Patent ID: 8213971

Claim:
A method for activating a computer based application, comprising: receiving a Short Message Service (SMS) message at a modem connected to a computer; parsing the SMS message by the modem; determining, by the modem, whether the SMS message contains instructions to activate the computer; determining, by the modem, whether the computer is presently off; sending a start signal from the modem to the computer to cause the computer to start and to initiate a boot sequence in response to determining that the SMS message contains instructions to activate the computer and that the computer is presently off; determining from data in the SMS message that an application is to be started; comparing an application identifier in the SMS message to identifiers of applications available in the computer to determine which application is to be started; determining whether a processor of the computer is ready to receive data; and activating the application identified by the application identifier in response to determining that the processor of the computer is ready to receive data.