Abstract:
System, method and program for obtaining WWW information of interest to a user. The WWW information is related to a subject in a television, radio or other type of program which is broadcast. Before the program is broadcast, a plurality of documents are stored in a user device. Each of the documents has a plurality of categories. While the program is broadcast, a user indicates to the user device interest in a subject in the program currently being broadcast and selects one of the documents. In response, the user device displays the one document, and the user selects one of the categories in the one document. The user device determines a time that the user indicated the interest in the subject and transmits the time to a computer associated with the broadcast. In response, the computer correlates the time to an associated hyperlink referencing WWW information related to the subject, and transmits the associated hyperlink to the user device. In response, the user device correlates the hyperlink to the one category. Subsequently, the user device displays the hyperlink in association with the one category. If the user selects the hyperlink, the user device downloads and displays a web page or web file addressed by the hyperlink.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly to identifying Web information related to subjects in a program broadcast. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The Internet including the World Wide Web (“WWW” or “Web”) are well known today to provide access to information. The Internet is a global network of computers interconnected by network devices and using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”) or other such protocol. With the increasing size and complexity of the Internet, “navigators” or “navigation system” tools have been developed to help users find information on the network. The Web provides Internet-based navigation, information distribution and management, and a dynamic format for communicating on the Web. The Web integrates images, text, audio and video. A user on the Web, by means of a graphical user interface, can transparently communicate with different computers on the Internet, different system applications, and different information formats for files and documents including text, sound and graphics. 
     Currently, on-line systems on the Web offer a variety of different services to users, for example, private message services, electronic commerce, news, real-time games, access to electronic databases, electronic newsletters, business-to-business transactions, or job placement services. Even though such on-line services are now available, the Web remains essentially an open, multi-point to multi-point network where each user can select and retrieve different information from many different servers. Searching and finding relevant information is sometimes difficult, even for experienced users. 
     Some people who watch a television program want access to related complementary data, such as stocks and products prices, traffic and weather conditions, athletic records on Olympic Games or updated football scores. Other complementary information associated with a broadcast program may consist of the biography of a player in a football match, historical background on events cited during a news program or a recipe of an apple cake on a cooking show. Some consumers would like access to special services associated with advertised products such as product features, location of points of sales, discounts or coupons. 
     Some television broadcasts display and radio broadcasts state an Internet address to allow inquiries concerning the program that is broadcast. The user can then turn-on a computer and manually enter the Internet address. Other systems allow the exchange of digital information with a user watching the television by combining this information with the television signal e.g., teletext. However, such systems limit the access to a single information source and this source is entirely under the control of the broadcast or cable television operator. 
     It is also known to use a television as a terminal for accessing the Web. It is also known to integrate Web and TV by transmitting along with a video signal, a Web page showing for example statistics concerning a player during a sports game. The integration of Web and television, known as WebTV, has been made possible by the arrival of digital TV. In fact, many of the services associated with WebTV are available today on the Web. The data processing technology and the transmission technology used for the television and the Web are converging. Now TV sets are more and more “intelligent”, and this intelligence requires upgrading of hardware for supporting the Web functions. 
     Unlike the multi-point to multi-point Web network, broadcast radio and television are primarily single-point to multi-point networks. The program is continuously broadcast in the same direction from a transmitter to multiple receivers, from a provider to multiple consumers. Every user receives the same content from a single broadcasting station. 
     Until recently, there was no way for producers of broadcast television or radio programs to create hyperlinks to access complementary information related to a broadcast program. The systems that are proposed require the transmission of the complementary information in a secondary signal, concurrently with the retransmission of the main program. Transmitting interactive data on interactive television (iTV) involves transmitting data along with normal program content. Two data channels are typically employed in an iTV connection. One is the vertical blanking interval, or VBI (lines at the top of the television raster that are not normally displayed on a television set), and the other is a “backchannel” (e.g., a telephone line). The VBI is typically used to send triggers and links. The backchannel is used to retrieve interactive content to be displayed on the television screen. EIA-608 standard describes data formatting, protocol and channel priority of data encoded in line 21 of the vertical blanking interval. Generally speaking, captions and data encoded in line 21 operate according to Transport A, as described in the ATVEF specification. An overview on the subject and standards is described in a document entitled “Interactive Television for Terrestrial Broadcasters”, by Brad Gilmer, Broadcast Engineering, Sep. 1, 2000, incorporated by reference herein. 
     With these systems, the radio listeners or television viewers must be equipped with special decoder circuits to recover the complementary information. Proposals based on the transmission of means for identifying television programs or URLs associated with television programs during the vertical blanking interval (VBI) period require special decoders. The problem for providing interactive services to radio listeners or television viewers, is related to the fact that the users of the foregoing devices receive visual and/or oral information. The communication of complementary information to the users requires a specific transmitter on the TV or radio set and a specific receiver on the wireless user device. Without such a specific transmitter and receiver, it is impossible with conventional TV sets, to interact with broadcast programs to seek additional information or services. 
