Patent ID: 8364868

Claim:
A device control apparatus comprising: an application acquisition unit for acquiring an application for controlling an operation of an external device from an application server; a display unit for displaying video information and a processing result based on the application; a signal input/output unit for receiving a signal indicating a status of the external device and outputting a signal for controlling the external device; a determination unit for determining the status of the external device and a usage status of the application upon startup of the application; a display control unit for controlling the display unit to display a screen according to the result of the determination in order to arrange an operation environment of the application, and then display a manipulation screen for controlling the operation of the external device through the application; an operation control unit for controlling the operation of the external device according to the user manipulation performed through the manipulation screen; and an acquisition request generating unit for generating an application acquisition request including device information of the external device when the external device is newly connected, wherein the application acquisition unit provides the application acquisition request to the application server, and automatically acquires the application for controlling the operation of the external device from the application server, the application being selected based on the device information by the application server.