Virtual smart phone

Abstract

In embodiments of the present invention, a virtual phone is provided which includes a touch screen mounted on an enclosure that includes a processor, memory, wireless communication port, and a power port. The virtual phone further includes a software application executing on the processor to control image display on the touch screen and emulate features of a handheld device presented in the image in response to a user touching a presented feature. The virtual phone further includes a configuration of a user-specific handheld device that is derived from the user-specific handheld device is stored in a memory that is accessible to the processor; wherein the virtual phone presents a visual representation of the user-specific handheld device on the touch screen based on the configuration.

1 . A virtual phone, comprising:
 a touch screen mounted on an enclosure that includes a processor, memory, wireless communication port, and a power port;   a software application executing on the processor to control image display on the touch screen and emulate features of a handheld device presented in the image display in response to a user touching a presented feature; and   a configuration of a user-specific handheld device that is stored in a memory that is accessible to the processor; wherein the virtual phone presents a visual representation of the user-specific handheld device on the touch screen based on the configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The virtual phone of  claim 1 , wherein the touch screen is one of: a resistive touch screen, capacitive touch screen, and surface acoustic wave touch screen. 
     
     
         3 . A method of emulating a smart phone, comprising:
 receiving information over a network indicative of a smart phone user interface, including physical features thereof;   receiving information over a network indicative of user-specific data associated with the smart phone;   displaying an image representative of the smart phone including actionable elements based on the user-specific data; and   facilitating, with a processor, access to at least one feature of the smart phone in response to a user interacting with at least one of the actionable elements.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein access to at least one feature of the smart phone includes accessing the at least one feature on the smart phone. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein access to at least one feature of the smart phone includes accessing the at least one feature without requiring access to the smart phone.