     International patent application WO 02/091228 (with corresponding European Patent EP1391111 and Taiwan Patent NI-182398 (TW0540235B) both assigned to IBM Corporation) entitled “System and method for enhancing broadcast programs with information on the world wide web” discloses a system and method for enabling a radio listener or a television viewer to access complementary information related to a broadcast program received in real-time without using special receivers, decoders or transmitters for transmitting information from the broadcast program receiver to the user. A person receives a broadcast program, and selects one or more topics drawing his or her attention, to immediately or later access additional information related to these topics from the Word Wide Web. The system is based on the synchronization of the local times between users and transmitters according to a same universal-time, so that the flow of information transmitted and received is always synchronized, independently of the relative positions of the users receivers and transmitters. The synchronization is done referring to a universal time such as the Global Positioning System Time GPS-time, the Global Orbiting Navigational Satellite System GLONASS time or another suitable universal time based on a satellite system. The GPS or GLONASS receivers are connected or integrated to the broadcasting stations. At the receiver side, GPS or GLONASS receivers are integrated or connected to devices e.g., Personal Computers, wearable computers, Personal Digital Assistants PDAs, cell phones or onboard mobile computers that can be independent or separate from the radio or television receivers. The system is also based on a plurality of hyperlinks defined for a given duration corresponding to the retransmission of a program. The hyperlinks are associated with the transmitted information. The hyperlinks can be retrieved, selected and activated by radio listeners or television viewers during the time intervals for which they have been defined. The referenced patent application enables a user to create lists named “Selections Tables” of interesting topics from the received broadcast programs and then to access multimedia information or services related to these topics by connecting to the Internet network. 
     An object of the present invention is to enable a viewer of a television program or a listener of a radio program to obtain additional information about the program. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention resides in a system, method and program for obtaining WWW information of interest to a user. The WWW information is related to a subject in a television, radio or other type of program which is broadcast. Before the program is broadcast, a plurality of documents are stored in a user device. Each of the documents has a plurality of categories. While the program is broadcast, a user indicates to the user device interest in a subject in the program currently being broadcast and selects one of the documents. In response, the user device displays the one document, and the user selects one of the categories in the one document. The user device determines a time that the user indicated the interest in the subject and transmits the time to a computer associated with the broadcast. In response, the computer correlates the time to an associated hyperlink referencing WWW information related to the subject, and transmits the associated hyperlink to the user device. In response, the user device correlates the hyperlink to the one category. Subsequently, the user device displays the hyperlink in association with the one category. If the user selects the hyperlink, the user device downloads and displays a web page or web file addressed by the hyperlink. 
     In accordance with other features of the present invention, a system, method and computer program enables a user observing a radio or television program broadcast, by means of a stand-alone user device (i.e., not connected to a broadcast program receiver or to a communications network) to select topics of interest in the broadcast programs, select electronic documents stored in the user&#39;s device, e.g., a concert program, a map of a town&#39;s region, and link categories selected from the electronic documents to the topics selected from the broadcast programs. Once one or several topics from broadcast programs have been selected and have been associated with the corresponding categories selected from the documents, the user&#39;s device connects to a communications network e.g., to the Internet network, to retrieve from servers connected to the communications network, hyperlinks to multimedia information or services related with the topics selected from the broadcast programs. Then, the user&#39;s device associate the received hyperlinks with the corresponding categories in the electronic documents stored in the user&#39;s device, and activates the hyperlinks from the categories to have access to the multimedia information or services related to the categories. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows the main components of the invention for enabling a television viewer to select an interesting topic from a broadcast program, and linking an object in a electronic document to information or services related to the selected topic. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a process of synchronizing broadcast programs according to a universal-time and shows how hyperlinks are defined for various topics in these broadcast programs, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows an electronic document comprising references to a broadcast program or topics related to a broadcast program. 
         FIG. 4  shows how a user, after selecting a topic in a broadcast program, drags a new topic selection object to a selected location on the electronic document, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  shows how a user drops a topic selection object on a selected location on the document, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates the process of retrieving from broadcast channel servers hyperlinks between topic selection objects created on a document and multimedia information or services, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates the step of associating with a topic selection object, the hyperlinks list received from the broadcast channel server, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates how a user, by selecting a topic selection object created on an electronic document, can access to multimedia information on servers connected to a network, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  shows in detail how a user selects a topic selection object on an electronic document and then selects and activates a hyperlink from an associated hyperlink list, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating a program in a user device for linking a user to a location selected on a document to a topic selected from a broadcast program, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart of other steps of the program of  FIG. 10  in the user device and steps of another program in a server for retrieving hyperlinks associated with topics selection objects created on a document from topics selected by the user from broadcast programs, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart of other steps of the program of  FIG. 10  in the user device for enabling a user to access from a topic selection object defined on a document related multimedia information or services from a server connected to a network, according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the present invention is directed to a system, method and computer product for enabling a radio listener or a television viewer  105  of a radio or television broadcast program  106  received in real-time from a broadcast station  107 , by means of a stand-alone user device  100  i.e., not connected to a network  620  and not connected to the broadcast program receiver  114 :
         to manually select  102  interesting topics  104  in the broadcast programs  106  e.g., songs played during a broadcasted concert, broadcast news about public events in a town;   to select and display electronic documents  101  e.g., a concert program, a map of a town, an agenda; and   to link objects or points  103  selected on the electronic documents  101  displayed on the user device  100  to the topics selected  104  by the user in the broadcast programs  106  e.g., to link the title of a song written on a concert program to the broadcast song; to link the location of a town represented on a digital map to a broadcast program concerning a public event performed in this town.       

