Methods and apparatuses for programming user-defined information into electronic devices

• US 7,289,798 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2004
• Issued: 10/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Solocron Media, LLC (Solocron Group, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Twenty Year Innovations Incorporated
• Inventors: Shanahan, Michael E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Congvan
• Application Number:
  US10/915,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20050010633A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,175 Days
• Field of Search: 455/418, 455/412.1, 455/414.1, 455/413, 455/419, 455/420, 455/424, 455/425, 379/67, 379/815, 379/88.02, 379/67.1, 379/68, 709/200
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/61 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72409 by interfacing with external accessories hands-free H04M1/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

A device for programming user-defined information into an electronic device is provided. The programmer allows a user to program customized information, such as user-selected audio, video, or Internet access information into his or her programmable device. Such electronic devices include wireless telephones, pagers, and personal digital assistants. The programmer allows a user to, among other things, customize the device to suit his or her particular taste.

Claims

1. A method of customizing a wireless telephone by programming a digital audio file into the wireless telephone for use as an indicia of an incoming communication, the method comprising:

connecting substantially directly to a remote database that includes a plurality of lists of digital audio files, the remote database being substantially independent of a network operator that provides wireless telephone service to the wireless telephone;

allowing a user of the wireless telephone to browse at least one of the lists of digital audio files;

allowing the user of the wireless telephone to select at least one of the digital audio files from the browsed list;

optionally reviewing the selected digital audio file before downloading the selected digital audio file into the wireless telephone; and

allowing the user to optionally download the selected digital audio file for use as an indicia of an incoming communication.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the format of the selected digital audio file is from the group comprising:

MIDI, MPEG, MP3, WAV, PCM, Windows Media Audio code (WMA), or Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC).

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising allowing the user to search the remote database for a certain desired digital audio file using title or description information to aid in locating the desired digital audio file.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the searching further comprises searching the Internet or other remote databases for the desired digital audio file.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the browsing of digital audio files is accomplished at least in part using a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) compliant system.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a visual indication on a display screen of the wireless telephone to confirm the selected digital audio file has been successfully downloaded.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

downloading a selected digital audio file into the wireless telephone; and

associating the downloaded digital audio file with a characteristic indicative of a caller such that the associated digital audio file plays when the indicative characteristic is received by the wireless telephone.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic indicative of the caller is the caller'"'"'s telephone number.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising preventing the unauthorized distribution of a downloaded digital audio file.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising playing the selected digital audio file through an enhanced performance speaker capable of providing a substantially full range of audio sounds from MIDI, MP3, MPEG, WAV, PCM, Windows Media Audio Code (WMA), or Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC) files.

11. The method of claim 1 characterized by the use of a personal computer to perform the browsing step.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing the user with an option to modify the selected digital audio file.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an indication that a memory capacity of the wireless telephone has been exceeded if the size of the digital audio file to be downloaded is larger than available memory space in the wireless telephone.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing the user of the wireless telephone with the opportunity to cancel or modify a download request associated with an audio file download operation if the size of the digital audio file to be downloaded is larger than available memory space in the wireless telephone.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing copyright protection for the selected digital audio file.

16. A method of customizing a wireless telephone by programming a digital audio file into the wireless telephone for use as an indicia of an incoming communication, the method comprising:

connecting substantially directly to a remote database that includes a plurality of digital audio files;

the remote database operating substantially independently of a network operator that provides wireless telephone service to the wireless telephone;

allowing the user of the wireless telephone to browse and select at least one of the digital audio files;

allowing the user to optionally download the selected digital audio file into a programmable memory for use as an indicia of an incoming communication; and

allowing the user to optionally review the selected digital audio file before downloading the selected audio file into the wireless telephone.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the format of the selected digital audio file is from the group comprising:

MIDI, MPEG, MP3, WAV, PCM, Windows Media Audio code (WMA), or Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC).

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising allowing the user to search the remote database for a certain desired digital audio file using title or description information to aid in locating the desired digital audio file.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the searching further comprises searching the Internet or other remote databases for the desired digital audio file.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the browsing of digital audio files is accomplished at least in part using a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) compliant system.

21. The method of claim 16 further comprising providing a visual indication on a display screen of the wireless telephone to confirm the selected digital audio file has been successfully downloaded.

22. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

downloading a selected digital audio file into the wireless telephone; and

associating the downloaded digital audio file with a characteristic indicative of a caller such that the associated digital audio file plays when the indicative characteristic is received by the wireless telephone.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein the characteristic indicative of the caller is the caller'"'"'s telephone number.

24. A wireless telephone that may be customized by programming a digital audio file, into the wireless telephone for use as an indicia of an incoming communication, the telephone comprising:

means for connecting substantially directly to a remote database that includes a plurality of lists of digital audio files;

the remote database being substantially independent of a network operator that provides wireless telephone service to the wireless telephone;

means for browsing at least one of the lists of digital audio files;

means for selecting at least one of the digital audio files from the browsed list;

means for optionally reviewing the selected digital audio file before downloading the digital selected audio into the wireless telephone; and

means for downloading the selected digital audio file for use as an indicia of an incoming communication.

25. The wireless telephone of claim 24 further comprising means for searching the remote database for a certain desired digital audio file using title or description information to aid in locating the desired audio file.

26. The wireless telephone of claim 25 wherein the searching further comprises means for searching the Internet or other remote databases for the desired digital audio file.

27. The wireless telephone of claim 24 further comprising means for providing a visual indication on a display screen of the wireless telephone to confirm the selected digital audio file has been successfully downloaded.

28. The wireless telephone of claim 24 further comprising means for associating a downloaded audio file with a characteristic indicative of a caller such that the associated digital audio file plays when the indicative characteristic is received by the wireless telephone.

29. A wireless telephone that may be customized by programming an audio file into the wireless telephone for use as an indicia of an incoming communication, the telephone comprising:

means for connecting substantially directly to a remote database that includes a plurality of digital audio files;

the remote database operating substantially independently of a network operator that provides wireless telephone service to the wireless telephone;

means for browsing and selecting at least one of the digital audio files;

means for optionally downloading the selected digital audio file into a programmable memory for use as an indicia of an incoming communication; and

means for optionally reviewing the selected digital audio file before downloading the selected digital audio file into the wireless telephone.

30. The wireless telephone of claim 29 further comprising

means for searching the remote database for a certain desired digital audio file using title or description information to aid in locating the desired digital audio file.

31. The wireless telephone of claim 29 wherein the searching further comprises means for searching the Internet or other remote databases for the desired digital audio file.

32. The wireless telephone of claim 29 wherein the browsing of digital audio files is accomplished at least in part using a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) compliant system.

33. The wireless telephone of claim 29 further comprising providing a visual indication on a display screen of the wireless telephone to confirm the selected digital audio file has been successfully downloaded.

34. The wireless telephone of claim 29 further comprising

means for associating a downloaded digital audio file with a characteristic indicative of a caller such that the associated digital audio file plays when the indicative characteristic is received by the wireless telephone.