Digital jukebox device with karaoke and/or photo booth features, and associated methods

摘要

Certain exemplary embodiments relate to entertainment systems and, more particularly, certain exemplary embodiments relate to jukebox systems that incorporate digital downloading jukebox features along with karaoke jukebox and/or photo booth features. A combined karaoke / photo booth / jukebox may enable more integrated performance-like experiences in an in-home or out-of-home location or venue. By leveraging vast audio media libraries, trusted rights-respecting network infrastructure, and on-site image/video capturing from integrated recorders and/or remote portable devices, a more sociable experience may be created for karaoke jukebox patrons, e.g., where custom content can be generated and shared in a safe and legally appropriate manner. The method involves operating a portable electronic device by a user, and synchronizing times between a jukebox and the electronic device that captures a video with karaoke performance mediated by the jukebox which may be previewed by a user prior to printing or transmission and may be edited by the user to apply one or more digital effects. The captured video is received from the electronic device at a network location with reference to the synchronized times. The captured video with high-quality audio by a microphone is connected to the jukebox, and high-quality song audio corresponding to a song is associated with the karaoke performance, to create a combined recording of the karaoke performance. In this application the jukebox operates in two modes: a first mode in which users can select songs for playback in exchange for credits and a second mode wherein the user can use the camera to take pictures while songs selected in the first mode are playing. The system will switch from second mode to first mode either after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed or if the number of songs queued for playback falls below a threshold.