[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
Broadcast channels provide a fast and inexpensive way of distributing information. The broadcast client can monitor digital data streams 24 hours a day to keep caches of subscribed information up-to-date, without using the phone.
Broadcast clients are designed to filter high-bandwidth broadcast data streams and save whatever the viewer may have subscribed to, requested, or purchased. In combination with the broadcast client's system security and strong encryption, this capacity provides a reliable and economical channel for selling even high-priced or confidential digital goods and services.
Digital data can not only be sent over digital networks, it can also be incorporated into analog television signals in the vertical blanking interval (VBI). Digital data automatically transmitted in the VBI includes the Program Guide data provided by Gemstar and other companies. Digital transmissions can also use analog bandwidth directly through broadband modems, such as cable modems.
Digital data broadcasts are ideal for delivering such time-sensitive information as stock prices, local news and weather, product catalogs, software updates, and much other information provided by subscription services. For example, frequently visited Internet sites can easily be broadcast in this fashion and cached on a hard drive. They are thus instantly available in an up-to-date form when a viewer wants them, perhaps in conjunction with an associated show or advertisement. Caching such sites eliminates frustrating busy signals, slow server response, and long download times that may be associated with visiting the sites using a modem.
Not only can broadcasting and caching popular Internet content make visiting useful pages much less frustrating for consumers, it can also reduce server loads so that other interactions, such as purchases, can proceed without delay.
In addition, background images, video, and music downloaded over high-bandwidth broadcast channels can be used to make computer experiences more attractive and fun, particularly in the realm of entertainment software and educational programs. All kinds of digital information previously difficult or very time-consuming to acquire can be made immediately available. For example, games or courseware might be regularly updated with new scenarios, information, backgrounds, and so forth to provide users a constantly changing landscape of interactivity.