Mobile phone having temporary activation of voice command interface after receiving a message

Abstract

The embodiments provided herein are directed to a system and method of message-triggered voice command interface in portable electronic devices. The voice command interface is normally not activated until a message (e.g., an e-mail, a text message, or a voice mail) has been received by a portable electronic device. The arriving of a message is used to trigger the voice command interface by activating one or more speech recognition routines in a predetermined time period corresponding to the one or more speech recognition routines. The voice command interface come to an end when the predetermined time period expires or the user has no further commands.

1 . A mobile phone comprising:
 a display including a touch-screen interface to enable a user to enter commands to the mobile phone;   a microphone configured to detect and receive incoming sound waves and convert the sound waves into incoming electrical signals to be processed by a processor; and   a speaker configured to generate outgoing sound waves in response to outgoing electrical audio signals processed by the processor, the speaker is also configured to play a notification in connection with the arrival of an external message, selected from the group consisting of an e-mail, a text message and a voice mail, received by the mobile phone,   wherein when the mobile phone is not receiving power from an external power source, the processor activate a speech recognition routine for a first predetermined time period after the external message is received by the mobile phone, and   if a predefined keyword is detected before the first predetermined time period expires, provide a voice brief corresponding to the message,   if the predefined keyword is not detected after the first predetermined time period expires, deactivate the speech recognition routine.   
     
     
         2 . The mobile phone of  claim 1 , wherein the keyword is a password. 
     
     
         3 . The mobile phone of  claim 2 , wherein the password is a combination of a speech word and the user's voice characteristics. 
     
     
         4 . The mobile phone of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time period is five seconds. 
     
     
         5 . The mobile phone of  claim 1 , wherein the processor starting a timer having a second predetermined expiration time period after providing the voice brief. 
     
     
         6 . The mobile phone of  claim 5 , wherein the second predetermined expiration time period is different from the first predetermined time period. 
     
     
         7 . The mobile phone of  claim 5 , wherein the processor activating a second speech recognition routine after starting the timer. 
     
     
         8 . The mobile phone of  claim 7 , wherein the processor determining whether a predefined command string is detected after activating the second speech recognition routine. 
     
     
         9 . The mobile phone of  claim 8 , wherein the mobile phone sending a returned message after determining whether a predefined command string is detected. 
     
     
         10 . The mobile phone of  claim 9 , wherein the processor deactivating the second speech recognition routine after the timer has been expired. 
     
     
         11 . A mobile phone comprising:
 a battery resided within the mobile phone;   a microphone configured to detect and receive incoming sound waves and convert the sound waves into incoming electrical signals processed by a processor; and   a speaker configured to generate outgoing sound waves in response to outgoing electrical audio signals processed by the processor, the speaker is also configured to play a notification in connection with the arrival of an external message, selected from the group consisting of an e-mail, a text message and a voice mail, received by the mobile phone,   wherein when the mobile phone is not receiving power from an external power source, the processor activate a speech recognition routine for a first predetermined time period after the external message is received by the mobile phone, and   if a predefined keyword is detected before the first predetermined time period expires, provide a voice brief corresponding to the message,   if the predefined keyword is not detected after the first predetermined time period expires, deactivate the speech recognition routine.   
     
     
         12 . The mobile phone of  claim 11 , wherein the keyword is a password. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile phone of  claim 12 , wherein the password is a combination of a speech word and the user's voice characteristics. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile phone of  claim 11 , wherein the predetermined time period is five seconds. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile phone of  claim 11 , wherein the battery is a lithium battery. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile phone of  claim 11 , wherein the processor starting a timer having a second predetermined expiration time period after providing the voice brief. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile phone of  claim 16 , wherein the processor activating a second speech recognition routine after starting the second timer. 
     
     
         18 . The mobile phone of  claim 17 , wherein the processor determining whether a predefined command string is detected after activating the second speech recognition routine. 
     
     
         19 . The mobile phone of  claim 18 , wherein the mobile phone sending a returned message after determining whether a predefined command string is detected. 
     
     
         20 . The mobile phone of  claim 19 , wherein the processor deactivating the second speech recognition routine after the timer has been expired.