     As shown in  FIG. 1 , when one or a plurality of topics  104  in the broadcast programs  106  have been selected and linked by the user to objects or points  103  in the electronic documents  101 , the user&#39;s device  100  connects  650  to a communications network  620  e.g., to the Internet network:
         to retrieve from broadcast channel servers  109 ,  612 ,  622 , hyperlinks  640  to multimedia information or services related to the topics  104  selected from the broadcast programs  106  e.g., hyperlinks to web pages related to lyrics, author or records of a song; hyperlinks to web pages related to public services, history or shopping centers of a town, and   to automatically associate the received hyperlinks  640  with the corresponding documents objects or points  103 , in order to create hyperlinks from selected documents objects or points  103  to information or services related with the topics  104  selected from the broadcast programs  106  e.g., hyperlinks from the title of a song written on a concert program, to the song lyrics, the author or records; hyperlinks from a place in a town represented on a digital map, to information related to the public services, the history or the shopping centers of this town.       

     Also, as illustrated by  FIGS. 8 and 9 , when hyperlinks between the selected documents objects or points  103  and information or services related to topics  104  selected from broadcast programs  106  have been created, the user&#39;s device  100  connects  808  to the communications network  620  e.g., to the Internet network. The present invention enables:
         to select an electronic document  101  and to display hyperlinked objects or points  300  defined on the electronic document;   to select  920  anyone of the document hyperlinked objects or points  300 ;   to display the one or plurality of hyperlinks  901  associated with the selected document object or point  300 ; and   to select  920  and activate anyone of the hyperlinks  930 ,  804  to have access to multimedia information or services  807  on servers  803  connected to the network  620 .       

