Claims
- 1. A mobile device that provides for telecommunication and provision of opinions relating to items, comprising:
a user interface element configured to facilitate a user to provide opinion inputs; a wireless interface configured to send opinion data; an opinion application communicatively coupled to the user interface element and the wireless interface to
determine an item to which an opinion input received through the user interface element relates, associate the received opinion input with the item; and send the received opinion, as well as identification information identifying the item to which the sent opinion relates, through the wireless interface, for aggregation.
- 2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein said opinion application is equipped to perform said determining of an item based on an opinion provision context of the mobile device.
- 3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein
the mobile device further comprises a tuner configured to receive a broadcast, and a player configured to play the broadcast; and the opinion application is equipped to (a) determine the item to which the received opinion input relates to be the current broadcast being played by the player, when the opinion provision context of the mobile device is the current broadcast being played, and (b) send a first identifier directly/indirectly identifying the broadcast and a second identifier identifying the first identifier as an identifier identifying a broadcast, as said identification information identifying the item.
- 4. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein
the mobile device further comprises a location device configured to provide a location of the mobile device; and the opinion application is equipped to (a) determine the item to which the received opinion input relates to be an item to be inferred from the location of the mobile device, when the opinion provision context of the mobile device is the location of the mobile device; and (b) send a first identifier identifying the location of the mobile device and a second identifier identifying the first identifier as an identifier identifying a location of the mobile device, as said identification information identifying the item.
- 5. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein
the mobile device further comprises a barcode device configured to read a barcode; and the opinion application is equipped to (a) determine the item to which the received opinion input relates to be an item identified by the barcode, when the opinion provision context of the mobile device is the barcode read the barcode device; and (b) send a first identifier comprising the barcode, and a second identifier identifying the first identifier as a barcode, as said identification information identifying the item.
- 6. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein
the mobile device further comprises a keypad device configured to facilitate a user in inputting an item identifier; and the opinion application is equipped to (a) determine the item to which the received opinion input relates to be an item identified by the received item identifier, when the opinion provision context of the mobile device is the item identifier received through the keypad device; and (b) send a first identifier comprising the received item identifier, and a second identifier identifying the first identifier as a received item identifier, as said identification information identifying the item.
- 7. The mobile device of claim 2, further comprising an input/output interface configured to facilitate a user in selecting the opinion provision context of the mobile device from a list of opinion provision contexts.
- 8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the list of opinion provision contexts comprises a current broadcast being played on the mobile device, a location of the mobile device, a manually inputted item identifier, an item identifying message received by the mobile device, and a barcode read by the mobile device.
- 9. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the user interface element configured to facilitate a user in providing opinion inputs comprises a number of levels to facilitate the user in indicating a degree of the opinion.
- 10. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein
the wireless interface is also configured to receive aggregated opinion data; the mobile device further comprises a display to display the received aggregated opinion data; and the opinion application is also communicatively coupled to the display to control said reception and display of the aggregated opinion data.
- 11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the opinion application is also equipped to request the aggregated opinion data.
- 12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the opinion application is also equipped to automatically make the request in view of an opinion on an item provided.
- 13. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the opinion application is also equipped to request the aggregated opinion data to be sent to other mobile devices.
- 14. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the other mobile devices corresponds to a predetermined list of other users.
- 15. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the predetermined list corresponds to a selected one of a PAL LIST selected by the user, a group of similar users generated based on the user's preferences, and a group of all users.
- 16. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a selected one of a wireless mobile phone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a palm-sized computing device, a laptop computer, a portable radio, a portable MPx player, and a portable CD/DVD player.
- 17. A mobile device that provides for telecommunication and provision of opinions relating to items, comprising:
a first selected one of
a tuner-player combination to receive and play a broadcast, a location device to identify a location of the mobile device, a barcode device to read a barcode of an item, a keypad to facilitate a user in entering an item identifier identifying an item; a user interface element configured to facilitate a user to provide opinion inputs; a wireless interface configured to send opinion data; an opinion application communicatively coupled to the user interface element, the wireless interface and the selected one of tuner-player combination, location device, barcode device and input keypad, to
associate the received opinion input with a first corresponding selected one of
a broadcast being played by the tuner-player combination, an item to be inferred based on the location of the mobile device, an item identified by the barcode read, and an item identified by an item identifier entered by the user, and send the received opinion, as well as identification information
identifying the item to which the sent opinion relates, through the wireless interface, for aggregation.
