Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to obtain an image of a consumer electronic device, the image comprising at least one visual indication of a first operating state of the consumer electronic device, and to transmit one or more commands to the consumer electronic device to change to a second operating state different from the first operating state, responsive to determining the first operating state by extracting information associated with the at least one visual indication from the image. The commands may be determined by accessing a database having control instructions associated with the consumer electronic device. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.