Patent ID: 8706818

Claim:
An instant messaging remote control, comprising: an instant messaging user interface that is configured to: display at least one of (a) a status indicator listing active and inactive sessions of a user, (b) a message indicator listing new messages that have been received by the user, or (c) a conversation indicator listing a count of active sessions or messages of the user, the count being an alphanumeric representation of a number of active sessions or messages; receive a new message that includes a reference to audio/visual or programming content; display the reference to the audio/visual or programming content; and receive a request to access the audio/visual or programming content, the request including a received program code, the received program code indicating a first source of the audio/visual or programming content and being associated with a first program guide of the first source; and an audio/visual remote control coupled to the instant messaging user interface that is configured to: correlate the received program code to a local program code, the local program code indicating a second source of the audio/visual or programming content and being associated with a second program guide of the second source; insert the local program code in a remote control message; and transmit the remote control message to an audio/visual or programming device to provide the requested audio/visual or programming content.