GB2479592A

GB2479592A - Displaying and selecting remote devices for wireless connection using voice recognizer

Info

Publication number: GB2479592A
Application number: GB1006393A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Aki Happonen; Henrik Hakala; Matti Malmstedt; Hannu Vilpponen
Original assignee: Nokia Oyj
Current assignee: Nokia Oyj
Priority date: 2010-04-16
Filing date: 2010-04-16
Publication date: 2011-10-19
Also published as: GB201006393D0

Abstract

Apparatus comprising: a wireless (Bluetooth (RTM), infrared, wireless LAN, mobile telephone network) connector configured to allow connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device; a user interface configured to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and a voice recogniser configured to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device. Aspects of the invention include the user interface configured to display a visual indication of the file together with the visual indication of the one or more remote devices available for connection and wherein the user interface is a touch screen allowing the user to select the file by touching the visual indication of the file. As with the prior art device, the user must select both a file for sending and a remote device for receiving the file. In contrast to the prior art, however, these selections are performed at the same stage in the procedure using a split screen interface (showing the available media files 607 in one half of the screen and the available devices 617 in the other half of the screen), rather than selecting the file first and device later.

Description

An apparatus and associated methods

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless connections, associated apparatus, methods and computer programs, and in particular concerns voice-activated wireless connections. Certain disclosed aspects/embodiments relate to portable electronic devices, in particular, so-called hand-portable electronic devices which may be hand-held in use (although they may be placed in a cradle in use). Such hand-portable electronic devices include so-called Personal Digital Assistants (PDA5).

The portable electronic devices/apparatus according to one or more disclosed aspects/embodiments may provide one or more audio/text/video communication functions (e.g. tele-communication, video-communication, and/or text transmission, Short Message Service (SMS)/ Multimedia Message Service (MMS)/emailing functions, interactive/non-interactive viewing functions (e.g. web-browsing, navigation, TV/program viewing functions), music recording/playing functions (e.g. MP3 or other format and/or (FM/AM) radio broadcast recording/playing), downloading/sending of data functions, image capture function (e.g. using a (e.g. in-built) digital camera), and gaming functions.

Background

In order to transfer data from one electronic device to another, a communications channel must be established between the devices concerned. This may be achieved using a variety of different technologies. Whilst physical cables were traditionally used to link devices together, wireless connections are becoming increasingly common.

BluetoothTM is one such technology. It was originally conceived with the aim of reducing the physical overhead of cabled connections, and also facilitating the ad-hoc connection of small mobile battery-operated devices whose owners could not reasonably be expected to carry multiple cables and connectors about with them.

BluetoothTM has since gained wide acceptance, particularly with users of mobile phones, where elimination of physical cabling has spawned an industry devoted to the

I

manufacture of associated peripherals. For mobile phone users, BluetoothTM has also alleviated the burden of phone-to-phone and phone-to-computer file transfer.

Nevertheless, the advantages of BluetoothTM are gained at the expense of ease of use and comprehensibility, the establishment of a connection often being a laborious process involving several steps and an overcomplicated user interface. The same can be said for other types of wireless connection.

The apparatus and associated methods disclosed herein may or may not address one or more of these issues.

The listing or discussion of a prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. One or more aspects/embodiments of the present disclosure may or may not address one or

more of the background issues.

Summary

According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: a wireless connector configured to allow connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device; a user interface configured to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and a voice recogniser configured to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device.

Connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device may be configured to allow the transfer of data from the portable electronic device to the remote device. The data may comprise instructions for operation of the remote device. The instructions for operation may be vocal instructions provided by the user via the voice recogniser. The instructions for operation may comprise instructions for switching the remote device on or off. The instructions for operation may comprise instructions for pairing the apparatus with the remote device.

The apparatus may comprise a storage medium. The data may comprise a file stored on the storage medium. The storage medium may be a local storage medium. The storage medium may be a remote storage medium.

The user interface may be configured to display a visual indication of the file together with the visual indication of the one or more remote devices available for connection.

