Personal media devices with wireless communication

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for personal media devices having the ability to communicate wirelessly, and in particular, communicate wirelessly using a short-range communications protocol (e.g., Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). Such communication provides users of personal media devices with access to several Wi-Fi oriented applications. For example, in one embodiment a personal media device may wirelessly download subscription assets (e.g., podcast) as they become available. In another embodiment, content specific or local to a merchant may be provided to personal media devices that are in wireless communication with a wireless router affiliated with the merchant. For example, if the merchant is a restaurant, the merchant may provide a menu to the personal media device and the user may place an order on his or her media device by selecting items on the menu.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 upon and in response to detecting that a personal media device has moved into range of a local network in an establishment:
 determining a geographical location of the personal media device within the establishment; 
 providing localized content to the personal media device via the local network, wherein the localized content is provided to the personal media device based at least in part on the determined geographical location; and 
 issuing a command from the local network to the personal media device to automatically play the localized content based at least in part on the determined geographical location. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein playing the localized content with the personal media device comprises providing the localized content to enable user interaction with the localized content via the personal media device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the user interaction comprises instructing the personal media device to order food, order a drink, obtain geographic coordinates, play back selected media content, purchase content, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 receiving a sales order from the personal media device based at least in part on a user interaction with the localized content played by the personal media device; and   processing the sales order at the establishment, wherein processing the order comprises receiving user funds.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the localized content is provided to the personal media device only within specific geographical locations within the establishment. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 monitoring user health with the personal media device; and   enabling different user interactions with the localized content played on the personal media device based at least in part on the user health.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein monitoring the user health comprises:
 measuring user steps with the personal media device; or   measuring a user pulse with the personal media device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising, upon and in response to detecting that the personal media device has moved into range of the local network, automatically placing a sales order with the establishment, wherein the personal media device is instructed to place the sales order by a user interaction with the localized content played on the personal media device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the localized content comprises event schedule information, virtual card information, product information, a menu, a review, a set list, website information, ticket purchasing information, a real-time translation, a map, weather information, location information, a shopping list, a food suggestion, a recipe, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the geographical location of the personal media device within the establishment comprises:
 determining a region in the establishment that is provided the local network via an access point; and   determining that the geographical location of the personal media device is within the region when the personal media device communicates with the access point.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the geographical location of the personal media device within the establishment comprises:
 determining a first region in the establishment that is provided the local network via a first access point;   determining a second region in the establishment that is provided the local network via a second access point;   determining a second region in the establishment that is provided the local network via a second access point; and   triangulating the geographical location of the personal media device based at least in part on determined proximity to each access point.   
     
     
         12 . A tangible non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions executable by a processor of a personal media device, the instructions comprising instructions to:
 upon and in response to detecting that the personal media device has moved into range of a local network in an establishment:
 enable determination of a geographical location of the personal media device by the establishment; 
 receive a command from the local network to automatically play localized content stored on the personal media device based at least in part on the determined geographical location, wherein the localized content is previously stored on the personal media device. 
   
     
     
         13 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions comprises instructions to, upon and in response to detecting that the personal media device has moved into range of the local network, receive localized content via the local network, wherein the localized content received is based at least in part on the determined geographical location. 
     
     
         14 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the localized content is stored on the personal media device before the personal media device moves into range of the local network. 
     
     
         15 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions to enable user interaction with the localized content based at least in part on the determined geographical location of the personal media device. 
     
     
         16 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions to:
 transmit a sales order to the establishment via the local network, wherein the sales order is based at least in part on a user interaction with the localized content played by the personal media device; and   exchanging user funds with the establishment.   
     
     
         17 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions to upon and in response detecting that the personal media device has moved into range of the local network, automatically place a sales order with the establishment via the local network. 
     
     
         18 . A tangible non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions executable by a processor of a personal media device, the instructions comprising instructions to:
 monitor user health with the personal media device; and   enable different interaction with content played on the personal media device based at least in part on the user health.   
     
     
         19 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to monitor user health with the personal media device comprise instructions to:
 measure user steps with the personal media device; or   measure a user pulse with the personal media device.   
     
     
         20 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions comprises instructions to upon and in response to detecting that the personal media device has moved into range of a local network in an establishment:
 receive the content from the local network; and   receive a command from the local network to play the content on the personal media device.   
     
     
         21 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to enable different interactions with the content comprise instructions to enable placing an order of a normally restricted food with the establishment only when the user health meets a threshold. 
     
     
         22 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to monitor user health with the personal media device comprise instructions to monitor the user health over a day or over a week. 
     
     
         23 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to enable different interactions with the content comprise instructions to display different menu items based on the user health, wherein the content is a menu. 
     
     
         24 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions to enable determination of a geographical location of the personal media device, wherein the content played by the personal media device is based at least in part on the determined geographical location. 
     
     
         25 . The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions to automatically place a food order based at least in part on the user health. 
     
     
         26 . The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions to:
 determine user dietary restrictions; and   customize the content played on the personal media device to meet the user dietary restrictions.   
     
     
         27 . A method comprising:
 upon and in response to detecting that a personal media device has moved into range of a local network in a food service establishment:
 determining user food preferences; 
 customizing localized content based at least in part on the user food preferences; and 
 providing the customized localized content to the personal media device via the local network. 
   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , comprising issuing a command from the local network to the personal media device to play the customized localized content, wherein playing the customized localized content enables placing a food order with the establishment via user interaction with the personal media device. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , comprising:
 receiving the food order from the personal media device via the local network; and   processing the food order at the establishment, wherein processing the order comprises receiving user funds.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the food order is automatically received from the personal media device upon and in response to the personal media moving into range of the local network. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , comprising:
 determining a geographical location of the personal media device within the establishment; and   customizing the localized content based at least in part on the determined geographical location.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein determining the user food preferences comprises receiving the food preferences from the personal media device via the local network. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein customizing the localized content comprises generating a custom food menu based at least in part on the user food preference. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the user food preferences comprises foods permitted to be eaten by a user of the personal media device. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the user food preferences comprises foods preferred to be eaten by a user of the personal media device. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 27 , comprising storing the user food preference in a database accessible by the establishment, wherein determining the user food preference comprises retrieving the user food preference from the database.