System and method for providing massage related services

1. A massage apparatus comprising:

a massage unit;

a remote controller having a display screen;

a driver operable to drive motion of the massage unit; and

a microcontroller connected with the driver, wherein the microcontroller is configured to:

connect with an external device;

receive a program code of a massage program and graphical content of an icon associated with the massage program in an encrypted form from the external device to prevent corruption of the massage program during data transmission; and store the massage program in a memory;

decrypt the massage program and the graphical content of the icon received from the external device;

have the icon stored in the remote controller;

display the icon on the display screen, the icon being selectable for executing the massage program; and

execute the decrypted massage program through the massage unit to apply a sequence of massage actions on a body.

2. The massage apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller includes an internal memory for storing the massage program received from the external device.

3. The massage apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the internal memory includes electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory.

4. The massage apparatus according to claim 1 , further including a wireless communication interface through which the microcontroller receives the massage program from the external device.

5. The massage apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the wireless communication interface includes a Bluetooth interface, and/or a Wi-Fi interface.

6. The massage apparatus according to claim 1 , further including a Universal Serial Bus interface through which the microcontroller receives the massage program from the external device.

7. The massage apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is further configured to:

store the icon in a second memory in the remote controller.

8. The massage apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the icon is defined in a bitmap file.

9. The massage apparatus according to claim 1 , being configured as a massage chair.

10. A system of providing massage related services, comprising:

the massage apparatus according to claim 1 ;

a first and a second server computer; and

a terminal device operable to:

conduct a transaction with the first server computer to purchase the massage program;

download the massage program from the second server computer; and transfer the massage program to the massage apparatus.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the terminal device is operable to download the massage program from the second server computer via internet connection, and to transfer the downloaded massage program to the massage apparatus via a Bluetooth connection.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the massage program is downloaded to the terminal device in an encrypted form that is decryptable by the massage apparatus.

13. A method of providing massage related services, comprising:

providing a massage apparatus;

establishing a connection between a terminal device and a server computer;

transferring a massage program executable on the massage apparatus and graphical content of an icon associated with the massage program from the server computer to the terminal device;

establishing a connection between the terminal device and the massage apparatus; and

transferring the massage program and the graphical content of the icon contained in one or more encrypted files to prevent corruption of the massage program during data transmission from the terminal device to the massage apparatus;

through the massage apparatus, decrypting the one or more encrypted files to recover the massage program and the graphical content of the icon; and

displaying the icon on a display screen of a remote controller of the massage apparatus, the icon being selectable for executing the massage program.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the massage program is transferred from the server computer to the terminal device via internet connection.

15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the massage program is transferred from the terminal device to the massage apparatus via a wireless connection.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the wireless connection includes a Bluetooth connection.

17. The method according to claim 13 , further including:

storing the decrypted graphical content of the icon associated with the massage program in a remote controller of the massage apparatus.