The user interface may be a touch user interface configured to allow the user to select the file by touching the visual indication of the file. The file may comprise a plurality of files. The touch user interface may be configured to allow the user to select more than one file at a given time by touching the visual indication of each file. The touch user interface may be configured to allow the user to select more than one file by touching the visual indication of each file at the same time. The touch user interface may be configured to allow each user to select more than one file by touching the visual indication of each file in turn.

The voice command may comprise an identifier assigned to the remote device. The identifier may comprise a name or number. The voice recogniser may be configured to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with a plurality of remote devices at a given time. The voice recogniser may comprise voice recognition circuitry.

The wireless connector may be configured to allow connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device using one or more of the following wireless technologies: BluetoothTM, infrared, a wireless local area network, a mobile telephone network, a satellite internet service, and a worldwide interoperability for microwave access network.

The remote device may comprise one or more of the following: a portable telecommunication device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a database server, and a peripheral device. Connection of the portable electronic device to the peripheral device may be configured to allow the user of the portable electronic device to make use of the functionality provided by the peripheral device.

According to a further aspect, there is provided a device comprising any apparatus described herein. The device may be a portable telecommunications device.

According to a further aspect, there is provided a method of connecting a portable electronic device to a remote device, the method comprising: providing an apparatus, the apparatus comprising a wireless connector configured to allow connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device, a user interface configured to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection, and a voice recogniser configured to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device; and inputting a user voice command to the voice recogniser.

According to a further aspect, there is provided a computer program for controlling the connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising a wireless connector, a user interface, and a voice recogniser, wherein the computer program comprises: code for configuring the wireless connector to allow connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device; code for configuring the user interface to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and code for configuring the voice recogniser to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device.

The apparatus may comprise a processor configured to process the code of the computer program. The processor may be a microprocessor, including an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

The present disclosure includes one or more corresponding aspects, embodiments or features in isolation or in various combinations whether or not specifically stated (including claimed) in that combination or in isolation. Corresponding means for performing one or more of the discussed functions are also within the present disclosure.

Corresponding computer programs for implementing one or more of the methods disclosed are also within the present disclosure and encompassed by one or more of the described embodiments.

The above summary is intended to be merely exemplary and non-limiting.

Brief Description of the Figures

A description is now given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 illustrates schematically wireless connections between a portable electronic device and a plurality of remote devices; Figure 2 illustrates schematically a standard procedure for connecting with and transferring data to a remote device; Figure 3 illustrates schematically a standard user interface for connecting with and transferring files to a remote device; Figure 4 illustrates schematically a portable electronic device comprising the apparatus described herein; Figure 5 illustrates schematically a method of connecting a portable electronic device to a remote device; Figure 6 illustrates schematically a user interface for connecting with and transferring files to a remote device; Figure 7 illustrates schematically a user interface for connecting with and transferring instructions to a remote device; and Figure 8 illustrates schematically a computer readable media providing a computer program.

Description of Example Aspects/Embodiments

Portable electronic devices are currently able to communicate with a host of other devices via wireless connections. For example, as shown in Figure 1, mobile phones 101 can be made to interact with laptop 102 and desktop 103 computers, printers 104, other mobile phones 105, and even database servers 106. Such connections may be used for transferring files from one device to the other (such as sending a digital photograph from a phone 101 to a laptop 102), or for making use of another device's functionality (such as using a printer 104 to print a document saved on a phone 101).

Commonly used wireless technologies include BluetoothTM, infrared, and Wi-Fi. As discussed in the background section, however, wireless technologies have their drawbacks. Whilst the present disclosure focuses predominantly on the limitations of BluetoothTM, the apparatus and methods described herein may be used to overcome one or more problems associated with other types of wireless connection also.

Figure 2 illustrates schematically a standard procedure for connecting with and transferring data to a remote device using BluetoothTM. In this figure, the device establishing the connection is referred to as "Device 1" (operated by User 1), whilst the device accepting the connection is referred to as "Device 2" (operated by User 2).

