Patent ID: 7281262

Claim:
A system comprising: a releasable media device; a network access device; and a hand-held unit for commanding operations of one or more home appliances comprising a microprocessor; a port in communication with the microprocessor in which the releasable media device is positionable, the port allowing the microprocessor to read data from and write data to the releasable media device; and a receiver and transmitter coupled to the microprocessor providing bi-directional, wireless communication between the network access device and the microprocessor; wherein the hand-held unit responds to a command received from the network access device by the receiver by transmitting a signal including an account balance read from the releasable media device via the microprocessor to the network access device using the transmitter and wherein the hand-held unit responds to an updated account balance received from the network access device by the receiver by writing the updated account balance to the releasable media device via the microprocessor.