Patent ID: 8826316

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for modifying operation of a media terminal device, the method comprising: processing audio received in the media terminal device to identify a characteristic associated with the audio, wherein the characteristic comprises at least one of (i) a code embedded in the audio, and (ii) an audio signature extracted from the audio; determining if the characteristic of the audio corresponds to a first characteristic, wherein the first characteristic is linked to a first command; executing the first command in response to the characteristic of the audio being determined to correspond to the first characteristic, wherein the execution of the first command causes the media terminal device to receive an upgrade to a software module executable on the media terminal device; and executing the software module to cause the media terminal device to collect and report, to a remote facility, at least one of (1) data concerning usage of media associated with the audio, (2) data concerning exposure to the media, or (3) market research data.