To begin, User I selects a file for sending to User 2, and further selects a method of data transfer (in this case BluetoothTM). Once BluetoothlM has been selected, Device I performs a search for in-range devices, and is subsequently presented with a list of devices which are available for connection, which in this case, includes Device 2. User I then selects Device 2 from the list, and Device 1 attempts to establish a connection. At this point, the devices determine whether or not they have previously been paired.

Device "pairing" is a process used to provide a level of security to the wireless connection, whereby details of the other device are stored after the initial connection has been approved by both parties. If the devices have not yet been paired, each user will be prompted to enter an agreed passkey to confirm that they consent to the connection.

Once the devices are paired, they can be connected to one another at a later date without the need for further user intervention. At this stage, User 2 decides whether or not to accept the file transfer from User 1. If accepted, the file is sent from Device 1 to Device 2. If the file transfer is not accepted, the connection is terminated.

As can be seen from Figure 2, a large number of steps are involved in establishing a BluetoothTM wireless connection. This is in contrast to the "plug-and-play" protocol associated with wired connections.

Figure 3 illustrates a typical user interface for carrying out the procedure of Figure 2 on a mobile phone. First, the user accesses his stored media files 307 by navigating various on-screen menus using device keys. The device keys may be fixed-function keys or soft keys, and may be used in conjunction with a D-pad (directional pad). In addition, the device keys may be physical keys provided on a keypad, or touch screen keys provided on-screen. In this case, the files 307 are depicted as digital photographs, but could be text files, audio files, videos or any other type of saved file. The files 307 are often displayed as an array of thumbnails on the device screen 308, but could be arranged as a list.

The user then selects a particular file 309 for sending by highlighting the thumbnail (using the D-pad), and accesses an "Options" menu 310 (using the device keys). In this example, the menus are accessed using soft keys. Text labels 311 used to inform the user of the current soft key functions are shown below the thumbnails. As can be seen, a "View" option 312 may be available to allow the user to open a highlighted file 309.

This feature is useful for checking that the highlighted file 309 is the file that the user intends to send. Once the "Options" menu 310 has been displayed, the user selects the "Send" option 313, and then chooses BluetoothlM 314 as the method of data transfer. At this stage, displayed text 315 and an egg timer icon 316 indicate that the processor is dealing with the user's request.

As the phone searches for in-range devices, a list of found devices 317 (indicated by device name 318) appears on the screen 308. The name 318 of each in-range device is obtained during the search. The names 318 are often user-specified, but may be default names such as device model numbers. Once the search is complete, the user highlights a device 319 from the list and selects the "Send" option 320. The phone then attempts to establish a connection with the chosen device 319. File transfer takes place once a connection has been established, as indicated by the on-screen icons 321 and text 322.

Similar icons 321 and text 322 may be displayed on a screen of the receiving device. A progress bar may also be displayed on each device. This provides an indication to the users as to when the file transfer is likely to be completed. Once the transfer is complete, the phone may disconnect from the receiving device automatically. On the other hand, the user may be required to disconnect the devices manually using device keys, possibly in combination with an on-screen menu.

Furthermore, "Back" 323 and "Cancel" 324 options may be available for selection at various stages of the file transfer process. The "Back" option 323 allows the user to return to the previous step (to change a previous selection, for example), whilst the "Cancel" option 324 allows the user to terminate the procedure and return to the desktop (idle) screen. Therefore, if a user selects the wrong file for sending, and wishes to change the selection, he either needs to use the "Back" option 323 to retrace his steps, or use the "Cancel" option 324 to terminate the procedure and restart the process from the beginning. Neither of these options are particularly efficient due to the number of different screens through which the user must navigate.

Although the procedure of Figure 2 and corresponding user interface of Figure 3 have been provided merely as an example, the laborious process described is representative of a large number of modern mobile phones. Establishing a wireless connection is therefore a relatively user-intensive process. An apparatus and method for alleviating the burden of establishing a wireless connection will now be described.

In Figure 4 there is illustrated a device 425 comprising a processor 426, a voice recogniser 427, a wireless connector 428, a display apparatus 429, and a storage medium 430, which may be electrically connected to one another by a data bus 431.

