Patent ID: 8239481

Claim:
A method for controlling devices in a computer system, the method comprising: obtaining a user selection of one or more of a plurality of networked devices to be manipulated from a user interface, wherein at least one of the plurality of networked devices requires device-specific protocol instructions that are different from protocol instructions required by at least one of the other plurality of networked devices; obtaining a user interface application corresponding to the selected one or more networked devices; transmitting, to at least one user interface selection device, the user interface application corresponding to the selected one or more networked devices so that the user interface can be displayed on the at least one user interface selection device; obtaining a user selection of an operation corresponding to at least one selected networked device; encoding the selected operation according to a standard communication protocol instruction; transmitting the selected standard protocol instruction to a server corresponding to the selected networked device; and obtaining an output corresponding to the selected operation of the selected networked device.