Wireless, radio-frequency communications using a handheld computer

A handheld computer coupleable to a base station to communicate with a server, the handheld computer comprising:

• a display:
• a processor configured to provide a user-interface on the display, the user-interface including a plurality of graphical user-interface features to provide information about one or more detectable characteristics associated with displaying a content rendered from wireless, radio-frequency communications forwarded from the base station, wherein:
• a first graphical user-interface feature in the plurality of graphical user-interface features indicates whether at least one of signaling a request for the content to the base station, and receiving the content from the base station, is to be encrypted;
• and
• a second graphical user-interface feature in the plurality of graphical user-interface features indicates, prior to receiving a user-input to signal the request, an available bandwidth of the wireless radio-frequency channel;
• and
• an antenna coupled to the processor to signal the request to the base station for the content, and to receive a network transmission corresponding to the network content.

A computer system comprising:

• a proxy server to communicate with a web server on the Internet;
• a base station to forward a wireless request to the proxy server, and to receive a network content from the web server forwarded via the proxy server, the base station signaling the network content as a wireless network transmission;
• and
• a handheld computer comprising an antenna to signal the wireless request to the base station, and to receive the wireless network transmission from the base station, the handheld computer including a user-interface to provide a plurality of graphical user-interface features that indicate one or more detectable characteristics associated with receiving the wireless network transmission, the user-interface providing a selectable first graphical user-interface feature to signal the request to the base station, and a second graphical user-interface feature being configured to indicate whether at least one of the request and the network transmission is encrypted, and a third graphical user-interface feature to indicates an available bandwidth for transmitting at least one of the request and receiving the network transmission.

A method for providing wireless, radio-frequency communications on a handheld computer, the method comprising:

• providing a user-interface that includes a plurality of graphical user-interface features for providing information about one or more detectable characteristics associated with displaying content in response to receiving the wireless, radio-frequency communications, the plurality of graphical user-interface features including a first graphical user-interface feature that is selectable by a user to request the content from a network;
• and a second graphical user-interface feature that indicates which one of a plurality of wireless channels has more available bandwidth for conducting the wireless, radio-frequency communications, wherein each wireless channel in the plurality of wireless channels operates under a different protocol;
• in response to selection of the first graphical user-interface feature, signaling a wireless, radio-frequency request to retrieve the content from the network using the one wireless channel that has more available bandwidth for conducting the wireless, radio frequency communications as indicated by the second graphical user interface feature;
• and
• receiving a wireless, radio-frequency network transmission corresponding to the network content using the one wireless channel that has more available bandwidth for conducting the wireless, radio frequency communications as indicated by the second graphical user interface feature.

A method for providing wireless, radio-frequency communications on a handheld computer, the method comprising:

• providing a user-interface that includes a plurality of graphical user-interface features for providing information about one or more detectable characteristics associated with displaying content in response to receiving the wireless, radio-frequency communications, wherein a first graphical user-interface feature in the plurality of graphical user-interface features is selectable by a user to display the content;
• wherein a second graphical user-interface feature in the plurality of graphical user-interface features indicates whether the content is remote to the handheld computer or stored in a memory of the handheld computer;
• and wherein a third graphical user-interface feature in the plurality of handheld computer;
• and wherein a third graphical user-interface feature in the plurality of graphical user-interface features indicates an available bandwidth for conducting the wireless, radio-frequency communications;
• responsive to the user-input indicating that the content is remote, signaling a wireless, radio-frequency request to retrieve the content from the network;
• and receiving the wireless, radio-frequency communications for rendering the content.

A computer system comprising:

• a proxy server to communicate with a web server on the Internet;
• a base station to forward a wireless request to the proxy server, and to receive a network content from the web server forwarded via the proxy server, the base station signaling the network content as a wireless network transmission;
• and
• a handheld computer comprising a wireless communication mechanism to signal the wireless request to the base station over a wireless channel, and to receive the wireless network transmission from the base station over the wireless channel, the handheld computer including a user-interface providing one or more graphical user-interface features for providing information about communications with at least one of the proxy server or base station, the one or more graphical user-interface features including a selectable feature to signal the request to the base station, the user-interface being configured to indicate, prior to selection of the selectable feature, a duration for retrieving a content specified by the request based on an available bandwidth of the wireless channel.