iPhone and media buying - Buying music, ringtones and art from your celluar phone

Apple has applied for another patent that leads more weight to the rumours surrounding the release of an iPhone. This patent application deals with an iTunes like client on a phone and how a mobile phone would interact with the iTunes store. Depending on the speed of your connection songs/movies could be either downloaded immediately or marked for later download on your PC. The iTunes Mucis store would be expanded to sell things such as ringtones and wallpaper along with music and videos.

This is not the smoking gun proving an iPhone is on the way but it supports the assertion that Apple has done significant work towards producing a phone and is perhaps waiting until they feel the market is right. They have certainly hired people with expertise in phone design. There are hints in the patent application that the mobile phone would incorporate a touchscreen instead of a keypad.

From the Patent Application:

Techniques for interacting with an online media store using a first device to identify a digital media item of interest to a user of the first device, using the first device to store an interest indicator for the digital media item of interest at the online media store, and subsequently interacting with the online media store using a second device to purchase or preview the digital media item of interest as identified by the interest indicator. Additionally, ring tones and graphics associated with the digital media item of interest can also be purchased.

The invention pertains to techniques for identifying and/or purchasing digital media items by using a wireless non-transfer device (a `portable wireless device`). These techniques can allow a user of a portable wireless device to identify a digital media item on an online media store and mark it for download. The digital media item may then be downloaded at a later time when the user is able to connect to the online media store with a transfer device, typically a personal computer (e.g., a `host computer`). The digital media item can be purchased using either the non-transfer device or the transfer device. Digital media items available for purchase and download can include a variety of media file types, including audio (e.g., MP3, MP4, AAC, WAV, etc.), video (AVI, Quicktime.TM., etc.), electronic book (eBook), as well as others. Digital media items can include music singles and music videos, for example. Additionally, ring tones and graphics associated with the digital media item can also be purchased.

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a method, system, device, apparatus, graphical user interface, or computer readable medium. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.

In one embodiment of the invention, a portable wireless device interacts with an online media store via a network, typically a cellular network, to select a digital media item of interest, which is marked for later review or purchase. Subsequent to this interaction, a second device, for example a personal computer connected to the Internet, is used to review the marked digital media item, or to download the marked digital media item if it has already been purchased.

In another embodiment of the invention, a list of available digital media items is obtained from an online media store and browsed using a browser application (e.g., a WAP browser) or a media management application (MMA) running on a portable wireless device. The browser or MMA is then used to purchase one or more digital media items from the online media store. The purchased media items are marked for later download to a second device, for example a personal computer connected to the Internet.

Depending on the bandwidth available and the media playback capabilities of the portable wireless device, digital media items downloaded to the portable wireless device can include telephone ring-tones, music files, art graphics, and video files.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the wireless non-transfer device is a wireless phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

[0007] Another type of electronic device that has limited media file playback capability is a portable wireless device, which includes cellular phones and wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs). However, while some of these devices are capable of playing media files, they generally lack access to computer networks and/or lack the wireless bandwidth necessary to transfer media files, which are typically several megabytes (MB) in size.

[0026] Non-transfer devices, in the context of this invention, are cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other similar portable wireless devices that have wireless access. Typically, non-transfer devices are not used for storage, transfer, or playback of digital media items, although many such devices do have limited playback capabilities.

The portable wireless device 305 includes a display 310 used to view text or graphics, an antenna 315 for connecting to a wireless network such as a cellular phone network or wireless data network, and a control panel 320 such as a keypad or touchpad

When discussing native applications for specific portable wireless devices, it is noted that many wireless-enabled PDAs and cellular phones have the capacity to run native applications, thus allowing third-party developers to create applications which more efficiently utilize the capabilities of a particular platform than is possible with a platform-independent application. Examples include cellular phones and PDA’s running the Palm OS.RTM. or Windows.RTM. operating systems for mobile devices. Other alternatives include portable wireless devices running Nokia Corporation’s Symbian OS.RTM. or Qualcomm’s Binary Runtime for Wireless Environment.RTM. (BREW.TM.). Many of these portable wireless devices are also able to run non-native (i.e., platform-independent) applications such as, for example, Java.TM. applets. It is generally understood, however, by those skilled in the art that non-native software is often less suitable than native software in many situations, such as when the software needs to be able to play media files. This problem is primarily due to limitations in current platform-independent software platforms, which are likely to improve in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, according to this particular embodiment of the invention, native applications are currently preferred over non-native applications. It is foreseeable that non-native applications will soon be well-suited for the purposes of the present invention. Thus, although the use of non-native applications will not be discussed further, it is understood for the purposes of this application that the invention is suitable for use with non-native applications.

A user may prefer to use a native software application over a WAP browser for a variety of reasons. A native application designed specifically for communication with an online media store will likely have an improved user interface, the capability to play a wider variety of media types, improved download and file management, and other advantages which might be lacking in a general-purpose browser application.

Digital media item types can include, for example, music singles, music albums, videos, motion pictures, and electronic books (eBooks). Additionally, if the portable wireless device has cellular phone features, the list may include ring tones compatible with the make and model of that particular portable wireless device.

Purchasing 453 a ring tone is an available option for portable wireless devices which incorporate telephone or alarm capabilities. In one embodiment of the invention, ring tones available for download from the media store are selected according to a media selection process 500, discussed below in reference to FIG. 5. Ring tones purchased 453 may be downloaded immediately or at some future time, according to the user’s preference. Alternately, ring tones may be automatically downloaded to the portable wireless device during off-peak hours, thus allowing a user who has selected a wireless usage plan that charges less for off-peak downloads to take advantage of cheaper rates without having to complete the purchase during peak hours.