Phone appliance with display screen and methods of using the same
First Claim
1. A phone appliance for facilitating sending voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, said phone appliance comprising:
- means for interfacing said phone appliance with the at least one data network;
means for transmitting and receiving the VoIP communications and the data communications; and
a display screen for displaying at least one data communication received via the at least one data network, wherein said data communication includes at least one element of a portal;
said phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content and performing at least one service associated with at least one portal feature, wherein said phone appliance is further configured for user interaction and creating, displaying, and transmitting a communication, including an alpha-numeric communication, in response to the received data communication;
wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the display screen via user interaction with the at least one element of the portal is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call, and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A phone appliance and method of use are provided where the phone appliance can be used to make VoIP communications calls. In a preferred embodiment, the phone appliance includes an RF connection for connecting to a computer or other computing device for facilitating the placement of the VoIP communications calls. The phone appliance further includes a display or portal for depicting advertisements provided by various advertisers. The advertisements provided can be used to defray all or part of the cost associated with making VoIP communications calls. The portal can also be used to communicate with businesses for ordering products, such as ordering a pizza, and to perform various services, such as purchasing stocks. In an exemplary system, the phone appliance is used to transmit to a control center information related to the user of the phone appliance, such as interests and buying habits, and queries for receiving additional information for various advertised products and services. The control center transmits the queries to the appropriate vendors for providing the user with additional information. Other functions and features are provided to the phone appliance, such as being able to download e-mail messages stored within or received by the computer.
99 Citations
367 Claims
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1. A phone appliance for facilitating sending voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, said phone appliance comprising:
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means for interfacing said phone appliance with the at least one data network; means for transmitting and receiving the VoIP communications and the data communications; and a display screen for displaying at least one data communication received via the at least one data network, wherein said data communication includes at least one element of a portal; said phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content and performing at least one service associated with at least one portal feature, wherein said phone appliance is further configured for user interaction and creating, displaying, and transmitting a communication, including an alpha-numeric communication, in response to the received data communication; wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the display screen via user interaction with the at least one element of the portal is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call, and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for facilitating voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via at least one data network, including voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications, the system comprising:
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at least one phone appliance comprising means for interfacing said phone appliance with the at least one data network;
means for transmitting and receiving the VoIP communications and the data communications;
means for receiving a request for information via the at least one data network; and
a display screen for displaying at least one data communication received via the at least one data network, wherein said received data communication includes at least one element of a portal;
said at least one phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content and performing at least one service associated with at least one portal feature, wherein said phone appliance is further configured for user interaction and creating, displaying, and transmitting a communication, including an alpha-numeric communication, in response to the received data communication;
wherein, when said at least one phone appliance is operable, a time when at least one user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the display screen via user interaction with the at least one element of the portal is independent of a time when the at least one user makes the at least one phone call; anda computing device configured for receiving and facilitating the VoIP communications and/or the data communications from and to the at least one phone appliance via the at least one data network, and wherein said at least one phone appliance makes the at the least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A method for facilitating voice-over-data and/or data communications, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communication link with at least one data network using a phone appliance for making at least one phone call to at least one party via the at least one data network, including transmitting and receiving voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) communications and data communications; receiving by the phone appliance at least one data communication for display, wherein said data communication includes Internet content; displaying by the phone appliance the at least one data communication received via the data network; and transmitting by the phone appliance a communication, including an alpha-numeric communication, in response to the received data communication, wherein said phone appliance is configured for Internet access for viewing the Internet content and for user interaction and creating, displaying, and transmitting said alpha-numeric communication, wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the phone appliance via user interaction with the Internet content is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call, and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138)
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139. A phone appliance for facilitating sending voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, said phone appliance comprising:
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a transceiver for transmitting and receiving the VoIP communications and the data communications via the at least one data network; a display screen for displaying at least one data communication received via the at least one data network, wherein said at least one data communication includes Internet content; and software downloaded via the Internet for adding at least one additional function to said phone appliance; said phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing the Internet content and performing at least one service associated with the Internet content, wherein said phone appliance is further configured for generating a response to the received VoIP communications and/or the data communications and for transmitting the response, wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the display screen via user interaction with the Internet content is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call, and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168)
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169. A system for facilitating voice-over-data and/or data communications over at least one data network including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications, the system comprising:
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at least one phone appliance comprising a transceiver for transmitting and receiving the VoIP communications and the data communications via the at least one data network;
a display screen for displaying at least one data communication received via the at least one data network, wherein said at least one data communication received includes Internet content; and
software downloaded via the Internet for adding at least one additional function to said phone appliance;
said phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing the Internet content and performing at least one service associated with the Internet content, and further configured for generating a response to the received data communication and for transmitting the response, wherein, when said at least one phone appliance is operable, a time when at least one user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the display screen via user interaction with the Internet content is independent of a time when the at least one user makes the at least one phone call; anda computing device configured for receiving and facilitating the VoIP communications and/or the data communications from and to the at least one phone appliance via the at least one data network, wherein said at least one phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198)
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199. A system for facilitating voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications, the system comprising:
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at least one data network, including the Internet, for routing the VoIP communications and the data communications; and a computing device in operative communication with the at least one data network for transmitting to and receiving from the at least one data network the VoIP communications and the data communications, said computing device configured to provide a connection to at least one user-operable phone appliance to facilitate the transmission and/or the receipt of the VoIP communications and the data communications between the computing device and the at least one user-operable phone appliance, the at least one user-operable phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content, wherein at least one communication transmitted by the computing device includes video and the at least one communication transmitted is configured for display by the at least one user-operable phone appliance, wherein, when said at least one user-operable phone appliance is operable, a user initiates downloading of the at least one communication transmitted for display by the at least one user-operable phone appliance via user interaction with the Internet content, and wherein said at least one user-operable phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the at least one user-operable phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the at least one user-operable phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258)
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231. A method for facilitating voice-over-data, and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, comprising the steps of:
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providing a connection between a computing device and at least one phone appliance, said connection facilitating display of the data communications by said at least one phone appliance; receiving, via the connection, the VoIP communications, and the data communications for displaying, by the at least one phone appliance; transmitting the VoIP communications, and the data communications for displaying, by the at least one phone appliance, wherein the at least one phone appliance is configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content, and wherein, when said at least one phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading data communications for display by the at least one phone appliance via user interaction with the Internet content is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call; transmitting software to the at least one phone appliance, via the Internet, for adding at least one additional function to said at least one phone appliance; and receiving data transmitted by the at least one phone appliance, and wherein said at least one phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (232, 259, 260)
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261. A method for facilitating voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, comprising the steps of:
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providing an RF connection, wherein the RF connection connects a computing device and a phone appliance, said phone appliance configured for receiving data for display via the at least one data network; receiving the VoIP communications, and the data communications for displaying, by the phone appliance; the VoIP communications and the data communications being received by the computing device from the phone appliance via the RF connection; transmitting the VoIP communications, and the data communications for display, by the phone appliance; the data communications being transmitted from the computing device to the phone appliance via the RF connection, wherein the phone appliance is configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content and at least one data communication transmitted to the phone appliance includes at least one element of a portal, and wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, a user initiates downloading data communications for display by the phone appliance via user interaction with the at least one element of the portal; transmitting software via the Internet, wherein the software is transmitted to the phone appliance for adding at least one additional function to said phone appliance; and receiving data by the computing device, the received data being transmitted by the phone appliance in response to the received VoIP communications and/or the data communications, and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289)
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290. A phone appliance for facilitating sending voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, said phone appliance comprising:
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a transceiver for interfacing said phone appliance with the at least one data network, wherein the transceiver transmits and receives the VoIP communications and the data communications; and a display screen for displaying at least one communication received via the at least one data network, wherein said at least one communication received includes Internet content; said phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing the Internet content and performing at least one service associated with the Internet content, wherein said phone appliance is further configured for user interaction and creating and displaying a communication, including an alpha-numeric communication, in response to the received communication, and for transmitting the alpha-numeric communication; wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, said phone appliance is configured for a user to initiate downloading of the at least one communication received for display by the display screen via user interaction with the display screen; and wherein the at least one data network includes a data network, and wherein the VoIP communications, and the at least one communication for displaying, are transmitted via the data network, and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319)
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320. A method for facilitating voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, the method comprising:
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providing a wireless connection between a computing device and at least one phone appliance, said wireless connection facilitating transmission of the VoIP data communications, and the data communications for display, by said at least one phone appliance; receiving, via the wireless connection, the VoIP data communications, and the data communications for display, by said at least one phone appliance; and transmitting the VoIP communications, and the data communications for display, by the at least one phone appliance; wherein the at least one phone appliance is configured for accessing the Internet for viewing and downloading Internet content, including video, and further configured for downloading software for adding at least one additional function to said at least one phone appliance; wherein, when said at least one phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading the data communications for display by said at least one phone appliance via the user accessing the Internet content is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call; wherein the at least one data network includes a data network, and wherein the VoIP communications, and the data communications for display, by said at least one phone appliance, are transmitted via the data network; and wherein said at least one phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP data communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340)
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341. A phone appliance for facilitating sending voice-over-data and/or data communications, including making at least one phone call to at least one party via voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VoIP) data communications via at least one data network, said phone appliance comprising:
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a transceiver for transmitting and receiving the VoIP communications and the data communications via the at least one data network; and a display screen for displaying at least one data communication received via the at least one data network; said phone appliance configured for Internet access for viewing Internet content and for downloading software via the Internet for adding at least one additional function to said phone appliance, and said phone appliance further configured for generating a response to the received VoIP communications and/or the data communications and for transmitting the response; wherein, when said phone appliance is operable, a time when a user initiates downloading of the at least one data communication received for display by the display screen via the user accessing the Internet content is independent of a time when the user makes the at least one phone call; wherein the at least one data network includes a data network, and wherein the VoIP communications, and the data communications for display by said phone appliance, are transmitted via the data network; and wherein said phone appliance makes the at least one phone call to the at least one party via the VoIP data communications, said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be non pre-selected by the phone appliance and said at least one phone call to the at least one party can be pre-selected by the phone appliance. - View Dependent Claims (342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367)
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Specification