HK1088084A - System, method and device for upgrading a mobile communications terminal - Google Patents

Description

System, method and apparatus for upgrading mobile communication terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a system, method and apparatus for upgrading a mobile communication terminal using at least one specific software item selected from a plurality of mobile communication terminal software items.

Background

A mobile terminal in the form of a mobile (cellular) telephone for a telecommunication system like GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS or CDMA2000 is a common example of a mobile communication terminal according to the above.

US-5,418,837 discloses a method and apparatus for upgrading the software of a mobile cellular telephone by temporarily connecting a Software Upgrade Module (SUM) card to the card reader of the telephone. In a GSM phone, a SIM (subscriber identity module) card reader may be used. The CPU of the phone is adapted to check whether the card is a normal SIM card or a SUM card upon insertion of the card into the card reader. In the latter case, the upgrade software is read from the memory of the SUM card and stored in the main memory of the phone.

The above disadvantage is the manual intervention required to insert the SUM card into the SIM card reader. This may require turning off the phone, removing the housing cover or battery, then carefully removing the SIM card from the card reader, inserting the SUM card into the card reader, installing the housing cover or battery, and finally turning the phone back on. Furthermore, since the SUM card must be populated with specific content-a specific piece of upgrade software-this solution does not allow the user any influence on the choice of upgrade software. In other words, according to this solution, personalization of the phone by upgrading the software is not available. In addition, since an individual SUM card carries the necessary upgrade software itself, the SUM card must be brought to the location of the phone.

WO01/93546 relates to a mobile terminal and more particularly to the problem of personalizing the terminal by allowing the ringing tone or the idle mode display background image to be updated from the computer. An external device, such as a camera or an instrument keyboard, is connected to the computer to allow the generation of data for updating the terminal. The computer converts the generated data into an appropriate format and transmits the converted data to the terminal through a data call session over a mobile communication network (e.g., GSM) or through an SMS message or a WAP session. This solution allows remote upgrading of the mobile terminal without the need to use a local data carrier in direct physical contact with the terminal. However, it is an inflexible solution since the data available for upgrading the terminal is limited to whatever data is commonly input through the external device. It also requires the effective use of external equipment, i.e. in order to perform an upgrade, someone must operate the external equipment. If no one actually produces certain desired data, such as a specific image or ringing tone, through an external device, the terminal user cannot request for terminal upgrade using such data by himself.

Summary of The Invention

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to solve or at least reduce the problems discussed above. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient, flexible and user-friendly way of upgrading a mobile communication terminal.

Generally, the above object is achieved by systems, methods and devices according to the appended independent patent claims.

A first aspect of the present invention is a system for upgrading a mobile communication terminal, the system comprising: a first computer; a first database coupled to the first computer, the first database containing a plurality of mobile communications terminal software items; a second computer; a second database coupled to the second computer; and a network having a first node and a second node, the first computer being connected to the first node and the second computer being connected to the second node. The second database is adapted to be repeatedly supplied with at least some of the plurality of mobile communications terminal software items over the network so as to contain a replicated version of at least a portion of the first database. The second computer is adapted to upgrade the mobile communication terminal by supplying at least one specific software item from the second database to the mobile communication terminal.

Advantageously, the network comprises a wide area network, such as the internet, and a local area network connected to the wide area network, wherein the first node is comprised in the wide area network and the second node is comprised in the local area network. In such a system, the first database may be a central upgrade database and the second database may be a local upgrade database. This will require only a low capacity for the connection between the local area network and the wide area network, since the connection will only need to be used during the copying of the mobile communication terminal software items from the central upgrade database to the local upgrade database. This may occur, for example, once or several times a day, so that a permanent connection is not required.

The second computer may be adapted to select said particular software item in response to a series identity, an article identity, a model identity, a type identity, a version identity or a release identity-or any combination thereof-of said mobile communication terminal.

