JP2005252970A - Program information providing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program information providing apparatus for providing program information in consideration of the current time.
SOLUTION: A communication unit 102, a program information acquisition unit 103 that acquires program information from the program information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102, a current time acquisition unit 105 that acquires a current time, and a program information acquisition unit 103 Display that determines a display target from program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 based on the current time acquired by the program information storage unit 104 that stores the generated program information and the current time acquisition unit 105 A program information providing apparatus comprising: a content determination unit 106; and an information display unit 107 that displays a predetermined item of program information that is to be displayed by the display content determination unit 106.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a program information providing apparatus for informing a user of program information.

  Conventionally, in order to view or record a desired program, a user searches for a target program from a program guide published in a newspaper or a magazine, and views it according to the program start time, or uses an input device such as a remote controller. Recording reservations were made by operations such as entering the program start time and channel number, or entering a G code.

  However, in recent years, the number of television channels broadcasted by CATV, digital broadcasting, and the like has become enormous. When terrestrial digital broadcasting services start in earnest, the number of channels will increase, so users will spend a lot of time finding the desired program using conventional methods, and if there is a desired program, May be overlooked. Even if a desired program can be found, if an attempt is made to reserve the program, the viewer may give up reserving the program due to the troublesome operation. Moreover, even if it is scheduled to be viewed in real time during the broadcast time, it may be forgotten and overlooked at the program start time.

  In order to solve the above problems, a program information search for searching program information included in an electronic program guide via a network using characters input by a user as a search key and displaying program information obtained by the search is performed. There is an apparatus (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Also, program information provision in which keywords such as user preferences are registered in advance on the program information provider side, and the program information provider side sends information related to broadcast program information searched by the keyword to the user by e-mail There is also a service (see, for example, paragraph 0005 of Patent Document 2). Furthermore, keywords such as user preferences are registered in advance on the program information provider side, and information related to broadcast program information searched by the program information provider side is transmitted to the user program viewing device by e-mail. There is also a program information providing system in which the program viewing device automatically combines the electronic mail and the electronic program guide (see, for example, paragraph 0010 of Patent Document 2).
JP 2003-110960 A JP 2003-87777 A

  However, in the program information search device, the program information cannot be acquired unless the user himself / herself inputs a keyword.

  Also, in the above program information providing service, if an email is sent too frequently, the user may feel annoying to check the email, and conversely, if too few emails are sent, The user may not obtain information on the desired program.

  In the program information search device, the program information providing service, or the program information providing system, when the user confirms the electronic program guide or the e-mail, the program included in the confirmed information is already broadcast. There were cases where it was completely useless.

  An object of this invention is to provide the program information provision apparatus and program information provision program which provide program information in consideration of the present time in view of said problem.

  In order to achieve the above object, a program information providing apparatus according to the present invention is obtained by a program information acquisition unit that acquires program information from the outside, a current time acquisition unit that acquires a current time, and the program information acquisition unit. Program information storage means for storing program information, and notification content determination means for determining a notification target from the program information stored in the program information storage means based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means And notifying means for notifying a predetermined item of the program information to be notified by the notification content determining means.

  A user who uses the program information providing apparatus having the above-described configuration can obtain program information to be notified based on the current time. Therefore, when the user confirms the program information, the program included in the confirmed information is already broadcast. Problems such as not being useful at all after that are resolved. In addition, as a notification method, display is generally adopted, but part or all of the notification content may be notified by a notification method other than display (for example, voice notification).

  The program information acquisition unit may acquire program information from the outside when the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit is a predetermined time. Thereby, even if a user does not request acquisition of program information, the program information providing apparatus automatically acquires the program information, so that convenience is improved.

  Further, the notification content determination means is broadcasted after the current time acquired by the program information and / or the current time acquisition means of the program broadcast within a certain time from the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means. The program information of a certain number of programs may be notified. The user must originally search for a desired program from a huge amount of program information, but the information that the user wants to obtain is often program information of a program broadcast in the near future. Thus, by limiting the notification target to the program information of a program broadcast within a certain time from the current time and / or the program information of a certain number of programs broadcast after the current time, the user can easily select a desired program. Can be found.

  Further, the apparatus further comprises user profile storage means for storing information related to the user's interests, preferences, etc., and the program information acquisition means acquires program information from the outside based on the information stored in the user profile storage means. You may do it. Thereby, even if a huge amount of program information is provided from the program information provider side, only the program information that is likely to be of interest to the user is acquired, so the amount of information stored in the program information storage means is reduced. be able to.

  Further, the information processing apparatus further comprises user profile storage means for storing information on the user's interests, preferences, etc., and the notification content determination means is stored by the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means and the user profile storage means. The notification target may be determined from the program information stored in the program information storage means based on the information. As a result, only program information that is likely to be of interest to the user is notified, so that the user can easily find a desired program.

  The program further comprises broadcast receiving means for receiving the broadcast content of the program, and the program whose program information determined by the notification content determination means is broadcast at the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means. If so, the broadcast content of the program may be received by the broadcast receiving means, and the received broadcast content may be displayed on the notification means. Thereby, even if a user does not perform complicated operation, he can watch the program by which the specific item of program information is alert | reported.

  Further, device information acquisition means for acquiring device information, which is information related to the status of external devices, from the external device, and device information storage means for storing device information acquired by the device information acquisition means, And the notification content determination means includes the program information stored in the program information storage means and the device information stored in the equipment information storage means based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means. The notification target is determined from the inside, and the notification unit notifies the predetermined item of the program information that is the notification target by the notification content determination unit and the predetermined item of the device information that is the notification target by the notification content determination unit. You may do it. As a result, the user can easily recognize information related to the status of external devices (for example, the reservation status of the HDD recorder).

  Further, information selection means for selecting at least one piece of information from the notification target determined by the notification content determination means, and related action extraction for extracting a list of actions related to the information selected by the information selection means And the notification means notifies the list extracted by the related action extraction means. Accordingly, the user can easily recognize a list of operations related to desired information without performing a complicated operation.

  The information processing means further includes a related action executing means, wherein the information selecting means selects one action from the actions extracted from the list extracted by the related action extracting means, and the related action executing means is configured to select the information selecting means. The operation selected by the means may be executed by itself and / or the notification means and / or the external device may be executed. Thereby, even if a user does not perform complicated operation, it can make a program information provision apparatus and an external apparatus perform desired operation | movement from the list | wrist of operation | movement relevant to desired information.

  Further, automatic information notification means for sequentially switching the details of the program information to be notified by the notification content determination means to notify the notification means may be provided. Accordingly, the user can recognize details of information to be notified without performing a complicated operation.

  In order to achieve the above object, a program information providing program according to the present invention includes a computer for providing program information, program information acquisition means for acquiring program information from the outside, and current time acquisition means for acquiring current time. Program information storage means for storing the program information acquired by the program information acquisition means, and program information stored in the program information storage means based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means It functions as notification content determining means for determining a notification target, and notification means for notifying a predetermined item of program information targeted for notification by the notification content determination means.