     Synchronization According to a Universal-Time 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the present invention is based on synchronization according to a same universal-time  111  such as for example, the Universal Time Coordinated UTC or the Global Positioning System GPS time of the local time  113  clock used in the broadcast station  107 , and the local time  110  clock used in the user device  100 . 
     According to this principle, the flow of information transmitted  106  by the broadcast station  107  and the flow of information received  104  and recorded  102  by the users devices  100  are permanently synchronized, independently of the relative position of the broadcast station  107  and the users  105 . The local time  110  at which the selections  102  of interesting topics  104  received from a broadcast program  106  are entered on the users&#39; devices  100 , can be compared with the local time  113  used by the broadcast station  107 . It is then possible to identify which topics or sequences  104  have been broadcast at the time  110  where the selections  102  have been made by the users. 
     Hyperlinks 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the present invention is also based on the definition of hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  associated with particular topics or sequences  203  of the broadcast programs  106 . During the broadcasting of a program  106 , hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  and universal-time intervals  243  associated with particular topics and sequences  203 , are logged by the broadcast station  107  on a Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 . For each topic or sequence  203 , the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  keeps a record of the universal-time interval  243  during which this topic or sequence has been broadcast, and an associated record  220  comprising a list of hyperlinks names and URLs  231 ,  232 ,  233  associated with this topic or sequence  203 . 
       FIG. 2  also shows how a plurality of hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  can be logged and selected at the same time  202 . The hyperlinks list  220  referencing hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  corresponding to the selections  203  made by the users e.g., by pressing a reserved key  102  on the users devices  100 , are retrieved from the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  because the broadcast station  107  and user&#39;s devices  100  are always synchronized. 
     In a particular embodiment of the invention, the synchronization is done referring to a universal time such as the Global Positioning System Time GPS-time, the Global Orbiting Navigational Satellite System GLONASS time or another suitable universal time based on a satellite system. The GPS or GLONASS receivers  113  are connected to or integrated in the broadcasting stations  107 . At the receiver side, GPS or GLONASS, receivers  110  can be connected to or integrated in the user&#39;s devices  100 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the present invention is based on a system in which programs  200  are broadcast according to a universal time  113 .  FIG. 2  shows how topics  203  in the broadcast program  200  and hyperlinks  231 ,  232 ,  233  are associated and how, when transmitters and receivers are synchronized, the hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  can be selected  201  by radio listeners or television viewers during predefined time intervals  243 . 
     As illustrated also in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the Broadcast Station  107  e.g., a TV station receives a timing signal from a universal-time receiver  113  e.g., from a GPS receiver delivering GPS Time signals. During the broadcasting of a program  106 , the Broadcast Station or transmitter  107  updates a database on a Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  i.e., a server linked to the transmitter. This database comprises universal time intervals  243  for instance GPS-time intervals during which hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  between the topics  104 ,  203  on the broadcast program  106 ,  200  and resource addresses URLs: Uniform Resource Locators  231 ,  232 ,  233  of Web pages are “alive” and can be retrieved by radio listeners or television viewers  105 . Each hyperlink  223  logged on the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , is tagged with a universal-time interval  243  e.g., with the GPS Time interval corresponding to the broadcast of a topic or sequence  203 . 
     Linking Selected Locations on a Document to Topics Selected from a Broadcast Program 
     When a person  105  listens to or watches a broadcast program  106 , some topics may draw his or her attention. This person may wish to obtain complementary information concerning these particular topics. To that aim, the present invention discloses a method for use on a user device  100 , for creating a link from a selected point or location  103  of an electronic document  101  previously selected by the user, to a topic  104  chosen by the user from a broadcast program. The object of this link is to receive, immediately or at a later time, additional information or services related to the topic selected from the broadcast program. 
     Channel Table 
     As a preliminary step, for enabling a user  105  to select one or several topics of interest  104  in a program  106  received among a plurality of different broadcast channels  108 , a Channel Table, like the one illustrated hereinafter, is created beforehand and stored on the user device  100 . This Channel Table is filled with information related to the broadcast channels that have been previously programmed on the receiver  114 . The Channel Table stores information required to access from the user device  100  when connected to a communications network  620 , a plurality of Broadcast Channel Information Servers  109 ,  612 ,  622  throughout the network. The Channel Table comprises a list of channel numbers e.g., Channels: 03, 25, 17, 33, 72 and, for each channel number e.g., Channel 03: the name of the broadcasting station e.g., CBC/Radio-Canada; and the resource address for example, the URL  112  of the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  associated with said channel 
     e.g., http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/link-live-broadcast/ 
     The information concerning the Channel Table is previously recorded on the user device  100  and can be provided by any of the many information sources available today e.g., by TV or radio operators, from newspapers, the Web, etc. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 BROADCAST 
                 CHANNEL INFORMATION 
               
               
                 CHANNEL 
                 STATION 
                 SERVER URL 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 03 
                 CBC/Radio- 
                 http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/link-live-broadcast/ 
               
               
                   