The system may further comprise an end-user device having a user interface, said end-user device being adapted to accept a selection action via said user interface to select said particular software item. The end user device may be associated with a second computer.

The specific item of software may comprise at least one of the following types: still images such as icons, wallpaper, pictures, or brand logos; digital sounds such as ring tones or a piece of music; video/audio sequences; program code for a processor of the mobile communication terminal, such as an electronic game, an application, an applet or a midlet; an electronic link such as a WAP bookmark; setting data for the mobile communication terminal, e.g. settings for its user interface; or language data for a user interface of the mobile communication terminal. The second computer may be adapted to upgrade said mobile communication terminal with a specific set of software items selected from the plurality of mobile communication terminal software items mentioned above. Such a specific set of software items advantageously comprises at least two software items. The at least two software items may have in common some selectable theme related to, for example, social, cultural, geographical, political, historical, financial, technical or educational aspects of life or mankind.

The mobile communication terminal may advantageously be of a type suitable for use in any one of the following mobile telecommunications systems: GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS or CDMA 2000.

A second aspect of the present invention is a method of upgrading a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of mobile communications terminal software items in a first database at a first node in a computer network;

providing at least some of the mobile communications terminal software items from the first database to a second database on a second node in the computer network;

accepting selection of at least one specific one of the mobile communication terminal software items;

providing the specific software item from the second database to the mobile communication terminal; and

the mobile communication terminal is upgraded with the specific software item.

The second aspect may have the same features and will provide the same benefits as the first aspect.

A third aspect of the invention is an arrangement for upgrading a mobile communication terminal in a system according to the first aspect. The apparatus comprises a retractable tray (tray) sized and designed to receive the mobile communication terminal when it is in an extended position. A mechanism is coupled to the carriage for displacing the carriage between the extended and retracted positions. An interface is designed to interconnect with the mobile communication terminal when the cradle is in its retracted position. Providing means for receiving said specific software item from said second computer and providing said specific software item to said mobile communication terminal via said interface.

Advantageously, the device may further have a housing sized and designed to fit a standard peripheral bay (bay) of said second computer, such as a bay for a CD player, a DVD player, a floppy disk station or a hard disk. Furthermore, the means for providing the specific item of software may comprise an interface for a computer bus, e.g. ISA, EISA, VESA, IDE, PCI, PC card, USB, or Firewire.

Other objects, aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the dependent claims as well as from the drawings.

In general, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the [ element, device, component, means, step, etc ]" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed.

Brief Description of Drawings

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a system for upgrading a mobile communication terminal by means of a remote central database and an upgrading station in a retail store.

Fig. 2 and 3 are schematic illustrations of two presently preferred embodiments for upgrading a mobile communication terminal by means of a remote central database and an upgrading station, a local database and a local www server in a retail shop.

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a software upgrade set with which a mobile communication terminal may be upgraded, the software upgrade set comprising core software, a language/settings package and at least one content package.

FIG. 5 gives several examples of different content packages that may be included in the software upgrade set of FIG. 4.

Fig. 6-9 are perspective views of a device for upgrading a mobile communication terminal, which is sized and designed to fit a standard peripheral bay of a computer, and has a retractable tray for receiving the terminal.

Fig. 6 shows the retractable tray in the extended position without the mobile communication terminal mounted therein.

Fig. 7 shows the retractable tray in its extended position and with the mobile communication terminal mounted therein.

Fig. 8 shows the retractable tray in its retracted position.

Fig. 9 is a view corresponding to fig. 6, but with the housing of the device removed to reveal the internal components of the device.

Fig. 10 is an exploded view of the device shown in fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a side view of the apparatus shown in fig. 6.