The device also comprises one or more device keys (not shown). The device 425 may be a portable electronic device such as a portable telecommunications device, and is configured to connect wirelessly to one or more remote devices. Each remote device -may be a portable telecommunications device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a database server, or a peripheral device.

The apparatus and method described herein combines voice recognition with an improved user interface to establish a wireless connection between the portable electronic device 425 and one or more remote devices. The user interface is configured to allow a user of the portable electronic device 425 to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection. The key steps of the method used to connect the portable electronic device to a remote device are illustrated schematically in Figure 5.

The display apparatus 429 comprises a screen 408, and is used to display, amongst other things, a user interface to facilitate use of the device 425. The device keys allow a user of the device 425 to navigate around the user interface. The device keys may be fixed-function keys or soft keys, and may be used in conjunction with a D-pad. In addition, the device keys may be physical keys provided on a keypad, or touch screen keys provided on the screen 408 of the display apparatus 429.

The storage medium 430 is used to store the user interface (i.e. computer code), and one or more media files. The media files may be digital photographs, text files, audio files, videos, or any other type of saved file. The storage medium 430 is also used to store computer code required to operate the device 425, as described with reference to Figure 8. The storage medium 430 may be a temporary storage medium such as a volatile random access memory, or a permanent storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, or a non-volatile random access memory.

Whilst the portable electronic device 425 may comprise a local storage medium 430 (i.e. forming part of the portable electronic device), the portable electronic device may have access to a remote storage medium (i.e. located at a location remote to the portable electronic device 425). In this embodiment, the portable electronic device 425 may be configured to connect (via a wired or wireless connection) to the remote storage medium so that media files can be transferred from the remote storage medium to the portable electronic device 425. The received media files may then be stored on the local storage medium 430 for sending to other remote devices at a later date.

The wireless connector 428, which may comprise apparatus and/or software, is configured to allow connection of the portable electronic device 425 to the one or more remote devices. The connection may be made using BluetoothTM, infrared, a wireless local area network, a mobile telephone network, a satellite internet service, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access network, or any other type of wireless technology.

The wireless connector 428 may be a transceiver configured to allow the transfer of data between the portable electronic device 425 and the one or more remote devices.

The voice recogniser 426, which may be voice recognition circuitry or voice recognition software, is configured to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication of the available devices to allow the wireless connector 428 to seek connection with the one or more remote devices.

The processor 426 is used to configure the wireless connector 428 to allow connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device; to configure the user interface to allow a user of the portable electronic device 425 to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and to configure the voice recogniser 427 to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector 428 to seek connection with the remote device. The processor 426 is also used for general operation of the portable electronic device 425. For example, the processor 426 provides signalling to, and receives signalling from, the other device components to manage their operation.

Use of the present apparatus and method is best described with reference to the user interface of Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 illustrates schematically a user interface for connecting with and transferring files to a remote device. As with the prior art device, the user must select both a file for sending, and a remote device for receiving the file. In contrast to the prior art, however, these selections are performed at the same stage in the procedure using a split-screen interface, rather than selecting the file first and device later. This feature allows the user to check, and if necessary change, his file selection without having to navigate away from the device selection screen.

To begin the process, the user accesses the storage medium and is presented with a list of stored files 607 as before. Instead of highlighting a particular file at this stage though, the user selects the "Options" menu 610, navigates to the "Send" option 613, and selects "Via BluetoothTM" 614 (or other wireless connection). Once the user has selected the connection method, the portable electronic device performs a search for in-range devices. At this stage, the display apparatus provides the user with a split-screen interface 633 showing the available media files 607 in one half 634 of the screen 608, and the available devices 617 in the other half 635 of the screen 608. The available media files 607 and devices 617 may be presented as a list, thumbnails, icons, or other visual indication, and may or may not include additional descriptive text. In the example illustrated in Figure 6, the media files 607 are digital photographs represented by thumbnails 636 with no descriptive text, whilst the remote devices 617 are represented by icons 637 in combination with device names 618. The device names 618 may be user-specified, but could be default names such as device model numbers.