                 Canada 
               
               
                 25 
                 TV2 
                 http:/www.tve2_link.com/link-live-broadcast/ 
               
               
                 17 
                 TV5 
                 http:/www.tve5_link.com/link-live-broadcast/ 
               
               
                 33 
                 CNN-NEWS 
                 http:/www.cnn_news_link.com/link-live-broadcast/ 
               
               
                 72 
                 NBC 
                 http:/www.nbc_link.com/link-live-broadcast/ 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Channel Table 
     Linking Selected Locations of a Document to Selected Topics 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a computer program  1000  on a user device  100 , for enabling a listener  105  of a radio program or a viewer of a TV program  106 , to select a topic of interest during the broadcasting of this radio or TV program, and to create a link from a location (or object, such as a word)  103  selected by the listener or the viewer on a document  101 , to the selected topic  104 . Program  1000  is stored on tangible storage device  57  for execution by one or more processors  51  via RAM  55  using operating system  53 . Program  1000  identifies the server associated with the channel broadcasting the radio or TV program, by the following program steps:
           1001 —receiving a broadcast program  106  from a broadcast station  107 ;     1002 —identifying the broadcast channel  108  broadcasting the program  106 ; and     1003 —selecting from a Channel Table i.e., a bookmarks list stored on the user device  100  the resource address URL  112  of a server  109  associated with the broadcast channel  108 .       

     For each interesting topic  104  selected by the user  105  from the broadcast program  106 , the user and program  1000  create a topic selection object on an electronic document, by the following program steps:
           1004 —receiving from the user  105 , a topic selection command  102 ,  201 ;     1005 —determining by means of a universal-time device  110 , the universal time  111 ,  202 —corresponding to the reception of the topic selection command  102 ;     1006 —creating a topic selection object  300  comprising:
           an icon  301 ; and   the resource address URL  302  of an hyperlink to the selected topic  203  on the broadcast channel information server  109 ;   
           using the resource address URL  112  of the broadcast channel information server  109  and the universal time  111 ,  202  of the topic selection command  102 ;     1007 —receiving from the user  105 , a command for selecting an electronic document  101 ;     1008 —receiving from the user, an input gesture  401  selecting a topic selection object  300 ;     1009 —receiving from the user, an input gesture dragging  402  the topic selection object  300  to a selected point or location  403  on the electronic document  101 ;     1010 —receiving from the user, an input gesture dropping  503  the topic selection object  300  onto the selected point or location  504  on the electronic document  101 .       

     Selection of a Topic in a Broadcast Program 
       FIG. 1  shows how, when a user  105  perceives a topic of interest  104  in a broadcast program  106 , this user can immediately select this topic e.g., by pressing a reserved key on the user device  100 . The user selection results in the generation of a “get-new-topic” command or topic selection command  102 . In  FIG. 1 , the user device  100  and the broadcast program receiver  114  are independent and separate. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates how, when a topic selection command  102 ,  201  is received, the user device  100  immediately determines the universal-time of the selection e.g., 28/10/2003-20:27:03  202  by means of a universal-time receiver e.g., from GPS receiver  110 . By means of the channel number e.g., channel number 03 selected on the broadcast program receiver  114 , the user identifies in the Channel Table stored on the user device  100 :
         the Broadcast Station e.g., CBC/Radio-Canada to which the broadcast program receiver  114  is tuned, and   the address URL e.g., http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/link-live-broadcast  112  of the associated Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 .
 
The universal-time e.g., GPS Time: 28/10/2003-20:27:03 corresponding to the topic selection command, and the address URL e.g.,
 
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/link-live-broadcast/ of the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  are then associated to generate the address URL, e.g.,
 
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/link-live-broadcast/
 
?&amp;year=2003&amp;month=10&amp;day=28&amp;hour=20&amp;min=27&amp;sec=03
 
 210  required to access from the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , a list of hyperlinks  220  related to the topic  104  selected by the user  105  from the broadcast program  106 ,  200 .
       