Fig. 12 is a side view of the apparatus shown in fig. 8.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a standard size computer having three peripheral bays, wherein one example of a device for upgrading a mobile communication terminal according to fig. 6-12 is installed in each of the three peripheral bays.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 illustrates a system for upgrading a mobile communication terminal. A Mobile Equipment (ME) retail store 100 has: store representatives 110, such as store owners, administrators, or assistants in a well-known manner; a counter 112 and a counter computer 114 including a counter computer monitor 116. As seen at 118, the counter computer 114 is connected to a shop LAN (local area network) 120. The shop LAN is connected at 122 to the internet 140 via a suitable internet access 130, such as ISDN, ADSL or any commercially available broadband connection.

A mobile device upgrade kiosk (kiosk)150 has an upgrade computer 152 connected to the shop LAN120 and thus to the internet 140. Both the counter computer 114 and the upgrade computer 152 may be implemented by commercially available Personal Computers (PCs).

The mobile equipment upgrade center 160 has a central upgrade server 162 and a central upgrade database 164, the central upgrade server 162 and the central upgrade database 164 also being connected to the internet 140 and thus accessible from the counter computer 114 and the upgrade computer 152 within the mobile equipment retail store 100. The central upgrade database 164 stores a plurality of software items with which various models of mobile communication terminals can be upgraded.

The customer 102 may use the system for upgrading the mobile communication terminal 1 described above in the following manner. The customer 102 enters the retail store 100 and hands the mobile communication terminal 1 to the store representative 110, and the store representative 110 installs the terminal 1 into or to the upgrade kiosk 150 to connect the terminal 1 to the upgrade computer 152. The connection between the terminal 1 and the upgrade computer 152 can be established in different ways. For example, a dedicated accessory or reprogramming interface on the terminal 1 may be connected to a corresponding interface of the upgrade computer 152, or to an intermediate interface of the upgrade kiosk 150, the upgrade kiosk 150 then acting to establish a working connection between the terminal 1 and the upgrade computer 152. The dedicated accessory or reprogramming interface on the terminal 1 may be an electrical contact or a wireless interface such as infrared (e.g. IrDA) or short-range radio (e.g. bluetooth). A detailed example of the interconnection between the terminal and the upgrade computer will be given in the remaining figures and in the following description of the invention. The customer 102 and the shop representative 110 may discuss details regarding the upgrade of the terminal 1. As previously mentioned, an upgrade may consist in adding or replacing certain software items of the terminal, including but not limited to: still images such as icons, wallpaper, pictures, or brand logos; digital sounds such as ring tones or a piece of music; video/audio sequences; program code for the terminal 1, such as an electronic game, an application, an applet or a midlet; an electronic link such as a WAP bookmark; and setting data and/or language data for the user interface of the terminal 1. For convenience of the customer 102 and the shop representative 110, a visual summary of available software items may be displayed as graphics and/or text on the counter computer monitor 116.

Once the customer 102 and the shop representative 110 agree on the details of the terminal upgrade, the shop representative 110 may specify the required details regarding the selected software items, payment or billing details, etc. via the counter computer 114 and then initiate the actual upgrade procedure by communicating the required details to the upgrade computer 152 via the shop LAN 120. In response, the upgrade computer 152 may connect to the mobile equipment upgrade center 160 and download selected software items from the central upgrade database 164, and also report specified payment or billing details, etc. to the central upgrade server 162 for further financial processing thereat.

When the selected software item has been downloaded, in whole or in part, to the upgrade computer 152, this computer will establish contact with the terminal 1 through the interconnection described above. A predetermined software upgrade routine will be executed within the terminal 1 and control the actual upgrade of the terminal, which may include using selected software items to alter the contents of a persistent memory within the terminal 1. The persistent memory may be, for example, a flash memory or an (E) EPROM memory.

The mobile communication terminal 1 may be a mobile (cellular) phone for any commercially available mobile telecommunication system, here for example GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS or CDMA 2000. The mobile communication terminal 1 may alternatively be another type of mobile device, for example a Portable Digital Assistant (PDA) or a communicator.