  By executing the program information providing program on a general-purpose computer, the above-described program information providing apparatus can be realized.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the program information provision apparatus and program information provision program which provide program information in consideration of the present | current time are realizable.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a program information providing system including a program information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The program information providing system shown in FIG. 1 is a program information providing server 101 that is an information source for providing various information such as video and program attributes to a user, and a first embodiment of the present invention that receives information from the program information providing server 101. The program information providing apparatus 100 (hereinafter referred to as the program information providing apparatus 100).

  The program information providing apparatus 100 is connected to a program information providing server 101 via a network 200 such as the Internet. The program information providing apparatus 100 includes a communication unit 102 that receives program information provided from the program information providing server 101 and information on the current time provided from the outside via the network 200, and program information received by the communication unit 102. The program information acquisition unit 103 for acquiring the program information, the program information storage unit 104 for storing the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 103, the current time acquisition unit 105 for acquiring the information of the current time received by the communication unit 102, The display content determination unit 106 that determines the display content from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105, and the display content determination unit 106 And an information display unit 107 for displaying the program information. Note that the current time acquisition unit 105 acquires information on the current time from the outside through the communication unit 102, but the program information providing apparatus 100 has a built-in clock unit or timer unit, and the current time acquisition unit refers to them. You may make it the aspect which acquires the present time.

  Here, the process performed by the program information acquisition unit 103 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step (hereinafter referred to as S) 201, the program information acquisition unit 103 determines whether the communication unit 102 has received a new e-mail from the program information providing server 101. If the communication unit 102 receives a new e-mail (YES in S201), the process proceeds to S202. If the communication unit 102 does not receive a new e-mail (NO in S201), the process proceeds to S205.

  In S202, the program information acquisition unit 103 analyzes the content of the email received by the communication unit 102 and determines whether or not the program information is included. If the e-mail includes program information (YES in S202), the process proceeds to S203. If the e-mail does not include program information (NO in S202), the process proceeds to S205.

  In S203, the program information acquisition unit 103 acquires program information from the contents of the e-mail, and proceeds to S204.

  In S205, the program information acquisition unit 103 determines whether or not the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105 is a time for acquiring program information. If the current time is a time for acquiring program information (YES in S205), the process proceeds to S206. If the current time is not a time for acquiring program information (NO in S205), the process proceeds to S201.

  In S <b> 206, the program information acquisition unit 103 requests the program information providing server 101 to provide program information through the communication unit 102, and transmits the program information transmitted by the program information providing server 101 in response to the request through the communication unit 102. Acquire and go to S204.

  In S204, the program information acquisition unit 103 stores the program information acquired in S203 or S206 in the program information storage unit 104, and proceeds to S201.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, in S205, the program information acquisition unit 103 provides program information as to whether or not the current time is the time to acquire program information so that the program information is automatically acquired at a certain time. Although it is a criterion for determining whether or not to acquire program information from the server 101, if the program information stored in the program information providing server 101 is updated, the program information providing server 101 sends an e-mail or the like to the program information providing apparatus. The program information acquisition unit in the program information providing apparatus may acquire the program information from the program information providing server 101 based on the notification, and there is a program information display request from the user. The program information may be acquired from the program information providing server 101 at this time. The display request for the program information from the user may be due to some operation such as the user operating a button provided on the program information providing apparatus. For example, the program information providing apparatus is a foldable portable device. In this case, the program information acquisition unit may determine that a display request has been made when the portable device is opened.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the program information attribute stored in the program information storage unit 104 includes broadcast time, channel number, program title, genre to which the program belongs, icon indicating the program, performer, program overview, And a program URL. In addition, the program information storage unit 104 stores only minimum attributes such as broadcast time, channel number, program title, and program URL, and the program information acquisition unit 103 communicates when more detailed information is required. The information may be obtained at any time by connecting to the program URL through the unit 102. Further, the program information storage unit 104 may store secondary information such as a keyword indicating a program classification. Further, the electronic program guide itself may be stored.

  Next, processing performed by the display content determination unit 106 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 401, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether there is a program information display request from the user. If there is a display request (YES in S401), the process proceeds to S402, and if there is no display request (NO in S401), the process returns to the waiting state.

  In S402, the display content determination unit 106 acquires the current time from the current time acquisition unit 105, and proceeds to S403. In S403, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether or not the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the latest information. This determination is performed by, for example, requesting the latest information update time information from the program information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102, and receiving the latest information update time information from the program information providing server 101. The determination may be made by comparing the update time information of the information with the last update time information of the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104. Note that if the program information is acquired from an e-mail indicating that the program information has been updated, the latest information is always stored in the program information storage unit 104, so that it is not necessary to provide S403 and S406 described later. .

  If it is determined that the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the latest information (YES in S403), the process proceeds to S404, and the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the latest. If it is determined that the information is not information (NO in S403), the process proceeds to S406.

  In S406, the display content determination unit 106 urges the program information acquisition unit 103 to acquire program information from the program information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102, and the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 103 is displayed as program information. The data is stored in the storage unit 104.

  In S404, the display content determination unit 106 determines program information to be displayed based on the current time acquired in S402 from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104, and the process proceeds to S405.

  In S405, the display content determination unit 106 supplies the program information determined in S404 to the information display unit 107. The program information selected as the display target in S404 is hereinafter referred to as recommended program information, and the program information selected as the display target in S404 is hereinafter referred to as recommended program.

  Note that the display request for program information from the user in S401 may be due to some operation such as the user operating a button provided on the program information providing apparatus. For example, the program information providing apparatus is a folding portable device. In such a case, the display content determination unit may determine that a display request has been made when the portable device is opened.

  In S404, for example, a process of selecting program information of a program broadcast within 12 hours from the current time as recommended program information is performed. Further, a program that is broadcast up to 12 hours ahead, that is, program information of a program that is broadcast between 12 hours and 24 hours after the current time is selected as recommended program information. Good. In addition, since there is a case where it is desired to know what was in the past program that is not subject to future viewing or recording, a process of selecting program information within 12 hours retroactively from the current time as recommended program information It may be possible to perform. In addition, a mode may be provided in which S404 is replaced with a step of selecting program information of a program broadcast in an arbitrary time zone such as a desired time zone as recommended program information regardless of the current time.

  The information display unit 107 displays specific items of recommended program information. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the information display unit 107 displays, as icons, programs within 12 hours from the current time among the programs stored in the program information storage unit 104 and maps them on the clock face. In other words, the broadcast time of the recommended program and the program icon are mapped and displayed. Thereby, the user can recognize at a glance what kind of recommended program is in which time zone. In addition, the program name may be directly displayed instead of the icon as shown in FIG. Further, it may be displayed in combination with a digital clock display as shown in FIG. 7, or may be displayed as a list as shown in FIG. Further, the recommended program information may be program information within a certain time from the current time as in the present embodiment, a certain number of program information broadcast after the current time, or these information A combination (for example, all program information within 6 hours from the current time and a certain number of program information broadcasted after 6 hours from the current time are recommended program information) may be used.