     The use of a common universal-time system  110 ,  113  between the broadcast station  107  and the user device  100 , allows to precisely synchronize the various topics of the broadcast program  200  time intervals during which program topics are transmitted: T 1 , T 2 , T 3 , T 4 , T 5  recorded in the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  with the time of the selections  102 ,  202  made by the user  105  and detected by the user device  100 . Therefore, the hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223 , active on the Broadcast Station  107  when the selections  102 ,  201  of topics  104  are performed remotely by users  105 , can be identified without any error, independently of the relative location of the Broadcast Stations and listeners or viewers. 
     Creation of a Topic Selection Object on a Document 
       FIG. 3  illustrates how, according to the present invention, each time the user  105  selects a new topic  104  in a broadcast program  106 , a topic selection object  300  represented by an icon  301  is automatically created and displayed on the user device  100 . The resource address URL of the selected topic  210 ,  302  is also automatically associated as an attribute with this object  301 .  FIG. 3  also illustrates how the user  105  selects a document e.g., the document entitled: “CBC/Radio-Canada to Offer Queen&#39;s Golden Jubilee Gala Concert”  101  somehow related to the topic e.g., the song entitled “Call Me Madam”  104  previously selected from the broadcast program. The selected document  101  is displayed on the same user device, along with the icon of the newly created topic selection object  301 . The selected document  101  can also comprise references or objects e.g., figures, pictures, words, paragraphs  320  related to the topics received on the broadcast program  106 . 
     Dragging and Dropping a Topic Selection Objects on a Document 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate how, according to present invention, once the user has selected a topic  104  in a broadcast program  106 , and has selected an electronic document  101 , he or she associates this topic with this document. By pointing, e.g., by means of any type of pointing device on the icon of the created topic selection object  300 , the user selects  401 , drags  402 ,  403 , and drops  503  the topic selection object into a selected location  504  of the document, preferably into the vicinity of a document item, e.g., a word or a phrase or a document location e.g., a point in a digital map somehow related to the topic selected from the broadcast program. 
     In the example illustrated by  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the user selects, drags and drops the topic selection object  300  related to the selection of the song: “Call Me Madam” received from a broadcast program  106 , to a point on the electronic document entitled “CBC/Radio-Canada to Offer Queen&#39;s Golden Jubilee Gala Concert”. The point on the electronic document is chosen in connection with the program of the live concert during which the selected song is broadcast. In the present example the point selected by the user to drop and therefore, to associate the icon  300  of the topic selection object, i.e., the icon associated to the song entitled “Call Me Madam”, corresponds to the entry  504  of the song title on the program of the concert, i.e.: 
     “The Hostess with the Mostes&#39; on the Ball” from Call Me Madam Therefore, the location where the icon of a topic selection object is placed on the document, enables the user to conceptually relate the document items displayed on the vicinity of the icon to the topic selected from the broadcast program. 
     User Device and Associated Computer Program 
     For implementing the method for linking selected items or locations  103  of a document  101  to selected topics  104  received from a broadcast program  106 , the present invention includes a computer program  1000  executing in a user device  100  including or connected to an universal-time receiver e.g., a GPS receiver and antenna  110 . The computer program comprises instructions for:
         a receiving a user input specifying the resource address URL  112  of a broadcast channel information server  109 ;   receiving a user input  102  indicating the selection of a topic  104  in the broadcast program  106 ;   receiving from a universal-time device  110 , the universal time  111  corresponding to the selection  102 ;   creating a topic selection object  300  made of:
           an icon  301  and   the resource address URL  302  of an hyperlink to the selected topic  203  on the broadcast channel information server  109 ;   
           by means of
           the resource address URL  112  of the broadcast channel information server  109 ; and   the universal time  111 ,  202  of the selection:   
           receiving a user input for selecting an electronic document  101 ;   receiving a user input  401  for selecting a topic selection object  300 ;   receiving a user input  402  for dragging the topic selection object  300  to a selected document location  403 ;   receiving a user input for dropping the topic selection object  300  onto a selected document location  504 .       