Fig. 2 and 3 illustrate a first embodiment and a second embodiment, respectively, of a system for upgrading a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. Like reference numerals in fig. 2 and 3 refer to like reference numerals in fig. 1, such that, for example, reference numerals 260/360 in fig. 2 and 3 correspond to 160 in fig. 1, respectively. Unless explicitly specified, elements denoted by such like reference numerals do not differ substantially from each other and avoid lengthy repetition of their description.

In the system of fig. 2, the mobile equipment retail store 200 has an upgrade computer 270, and in contrast to the upgrade computer 152 of fig. 1, the upgrade computer 270 provides an extended functionality by combining with an upgrade apparatus (referred to as an upgrade fixture 280 in fig. 2) into which the terminal 1 can be conveniently installed for upgrade. The upgrade device 280 will be described in more detail with reference to fig. 6-13.

In addition to the above, the upgrade computer 270 has a local upgrade database 272 that contains a replicated version of at least a portion of the central upgrade database 264. The upgrade computer 270 includes a local www server 271, allowing the customer 202 to use a customer sales monitor 290 to facilitate the selection of one (more) of the available software items for use by the upgrade terminal 1. The provision of the local www server 271 allows the upgrade kiosk 250 to provide additional customer sales monitors 292 at the upgrade kiosk 250. Its small upgrade computer 252 substantially corresponds to the upgrade computer 152 of fig. 1.

The system of fig. 2 has several advantages. By providing a local upgrade database 272, less capacity is required for the internet connection 222 since the internet connection 222 need only be used during the copying of data from the central upgrade database 264. This may occur, for example, once or several times a day, so that a persistent internet connection is not required.

The customer 202 may be provided with a view via any of the customer sales monitors 290 or 292 as to what software items may be downloaded and their prices, and the shop representative 210 may be provided with another view via the counter computer monitor 216 as to what software items the customer has selected, the prices of the software items, payment or billing data, and control information needed to initiate the upgrade of the terminal 1. In this scenario, customer 202 may first review the customer window for an introduction of available software, then select the desired item of software, and, optionally, customer 202 may also select the manner and conditions of payment and finally hand terminal 1 to store representative 210. The manner and condition of payment may involve electronic payment, thus credit card information, mobile subscription information, account information, or even digital/virtual money such as computer dollars (cyber dollars). Alternatively, the manner and condition of payment may involve traditional payment using cash or checks.

The shop representative 210 may then check what selections the customer has made and, optionally, whether sufficient details regarding the payment method and conditions have been provided, or alternatively, whether a sufficient amount of cash or checks has been provided, as the case may be. If everything is correct, the shop representative 210 may insert the customer's terminal 1 into the upgrade device 280 of the upgrade computer 270 to initiate an upgrade of the terminal, as indicated in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the customer 202 himself may insert the terminal 1 into the upgrading device 280 or a corresponding terminal-accepting portion of the upgrade kiosk 250, wherein the role of the store representative may be limited to verifying the customer-specified selection/payment data and commanding initiation of the upgrade procedure.

The second embodiment of fig. 3 is a self-service version of the first embodiment of fig. 2. The shop representative and the counter are not shown in fig. 3. Rather, the customer 302 may use any of a plurality of self-service based, stand-alone upgrade kiosks 350, 350'. Each individual upgrade kiosk has an upgrade device 380, 380 'and a customer sales monitor 392, 392'. An upgrade computer 370 with a local upgrade database 372 and a local www server 371 may be located with one of the upgrade kiosks as shown in fig. 3, or may be separately connected to the shop LAN 320. The customer 302 may perform relevant ones of the steps described in connection with fig. 2 by means of any of the individual upgrade kiosks 350, 350' to upgrade his terminal 1. More specifically, one possible sequence of steps is to install the terminal 1 into the upgrade device 380/380 ', select the desired software item on the customer sales monitor 392/392 ', specify the manner and conditions of payment, wait for verification of the specified manner and conditions of payment (which may be done locally via, for example, the local www server 371/database 372 or remotely via the mobile device upgrade center 360), confirm the order of the selected software item and its required price, wait for execution of the upgrade procedure, and finally retrieve the upgraded terminal 1 from the upgrade device 380/380 '.

