Patent ID: 7782309

Claim:
A method for using a universal controlling device comprised of a display having a touch-sensitive surface to transmit data to one or more appliances located remotely from the controlling device, comprising: causing one or more graphical user interfaces comprised of graphical user interface icons to be displayed in the display of the universal controlling device; accepting via the touch-sensitive surface of the universal controlling device a first input type indicative of a selection of a displayed graphical user interface icon; causing the universal controlling device to transmit to the one or more appliances first data representative of the displayed graphical user interface icon selected by the first input type; accepting via the touch-sensitive surface of the universal controlling device a second input type indicative of a motion made across the touch-sensitive surface; causing the universal controlling device to transmit to the one or more appliances second data representative of the motion made across the touch-sensitive surface provided by the second input type; and causing the universal controlling device to distinguish the first input type received via the touch-sensitive surface from the second input type received via the touch-sensitive surface.