Radio Controller System And Method For Remote Devices

Abstract

A system and method for remote device control are disclosed. A system incorporating teachings of the present disclosure may include a radio controlled toy and a controller for controlling the toy. In some embodiments, the controller may have an input mechanism and a housing component that defines a cavity, within which may be located a wireless wide area transceiver and a wireless local area transceiver. Some controllers may also have an operating system for the controller and an application resident on the controller and operable to convert inputs received via the input mechanism into commands for the toy. The controller may have a microprocessor operable to execute the application and to cause the commands to be communicated to the toy using the wireless local area transceiver.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a surveillance system component that includes a speaker assembly, an image capturing device, and a transceiver;   the speaker assembly configured to output a sound representing a spoken message input at a remote handheld device executing a controller application that was previously downloaded from a server environment via an over the air delivery;   the transceiver configured to output image data representing images captured by the image capturing device; and   a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions for execution by a wireless telephone, the instructions comprising the controller application and operable when executed to facilitate: (1) receipt by the wireless telephone of the image data; (2) simultaneous presentation by the wireless telephone of a source identifier associated with the image capturing device and a second source identifier associated with a second image capturing device; (3) presentation by the wireless telephone of a first image based on the image data from the image capturing device and a second image based on second image data from the second image capturing device; and (4) inputting of a sound at the wireless telephone to be output by the speaker assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a second surveillance system component that comprises the second image capturing device. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is a wireless transceiver compliant with an 802.11 communication specification. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising the wireless telephone, wherein the wireless telephone comprises the non-transitory storage medium and is operable as the remote handheld device. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising the server environment that is accessible using HTTP and configured to facilitate an over the air downloading of applications to a plurality of remotely located wireless telephones, wherein the server environment comprises the non-transitory storage medium. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the instructions representing the controller application are further operable when executed to facilitate a remote controlling of an appliance. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions representing the controller application comprise instructions to generate an icon to be presented on a display of the wireless telephone, wherein a selection of the icon at the wireless telephone causes a launching of the controller application at the wireless telephone. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions representing the controller application comprise instructions to facilitate an emailing of image data. 
     
     
         9 . A system, comprising:
 an electronic device configured to be powered by a power source, the electronic device having associated components that are also powered by the power source, the associated components including a speaker assembly, an image capturing device, and a transceiver;   the speaker assembly configured to output a sound representing a spoken message input at a remote handheld wireless device executing a locally stored controller application;   the transceiver configured to communicate image data representing images captured by the image capturing device; and   a collection of instructions comprising the controller application, the collection of instructions configured for execution by a wireless telephone and stored in a non-transitory storage medium, the collection of instructions operable when executed to facilitate: (1) receipt by the wireless telephone of the image data; (2) presentation by the wireless telephone of a first image based on the image data from the image capturing device; and (3) inputting of a sound at the wireless telephone to be output by the speaker assembly.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a second electronic device having its own image capturing device and its own transceiver, wherein its own transceiver is operable to communicate other image data representing an image captured by its own image capturing device and the instructions for execution by the wireless telephone are operable when executed to facilitate: (1) receipt by the wireless telephone of the other image data; and (2) a simultaneous displaying of the first image and a second image that is based on the other image data. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the transceiver is a wireless transceiver compliant with an 802.11 communication specification. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising the wireless telephone, wherein the wireless telephone comprises the non-transitory storage medium. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a server environment that is accessible using HTTP and configured to facilitate an over the air downloading of applications to a plurality of remotely located wireless telephones, wherein the server environment comprises the non-transitory storage medium. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions representing the controller application are further operable when executed to facilitate a remote controlling of a zoom capability of the image capturing device. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions representing the controller application comprise instructions to generate an icon to be presented on a display of the wireless telephone, wherein a selection of the icon at the wireless telephone causes a launching of the controller application at the wireless telephone. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions representing the controller application comprise instructions to facilitate an emailing of image data. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the power source is local to the electronic device. 
     
     
         18 . A system, comprising:
 an electronic device configured to be powered by a power source, the electronic device having associated components that are also powered by the power source, the associated components including a remote controllable mechanism and a wireless transceiver;   the wireless transceiver configured to receive data representing a command that was sent from a remote handheld device executing a controller application stored locally at the remote handheld device after being previously downloaded from a server environment via an over the air delivery; and   a collection of instructions comprising the controller application, the collection of instructions configured for execution by a wireless telephone and stored in a non-transitory storage medium, the collection of instructions operable when executed to facilitate: (1) presentation of an icon on a display of the wireless telephone, wherein a selection of the icon at the wireless telephone causes a launching of the controller application at the wireless telephone; (2) inputting of a command at the wireless telephone that is intended to control an operation of the electronic device, wherein the inputting occurs via a touch screen of the wireless telephone; and (3) initiating a wireless outputting of the command from the wireless telephone.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium is a component of the server environment, which is accessible using HTTP and configured to facilitate over the air downloading of various applications to a plurality of remotely located wireless telephones. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 the remote handheld device, wherein the remote handheld device is the wireless telephone and the non-transitory storage medium is a memory component of the wireless telephone; and   wherein the electronic device is selected from a group consisting of a toy automobile, a toy airplane, a toy helicopter, a toy boat, a toy submarine, a toy animal, a toy robot, a kitchen appliance, an household appliance, a consumer electronic equipment, a stereo component, a television component, a vehicle, an automobile, and a surveillance system component.