In general, the mobile device retail store in the embodiments of fig. 2-3 may include any number of different pieces of equipment, i.e., one or more than one upgrade computer, upgrade kiosk, counter computer, local database, computer sales monitor, upgrade equipment (fixtures), and so forth. Accordingly, the mobile device upgrade center may have a distributed and/or hierarchical architecture, possibly including more than one upgrade server, upgrade database, etc., reflecting, for example, the geographic structure of different regions/countries/regions. A large number of mobile device retail stores may be connected to a mobile device upgrade center.

The central upgrade database may contain upgrade software for various terminal models, types, versions, releases, and the like. Not all of this software needs to be copied to the local upgrade database of a particular mobile device retail store, but only those software items designed for the relevant model, type, version or release sold in the area, country or region in which the particular retail store is located. To this end, the upgrading device/upgrading computer/upgrading kiosk may determine a series identification, an item identification, a model identification, a type identification, a version identification, or a release identification-or any combination thereof-for the terminal based on the connection with the same. Such identification would help to select the appropriate software item to be provided for upgrading and would also make it easier to avoid upgrading the terminal with an incorrect or incompatible software item or application and operating software therein not designed for the current model, type, version or release of the terminal.

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a software upgrade set 400 with which a mobile communication terminal may be upgraded in any of the ways described above. The software upgrade set may include various software items, typically relating to three different levels 410, 420, 430 of the software hierarchy of the mobile communication terminal. The core software 410 represents the basic level and may include a CE software release track 412, within which release track 412 various operating system software items may be included. The core software 410 may also include various features 414, application software 416, and enablers 418.

Control data 420 represents a higher level and may include language packs 422 and settings 424. The language pack may relate to various text in the user interface of the terminal, e.g. menu item names, help text, etc. Settings 424 may define certain settings of the terminal, such as e-mail access settings, WAP access settings, mobile communication network settings, user interface settings, etc.

At least one content package 430a-c may be provided at a higher level of the software upgrade set 400. As seen in fig. 4, each content package may include an electronic link 431, such as a WAP or http bookmark; digital sounds such as ringing tone 432, polyphonic ringing tone 433, or a piece of music; still images such as icons, wallpaper, pictures 434, or brand logos; animated video/audio sequences such as screen saver 435; and program code for a processor of the mobile communication terminal, such as an electronic game, an application program, an applet or a Java midlet 436. As already explained above, the program code may also be comprised in the core software 410. Not all three stages need to be embodied in a particular set of software upgrades. Rather, only a single item of software may also constitute a set of software upgrades.

Fig. 5 gives some more detailed examples of how the content packages 430a-c/530a-c may be designed. Advantageously, the content of each content package may have a certain theme 530 in common. Thus, various software items may be provided to customers as specific theme kits, wherein each theme kit will contain software items that all share an identifiable theme. Fig. 5 gives three examples of such a theme: "fashion" (530a), "work" (530b), and "Christmas" (530 c). Other examples may be a certain pop star, a rock band, a movie or a sporting event. Of course, the number of possible themes is virtually unlimited; the subject matter may relate to, for example, social, cultural, geographical, political, historical, financial, technical, or educational aspects of life or mankind.

One embodiment 1000 of the upgrade device 280/380 will now be described in more detail with reference to fig. 6-13. As seen in FIG. 13, an upgrade device according to this embodiment is sized and designed to conform to a standard peripheral bay of a computer 1100 (e.g., upgrade computer 270/370 of FIGS. 2-3). In fact, more than one upgrading device 1000a-c may advantageously be included in such a computer to allow parallel upgrading of a corresponding number of terminals.

