Patent ID: 7627341

Claim:
A method to authenticate a user via a mobile phone, the method comprising: identifying a short-range wireless network associated with a television entertainment system, the television entertainment system comprising one or more user accounts; switching the mobile phone from a mobile phone mode to a television entertainment system mode, wherein: when in the mobile phone mode, commands submitted via the phone are interpreted as phone commands; and when in the television entertainment system mode, commands submitted via the phone are forwarded via the short-range wireless network to the television entertainment system; when an incoming call is detected, toggling from the television entertainment system mode to the mobile phone mode, wherein the mode of the mobile phone being customizable via a menu system at a user interface, wherein via the menu system the mobile phone is customizable to automatically direct incoming calls to a voicemail system and automatically switch the phone back to mobile phone mode after a predetermined amount of time; transmitting to the television entertainment system, via the short-range wireless network, an identifier associated with the mobile phone, thereby causing a particular one of the user accounts to be activated, wherein the one or more user accounts include user profile data, wherein the user profile data includes a usage pattern, a user preference, a user ID, and a password; tracking the user profile data, wherein the user profile data is communicated to a media content provider; storing additional user profile data associated with a personalized service; applying personalized settings based on the user profile data; providing access to personalized services based on the user profile data; displaying a message concerning an authentication status at the television entertainment system; and displaying the user interface at the television entertainment system for creating a new user account.