  Further, when temporary information is provided from the program information providing server 101 to the program information providing apparatus 100, such as earthquake information or election status, the program information providing apparatus 100 uses e-mail or the like. The temporary information may be received, and the temporary information may be displayed as a telop on a part of the screen of the information display unit 107, or the temporary information may be displayed at a place indicating the time when the information on the clock face is received. Or a combination of these as shown in FIG.

  In addition, the display method may be changed, for example, by changing the color so that the information displayed on the information display unit 107 can be clearly distinguished from the past or the present. Further, when the program information is mapped and displayed on the clock face as shown in FIG. 5, it may be clear from what time the previous information is displayed as shown in FIG. Such a boundary may clearly indicate the exact time, or the boundary time may be displayed in increments of 1 hour, or approximate time may be specified by matching the program start time or program end time. .

  Further, the program information providing apparatus 100 further includes a broadcast receiving unit (not shown) for receiving the broadcast content of the program, and the program of the program information determined as the display target by the display content determining unit 106 is the current time acquiring unit. If the program is broadcast at the current time acquired by 105, the broadcast content of the program may be received by the broadcast receiving unit, and the received broadcast content may be displayed on the information display unit 107. Thereby, the user can watch the program in which the specific item of the program information is displayed without performing a complicated operation.

(Second embodiment)
A configuration of a program information providing system including a program information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, the same parts as those in FIG. The program information providing system shown in FIG. 11 includes a program information providing server 101 and a program information providing apparatus 1100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention that receives information from the program information providing server 101 (hereinafter referred to as program information providing apparatus 1100). And have.

  The program information providing apparatus 1100 includes, in the program information providing apparatus 100 of FIG. 1, a user profile storage unit 1101 for storing information related to the user's interests, preferences, and the like, and a profile input unit for adding and modifying user profile setting information 1102 is newly added.

  The profile input unit 1102 inputs keywords that the user is interested in using, for example, a keyboard. In addition, you may make it the aspect which a user selects what is interested from the keyword registered beforehand according to category. In addition, the user may select an attribute of program information of a program that is currently being browsed, subsidiary information included in the program information, or part or all of the program information. Further, the profile input unit 1102 includes an input device having a function of reading an image printed with a bar code, characters, or a digital watermark, and a bar code in which a keyword related to the content of the bar code is converted into a bar code on a magazine page. And a mode in which a bar code is read by the input device, or an operation in which a character or an image written on a paper is read by the input device and a keyword or a category is input may be used. You may combine these aspects.

  The profile input unit 1102 is an input device configured with buttons, dials, keys, and the like provided in the program information providing apparatus 1100 in addition to the keyboard connected to the program information providing apparatus 1100 main body. Alternatively, an infrared signal receiving unit that receives an infrared signal transmitted by a remote controller that is separate from the main body of the program information providing apparatus 1100 may be used. Furthermore, a pointing device such as a mouse or a touch panel that performs input by selecting a GUI (Graphical User Interface) component displayed on the display screen of the information display unit 107 may be used. Any other device may be used as long as it is a device that inputs a user's operation as a signal.

  An example of the user profile stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is shown in FIG. User profile attributes include keyword, category, and importance. The user inputs a keyword of interest to the profile input unit 1102 such as a keyboard, and inputs to which category the keyword belongs, such as genre, performer, program name, etc. An importance level indicating how much interest is shown is input as a numerical value from −1 to 1. As in the present embodiment, the user may be allowed to input an arbitrary numerical value, or may be selected from numerical values of five levels prepared in advance. Further, the numerical value of the importance may be automatically changed according to the length of the user viewing the related program information and the number of browsing times. Further, the profile input unit 1102 has a function that can indicate the degree of interest matching of recommended program information, and automatically reduces the importance of keywords related to program information that the user has determined that the degree of interest matching is low. May be. The degree of interest coincidence may be selected from several stages of evaluation prepared in advance, or only one of the interests may be selected. In addition, the user himself / herself may be allowed to input a numerical value representing the degree of interest matching.

  In this embodiment, the contents of the user profile storage unit 1101 are set by the user himself / herself using the profile input unit 1102. In addition to this, the user's preference is analyzed based on the user's viewing and recording history, etc. It may be a mode in which the setting is corrected, a mode in which settings stored in another device such as an HDD disk recorder, a terminal of another user, or the like is acquired through a network, or a combination thereof may be used.

  In the present embodiment, the user profile storage device 1101 is configured in the program information providing device 1100, but the program information providing server 101 includes a user profile storage unit instead of the program information providing device 1100. The data input by the profile input unit 1102 is transmitted from the communication unit 102 to the program information providing server 101 via the network, and is supplied to the program information providing apparatus on the program information providing server 101 side based on the user profile storage unit. Program information to be determined may be determined. At this time, the content of the user profile is not limited to the user's preference, but may be information from a third party such as the popularity ranking of the viewer and the degree of recommendation on the program providing side.

  Next, processing performed by the program acquisition unit 103 and the display content determination unit 106 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In S1301, the program acquisition unit 103 determines whether to refer to information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 when the program information acquisition unit 105 acquires program information. Note that the determination in S1301 may be based on a signal input by the user operating a button or the like provided in the program information providing apparatus, for example. If the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is referred to (YES in S1301), the process proceeds to S1302. If the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is not referred to (NO in S1301), the process proceeds to S1303. move on. In S1302, the program acquisition unit 103 sets the value of R, which is an internal parameter, to 1, and proceeds to S1304. In S1303, the program acquisition unit 103 sets the value of R, which is an internal parameter, to 0, and proceeds to S1304.

  In step S <b> 1304, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether to refer to information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 when selecting information to be displayed in the display content determination unit 106. Note that the determination in S1304 may be based on a signal input by the user operating a button provided on the program information providing apparatus, for example. If the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is referred to (YES in S1304), the process proceeds to S1305. If the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is not referred to (NO in S1304), the process proceeds to S1306. move on. In S1305, the display content determination unit 106 sets the value of K, which is an internal parameter, to 1, and proceeds to S1307. In S1306, the display content determination unit 106 sets the value K of the internal parameter to 0, and proceeds to S1307.

  In S1307, the display content determination unit 106 acquires the current time from the current time acquisition unit 105, and proceeds to S1308.

  In S1308, the program information acquisition unit 103 determines whether or not the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105 is a time for acquiring program information. If the current time is a time for acquiring program information (YES in S1308), the process proceeds to S1309. If the current time is not a time for acquiring program information (NO in S1308), the process proceeds to S1312.

