Patent ID: 8656445

Claim:
A method for providing Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services to a plurality of subscriber devices comprising: at a control system including a memory device and a communication interface: utilizing the communication interface to register the plurality of subscriber devices for the IPTV services, the plurality of subscriber devices comprising at least a plurality of different types of communication devices, each with a private identifier and a common subscriber identifier associated with one IPTV subscription for delivery of the IPTV services to each of the plurality of subscriber devices; utilizing the communication interface to establish a first IPTV session with a first of the plurality of subscriber devices via a multimedia subsystem to enable delivery of streaming media to the first subscriber device, wherein the first IPTV session is established using the common subscriber identifier, the one IPTV subscription, and the private identifier associated with the first subscriber device, wherein the first IPTV session is established based on a first capability associated with the first subscriber device, wherein the streaming media is delivered to the first subscriber device based on the first capability; storing in the memory device, in association with the first IPTV session, information identifying a point within the streaming media from which to resume streaming; utilizing the communication interface to establish a second IPTV session with a second of the plurality of subscriber devices via the multimedia subsystem to enable delivery of streaming media to the second subscriber device, wherein the second IPTV session is established using the common subscriber identifier, the one IPTV subscription, and the private identifier associated with the second subscriber device, wherein the second IPTV session is established based on a second capability associated with the second subscriber device, wherein the second capability is different from the first capability; and utilizing the communication interface to effect delivery of the streaming media, beginning at the identified point, to the second subscriber device via the second IPTV session, wherein the streaming media is delivered to the second subscriber device based on the second capability, wherein the streaming media delivered to the second subscriber device is formatted differently from the streaming media delivered to the first subscriber device.