Patent ID: 7523225

Claim:
A method for enabling interaction between a remote audio device and a host computer, comprising: discovering a service provided by the remote audio device; establishing a network communication link between the remote audio device and the host computer; launching a host-side software module to run on the host computer to enable interaction with the service via an audio service-specific protocol that is specific to the service and a client-side component running on the remote audio device, wherein the audio service-specific protocol includes audio commands that are used to playback audio content on the audio device by sending audio commands and audio data pertaining to the audio content from the host computer to the audio device over the network communication link; sending data corresponding to the service from the host computer to the remote audio device over the network communication link; sending commands from the host computer to the remote audio device based on the audio service-specific protocol; and performing service operations corresponding to the service with the remote audio device that employ the data sent to the remote audio device and are performed in response to the commands received from the host computer.