  In S1309, the program information acquisition unit 103 determines whether or not the value of R is 1. If the value of R is 1 (YES in S1309), the process proceeds to S1310. If the value of R is 0 (NO in S1309), the process proceeds to S1311.

  In S1310, the program information acquisition unit 103 acquires program information from the information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102 based on the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101, and proceeds to S1312. By executing the processing of S1310, it is possible to acquire only program information that is likely to be of interest to the user.

  In S1311, the program information acquisition unit 103 acquires the program information from the information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102 without referring to the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101, and proceeds to S1312. By executing the processing of S1311, program information is acquired regardless of whether or not the user is likely to be interested.

  In step S1312, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether there is a program information display request from the user. If there is a display request (YES in S1312), the process proceeds to S1313. If there is no display request (NO in S1312), the process proceeds to S1307 and enters a waiting state.

  In step S <b> 1313, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether the value of K is 1. If the value of K is 1 (YES in S1313), the process proceeds to S1314. If the value of K is 0 (NO in S1313), the process proceeds to S1315.

  In S1314, the display content determination unit 106 selects program information to be displayed based on the current time acquired in S1307 from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104, and the selected program Program information to be displayed is further determined based on information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 from the information, and the process proceeds to S1316. By executing the processing of S1314, it is possible to display only program information that is likely to be of interest to the user.

  In S1315, the display content determination unit 106 determines program information to be displayed based on only the current time from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104, and the process proceeds to S1316.

  In S1316, the display content determination unit 106 supplies the program information determined in S1314 or S1315 to the information display unit 107.

  An example in which the program information acquisition unit 103 and the presentation content determination unit 106 use information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 will be described. Here, the information shown in FIG. 12 is stored in the user profile storage unit 1101, and the information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is stored in both the program information acquisition unit 103 and the display content determination unit 106. Shall be used. The program information acquisition unit 103 determines program information to be acquired by paying attention to keywords among the attributes stored in the user profile storage unit 1101. That is, since “drama” is registered in the user profile storage unit 1101 in FIG. 12, all “program information whose genre is“ drama ”” stored in the program information providing server 101 is the program information acquisition unit. Obtained at 103 and stored in the program information storage unit 104.

  Next, the display content determination unit 106 pays attention to the importance assigned to each keyword. That is, in FIG. 12, the importance level of the drama is 0.3, and it is determined that the importance level is low, and it is removed from the candidate program information to be displayed. However, if “BoaBoa” is included in the performers of the program information whose genre is “drama”, the priority of “BoaBoa” is 1 which is quite high, so that program information is selected as recommended program information Is done.

  As another method for determining the display content in the display content determination unit 106, the keyword stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 is important only when a plurality of program information exists in the program information storage unit 104 within the same time. The program information may be ordered with reference to the degree, and the program information having the highest importance may be selected as the recommended program information. In this way, information stored in the user profile storage unit 1101 may be used by both the program information acquisition unit 103 and the display content determination unit 106, or only one of them may be stored in the user profile unit 1101. You may make it utilize the information which exists.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 14 shows the configuration of a program information providing system including a program information providing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 14, the same parts as those in FIG. 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The program information providing system shown in FIG. 14 includes a program information providing server 101 and a program information providing apparatus 1400 according to the third embodiment of the present invention that receives information from the program information providing server 101 (hereinafter referred to as program information providing apparatus 1400). And have.

  The program information providing apparatus 1400 is transmitted to the program information providing apparatus 1100 of FIG. 11 from a peripheral device information providing apparatus 1403 provided in another device (for example, HDD recorder, video, DVD recorder, etc.) and received by the communication unit 102. In this configuration, a device information acquisition unit 1401 that acquires information on the other devices that have been added and a device information storage unit 1402 that stores the device information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 1401 are newly added. The display content determination unit 106 obtains the display content from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 and the device information stored in the device information storage unit 1402 based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105. decide.

  Next, processing performed by the display content determination unit 106 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In step S1501, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether there is a program information display request from the user. If there is a display request (YES in S1501), the process proceeds to S1502, and if there is no display request (NO in S1501), the process enters a waiting state.

  In step S1502, the display content determination unit 106 acquires the current time from the current time acquisition unit 105, and the process advances to step S1503.

  In step S1503, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the latest information. This determination is performed by, for example, requesting the latest information update time information from the program information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102, and receiving the latest information update time information from the program information providing server 101. The determination may be made by comparing the update time information of the information with the last update time information of the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104. Note that if the program information is acquired from an e-mail indicating that the program information has been updated, the latest information is always stored in the program information storage unit 104. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide S1503 and S1504 described later. .

  If it is determined that the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the latest information (YES in S1503), the process proceeds to S1505, and the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the latest. If it is determined that it is not information (NO in S1503), the process proceeds to S1504.

  In step S1504, the display content determination unit 106 prompts the program information acquisition unit 103 to acquire program information from the information providing server 101 through the communication unit 102, and stores the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 103 as program information. The information is stored in the unit 104, and the process proceeds to S1505.

  In step S <b> 1505, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether the device information stored in the device information storage unit 1402 is the latest information. This determination is performed by, for example, requesting the latest information update time information from the external device through the communication unit 102, and sending the latest information update time information from the external device. The determination may be made by comparing the information with the last update time information of the device information stored in the device information storage unit 1402. If the device information stored in the device information storage unit 1402 is the latest information (YES in S1505), the process proceeds to S1507, and the device information stored in the device information storage unit 1402 is not the latest information ( If NO in S1505, the process proceeds to S1506.

  In step S <b> 1506, the display content determination unit 106 prompts the device information acquisition unit 1401 to acquire device information from an external device through the communication unit 102, and the device information storage unit 1401 acquires the device information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 1401. Store in step 1402 and proceed to step S1507.

  In S1507, the display content determination unit 106 determines program information to be displayed based on the current time acquired in S1502 from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104, and is stored in the device information storage unit 1402. The device information to be displayed is determined from the current device information based on the current time acquired in S1502, and the process proceeds to S1508. In step S1508, the display content determination unit 106 supplies the display content determined in step S1507 to the information display unit 107.

  In this embodiment, in S1503 and S1505, the display content determination unit 106 determines whether or not the information stored in the program information providing apparatus is the latest information when there is an information display request from the user. If it is not the latest information, it is always acquired from the outside. However, the program information acquisition unit 103 and the device information acquisition unit 1401 automatically acquire the latest information every predetermined time, and display content determination unit In 106, the information stored in the program information storage unit 104 and the device information storage unit 1401 may only be referred to. Further, the information may be constantly updated when there is an information display request from the user without confirming whether the information currently stored in the program information providing apparatus is the latest information. Further, the program information acquisition unit 103 and the device information acquisition unit 1401 may store the last update date and time, and update the information if the date and time has passed for a certain period of time.

