Patent ID: 8791804

Claim:
A portable electronic device for displaying information from a vehicle having a first transceiver to a user carrying the portable electronic device, the portable electronic device comprising: a second transceiver configured to send a first signal from the portable electronic device to the first transceiver, the first signal configured to cause the vehicle to conduct an activity in response to the first signal; a controller configured to cause the second transceiver to request a status relating to a vehicle parameter from the first transceiver, wherein a second signal is received at the second transceiver and provided to the controller in response to the request; and an indicator configured to change display states in response to commands received from the controller; wherein the controller is configured to cause the indicator to change display states by providing a command to the indicator based on and in response to receiving the second signal; wherein the controller is configured to provide the command to the indicator without storing information relating to the second signal in memory of the portable electronic device; wherein the controller is configured to maintain the display state of the indicator that is entered in response to receiving the command until at least one of: (a) the indicator is cleared by a user request received by the portable electronic device, (b) a new command is sent to the indicator that changes the indicator's display state, and (c) the controller determines that an amount of time has elapsed and causes the indicator to return to a default display state.