Device action service

Abstract

A user may operate many devices, each of which may provide a set of actions, such as installing firmware or software or viewing the contents of the device. However, in order to perform these actions, the user may have to interact with each device using a different user interface, resulting in an inconsistent user experience. Instead, a device action service may allow a user to identify his or her devices, may identify the actions available for each device (e.g., by interacting with a device source of each device, such as a manufacturer); and upon the request of the user, may present a list of the user's devices and the actions available for each device. The actions may comprise hyperlinks to various portions of the website of the device source (e.g., a driver page and a service registration page), or controls invoking the requested action upon the device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of presenting to a user a set of devices operated by the user, the method using a computer having a processor and a data store and comprising:
 executing on the processor instructions configured to:
 identify at least one action available for devices of respective device types; 
 upon receiving from a user a registration request to register a device of a device type, associate the device with the user in the data store; and 
 upon receiving from a user a presentation request for a presentation of the devices of the user:
 retrieve from the data store the devices associated with the user; and 
 for respective devices, present to the user the actions available for the device. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the actions available for a device selected from an action set comprising:
 a software installing action;   a data synchronizing action;   a service registering action;   a device state viewing action; and   a device source visiting action.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 :
 the user receiving the presentation on a presentation device; and   the registration request received from the presentation device upon detecting a device of the user.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 :
 the user receiving the presentation on a presentation device; and   the registration request comprising an identification of the presentation device.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 :
 the device provided to the user by a device source, and   the registration request received from the device source upon providing the device to the user.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 :
 at least one device operated by at least two users; and   associating the device with the user in the data store comprising:   
       associating the device with the at least two users in the data store. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 :
 at least one device of a device type and associated with a device source; and   identifying the actions available for the device comprising: upon receiving from the device source the actions available for devices of the device type, associating the actions with the device type in the data store.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , the instructions configured to, upon receiving from the device source a new action available for a device, notify the user of the new action available for the device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 :
 at least one unidentified device not having an association with a device source; and   identifying the actions available for the unidentified device comprising:   
       associating with the unidentified device at least one generic action available for the unidentified device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 :
 the unidentified device associated with a device category; and   identifying the actions available for the unidentified device comprising:   
       associating with the unidentified device at least one device category action available for devices of the device category. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 :
 at least one device having a device identifier and associated with a device source; and   identifying the actions available for a device having a device identifier comprising:
 sending the device identifier to the device source, and 
 upon receiving from the device source the actions available for the device, associating the actions with the device in the data store. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 :
 the user associated with at least one service; and   identifying the actions available for a device comprising:
 requesting from the service the actions available for the device, and 
 upon receiving from the service the actions available for the device, associating the actions with the device in the data store. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 :
 respective devices associated with a device source; and   the presentation associating with an action available for a device a device source reference provided by the device source for the device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , the instructions configured to, upon receiving from the user an action request to perform an action available for a device, perform the action with respect to the device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 :
 associating the device with the user in the data store comprising:
 receiving a device state of the device, and 
 storing the device state in the data store associated with the device; and 
   presenting a device to the user comprising:
 retrieving the device state of the device from the data store, and 
 presenting the device state of the device to the user. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , at least one action associated with the device state of the device. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , the presentation including at least one advertisement associated with a device state of a device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 :
 the user associated with at least one service; and   the presentation to the user including at least one action available for at least one service associated with the user.   
     
     
         19 . A system configured to present to a user a set of devices operated by the user, the system comprising:
 a data store configured to associate at least one user with at least one device;   a device action identifying component configured to identify at least one action available for devices of respective device types;   a device registering component configured to, upon receiving from a user a registration request to register a device of a device type, associate the device with the user in the data store; and   a device presenting component configured to, upon receiving from a user a presentation request for a presentation of the devices of the user:
 retrieve from the data store the devices associated with the user; and 
 for respective devices, present to the user the actions available for the device. 
   
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor of a device having a data store, present to a user on a presentation device a set of devices operated by the user and respectively provided by a device source by:
 identifying at least one action available for devices of respective device types, respective actions selected from an action set comprising:
 a software installing action; 
 a data synchronizing action; 
 a service registering action; 
 a device state viewing action; and 
 a device source visiting action; 
   upon receiving from the device source a new action available for devices of the device type:
 associating the actions with the device type in the data store, and 
 notifying the user of the new action available for the device; 
   upon receiving from the presentation device of the user a registration request to register a device of a device type, the device detected by the presentation device and associated with a device source and a device state:
 associating the device with the user in the data store, and 
 storing the device state in the data store associated with the device; 
   upon receiving from the presentation device of the user a registration request to register an unidentified device of a device category, associating with the unidentified device at least one device category action available for devices of the device category;   upon receiving from a user a presentation request for a presentation of the devices of the user:
 retrieving from the data store the devices associated with the user; 
 retrieving from the data store the device states associated with respective devices; 
 for respective devices, presenting to the user:
 the device state of the device; 
 the actions available for the device; and 
 at least one advertisement for at least one product associated with the device state of the user; and 
 
   upon receiving from the user an action request to perform an action available for a device, performing the action with respect to the device.