  In this embodiment, in S1507, the display content determination unit 106 determines the display content based only on the current time, but based on the user's display request content or the setting of the program information providing server 101, It may be possible to select whether to display device information.

  The device information acquisition unit 1401 acquires information on a device that can record a program, such as an HDD recorder or a DVD recorder, through the communication unit 102. FIG. 16 shows an example of device information stored in the device information storage unit 1402 at this time. The device information storage unit 1402 stores the broadcast time, channel number, program title, and device status. Here, the device status indicates whether the program has been recorded in the past, is currently being recorded, or is scheduled to be recorded for a program to be broadcast. The device information storage unit 1402 stores only minimum information such as a program ID, and if more detailed information is required, the peripheral device information providing device 1403, the program information providing server 101, or the program information storage unit. Information may be acquired from 104 at any time.

  Also, in FIG. 17, the specific item of program information selected as a display target by the display content determination unit 106, that is, the specific item of recommended program information, and the specification of device information selected as a display target by the display content determination unit 106 An example in which items are displayed on the information display unit 107 is shown.

  In the display example shown in FIG. 17, the specific item of recommended program information (broadcast time and program icon) and the specific item of device information (device state) selected as a display target by the display content determination unit 106 are the characters of the clock. Although it is mapped superimposed on the board, the specific item (device state) of the device information selected as the display target by the display content determination unit 106 is indicated in characters on the icon of the recommended program that has been mapped. ing.

  In addition, the recommended program information and the device information selected as the display target by the display content determination unit 106 by changing the color used in the device information selected as the display target by the display content determination unit 106 The clock face is divided into two parts on the inside and outside, and recommended program information is assigned to one of them, and the device information selected as the display target by the display content determination unit 106 is assigned to the other. May be. Moreover, you may combine these. Furthermore, you may provide the mode which displays only the information regarding either one.

  The types of devices whose information is acquired by the device information acquisition unit 1401 are not limited to devices that can record programs such as the HDD recorders and DVD recorders described above. For example, the device information acquisition unit 1401 has status information on washing machines and air conditioners. And the time when washing ends may be displayed, or the timer operation setting of the air conditioner may be displayed.

(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 18 shows the configuration of a program information providing system including a program information providing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 18, the same parts as those in FIG. 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The program information providing system shown in FIG. 18 includes a program information providing server 101 and a program information providing apparatus 1800 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention that receives information from the program information providing server 101 (hereinafter referred to as program information providing apparatus 1800). And have.

  The program information providing apparatus 1800 selects any one of the recommended program information and device information displayed on the information display unit 107 from the program information providing apparatus 1400 in FIG. 14 and relates to the selected information. Selected by the information selecting unit 1801 for selecting one of the operations to be performed, the related operation extracting unit 1802 for extracting a list of operations related to the information selected by the information selecting unit 1801, and the information selecting unit 1801. And / or an information display unit 107 and / or a related operation execution unit 1803 to be executed by an external device.

  Next, processing performed by the information display unit 107, the information selection unit 1801, the related operation extraction unit 1802, and the related operation execution unit 1803 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition, after the display content determination part 106 performs the flowchart operation | movement shown in FIG. 15, the flowchart operation | movement shown in FIG. 19 is started.

  In S1901, the information display unit 107 displays the specific item of information supplied from the display content determination unit 106, that is, the specific item of recommended program information and the specific item of device information selected as a display target in the display content determination unit 106. Display, and advance to S1902.

  In step S1902, the information selection unit 1801 determines whether any one piece of information is selected from the recommended program information and the device information list displayed by the information display unit 107. If any one information is selected (YES in S1902), the process proceeds to S1903, and if any information is not selected (NO in S1902), the process enters a waiting state.

  In step S1903, the related action extraction unit 1802 extracts an action list that satisfies the information condition selected by the information selection unit 1801 in step S1902, and the process advances to step S1904. In S1904, the information display unit 107 displays the operation list extracted by the related operation extraction unit 1802 in S1903, and the process proceeds to S1905.

  In step S1905, the information selection unit 1801 determines whether any operation has been selected from the operation list displayed by the information display unit 107 in step S1904. If an arbitrary operation is selected (YES in S1905), the process proceeds to S1906. If an arbitrary operation is not selected (NO in S1905), the process enters a waiting state.

  In step S1906, the related operation execution unit 1803 executes the operation selected in step S1905 and / or causes the information display unit 107 or an external device to execute the operation.

  Note that the information selection unit 1801 may have a function that can be excluded from the display target when the recommended program information displayed by the information display unit 107 is program information that does not match the user's interest.

  In S1904, for example, the information display unit 107 displays the operation list extracted by the related operation extraction unit 1802 in S1903 on the clock face to which the program information is mapped, superimposed on the program information. Therefore, when the information selection unit 1801 selects program information starting from 6 o'clock in S1902, the display of the information display unit 107 in S1904 is as shown in FIG. In addition, only the operation list may be displayed by completely switching the display screen.

  In accordance with the flowchart operation shown in FIG. 19, the display of the information display unit 107 changes as shown in FIG. In the description of FIG. 21, it is assumed that device information is not supplied from an external device to the program information providing apparatus.

  At the time of starting the flowchart operation shown in FIG. 19, the display of the information display unit 107 is mapped with the clock representing the recommended program selected by the display content determination unit 106 on the clock on the dial as shown in FIG. Has been. Then, when the operation list display process is performed in S1904 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 19, the display of the information display unit 107 is as shown in FIG. Further, when an operation (in this case, an operation “view with mobile phone”) is selected from the operation list in S1905 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 19, the display on the information display unit 107 is as shown in FIG. Become. In S1906, when the action-related execution unit 1803 activates the television function and sends a television image to the information display unit 107, the information display unit 107 displays the broadcast program as shown in FIG.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, when temporary information is received and a balloon indicating the information is displayed, the information selection unit 1802 may select the information. Further, when information is selected, detailed information may be displayed as a telop on a part of the display screen of the information display unit 107.

  Here, an embodiment of the information selection unit 1801 and an operation method of the information selection unit 1801 in S1902 will be described. The information selection unit 1801 has input means such as a keyboard including up and down keys and a determination button. The focus changes with the up and down keys. More specifically, when the up key is pressed by the user, the focus changes to the information corresponding to the previous program when arranged on the time axis, and when the down key is pressed by the user, the information is arranged on the time axis. Change the focus to the information corresponding to the next program. That is, in the display example of the information display unit 107 shown in FIG. 20, it is assumed that the “Hanakin Western Painting Theater” that starts broadcasting from 21:05 is currently focused. At this time, when the upper key is pressed by the user, the focus moves to “dream music hall” where the broadcast start time is 18:00, and when the lower key is pressed by the user, the focus moves to a news program whose broadcast start time is 2:00. To do. Further, when the determination button is pressed by the user, the information selection unit 1801 determines that the program information focused at that time has been selected. In step S1904, an operation list related to the program information is displayed.

