System and method for indexing, searching, identifying, and editing portions of electronic multimedia files

A method of enabling access to multimedia content having a beginning point and an intermediate point, the intermediate point starting a segment of the multimedia content that is designated by a user, the method comprising:

• selecting a multimedia content from a server;
• playing the multimedia content downloaded from the server by a user;
• receiving at the server an add-bookmark command from the user;
• saving content information pertaining to a segment of the multimedia content designated by the user;
• displaying a bookmarked position of the multimedia content;
• searching for a multimedia file satisfying search criteria of content information;
• accessing multimedia content starting from the segment having content information matching the search criteria.

A method for virtual editing multimedia files, the method comprising:

• providing one or more video files;
• creating a metadata file for each of the video files, each of the metadata files having at least one segment to be edited;
• and
• creating a single edited metafile containing the segments to be edited from each of the metadata files;
• wherein when the edited metadata file is accessed, the user is able to play the segments to be edited in the edited order.

A method for virtual editing multimedia files, the method comprising:

• providing one or more video files;
• creating a metadata file for each of the video files, each of the metadata files having at least one segment to be edited;
• and
• creating a single edited metafile containing links to the segments to be edited from each of the metadata files in an edited order;
• wherein when the edited metadata file is accessed, the user is able to play the segments to be edited in the edited order.

A method for editing a multimedia file comprising:

• providing a metafile, the metafile having at least one segment that is selectable;
• selecting a segment in the metafile;
• determining if a composing segment should be created, and if the composing segment should be created, then creating a composing segment in a hierarchical structure;
• specifying the composing segment as a child of a parent composing segment;
• determining if metadata is to be copied or if a URI is to be used;
• if the metadata is to be copied, then copying metadata of the selected segment to the component segment;
• if the URI is to be used, then writing a URI of the selected segment to the component segment;
• writing a URL of an input video file to the component segment;
• determining if all URLs of any sibling files are the same;
• and
• if the URL is the same as any of the sibling's URLs, then writing the URL to the parent composing segment and deleting the URLs of all sibling segments.

A virtual video editor comprising:

• a network controller, the network controller constructed and arranged to access remote metafiles and remote video files;
• a file controller, the file controller in operative connection to the network controller, the file controller constructed and arranged to access local metafiles and local video files, and to access the remote metafiles and the remote video files via the network controller;
• a parser, the parser constructed and arranged to receive information about the files from the file controller;
• an input buffer, the input buffer constructed and arranged to receive parser information from the parser;
• a structure manager, the structure manager constructed and arranged to provide structure data to the input buffer;
• a composing buffer, the composing buffer constructed and arranged to receive input information from the input buffer and structure information from the structure manager to generate composing information;
• and
• a generator, the generator constructed and arranged to receive the composing information from the composing buffer;
• wherein the generator generates output information in a pre-selected format.

A method for transcoding an image for display at multiple resolutions, the method comprising:

• providing a multimedia file;
• designating one or more regions of the multimedia file as focus zones;
• providing a vector to each of the focus zones;
• reading the multimedia file with a client device, the client device having a maximum display resolution;
• determining if the resolution of the multimedia file exceeds the maximum display resolution of the client device;
• if the multimedia file resolution exceeds the maximum display resolution of the display device, then determining the maximum number focus zones can be displayed on the client device;
• and
• displaying the maximum number of focus zones on the client device.

A method for searching for relevant multimedia content based on at least one feature saved in a multimedia bookmark, the method comprising:

• transmitting at least one feature saved in a multimedia bookmark from a client system to a server system in response to user selection of the multimedia bookmark;
• generating a query for each feature saved in the multimedia bookmark and received by the server system;
• searching one or more storage devices using each query generated;
• and
• presenting, to the user, search results produced from at least one storage device search.

A method for sending a multimedia bookmark between devices over a wireless network, the method comprising:

• submitting a multimedia bookmark to a video bookmark message service center by a sending device;
• acknowledging receipt of the multimedia bookmark by the video bookmark message service center to the sending device;
• requesting routing information for a recipient device from a home location register by the video bookmark message service center;
• receiving the routing information from the home location register by the video bookmark message service center;
• invoking a send multimedia bookmark at a mobile switching center;
• sending the multimedia bookmark to a recipient device by the mobile switching center;
• acknowledging receipt of the multimedia bookmark by the recipient device;
• and
• notifying the video bookmark message service center when the multimedia bookmark has been received by the recipient device.

A method for sending multimedia content to a mobile device for playback over a wireless network, the method comprising:

• submitting a multimedia bookmark and a request for multimedia content playback from the mobile device to a mobile switching center;
• sending the multimedia bookmark and the request for playback to a video bookmark message service center by the mobile switching center;
• determining a bit rate suitable for transmission of the multimedia content to the mobile device by the video bookmark message service center;
• calculating a new multimedia bookmark based on the transmission bit rate and characteristics of the mobile device;
• sending the new multimedia bookmark to a multimedia server;
• and
• streaming the multimedia content from the multimedia server to the video bookmark message service center before delivering the multimedia content to the mobile device via the mobile switching center.

A method for verifying inclusion of attachments to electronic mail messages, the method comprising:

• scanning the electronic mail message for at least one indicator of an attachment to be included;
• determining whether at least one attachment to the electronic mail message is present upon detection of the at least one indicator of an attachment to be included;
• and
• displaying a reminder to a user in the event at least one indicator of an attachment to be included is found but no attachment is determined to be present.

A content transcoder for modifying and forwarding multimedia content maintained in one or more multimedia content databases to a wide area network for display on a requesting client device, the content transcoder comprising:

• a policy engine operably coupled to the multimedia content database;
• a content analyzer operably coupled to the policy engine and the multimedia content database;
• a content selection module operably coupled to the policy engine and the content analyzer;
• a content manipulation module operably coupled to the content selection module;
• a content analysis and manipulation library operably coupled to the content analyzer, the content selection module and the content manipulation module;
• and wherein
• the policy engine is operable to receive a request for multimedia content from the requesting client device via the wide area network and to receive policy information from the multimedia content database;
• the content analyzer is operable to retrieve multimedia content from the multimedia content database and to forward the multimedia content to the content selection module;
• the content selection module is operable to select portions of the multimedia content based on the policy information and information from the content analysis and manipulation library and to forward the selected portions of multimedia content to the content manipulation module;
• the content manipulation module is operable to modify the multimedia content for display on a requesting client device prior to transmitting the modified multimedia content over the wide area network to the requesting client device.

A method of searching for multimedia content in a peer to peer environment, the method comprising:

• broadcasting a message from a user system to announce entrance to the peer to peer environment;
• acknowledging receipt of the broadcast message by one or more active nodes in the peer to peer environment;
• tracking the active nodes by the user system;
• broadcasting a query message including multimedia features to the peer to peer environment upon initiation of a search request by the user system;
• executing a multimedia search engine on a multimedia database included in a storage device on one or more active nodes upon receipt of the query message;
• and
• responding to the query message with a search results message including a listing of found filenames and network address locations.