Patent ID: 8175584

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving at a first wireless communication device a user request to download a requested data file; determining at least one attribute of the requested data file, wherein if the determined at least one attribute of the requested data file meets a corresponding predetermined condition, performing a scan at the first wireless communication device via a local wireless link to locate at least one second wireless communication device; determining at the first wireless communication device whether the requested data file is stored at the second wireless communication device with which the first wireless communication device communicates via the local wireless link; and if the requested data file is determined to be stored at the second wireless communication device, the first wireless communication device retrieving the requested data file from second wireless communication device via the local wireless link if a download of the file is faster from the second wireless communication device via the local wireless link than from a networked source, otherwise, the first wireless communication device downloads the file from the networked source even though the file is also stored on the second wireless communication device, wherein the scan for the at least one local wireless communication device if the file size of the requested data file exceeds a predetermined threshold includes as a manual option via a graphical or text-based user interface to require a user authorization before downloading the file.