  In the above embodiment, the focus movement with the up and down keys is performed in units of programs, but the focus movement may be performed in units of time such as one hour. At this time, if the determination button is pressed by the user in a state where the program information is not mapped, it may be set so that nothing can be selected and stored in the program information storage unit 104. It is also possible to search for and display program information scheduled to be broadcasted at a selected time, although it was not a display target among the program information. In addition to the up / down keys, up / down / left / right keys may be used as means for changing the focus. In this case, rather than operating only with the up and down keys, such as pressing the right key if you want to move to the right of the program information that is currently in focus, or pressing the up key if you want to focus on the upper program information. Can also be manipulated sensibly. Furthermore, the selection may be performed using a pointing device such as a touch panel. The form of the information selection unit 1801 is not particularly limited as long as it is a means that generates a signal based on an operation performed by the user and can perform the determinations of S1902 and S1905 based on the signal.

  Furthermore, in S1902, it is determined whether or not desired information has been selected by the information selection unit 1801. As the determination criterion, whether or not an explicit selection such as a selection button being pressed by the user has been made. In addition to the determination criterion according to, a determination criterion may be adopted in which it is determined by the up / down key or the like that the focused information is selected when the focus is achieved. Further, when the focus is reached, the details of the focused information (for example, program title, overview, etc.) are displayed, and when the selection button is pressed by the user, it is determined that the desired information has been selected. May be.

  Next, processing in which the related action extraction unit 1802 extracts an action list in S1903 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 19 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When an operation list extraction request is made from the information selection unit 1801 to the related operation extraction unit 1802, the flowchart of FIG. 22 is started. In S2201, the related action extraction unit 1802 receives the selection result in S1902 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 19 from the information selection unit 1801, recognizes the selection result, and proceeds to S2202.

  In step S2202, the related action extraction unit 1802 determines whether the information selected by the information selection unit 1801 in step S1902 in the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 19 is recommended program information or device information. If it is determined in S1902 that the information selected by the information selection unit 1801 is recommended program information, the process proceeds to S2203. In S1902, it is determined that the information selected by the information selection unit 1801 is device information. In the case, the process proceeds to S2206.

  In S2203, the related action extraction unit 1802 acquires the broadcast start time of the recommended program information selected by the information selection unit 1801 from the program information storage unit 104, and the broadcast start time is acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105. It is determined whether or not the current time is within one hour. If the broadcast start time of the recommended program information selected by the information selection unit 1801 is within one hour from the current time (YES in S2203), the process proceeds to S2204, and the recommended program information selected by the information selection unit 1801 If the broadcast start time is not within one hour from the current time (NO in S2203), the process proceeds to S2205.

  In S2206, the related action extraction unit 1802 acquires the time attribute of the device information selected by the information selection unit 1801 from the device information storage unit 1402, and based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105, the time attribute Is the future, the present, or the past. If the time attribute of the device information selected by the information selection unit 1801 is the future, the process proceeds to S2207. If the time attribute of the device information selected by the information selection unit 1801 is current, the process proceeds to S2208, and the information selection unit 1801 If the time attribute of the device information selected by the item is in the past, the process proceeds to S2209. In S2204, S2205, S2207, S2208, and S2209, an operation list that meets each condition is extracted.

  Here, FIG. 23 shows an example of the operation list displayed in S2204, S2205, S2207, S2208, and S2209 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 22 and the operation content executed in S1906 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In this example, when recommended program information is selected, the items in the action list that are displayed are the same regardless of whether the program start time is within one hour from the current time. When the information selection unit 1801 selects an operation, the operation content executed by the related operation execution unit 1803 is different. For example, when viewing reservation is selected for program information that starts 10 minutes after the current time, the operation-related execution unit 1803 executes an operation for automatically starting the TV when the start time comes. On the other hand, when viewing reservation is selected for a program that is still one hour or more until the program start time, it is unknown whether the user is still watching TV because the program start time is reached. Execute the operation for the alarm set so that the alarm sounds without automatically starting the TV. When device information is selected, any one of the operation list C, the operation list D, and the operation list E is extracted according to the time attribute of the selected device information, and then the extracted operation list is displayed. Is done.

  As an example of other items in the operation list, for example, browsing other program lists in the same time zone as the selected information can be considered. When the information selection unit 1801 selects this operation, the related operation execution unit 1803 accesses the Web or acquires information from the program information storage unit 104, and displays a program information list other than recommended program information or including recommended program information. The information is displayed on the information display unit 107. Note that an existing EPG may be used for the program information list, or program information stored uniquely in the program information providing apparatus 1800 may be displayed. The content displayed at this time may be limited to a program list in the same time zone, or a program list for one day of the day may be displayed. If a program that suits the user's preference over the recommended program information is found from the program information list, the recommended program information may be replaced. In addition, when you can focus and select the time when program information is not mapped, items that can be browsed the program list of the selected time zone will be displayed, and selecting that item will show the program list other than recommended program information The program list may be displayed in the same manner as when displaying. If program information that attracts interest is found, it may be registered as recommended program information.

  Registration and replacement of recommended program information is not limited to the above-described flow, and it may be possible to register at any time if interesting program information is found while referring to an existing EPG or the like. Also, when referring to the program information list using an external device, registration and replacement may be performed by mail or some external information reading function.

  Even if the user does not select a program and the information selection unit 1801 does not select any of the recommended program information, the related operation execution unit 1803 automatically performs the operation based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105. Alternatively, the operation may be executed. A display example of the information display unit 107 in this case is shown in FIG.

  When no recommended program information includes the current time in the broadcast time, as shown in FIG. 24 (a), the dial on which the icons of recommended programs up to 12 hours ahead from the current time are mapped. The clock is displayed. Then, as shown in FIG. 24B, when the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105 becomes the recommended program start time as shown in FIG. 24B, the TV is automatically activated, as shown in FIG. The fact that the TV is being activated is displayed, and when the activation of the TV is completed, the program is displayed as shown in FIG.

  Alternatively, when there is no recommended program information in which the current time is included in the broadcast time, as shown in FIG. 25 (a), characters to which the icons of recommended programs from the current time to 12 hours ahead are mapped. When the panel clock is displayed and the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit 105 is the program start time of the recommended program or the time immediately before it as shown in FIG. 25B, the related operation execution unit 1803 is automatically performed. Generates an alarm sound. Further, instead of generating an alarm sound, as shown in FIG. 25 (c), characters or pictures for informing the user that the program start time of the recommended program has come or will come may be displayed. May vibrate the program information providing apparatus 1800 itself. Alternatively, at least two of them (alarm sound, display, vibration) may be combined.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, even when some kind of display is automatically performed at the program start time of the recommended program, when the user is watching another program at the start time of the recommended program, the user's You may make it display by other methods, such as refraining from displaying so that viewing may not be disturbed, or displaying telop on a part of screen.