The upgrading device 1000 has a retractable terminal tray 1002 into which a user, e.g. a customer or a shop representative, installs a terminal 1 to be upgraded. The terminal tray 1002 is movable between an extended position as shown in fig. 6-7 and a retracted position as shown in fig. 8. The mounting before the upgrade of the terminal 1 and the unmounting after the upgrade of the terminal are performed in the extended position of the terminal tray 1002, however, the actual upgrade is performed in the retracted position of the tray 1002. It may be necessary to remove some housing parts of the terminal, like the back cover and/or the battery pack, before mounting the terminal in the terminal tray.

As seen in fig. 9-12, the upgrading device 1000 has a front 1003 fixed to two identical guides 1004a-b with some curved plates 1006 that control the movement and direction of the three drawers. The top drawer 1008 serves to hold the terminal 1 inserted into the terminal tray 1002 in a fixed position when the contacts 1010 of the printed circuit board 1012 make contact with corresponding contacts of the terminal 1. The bottom drawer 1014 controls the movement of the top drawer in the longitudinal direction. When the bottom drawer 1014 moves from the outside to the inside position, the top drawer 1008 moves down and touches the terminal 1, thereby keeping the terminal 1 fixed within the terminal tray 1002 during its upgrade.

The contact drawer 1016 has a turning point on the inner end of the wheels of the bottom drawer 1014. The other end of the contact drawer 1016 is guided on a single bottom curve of the guides 1004 a-b. This means that when the bottom drawer 1014 is moved from its outer position and entered, the top drawer 1008 first secures the terminal 1 as described above. The contact drawer 1016, guided over the curved plates of the guides 1004a-b, then moves into the terminal 1, where the contact drawer 1016 connects the data signal and power connections with the terminal 1.

The bottom drawer 1014 is held in its inner position by a catch 1018, and the catch 1018 is released when current is passed from a microswitch on the front 1003 or from the computer 1100 to the electromagnet coil 1020.

Printed circuit board 1012 includes an interface for a computer bus, such as ISA, EISA, VESA, IDE, PCI, PC card, USB, or Firewire, and is thereby operatively coupled to computer 1100. The computer 1100 has an interface to the shop LAN220/320 so that it can receive data, i.e. the selected software item (or items) that will be used to upgrade the terminal 1. The computer 1100 also runs terminal upgrade software that handles the communication of upgrade data and instructions between the upgrade device 1000, the local www server 271/371 and the local upgrade database 272/372. The computer 1100 may also run software to implement the local www server 271/371 and/or the local upgrade database 272/372 and in such cases may also handle the copying of the central upgrade database 264/364 to the local upgrade database 272/372.

Giving the possibility that the user enters and updates the content of the mobile communication terminal more or less regularly also provides the possibility to track individual mobile communication terminals. The mobile communication terminal maintains a dedicated record of the actions undertaken and errors encountered, in effect forming a history list. This history list may be transmitted to the mobile terminal upgrade center when the terminal is connected to the upgrade device and then forwarded to a given technical site. Here, the developer can make valuable use of the collected historical data, for example to know under what circumstances errors occurred, the details of the errors that occurred, and the frequency with which they occurred.

The invention has been described above in general terms with reference to a few embodiments. However, it is readily understood by a person skilled in the art that other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims.

Claims (20)

1. A system for upgrading a mobile communication terminal, the system comprising:

a first computer;

a first database coupled to the first computer, the first database containing a plurality of mobile communications terminal software items;

a second computer;

a second database coupled to the second computer; and

a network having a first node and a second node, the first computer being connected to the first node and the second computer being connected to the second node,

wherein said second database is adapted to be repeatedly supplied with at least some of said plurality of mobile communication terminal software items over said network to contain a replicated version of at least a portion of said first database, and

wherein said second computer is adapted to upgrade said mobile communication terminal by supplying at least one specific software item from said second database to said mobile communication terminal.

2. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein said second computer is adapted to select said particular software item in response to a serial identity, an article identity, a model identity, a type identity, a version identity or a release identity-or any combination thereof-of said mobile communication terminal.

