Patent ID: 7158175

Claim:
A system including a plurality of digital cameras, and docking units, and a service provider, to permit the digital cameras to be coupled to the Internet, comprising: a) the digital camera including: i) a viewable display; ii) an image capture lens; iii) an image sensor for receiving a visual image provided by the capture lens to produce an image signal, a processor responsive to the image signal for producing a digital image so that the viewable display can respond to such image to provide a viewable image; iv) a docking interface to permit the digital camera to be connected to the docking unit; and v) a memory; and b) the docking unit including: i) a connector for providing an electrical connection with the docking interface in the digital camera; and ii) a network connection for interconnecting the docking unit to the channel; and c) the service provider including a memory for storing a plurality of user accounts, each identifying particular content categories previously selected by a particular user, and content information corresponding to the plurality of content categories, and for communicating content information to a plurality of digital cameras associated with the plurality of user accounts, whereby the content information, corresponding to content categories identified in the service account associated with each digital camera, is communicated over the Internet to the plurality of digital cameras; and d) the digital camera receiving the content information and displaying the content information on the viewable display, wherein the memory of the digital camera utilizes a directory structure comprising a plurality of directories including at least a captured image directory for storing captured images captured by the camera at a relatively high resolution, a transferred image directory for storing images transferred to the digital camera from the service provider at a relatively low resolution, and a content directory for storing the content information as files corresponding to the respective content categories.