Sony Ericsson, turning mobile phones to remote control

Click here to read the full story >> Nokia when announcing the N80, went as far as saying that: "With simple to use yet advanced UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology, the pioneering Nokia N80 can be used to tap into the digital home network, acting almost as a remote control, enabling secure and convenient access to compatible PCs, audio equipment and TVs."

However, the key words here are "acting almost as a remote control..." In other words, not quite a remote control - yet! Now Sony Ericsson, with its new patent, seems to have come up with obvious idea of making your mobile phone an actual remote control, capable of switching TV channels, calling up and controlling a TV programme guide, operating your DVD or VCR - in other words, everything you'd want a remote control to control.

Sony Ericsson's idea is even more ingenious, though, as they anticipate the remote contorl user interface being implemented as a 'skin', which can be downloaded onto the phone either from the device itself or from a web-ste. In other words, the user interface you see on the phone can be changed according to the device you want to use simply by downloading a new interface either from the web, the phone network, or the device itself.