(Fifth embodiment)
A configuration of a program information providing system including a program information providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 26, the same parts as those in FIG. 18 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The program information providing system shown in FIG. 26 includes a program information providing server 101 and a program information providing apparatus 2600 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention that receives information from the program information providing server 101 (hereinafter referred to as program information providing apparatus 2600). And have.

  The program information providing apparatus 2600 has a configuration in which an automatic information display unit 2601 that automatically switches the details of recommended program information sequentially and displays them on the information display unit 107 is added to the program information providing apparatus 1800 of FIG. .

  Although the communication unit 102 communicates with the program information providing server 101 and external devices via the network 200, wireless communication such as infrared communication may be performed, and the communication method is not limited. In this embodiment, the program information acquisition unit 103, the current time acquisition unit 105, the device information acquisition unit 1401, and the related execution unit 1803 are all connected to a single communication unit 102, but a plurality of communication units are provided. The communication unit to be connected may be changed according to each application.

  Next, processing performed by the automatic information display unit 2601 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In S2701, the automatic information display unit 2601 determines whether or not the details of the recommended program information are automatically switched and displayed. Note that the determination in S2701 may be based on a signal input by the user operating a button or the like provided in the program information providing apparatus, for example. If automatic switching display is to be performed (YES in S2701), the process proceeds to S2702, and the value of F, which is an internal parameter, is set to 1. Then, the process proceeds to S2704. If automatic switching display is not performed, the process proceeds to S2703 and is an internal parameter. After setting the value of F to 0, the process proceeds to S2704.

  In step S2704, the automatic information display unit 2601 acquires the display content determined by the display content determination unit 106 through the processing in steps S1501 to 1507 in the flowchart illustrated in FIG. In step S2705, the automatic information display unit 2601 displays the display content acquired in step S2704 on the information display unit 107, and the process advances to step S2706. Note that the number of recommended programs included in the display content acquired by the automatic information display unit 2601 in S2704 is N.

  In step S2706, the automatic information display unit 2601 determines whether the value of F is 1, that is, whether to perform automatic switching display. If the value of F is 1 (YES in S2706), the process proceeds to S2707. If the value of F is 0 (NO in S2706), the process returns to S2704 and automatic switching display is not performed.

  In step S2707, the automatic information display unit 2601 sets the value of i, which is an internal parameter, to 1, and proceeds to step S2708. In S2708, the i-th recommended program is extracted from the recommended program information included in the display content, and the details of the extracted recommended program information are displayed in S2705 as shown in FIG. Are displayed on a part of the screen, and the process advances to step S2709.

  In step S2709, the automatic information display unit 2601 determines whether 3 seconds have elapsed after the processing in step S2708 is completed. If 3 seconds have elapsed (YES in S2709), the process proceeds to S2710, and if 3 seconds have not elapsed (NO in S2709), a time-waiting state is entered.

  In step S2710, the automatic information display unit 2601 determines whether the value of i matches the value of N. If the value of i matches the value of N (YES in S2710), the process returns to S2704. If the value of i is smaller than the value of N (NO in S2710), the process proceeds to S2711. In S2711, the automatic information display unit 2601 increments the value of i by one and returns to S2708.

  In this embodiment, in S2708 to S2711, the details of the program information are switched and displayed on a part of the screen one by one. However, this is a display method in which the details of the program information are displayed on the entire screen and sequentially switched. May be. Further, the details of the program information to be displayed at a time are not limited to one and may be plural. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 28, the details of the program information are displayed by a display method combined with a clock on the dial, but a list display as shown in FIG. 29 may be adopted.

  Further, the timing of switching the details of the program information may be at regular intervals as in the present embodiment, or may be set by the user at an arbitrary time, or the program information providing server 101 side or the user with respect to the information to be displayed It is also possible to add some priority to individual information and change the length of time for displaying details of program information based on the priority. Further, the number of times each program information is displayed may be displayed only once as in the present embodiment, may be set to an arbitrary number by the user, or may be repeatedly displayed until the user performs some operation. . At this time, if the value of i matches the value of N in S2710 (YES in S2710), the process returns to S2707 instead of returning to S2704.

  Also, as shown in FIGS. 30 (a) to 30 (d), recommended program information can be displayed in a list while the second hand of the clock rotates, and the broadcast time zone of the recommended program is mapped to the point indicated by the second hand. If displayed, the detailed information of the program may be displayed while the point indicated by the second hand is in the broadcast time zone mapping area of the program. That is, for example, if a recommended program with a program start time of 14:00 and a program end time of 15:00 is mapped, the details of the recommended program are displayed when the second hand is between 10 seconds and 15 seconds (FIG. 30). (See (a)). At this time, if there are multiple recommended programs within the same time, the first information is presented for the first round of the second hand and the second information is presented for the second round, so that five programs are presented within the same time. When there is information, all five pieces of detailed information may be browsed if the second hand makes five turns. Alternatively, only when there are a plurality of items at the same time, a plurality of pieces of information may be displayed at a time. Furthermore, in this example, the second hand is displayed, and detailed information is displayed when the second hand comes over the broadcast time zone mapping area of the recommended program, but without displaying the second hand, for example, from 14:00 When program information up to 15:00 is mapped, the frame of the program information on the dial may be blinked for 10 to 15 seconds. In addition to the method of blinking, any display method may be adopted as long as it is a method of notifying the user of which program information details are displayed, such as changing the color.

  In this embodiment, the information to be sequentially displayed is only the recommended program information selected as the display target by the display content determination unit 106, but all the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 is the target. Alternatively, only program information that starts within a user-desired time among program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 may be targeted, or program information selected according to some other condition may be selected. You may make it a target.

  Furthermore, the contents of the detailed information of the program to be displayed are information stored in the program information storage unit 104, such as broadcast time, channel number, program title, genre to which the program belongs, icon indicating the program, performer, program overview The program URL may be all or may be limited to some of the information. Further, if there is a program trailer, it may be displayed. Further, during the display of the detailed information, for example, a trailer of the program whose details are displayed based on a signal input by the user operating a button or the like provided on the program information providing apparatus may be displayed. Alternatively, the operation list related to the program displaying the detailed information may be extracted by the related operation extraction unit 1803, and the operation list may be displayed so that the operation desired by the user can be executed by the related operation execution unit 1803. .

  You may make it the program information provision apparatus demonstrated in the said 1st Embodiment-5th Embodiment have a calendar function. For example, the current time acquisition unit 105 may store calendar data in the internal memory.

  Based on a signal input by the user operating a button or the like provided on the program information providing apparatus, the current time acquisition unit 105 selects the desired date from the calendar data, and the display screen shown in FIG. Thus, only the recommended program information in which the date selected by the current time acquisition unit 106 among the recommended program information determined by the display content determination unit 106 is the program broadcast date may be displayed.

