A portable communication device, such as, a cellular telephone, pager, PDA, etc., is programmed to configure a peripheral device through a communication link. The advanced user interface on the portable communication device tends to provide a more efficient mechanism for configuring the peripheral device. The portable communication device is arranged to transmit the configuration information directly to the peripheral device over the communication link. The portable communication device may also be further interfaced to a computer that is arranged to identify the necessary configuration information to be provided to the peripheral device.