Once the search is complete, the user may scroll through the available files 607 using the D-pad, and select one or more of these files for sending 609. Selection of the files 607 may be performed by highlighting the files 609 using a key on the keypad. In this example, a soft key is associated with the text label "Select" 638 for this purpose.

Additionally or alternatively, the display apparatus may comprise a touch user interface (touch screen 608). In this scenario the user is able to select the files for sending 609 by simply pressing on the respective visual indications. When the user wishes to select a plurality of files, he may select each file 609 in turn by scrolling through the available files 607 and highlighting the desired files 609 using the keypad or touch screen 608. The user may also select a plurality of files using the touch screen 608 by highlighting the visual indication 636 of each file 609 together at the same time.

The user may also scroll through the available devices 617 and select one or more of these devices 617 for receiving the files 609. Selection of the devices 617 may be performed by inputting user voice commands to the voice recogniser, rather than highlighting the devices 617 using device keys. That said, selection of the devices 617 could be performed using device keys as per the file selection if the voice recogniser is not being used. When the voice recogniser is being used for device selection, only those devices 617 found during the search may be selected using the voice recogniser. In one embodiment, the user may be required to scroll through the available devices 617 until a visual indication 637 of the desired device is shown on the display 608 before the device can be selected using the voice recogniser. The voice command may comprise an identifier previously assigned to the remote device. For example, the identifier may comprise a name 618 or number assigned to the remote device by the user of that device. The name 618 may be the remote user's name, and the number may be the model number of the remote device. If the wireless connection is a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection, the name 618 may be a WLAN address. The voice command may also comprise the instruction "Send" in combination with the device identifier. For example, if the user wished to send a media file to the device identified as "John" 639 (as in Figure 6), he may input the voice command "Send John", causing the wireless connector to try and establish a connection with "John" 639.

Similarly, if the user wished to send a file to all in-range devices 617, he may input the command "Send all", causing the wireless connector to try and establish connections with each of the in-range devices 617. These connections may be simultaneous or may be consecutive. Similarly, if the user wished to send a file to all in-range devices belonging to his friends, he may input the command "Send friends", causing the wireless connector to try and establish connections with each of his in-range friends. In order for this embodiment to work, however, the user would need to have previously identified each of these devices as his friends' devices. This may be achieved by creating a list of his friends' devices and storing this list in the storage medium. When the portable electronic device later performs a search for in-range devices, it may query the found devices against the stored list, and flag up any devices that produce a match with those stored on the list. Once the user inputs the command "Send friends", the wireless connector may then establish connections with any of the in-range devices flagged as friends' devices.

In a further embodiment, the user may send a media file to a database server. This embodiment allows the user to upload data from the portable electronic device to a internet account or website. For example, the user may send a digital photograph from his mobile phone to his OVI portal by inputting the command "Send OVI". Such a connection may, however, require the use of a wireless internet connection rather than BluetoothTM, and may also require the user's online account information. If online account information is required, e.g. for security purposes, this may be provided by the user via the mobile phone keypad, touch screen or voice recogniser.

When the touch screen 608 is being used to select the file 609, and the voice recogniser is being used to select the device 639, the user may be required to press and hold the visual indication 636 of the file 609 whilst inputting the user voice command to the voice recogniser.

The voice recogniser may also be used to select the desired media files 607, rather than using the D-pad and device keys for this purpose. In this embodiment, the voice command may comprise a name or number assigned to the file 609 as an identifier.

Only those files stored on the storage medium may be selected using the voice recogniser. In addition, the user may be required to scroll through the available files 607 until a visual indication 636 of the desired file 609 is shown on the display 608 before the file 609 can be selected using the voice recogniser.

Once the user has selected both the file 609 and device 639, the wireless connector establishes a connection with the chosen device 639. When the connection has been established, file transfer takes place, as indicated by the on-screen icons 621 and text 622. Similar icons 621 and text 622 may be displayed on a screen of the receiving device. A progress bar may also be displayed on each device. This provides an indication to the users as to when the file transfer is likely to be completed. Once the transfer is complete, the phone may disconnect from the receiving device automatically.

On the other hand, the user may be required to disconnect the devices manually using device keys, possibly in combination with an on-screen menu.

