Patent ID: 6928614

Claim:
A mobile information system in a vehicle for processing information which is wirelessly exchanged with a remote information server, comprising: a microphone for receiving spoken sounds; a speech processor coupled to said microphone for recognizing said spoken sounds and identifying corresponding voice commands for processing said information; a state controller responsive to commands including said voice commands from said speech processor, said state controller having a main menu mode and an electronic mail mode; reconfigurable control elements coupled to said state controller and mounted on a steering wheel of said vehicle for generating control signals to select particular manual commands in accordance with a current state of said state controller; a heads-up display coupled to said state controller and displaying at least one indicator above an instrument panel of said vehicle, said indicator identifying said manual commands available in said current state; a voice synthesizer for generating audio output corresponding to said information; and a wireless communication device for exchanging said information with said remote information server; wherein said main menu mode provides selectable access to said electronic mail mode; and wherein said electronic mail mode is comprised of 1) an “initial mail” state for selecting by voice command the reading of either old mail or new mail, 2) a “reading note” state wherein said old mail or new mail is reproduced by said voice synthesizer, and 3) a “next/previous note” state that is accessed from said “reading note” state to select a different electronic mail note for said “reading note” state in response to either a corresponding voice command or a manual command.