Patent ID: 8875181

Claim:
A system, comprising: a memory having executable instructions; and a controller coupled with the memory, wherein the controller when executing the computer instructions performs operations comprising: detecting a selection of media content from a media content source; detecting that the selected media content comprises a plurality of media content types; presenting a plurality of media content type options, each option corresponding to at least one of the plurality of media content types; detecting a selection from the plurality of media content type options, wherein the selection comprises an image snapshot of video content; submitting a request to a targeted communication device to accept or decline the selected media content according to the selected media content type option, wherein the request comprises a sample of the selected media content including the image snapshot; retrieving a metadata pointer from the media content source, wherein the metadata pointer is configured for retrieving the selected media content responsive to receiving an acceptance from the targeted communication device and is configured to enable locating the image snapshot from among images of the video content; responsive to receiving the acceptance from the targeted communication device, storing the metadata pointer and the selected media content type option; and responsive to receiving a request from the targeted communication device for the selected media content, retrieving the selected media content from the media content source according to the metadata pointer, processing the selected media content according to the selected media content type option, and presenting the selected media content at the targeted communication device without the selected media content being stored at the targeted communication device.