     Retrieving from a Document Hyperlinks Associated with Topics Selection Objects 
     After the user has selected one or a plurality of interesting topics  104  from one or a plurality of broadcast programs  106  and has linked the corresponding topic selection objects  300  to selected positions  103 ,  504  on the electronic documents  101 , hyperlinks are automatically created from the topic selection objects  300  to information or services related to the corresponding selected topics  104 ,  203 . To that aim, the present invention discloses that computer program  1000 , on user device  100  connected to a communications network e.g., to the Internet network  620 , has other program steps for retrieving from Broadcast Channel Information Servers  109 ,  612 ,  622 , hyperlinks  640 ,  220  to multimedia information or services related to the topics  104 ,  203  selected from the broadcast programs  106 , and for associating the retrieved hyperlinks  640 ,  220  with the corresponding topic selection objects  300 . As shown in the  FIG. 11 , for each topic selection object  300  defined on the electronic document  101 , computer program  1000  on user device  100  includes program steps  1101 ,  1104  and  1105 , and computer program  1102 ,  1103  on server  109 , perform the following steps:
           1101 —The user device accesses  650  through the network  620  a Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  by means of the resource address URL  501 ,  630  of the topic selection object  300 ;   a  1102 —The Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  parses the received resource address URL  630 ,  210 , and extracts the universal-time  202  at which the topic was selected by the user  105 ;     1103 —The Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  identifies the list  220  comprising the one or plurality of hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  that were active during the broadcast of the program  106  at the received universal-time  202  of the topic selection. The hyperlinks list  220  comprises, for each hyperlink:
           a name or short description  230  of the multimedia information or service accessible through the network  620 ;   the resource address URL  231  for accessing within the network  620  the multimedia information or service;   
             1104 —The user device  100  retrieves through the network  620  the hyperlinks list  220 ,  640  located on the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 ;     1105 —The user device sets a property or attribute associated with the topic selection object  300  to the hyperlinks list  701 ,  220  received from the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , thereby linking the topic selection object  300  to the hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  defined on the hyperlinks list  701 ,  220 .       

     Retrieving Hyperlinks 
       FIG. 6  shows how, using the resource address URL  630 ,  501  of the topic selection object, e.g., 
     http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/link-live-broadcast/?&amp;year=2003&amp;month=10&amp;day=28&amp;h our=20&amp;min=27&amp;sec=03, 
     the user device  100  sends a request to the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  to retrieve the one or plurality of hyperlinks  640 ,  220  related to the broadcast topic  104  selected by the user  105  from the broadcast program  106  received from the Broadcast Station  107  at the universal-time  202 ,  111  corresponding to the selection  201 ,  102  made by the user. 
     As illustrated also by  FIG. 2 , when a request  210 ,  630  through the network  620  is received from a user device  100 , the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , using the selection universal-time e.g., 28/10/2003-20:27:03  202  comprised in the request  210 , identifies in a database on this server the one or plurality of hyperlinks  231 ,  232 ,  233  that were active at the universal-time of the selection  202 . The information related to the identified hyperlinks including for each hyperlink the hyperlink description or short name  230  and address or URL  231  is extracted as an hyperlinks list  220  from the database and transmitted through the network  620  to the user device  100 . 
     Setting an Attribute to the Hyperlink List 
       FIG. 7  shows how, after retrieving from Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  on the user device  100  the hyperlinks list  220 ,  640 , a property or attribute associated with the topic selection object  300  is set to the hyperlinks list  701 ,  220 , thereby linking the topic selection object  300  to the hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  defined on the hyperlinks list  701 ,  220 . 
     Highlighting Preexisting Document Objects 
     In an particular embodiment of the invention, the method can be adapted to further include the step of determining whether or not the location  703  of topic selection object  300  references a preexisting document object e.g., a word, or a phrase  702 , and if so marking e.g., highlighting, underlining the preexisting document object  702  and setting a property associated with it to the hyperlinks list  701 ,  220  received from the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , thereby linking the preexisting document object  702  to the hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  defined on the hyperlinks list  701 . 
     User Device and Associated Computer Program 
     For implementing the method of retrieving hyperlinks between topics selections objects  300  created on a document  101 , and multimedia information or services, associated with topics  104  selected by a user from broadcast programs  106 , the system according to the present invention includes a first computer program residing on the user device  100  and a second computer program residing on the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , the user device and the Broadcast Channel Information Server being both connected to a communications network  620 . The computer programs comprise instructions to: 
     for each topic selection object  300  defined on the document  101 : 
     
         
         
           
             use the URL  501 ,  630  of the topic selection object  300  to access through the network  620  a Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 ; 
             parse by Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  the received URL  630 ,  210  to extract the universal time  202  of the selected topic; 
             identify by Broadcast Channel Information Server  109  the list  220  of the one or plurality of hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  that were active during transmission of broadcast program  106  at the topic selection universal-time  202 ; 
             retrieve through the network  620  on the user device  100  the hyperlinks list  220 ,  640  from Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 ; 
             set a property associated with the topic selection object  300  to the hyperlinks list  701 ,  220  received from the Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 , thereby linking the topic selection object  300  to the hyperlinks  221 ,  222 ,  223  defined on the hyperlinks list  701 . 
           
