The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further purposes and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:
Referring to the figures, and in particular, referring now to
Mezzanine interconnect 208 couples system interconnect 204 with peripheral interconnect 210. Those with skill in the art will appreciate that peripheral interconnect 210 may be implemented by any type of system bus including, but not limited to, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI), accelerated graphics port (AGP), or any other peripheral bus. Coupled to peripheral bus 210 is hard disk drive 212, which is utilized by data processing system 200 as a mass storage device. Also coupled to peripheral bus 210 are a collection of peripherals 214a-n.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that data processing system 200 can include many additional components not specifically illustrated in
The process continues to step 306, which illustrates owner 106 receiving status reports and relaying commands to at least one appliance and application via instant messaging interface 400. Instant messaging interface 400 includes a client list 402, which further includes clients 104a-b. Chat interface 406 includes chat log 408 and text entry field 410. A user (via instant messaging interface 400 stored in the memory 206 of owner 106) may receive status updates via chat log 408 and send commands to clients 102a-b via text entry field 410. Once a user decides to end the process, owner 106 logs off the system and the process ends, as illustrated in step 308.
As discussed, the present invention includes a computer-implementable method, system, and computer-usable medium for implementing remote access and control of registered personal appliances via instant messaging. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a user registers at least one appliance as a client with an instant messaging server, logs into said instant messaging server, interacts with said at least one appliance via an instant messenger interface.
It should be understood that at least some aspects of the present invention may alternatively be implemented in a computer-usable medium that contains a program product. Programs defining functions on the present invention can be delivered to a data storage system or a computer system via a variety of signal-bearing media, which include, without limitation, non-writable storage media (e.g., CD-ROM), writable storage media (e.g., hard disk drive, read/write CD-ROM, optical media), system memory such as, but not limited to Random Access Memory (RAM), and communication media, such as computer and telephone networks including Ethernet, the Internet, wireless networks, and like network systems. It should be understood, therefore, that such signal-bearing media when carrying or encoding computer readable instructions that direct method functions in the present invention, represent alternative embodiments of the present invention. Further, it is understood that the present invention may be implemented by a system having means in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware as described herein or their equivalent.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the term “computer” or “system” or “computer system” or “computing device” includes any data processing system including, but not limited to, personal computers, servers, workstations, network computers, main frame computers, routers, switches, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), telephones, and any other system capable of processing, transmitting, receiving, capturing and/or storing data.