terminal(s)  103 .  
         [0071]    Server terminal  105  may further be configured to store and/or in user account database  961  corresponding to marker device user who, via user terminal  103  transmitted the bookmarks and received device IDs with access level flags, a record of requesting and receiving bookmarked music clip playlists of other marker device users. Additionally, server terminal  105  may also be configured to transmit a notification message or signal to user terminal  103  of marker device user whose user playlist database has been accessed by server terminal  105  for transmission of information stored therein to another marker device user terminal.  
         [0072]    In the manner described above, in accordance with the various aspects of the present invention, users of music marker devices may easily and conveniently share information corresponding to their respective bookmarked music clips with each other, while retaining, if desired, a certain degree of security by imposing access level flags, for example with each exchange of device IDs with each other.  
         [0073]    Various other modifications and alterations in the structure and method of operation of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the present invention and that structures and methods within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.