3. A system as defined in claim 1 or 2, further comprising an end-user device having a user interface, said end-user device being adapted to accept a selection action via said user interface to select said particular software item.

4. A system as defined in claim 3, wherein said end-user device is associated with said second computer.

5. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the particular item of software comprises at least one of the following types: still images such as icons, wallpaper, pictures, or brand logos; digital sounds such as ring tones or a piece of music; video/audio sequences; program code for a processor of the mobile communication terminal, such as an electronic game, an application, an applet or a midlet; an electronic link such as a WAP bookmark; setting data for the mobile communication terminal, e.g. settings for its user interface; or language data for a user interface of the mobile communication terminal.

6. A system as defined in any preceding claim, wherein said second computer is adapted to upgrade said mobile communication terminal with a particular set of software items selected among said plurality of mobile communication terminal software items.

7. A system as defined in claim 6, wherein the set of specific software items includes at least two of the different types of software items listed in claim 5.

8. The system as defined in claim 7, wherein said at least two software items have a certain selectable theme in common.

9. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the selectable theme relates to a social, cultural, geographic, political, historical, financial, technical, or educational aspect of life or mankind.

10. A system as defined in any preceding claim, wherein said mobile communication terminal is adapted for use in any one of the following mobile telecommunications systems: GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS or CDMA 2000.

11. A method of upgrading a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of mobile communications terminal software items in a first database at a first node in a computer network;

providing at least some of the mobile communications terminal software items from the first database to a second database on a second node in the computer network;

accepting selection of at least one specific one of the mobile communication terminal software items;

providing the specific software item from the second database to the mobile communication terminal; and

the mobile communication terminal is upgraded with the specific software item.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the step of:

determining a series identifier, an article identifier, a model identifier, a type identifier, a version identifier or a release identifier of the mobile communication terminal; and

the determined identity is used when selecting the particular item of software.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 or 12, further comprising the step of:

receiving the selection of at least one particular software item from a user through a user interface; and is

Forwarding the selection over the computer network.

14. The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein the particular item of software comprises at least one of the following types: still images such as icons, wallpaper, pictures, or brand logos; digital sounds such as ring tones or a piece of music; video/audio sequences; program code for a processor of the mobile communication terminal, such as an electronic game, an application, an applet or a midlet; an electronic link such as a WAP bookmark; setting data for the mobile communication terminal, e.g. settings for its user interface; or language data for a user interface of the mobile communication terminal.

15. A method according to any of claims 11-14, wherein said accepting, providing and upgrading steps are performed for a specific set of software items selected among said plurality of mobile communication terminal software items, the specific set comprising at least two of the different types listed in claim 14, said at least two software items having a certain selectable theme in common.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the selectable theme relates to social, cultural, geographical, political, historical, financial, technical or educational aspects of life or mankind.

17. An arrangement for upgrading a mobile communication terminal in a system as defined in any of claims 1-10, the arrangement comprising:

a retractable tray sized and designed to receive the mobile communication terminal when the tray is in an extended position;

a mechanism coupled to the carriage for transitioning the carriage between the extended and retracted positions;

an interface designed to interconnect with the mobile communication terminal when the cradle is in its retracted position; and

means for receiving the specific software item from the second computer and providing the specific software item to the mobile communication terminal through the interface.

18. The device as defined in claim 17, further comprising a housing sized and designed to fit a standard peripheral bay of said second computer, where the peripheral bay is, for example, a bay for a CD player, a DVD player, a floppy disk station, or a hard disk.

19. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein said means for providing said specific item of software comprises an interface for a computer bus such as ISA, EISA, VESA, IDE, PCI, PC card, USB or Firewire.

20. A system as defined in any one of claims 1-10, said network comprising a wide area network and a local area network, said local area network being connected to said wide area network, wherein said first node is comprised in said wide area network and said second node is comprised in said local area network.