  In addition, as shown in the display screen of FIG. 31, when the calendar and recommended program information for one day selected by the current time acquisition unit 105 are displayed, it is possible to grasp what kind of program the broadcast time is. Since it may be difficult to do so, subsidiary information such as broadcast time and title may be displayed in a telop on a part of the screen as in the display screen shown in FIG.

  Further, the program information providing apparatus according to the present invention has a display method linked to a calendar function as shown in FIG. 31 from a display method in which recommended program icons are mapped on a clock face as shown in FIG. Alternatively, or conversely, the display mode may be switched from a display method linked to the calendar function to a display method in which icons of recommended programs are mapped to the dial clock.

  In the program information providing apparatus according to the present invention, the information display unit 107 may additionally display information other than recommended program information and device information. For example, when the program information providing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the mobile phone device shown in FIG. 33, incoming call history information to the mobile phone device may be displayed together with recommended program information and device information. In addition, when a user receives a call while watching a TV program on the mobile phone device and responds to the incoming call, the related operation execution unit 1803 has a function of automatically recording the TV program being viewed. It may also be possible to provide a function of automatically recording when the start time of a program reserved for viewing or a recommended program has passed while the telephone is answered. In addition, the information display unit 107 may display a user's schedule and the like together with recommended program information and device information.

  The program information providing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to, for example, a mobile phone apparatus shown in FIG. 33, a PDA as shown in FIG. 34, a TV as shown in FIG. When the program information providing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a TV, the display content determined by the display content determining unit 106 may be displayed only on a part of the display screen as shown in FIG. As shown at 36, the display content determined by the display content determination unit 106 may be displayed on the entire display screen.

  The program information providing apparatus described in the first to fifth embodiments can be realized not only by a dedicated device that is hardware, but also for providing a general-purpose computer and program information that operates on the general-purpose computer. It can also be realized by software.

  37 includes a network interface 3701, a CD-ROM drive 3702, a CPU 3703, a hard disk 3704, a TV tuner 3706 connected to an external antenna 3705, a flexible disk drive 3707, a monitor 3708, and a memory. 3709, an input interface 3710, and an input device 3711 such as a keyboard and a mouse. Note that if the general-purpose computer shown in FIG. 37 is operated as the program information providing apparatus 100, the program information providing apparatus 1100, or the program information providing apparatus 1400, the TV tuner 3706 may be omitted.

These are figures which show the structure of the program information provision system containing the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the program information acquisition part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention performs. These are figures which show the attribute of the program information memorize | stored in the program information storage part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the display content determination part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention performs. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the structure of the program information provision system containing the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show an example of the user profile memorize | stored in the user profile memory | storage part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the program information acquisition part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention, and a display content determination part perform. These are figures which show the structure of the program information provision system containing the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the display content determination part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention performs. These are figures which show an example of the apparatus information memorize | stored in the apparatus information storage part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the structure of the program information provision system containing the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention, an information selection part, a related action extraction part, and a related action execution part performs. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the related operation | movement extraction part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention performs. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an operation list displayed by the flowchart operation of FIG. 22 and an operation content executed by the flowchart operation of FIG. 19. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the structure of the program information provision system containing the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention. These are the flowcharts of the process which the automatic information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention performs. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention. These are figures which show the example of a display of the information display part in the program information provision apparatus which concerns on 5th embodiment of this invention. These are the external views of the mobile telephone apparatus which is a program information provision apparatus based on this invention. These are the external views of PDA which is the program information provision apparatus which concerns on this invention. These are the external views of TV which is the program information provision apparatus which concerns on this invention. These are the external views of TV which is the program information provision apparatus which concerns on this invention. These are figures which show the structural example of the general purpose computer which operate | moves as a program information provision apparatus based on this invention by cooperating with the software for program information provision.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Communication part 103 Program information acquisition part 104 Program information storage part 105 Current time acquisition part 106 Display content determination part 107 Information display part 1101 User profile storage part 1102 Profile input part 1401 Equipment information acquisition part 1402 Equipment information storage part 1801 Information selection part 1802 Related operation extraction unit 1803 Related operation execution unit 2601 Automatic information display unit

Claims (11)

Program information acquisition means for acquiring program information from the outside;
Current time acquisition means for acquiring the current time;
Program information storage means for storing program information acquired by the program information acquisition means;
Based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means, notification content determination means for determining a notification target from program information stored in the program information storage means;
Informing means for informing a predetermined item of program information to be notified by the informing content determining means;
A program information providing apparatus comprising:   2. The program information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program information acquisition unit acquires program information from the outside when the current time acquired by the current time acquisition unit is a predetermined time.   The notification content determination means is program information of a program broadcast within a certain time from the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means and / or a constant broadcast after the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means. The program information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program information of a number of programs is a notification target. User profile storage means for storing information on user interests and preferences, etc.,
The program information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the program information acquisition unit acquires program information from the outside based on information stored in the user profile storage unit. User profile storage means for storing information on user interests and preferences, etc.,
Based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means and the information stored by the user profile storage means, the notification content determination means is selected from program information stored in the program information storage means. The program information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a notification target is determined. Broadcast receiving means for receiving the broadcast content of the program,
The broadcast content determination means receives the broadcast content of the program to the broadcast reception means if the program of the program information determined as the broadcast target is a program broadcast at the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means. The program information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the received broadcast content is displayed on the notification means. Device information acquisition means for acquiring device information, which is information relating to the status of external devices, from the external device, and device information storage means for storing device information acquired by the device information acquisition means,
The notification content determining means is based on the program information stored in the program information storage means and the equipment information stored in the equipment information storage means based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means. Decide what to broadcast,
7. The notification unit according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies a predetermined item of program information targeted for notification by the notification content determination unit and a predetermined item of device information targeted for notification by the notification content determination unit. The program information providing device described in 1. Information selection means for selecting at least one piece of information from the notification target determined by the notification content determination means, related action extraction means for extracting a list of actions related to the information selected by the information selection means, With
The program information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies the list extracted by the related action extraction unit. With related operation execution means,
The information selecting means selects one action from the actions included in the list extracted by the related action extracting means;
9. The program information providing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the related operation execution unit executes the operation selected by the information selection unit by itself and / or causes the notification unit and / or the external device to execute the operation.   The program information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising automatic information notifying means for sequentially switching details of program information to be notified by the notification content determining means and notifying the notifying means. Computer to provide program information,
Program information acquisition means for acquiring program information from outside,
Current time acquisition means for acquiring the current time;
Program information storage means for storing program information acquired by the program information acquisition means;
Based on the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means, notification content determination means for determining a notification target from program information stored in the program information storage means, and notification target by the notification content determination means An informing means for informing a predetermined item of the program information
Program information providing program to function as

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