Rather than transferring media files from the portable electronic device to a remote device, the wireless connection may be used to allow the user of the portable electronic device to make use of functionality provided by the remote device. In this case, the remote device may be referred to as a "peripheral device", and the connection may be used to transfer instructions from the portable electronic device to the peripheral device.

These instructions may allow the user to operate the peripheral device remotely from the portable electronic device.

Figure 7 illustrates schematically a user interface for connecting with and transferring instructions to a remote device. First, the user navigates to the "Connectivity" menu 740 on the portable electronic device using the D-pad and device keys. Typically the connectivity menu 740 will contain a list of available wired and wireless connection methods. In this example, data transfer is possible via a Data cable 741, Wi-Fi 742 and BluetoothTM 714. When the user selects BluetoothTM 714, the device automatically performs a search for in-range peripherals and displays the results as a list, thumbnails, icons, or other visual indication, and may or may not include additional descriptive text.

Here, the search has produced a number of peripheral devices 717, including a television 743, a vending machine 744, a light 745, and a printer 746, each shown with an associated icon. The icons and any other visual indication, such as names or model numbers, may be pre-assigned to each peripheral device 717 and received by the wireless connector of the portable electronic device.

Once the search is complete, the user may select a peripheral device 745 using the D-pad and device keys, or by inputting a voice command to the voice recogniser. When the voice recogniser is being used for selection, the voice command may comprise any type of identifier, including names, model numbers, or descriptive text associated with the selected peripheral device 745. Once a selection has been made, the wireless connector attempts to establish a connection with the selected peripheral device 745.

When a connection has been established, the voice recogniser (and peripheral) is ready to accept an instruction from the user. The instructions may comprise commands for switching the peripheral device 745 on or off, or commands for pairing the peripheral device 745 with the portable electronic device. For example, if the user has selected the light 745 from the available peripheral devices 717, inputting the command "On" may turn on the light 745. Likewise, the command "Off' may turn off the light 745, and the command "Dim" may dim the light 745. If the user has selected the printer 746 from the available peripheral devices 717, inputting the command "Pair' may pair the printer 746 with the portable electronic device, and the command "print" may cause the printer 746 to print a document stored on the storage medium of the peripheral device.

If the user has selected the vending machine 744 from the available peripheral devices 717, he may input the name of a product sold by the vending machine 744 to purchase that product. This may also require payment details to be sent from the portable electronic device to the vending machine. In this case, debit or credit card details may be sent (securely) from the portable electronic device to the vending machine 744 using the wireless connection. Here, the wireless connection may be a wireless local area network connection. The card details may also need to be verified by a remote database server before the user is able to obtain the desired product.

Rather than inputting operational instructions using the voice recogniser (as above), the user may enter instructions using the device keys. This feature may be helpful if the voice recogniser is having difficulty acknowledging the user's commands.

Figure 8 illustrates schematically a computer/processor readable media 847 providing a computer program for controlling the connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising a wireless connector, a user interface, and a voice recogniser. In this example, the computer/processor readable media 847 is a disc such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD). In other embodiments, the computer readable media 847 may be any media that has been programmed in such a way as to carry out an inventive function. The readable media 847 may be a removable memory device such as a memory stick or memory card (SD, mini SD or micro SD).

The computer program may comprise code for configuring the wireless connector to allow connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device; code for configuring the user interface to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and code for configuring the voice recogniser to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device.

Other embodiments depicted in the figures have been provided with reference numerals that correspond to similar features of earlier described embodiments. For example, feature number 1 can also correspond to numbers 101, 201, 301 etc. These numbered features may appear in the figures but may not have been directly referred to within the description of these particular embodiments. These have still been provided in the figures to aid understanding of the further embodiments, particularly in relation to the features of similar earlier described embodiments.

