Patent ID: 7917602

Claim:
In a middle-tier server, a computer-implemented method stored as a computer program on a computer readable medium in the middle-tier server and executed by a processor in the middle-tier server for enabling a user at a client device to directly and remotely control a media-based device by way of any one of a plurality of web portals, including a first web portal and a second web portal, while simultaneously accessing related information, wherein the first web portal is a first application hosted by a first web server, and wherein the second portal is a second application hosted by a second web server, the second web server being distinct from the first web server, the method comprising: implementing in the middle-tier server an Application Program Interface (API) that connects each of the plurality of web portals with at least one database concerning media-based devices, and that fits data retrieved from the at least one database to a format associated with the each of the plurality of web portals; at the middle-tier server, receiving a first request relating to a first media-based device from a first user at a first client device via the first web portal, the first web portal using a first format for exchanging data with the at least one database via the API; at the middle tier server, receiving a second request relating to a second media-based device from a second user at a second client device via the second web portal, the second web portal using a second format for exchanging data with the at least one database via the API, wherein the second format is different from the first format; in response to the first request, initiating at least one API routine to retrieve from the at least one database the data concerning the first media-based device, while the at least one database is in communication with the first media-based device through a first network; and in response to the second request, initiating at least one API routine to retrieve from the at least one database the data concerning the second media-based device, while the at least one database is in communication with the second media-based device through a second network.