초록 ▼

A method and system is provided for associating external content with a digital image. Aspects of the method and system include extracting metadata from the digital image; using the extracted metadata to query an online content server to retrieve content related to the digital image through at least

A method and system is provided for associating external content with a digital image. Aspects of the method and system include extracting metadata from the digital image; using the extracted metadata to query an online content server to retrieve content related to the digital image through at least one attribute of the extracted metadata; in response to receiving the content returned by the content server, associating the content with the digital image; and using the content when an operation is performed on the digital image.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method for associating external content with a digital image, comprising: obtaining the digital image from a first device;extracting GPS location and date metadata from the digital image, the date metadata comprising information recorded contemporaneously with the generation of the digital imag

1. A method for associating external content with a digital image, comprising: obtaining the digital image from a first device;extracting GPS location and date metadata from the digital image, the date metadata comprising information recorded contemporaneously with the generation of the digital image;using the extracted date metadata to query an online content server to retrieve a song that was popular on the date identified by the date metadata, the online content server being a different device from the first device;in response to receiving the song returned by the online content server, associating the song with the digital image; anddisplaying the digital image and playing the song concurrently to a user. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the song along with the digital image when the digital image is stored. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein performing the store operation on the digital image includes at least one of archival, saving, and backup operations. 4. The method of claim 3 wherein performing the store operation further includes storing both the digital image and the song to at least one of a local hard drive and a mass storage device. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein extracting the metadata occurs in response to receiving a request to enhance one or more selected images. 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the request to enhance the one or more selected images is initiated by the user through a graphical user interface of an image application, and automatically initiated by the image application in response to a preconfigured operation specified by the user. 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the image application is configured to initiate collection of the song for the digital image in response to operations including image import, image viewing, and image storage. 8. The method of claim 6 further including allowing the user to select a batch of digital images for which to collect songs, wherein the user configures the image application to apply filters on the batch such that the image application requests songs for only digital images that pass the filter. 9. The method of claim 6 wherein the metadata is extracted from the digital image when the image application determines that no song has been previously associated with the digital image, or determines that if song has been previously associated with the digital image, then the song is older than a predetermined time threshold. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein associating the song with the digital image further includes storing the song in a file and associating the file with the digital image through a file naming convention. 11. The method of claim 1 wherein associating the song with the digital image further includes storing the song as one more records in a database, and using an identifier of the digital image as an index to the records. 12. A computing device, comprising: a memory for storing digital images, wherein at least a portion of the digital images include GPS location and date metadata;an image application stored in the memory; anda processor for executing the image application, wherein when executed, the image application is functional for: obtaining the digital images from a first device;extracting the GPS location and date metadata from at least one of the digital images, the date metadata comprising information recorded contemporaneously with the generation of the at least one digital image;using the date metadata to query an online content server to retrieve a song that was popular on the date identified by the date metadata, the online content server being a different device from the first device;in response to receiving the song returned by the online content server, associating the song with the at least one digital image; anddisplaying the at least one digital image and playing the song concurrently. 13. The computing device of claim 12 wherein the processor is further functional to store the song along with the at least one digital image when the at least one digital image is stored. 14. The computing device of claim 13 wherein performing the store operation on the at least one digital image includes at least one of archival, saving, and backup operations. 15. The computing device of claim 14 wherein performing the store operation further includes storing both the at least one digital image and the song to at least one of a local hard drive and a mass storage device. 16. The computing device of claim 12 wherein extracting the date metadata occurs in response to receiving a request to enhance one or more selected images. 17. The computing device of claim 16 wherein the request to enhance the one or more selected images is initiated by the user through a graphical user interface of the image application, and automatically initiated by the image application in response to a preconfigured operation specified by the user. 18. The computing device of claim 17 wherein the image application is configured to initiate collection of the song for the at least one digital image in response to operations including image import, image viewing, and image storage. 19. The computing device of claim 16 wherein the image application allows the user to select a batch of digital images for which to collect songs, wherein a user configures the image application to apply filters on the batch such that the image application requests songs for only digital images that pass the filter. 20. The computing device of claim 16 wherein the date metadata is extracted from the digital image when the image application determines that no song has been previously associated with the at least one digital image, or determines that if song has been previously associated with the at least one digital image, then the song is older than a predetermined time threshold. 21. The computing device of claim 12 wherein the image application associates the song with the at least one digital image by storing the song in a file and associates the file with the digital image through a file naming convention. 22. The computing device of claim 12 wherein the image application associates the song with the at least one digital image by storing the song as one more records in a database, and uses an identifier of the digital image as an index to the records. 23. The computing device of claim 12 wherein the image application is implemented by one of being provided as an enhancement to an existing image application, provided as a stand-alone application, and provided as a plug-in module for another application. 24. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for associating external content with a digital image, the program instructions for: obtaining the digital image from a first device;extracting GPS location and date metadata from the digital image, the date metadata comprising information recorded contemporaneously with the generation of the digital image;using the extracted date metadata to query an online content server to retrieve a song that was popular on the date identified by the date metadata, the online content server being a different device from the first device;in response to receiving the song returned by the online content server, associating the song with the digital image; anddisplaying the digital image and playing the song concurrently to a user. 25. A method for associating external content with a digital image, comprising: obtaining, by a computer, a digital image comprising metadata and image data;extracting, by the computer, the metadata from the digital image, wherein the metadata comprises GPS location and date metadata, the date metadata identifying a date on which the image data was generated;obtaining, by the computer, a song that was popular on the date identified by the date metadata from a content server based on the date metadata; anddisplaying, by the computer, the image data and the content concurrently to a user via a user interface.