         
       
    
     Method for Accessing Information or Services from Topic Selection Objects 
     Once the radio listener or television viewer  105  has:
         selected one or a plurality of topics of interest  104  from broadcast programs  106 ,   linked the corresponding topics selection objects  300  to the selected positions  103 ,  504  on the electronic documents  101 ,   retrieved the hyperlinks lists  220 ,  640  comprising hypelinks names  230  and URLs  231  corresponding to the selected topics  104  from the Broadcast Channel Information Servers  109 , and   associated  701  the hyperlink lists with the corresponding topic selection objets  300  on the documents  101  stored on the user device  100 ,
 
the radio listener or television viewer  105  can:
   select  920  any topic selection object  300 ,   monitor the hyperlinks list  901  of this object  300 , and   select and activate  930  any retrieved hyperlink  912  to access multimedia information or service related to the corresponding selected topic  104 ,  912 . The information or services are located on servers  803  connected to the network  620  e.g., Internet Web servers.       

       FIG. 12  illustrates other steps of computer program  1000  on user device  100 , for enabling a listener or viewer  105  of broadcast programs, to access from a topic selection object  300  defined on a document  101  multimedia information or services from one or a plurality of servers  803  connected to a network  620  by means of one or plurality of hyperlinks  911 ,  912 ,  913  retrieved on an hyperlink list  901  from a Broadcast Channel Information Server  109 . Computer program  1000  performs the following steps:
           1201 —receiving from the user, an input gesture  920  selecting a topic selection object  300 ;     1202 —retrieving the hyperlinks list  901  associated with the selected topic selection object  300 ;     1203 —displaying on the user device screen, the hyperlinks list  901 ;     1204 —receiving from the user, an input gesture  930  selecting an hyperlink  912  among the one or plurality of hyperlinks  911 ,  912 ,  913  comprised in the hyperlinks list  901 ;     1205 —using the resource address URL  804  of the selected hyperlink  912 , for accessing multimedia information or service on a server  806  connected to the network  620 ;     1206 —retrieving from the accessed server  806 , the multimedia information or service  807 ;     1207 —displaying or playing the multimedia information or service  807  on the user device  100 .       

       FIGS. 8 and 9  show how a user  105  selects  920  a topic selection object  300  from a document  101 . From the hyperlinks list  901  associated with the selected topic selection object  300 , the hyperlink list and the selected topic selection object being displayed on the same document the user selects  930  a hyperlink e.g., “The Hostess with the Mostes&#39; in the Ball”  912 . Then using the URL encoded on the selected entry  912 , e.g., 
     http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Berlin-Irving/Hostess-With-The-Mostes-On-The-Ball-The.html 
     the user activates the hyperlink to retrieve through the internet  620 , the desired information or service e.g., html file: Hostess-With-The-Mostes-On-The-Ball-The.html  807 . The corresponding request  804  is sent from the user device  100  to the hyperlinked Web server  806  e.g., www.seeklyrics.com. The received information or service  807  is finally played or displayed to the user  105  by means of a browser program on the user device  100 . It is important to note that, according to a particular embodiment of the present invention, the activation of a single hyperlink on an hyperlink list can be automatic, immediately after its reception by the user device  100 . 
     Computer Program 
     Computer program  1000  is loaded into user device  100  from a computer-readable medium such as a magnetic disk or tape, optical disk or DVD, or downloaded from a network (when downloaded from a communications network  620 .) Computer program  1102 ,  1103  is loaded into server  109  from a computer-readable medium such as a magnetic disk or tape, optical disk or DVD, or downloaded from a network (when downloaded from a communications network  620 .) Computer program  1000  comprise instructions for carrying out the following steps when executed on the user device  100 :
         receiving a user input  920  for selecting a topic selection object  300 ;   retrieving the hyperlinks list  901  associated with the selected topic selection object  300 ;   displaying the hyperlinks list  901  on the user device  100  screen;   receiving a user input  930  for selecting an hyperlink  912  among the one or plurality of hyperlinks  911 ,  912 ,  913  comprised on the hyperlinks list  901 ;   from the resource address URL  804  of the selected hyperlink  912 , accessing multimedia information or service on a server  806  connected to the network  620 ;   retrieving from the accessed server  806 , the multimedia information or service  807 ; and   displaying or playing the multimedia information or service  807 .       

     While the invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit, and scope of the invention.