Inter device personal information transfer

• US 7,127,242 B1
• Filed: 06/11/2001
• Issued: 10/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gateway Incorporated (Acer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Gateway Incorporated (Acer, Inc.)
• Inventors: Olson, Anthony M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Anderson, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dao, Minh
• Application Number:
  US09/878,755
• Time in Patent Office: 1,961 Days
• Field of Search: 455/426, 455/564, 455/418, 455/557, 455/410, 455/420, 379/61, 379/58, 379/355
• US Class Current: 455/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions

Abstract

Personal information is transferred between an old appliance and a new appliance by use of communication capabilities of the appliances. A transfer facility on the old appliance is used to select the information to transfer. A receive facility on the new appliance is provided to verify the information prior to finalizing the transfer. The personal information is translated by either facility as desired, and the information is optionally encrypted, compressed and verified. The facilities are downloaded from a network and are modified based on characteristics of the appliances exchanging personal information. The personal information includes preferences for operation of the appliance. Telephony and wireless communication methods such as cellular are employed for the exchange in various embodiments.

Claims

1. A computer based appliance that sends customization information to a new cellular telephony device, the computer based appliance comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor that stores programs and customization information for a new cellular telephony device where customization information is a customer preference for an operation of the cellular telephony device;

a communication device for communicating with said new cellular telephony device via a cellular call; and

a transfer module that (a) retrieves customization information corresponding to similar functions in the new cellular telephony device from the memory, (b) translates the customization information to customize related functions of the new cellular telephony device, and (c) transfers the translated customization information via a cellular call to said new cellular telephony device.

2. The computer based appliance of claim 1 wherein the customer preference is selected from the group consisting of call forward options, ring signatures, ring volume, speaker volume, caller ID, answer on open, and graphical interface configurations.

3. The computer based appliance of claim 1 wherein the transfer module provides a user interface for initiating the transfer of the customization information.

4. The computer based appliance of claim 1 wherein the transfer module performs a function selected from the group of encryption, compression and error detection of the customization information.

5. A computer based appliance that receives customization information from an old cellular telephony device, the computer based appliance comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor that stores programs and customization information for an old cellular telephony device where the customization information is a customer information for an operation of the cellular telephony device;

a communication device for communicating with said old cellular telephony device via a cellular call; and

a receive module that (a) receives the customization information from the old cellular telephony device via a cellular call, (b) translates the customization information to customize related functions of the new cellular telephony device, and (c) stores the translated customization information corresponding to the new cellular telephony device functions in the memory.

6. The computer based appliance of claim 5 wherein the customer preference is selected from the group consisting of call forward options, ring signatures, ring volume, speaker volume, caller ID, answer on open, and graphical interface configurations.

7. The computer based appliance of claim 5 wherein the receive module provides a user interface for accepting the customization information.

8. The computer based appliance of claim 5 wherein the receive module performs a function selected from the group of decryption, decompression and validation of the customization information.

9. A method for transferring customization information between an old cellular telephony device and a new cellular telephony device, the method comprising:

identifying customization information to transfer from the old cellular telephony device to the new cellular telephony device, the customization information being a customer preference for an operation of the cellular telephony device;

initiating a cellular call directly between the old and new cellular telephony devices;

translating the customization information of the old cellular telephony device to a format compatible with the new cellular telephony device; and

transferring the customization information between the old and new telephony devices via the cellular call.

10. The method of claim 9 and further comprising selectively accepting pieces of the customization information.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the customer preference is selected form the group consisting of call forward options, ring signatures, ring volume, speaker volume, caller ID, answer on open, and graphical interface configurations.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein and further comprising providing a user interface for accepting customization information.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the receive module performs a function selected from the group of decryption, decompression and validation of the customization information.

14. A first cellular telephone that receives customization information from a second cellular telephone, the first cellular telephone comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor that stores programs and customization information which is a customer preference for an operation of the cellular telephony device;

a cellular based communication device for communicating with said second cellular telephone via a cellular call; and

a receive module that (a) receives the customization information from the second cellular telephone via a cellular call, (b) translates the customization information to customize related functions of the first cellular telephone and (c) stores the customization information in the memory.

15. The cellular telephone of claim 14 wherein the customer preference is selected from the group consisting of call forward options, ring signatures, ring volume, caller ID, answer on open, and graphical interface configurations.

16. The first cellular telephone of claim 14 wherein the receive module provides a user interface for accepting customization information.

17. The first cellular telephone of claim 14 wherein the receive module performs a function selected from the group of decryption, decompression and validation of the customization information.

18. A computer readable medium having instructions for execution of a method of updating customization personal information on a new cellular telephony device, the method comprising:

receiving a cellular call from a previous cellular telephony device;

receiving customization information from the previous cellular telephony device via the cellular call, the customization information being a customer preference for an operation of the cellular telephony device;

storing selected customization information in a format compatible with a format of the new cellular telephony device.

19. A computer readable medium having instructions for execution of a method of updating customization information on a new cellular telephony device, the method comprising:

receiving a cellular call from a previous cellular telephony device;

receiving customization information from the previous cellular telephony device via the cellular call, the customization information being a customer preference for an operation of the cellular telephony device;

translating customization information relating to functions which are similar in the new cellular telephony device appliance such that customization preferences are transferred from the old cellular telephony device to the new cellular telephony device.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 wherein the customer preference is selected from the group consisting of call forward options, ring signatures, ring volume, speaker volume, caller ID, answer on open, and graphical interface configurations.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 19 and further comprising instructions for obtaining a receive module for translation of customization information between the previous and new cellular telephony devices.

22. A computer readable medium having instructions for execution of a method of sending customization information to a new cellular telephony device appliance from a previous cellular telephony device, the method comprising:

identifying customization information to transfer from the previous cellular telephony device to the new cellular telephony device, the customization information being a customer preference for an operation of the cellular telephony device-translating the customization information to a format directly usable by the new cellular telephony device;

initiating a cellular call to the new cellular telephony device;

sending the customization information from the previous cellular telephony device via the cellular call to the new cellular telephony device.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 and further comprising instructions for transferring a receive module to the new cellular telephony device via the cellular call to enable the new cellular telephony device to receive and store the transferred customization information.