US Patent 6889188 Methods and apparatus for controlling an electronic device

Methods and apparatus for controlling an electronic device connected to a network are provided. The methods and apparatus described herein convert a text based device list and/or a text based function list into text based voice prompt scripts. The voice prompt scripts are then read to a user via a text-to-speech engine. The user responds with a voice command for a device. The voice command is converted to text by a voice recognition engine. This text is then used to send a command to the electronic device via the network.