A home appliance, a home appliance system, and a method of controlling the same are provided. The home appliance includes a display unit that outputs an operation setting and an operation state. The home appliance further includes a tag unit that performs Near Field Communication (NFC) with a terminal. The home appliance further includes a controller that (i) stores product information at the tag unit, (ii) receives data stored at the tag unit, (iii) changes the operation setting, (iv) controls the operation state, and (v) outputs the changed operation setting to the display unit. The controller (i) determines network connection information that is stored at the tag unit by the terminal, (ii) stores the network connection information in a communication unit, and (iii) transmits and receives data wirelessly by connecting, through the communication unit, to a network that is associated with the network connection information.

A method of controlling an external apparatus includes: receiving an input command of a user and biometric information of the user from a device; determining a condition for controlling the external apparatus and operation of the external apparatus based on the received input command of the user and the received biometric information of the user; and providing a control command for controlling the operation of the external apparatus if the determined condition is satisfied.

A device control method used in a device control system in which an operation terminal is used to remotely operate a device with a server device mediating between the operation terminal and the device, the device control method including: acquiring, upon reception of an operation instruction for operation of the device from the operation terminal, environment information pertaining to at least one of the device and the operation terminal; performing a determination of whether or not to cause execution of processing corresponding to the operation instruction based on whether or not the environment information satisfies a predetermined condition; and causing the device to execute an execution command for execution of the processing when a result of the determination is affirmative, and not causing the device to execute the execution command when the result of the determination is negative.

An electronic vapor device is disclosed comprising a first container for storing a vaporizable material, a vaporizer component coupled to the first container, configured for vaporizing the vaporizable material, a processor coupled to the vaporizer component, configured to control the vaporizer component in response to a disposition signal, and a network access device, coupled to the processor, configured for receiving the disposition signal from a remote server.

A hair styling device is described herein that comprises an exposed heating surface, a heating element to heat the exposed heating surface, a temperature sensor to measure a temperature of at least one of the heating element or the exposed heating surface, a heating element interface coupled to the heating element, and a network communication circuit. The hair styling device further comprises a device controller that includes a control circuit to provide a control signal to the heating element interface to modify operation of the heating element according to an instruction received by the network communication circuit over a network from an application. In an embodiment, the device controller further includes a command status monitor to generate a success or fail message, indicative of a success or failure of the instruction in the hair styling device, for transmission by the network communication circuit over the network to the application.

A receiver includes: a wireless local area network (WLAN) router; wherein the receiver is configured to receive data from a remote control and to generate commands to be transmitted to one or more devices via an interface of the WLAN router.

The disclosure relates to an assembly composed of two or more electric drives, each of which is provided with a housing that is preferably closed all around; a transceiver or radio transmitter inside the housing of each electric drive is configured for wireless data communication with a master controller; for this purpose, a properly mounted transmission opening is provided in each housing in order for data to be transmitted and received through the transmission opening.

Embodiments are directed to communicating with and controlling operation of electronically-controlled appliances. In one scenario, a computer system receives a first input from a computing system indicating that an electronically-controlled appliance is permitted to communicate with a cloud computing platform. The computer system generates a notification that is to be sent to a software application, where the software application is configured to control functions of the electronically-controlled appliance. The computer system transmits the generated notification to the software application, where the generated notification indicates that the cloud computing platform is communicably connected to the electronically-controlled appliance. The computer system then receives a second input from the software application indicating that specified functions are to be performed on the electronically-controlled appliance, and transmits instructions to the electronically-controlled appliance to perform the specified functions. These functions are then interpreted and carried out by a hardware controller on the electronically-controlled appliance.

A system and method for controlling media devices over telecommunication networks is disclosed. In particular embodiments, the system and method utilize cellular telecommunication networks. The present system and method allows a user to control and, in some instances, unify a multitude of devices over the telecommunication network. Through telecommunication networks, such as cellular networks, media and entertainment can be shared between multiple devices.

A system, method, and apparatus for controlling a plurality of devices are provided. The system includes a remote control device comprising a processor configured to generate a carousel zone comprising at least a subset of graphical icons of a plurality of graphical icons, determine a first target device and a second target device from the plurality of devices, generate a first user interface based on the first target device, the first user interface associated with a first set of commands, in response to a user input, generate a second user interface based on the second target device, the second user interface associated with a second set of commands, control the first target device based on the first set of commands, and control the second target device based on the second set of commands.