It will be appreciated to the skilled reader that any mentioned apparatus/device/server and/or other features of particular mentioned apparatus/device/server may be provided by apparatus arranged such that they become configured to carry out the desired operations only when enabled, e.g. switched on, or the like. In such cases, they may not necessarily have the appropriate software loaded into the active memory in the non-enabled (e.g. switched off state) and only load the appropriate software in the enabled (e.g. on state). The apparatus may comprise hardware circuitry and/or firmware. The apparatus may comprise software loaded onto memory. Such software/computer programs may be recorded on the same memory/processor/functional units and/or on one or more memories/processors/functional units.

In some embodiments, a particular mentioned apparatus/device/server may be pre-programmed with the appropriate software to carry out desired operations, and wherein the appropriate software can be enabled for use by a user downloading a "key", for example, to unlock/enable the software and its associated functionality. Advantages associated with such embodiments can include a reduced requirement to download data when further functionality is required for a device, and this can be useful in examples where a device is perceived to have sufficient capacity to store such pre-programmed software for functionality that may not be enabled by a user.

It will be appreciated that the any mentioned apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor may have other functions in addition to the mentioned functions, and that these functions may be performed by the same apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor. One or more disclosed aspects may encompass the electronic distribution of associated computer programs and computer programs (which may be source/transport encoded) recorded on an appropriate carrier (e.g. memory, signal).

It will be appreciated that any "computer" described herein can comprise a collection of one or more individual processors/processing elements that may or may riot be located on the same circuit board, or the same region/position of a circuit board or even the same device. In some embodiments one or more of any mentioned processors may be distributed over a plurality of devices. The same or different processor/processing elements may perform one or more functions described herein.

It will be appreciated that the term "signalling" may refer to one or more signals transmitted as a series of transmitted and/or received signals. The series of signals may comprise one, two, three, four or even more individual signal components or distinct signals to make up said signalling. Some or all of these individual signals may be transmitted/received simultaneously, in sequence, and/or such that they temporally overlap one another.

With reference to any discussion of any mentioned computer and/or processor and memory (e.g. including ROM, CD-ROM etc), these may comprise a computer processor, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware components that have been programmed in such a way to carry out the inventive function.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole, in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that the disclosed aspects/embodiments may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the

disclosure.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features as applied to different embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. Furthermore, in the claims means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures.

Claims

Claims 1. Apparatus comprising: a wireless connector configured to allow connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device; a user interface configured to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and a voice recogniser configured to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device is configured to allow the transfer of data from the portable electronic device to the remote device.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the data comprises instructions for operation of the remote device.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the instructions for operation are vocal instructions provided by the user via the voice recogniser.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus comprises a storage medium, the data comprising a file stored on the storage medium.
6. The apparatus of any of claim 5, wherein the user interface is configured to display a visual indication of the file together with the visual indication of the one or more remote devices available for connection.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the user interface is a touch user interface configured to allow the user to select the file by touching the visual indication of the file.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the file comprises a plurality of files, the touch user interface configured to allow the user to select more than one file at a given time by touching the visual indication of each file.
9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the voice command comprises an identifier assigned to the remote device, the identifier comprising a name or number.
10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the voice recogniser is configured to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with a plurality of remote devices at a given time.
11. The apparatus of any of claims Ito 4, 9 and 10, wherein the remote device is a peripheral device, connection of the portable electronic device to the peripheral device configured to allow the user of the portable electronic device to make use of the functionality provided by the peripheral device.
12. A device comprising the apparatus of any preceding claim.
13. The device of claim 12, wherein the device is a portable telecommunications device.
14. A method of connecting a portable electronic device to a remote device, the method comprising: providing an apparatus, the apparatus comprising a wireless connector configured to allow connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device, a user interface configured to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection, and a voice recogniser configured to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device; and inputting a user voice command to the voice recogniser.
15. A computer program for controlling the connection of a portable electronic device to a remote device using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising a wireless connector, a user interface, and a voice recogniser, wherein the computer program comprises: code for configuring the wireless connector to allow connection of the portable electronic device to the remote device; code for configuring the user interface to allow a user of the portable electronic device to select a particular remote device for connection from a visual indication of one or more remote devices available for connection; and code for configuring the voice recogniser to accept a user voice command associated with the visual indication to allow the wireless connector to seek connection with the remote device.