Users are continually exposed to an ever increasing variety of clients that provide network access, such a set-top boxes, wireless phones, computers, and so on. A user of a set-top box, for instance, may view traditional television programming obtained from a broadcast network for display on a television, as well as order pay-per-view movies, receive video-on-demand (VOD), play “live” video games, and so on. Likewise, a user of a wireless phone may place and receive traditional telephone calls, as well as read email, download digital music, and so on.
Another such example is a digital video recorder (DVR). A DVR typically includes non-volatile storage (e.g., a hard disk) that enables the user to record desired content. DVR's also offer control functionality, such as the ability to pause content that is currently being broadcast and allows viewers to watch the content, while still in progress, from the point it was paused. The DVR plays back the content from storage, starting at the pause event, while continuing to record the currently-broadcast content. Additionally, the DVR may support other control functions, such as rewinding, fast forwarding a stored program, slow motion playback, and the like.
To record content using a DVR, a user was typically required to directly interact with the DVR itself. In some instances, the user could configure the DVR to record related content by specifying parameters to be matched with those of available content to locate potentially desirable content. For example, the user could specify the title of a television program so that the DVR would record each television program having that title. However, the user was not assured that the DVR would record a particular content item of interest. In other words, the user could not be certain that the potentially desirable content recorded by the DVR corresponded with the actual content the user wished to record. For example, although the DVR may be configured to record a particular television program, the DVR might fail to record a special regarding the actors in that particular television program. Therefore, when the user was located “away” from the DVR, the user could not cause the DVR to record the particular content item, even if the user had access to one or more of the clients that provide network access as previously described.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for improved content recordation techniques.