- 18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein
the mobile device further comprises a second selected one of the remaining unselected ones of
a tuner-player combination to receive and play a broadcast, a location device to identify a location of the mobile device, a barcode device to read a barcode of an item, a keypad to facilitate a user in entering an item identifier identifying an item; and the opinion application is equipped to
associate the received opinion input with a selected one of a first and a second corresponding selected one of
a broadcast being played by the tuner-player combination, an item to be inferred based on the location of the mobile device, an item identified by the barcode read, and an item identified by an item identifier entered by the user.
- 19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein
the mobile device further comprises a third selected one of the remaining unselected ones of
a tuner-player combination to receive and play a broadcast, a location device to identify a location of the mobile device, a barcode device to read a barcode of an item, a keypad to facilitate a user in entering an item identifier identifying an item; and the opinion application is equipped to
associate the received opinion input with a selected one of a first, a second and a third corresponding selected one of
a broadcast being played by the tuner-player combination, an item to be inferred based on the location of the mobile device, an item identified by the barcode read, and an item identified by an item identifier entered by the user.
- 20. A system for aggregating opinions, comprising:
a memory for storing logical instructions; a network interface unit for sending and receiving data relating to aggregated opinions; and a processor for executing the logical instructions stored in the memory, the execution of the logical instructions causing functions to be performed, including:
receiving opinion data from a mobile device; determining an opinion based on the received opinion data; determining an item to which the received opinion relates; aggregating the opinion with other opinions received from other mobile devices for the item; producing aggregated opinion data based on said aggregating of the opinion; and sending the aggregated opinion data to a set of mobile devices.
- 21. The system of claim 20, wherein said aggregating of the opinion with other opinions received from other mobile devices further comprises keeping track of each unique opinion received.
- 22. The system of claim 20, wherein said producing of aggregated opinion data based on the aggregated opinion comprises applying a probability calculation to the aggregated opinion.
- 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the probability calculation is performed in accordance with a probability theorem.
- 24. The system of claim 20, wherein said determining of the opinion based on the opinion data comprises associating the opinion with an item.
- 25. The system of claim 24, wherein said determining of an item to which the received opinion relates comprises parsing the opinion data to extract one or more identifiers that uniquely identify the item.
- 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the one or more identifiers comprise at least a selected one of the set of identifiers including a song name, a barcode, a SKU number, a text name, call letters, and a location.
- 27. The system of claim 20, wherein the other mobile devices correspond to a predetermined list of users.
- 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the predetermined list corresponds to one of the following: a PAL LIST provided by a user of the mobile device, a group of similar users generated based on the user's preferences, and a group of all users.
- 29. The system of claim 20, said execution of the logical instructions further causes the function of receiving from the mobile device the predetermined list to be performed.
- 30. In a computing environment, a method for collecting, aggregating and distribution opinion, comprising:
receiving a plurality of transmissions of opinion data from one or more mobile devices; determining an opinion based on each received transmission of opinion data; determining an item to which the received opinion relates; aggregating the opinion with other opinions received from other mobile devices for the item; producing aggregated opinion data based on said aggregating of the opinion; and sending the aggregated opinion data to a set of mobile devices.
- 31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:
generating a result based on the aggregated opinion; and providing the result to a user.
- 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the other opinions correspond to opinions expressed by users in a predetermined list.
- 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the predetermined list corresponds to a PAL LIST.
- 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the predetermined list is generated based on the user's preferences.
- 35. The method of claim 31, wherein said generating of the result based on the aggregated opinion comprises applying a probability theorem to the aggregated opinion.
- 36. The mobile device of claim 30, wherein the item to which the received opinion relates is a broadcast, a location, an item identified by a manually inputted item identifier, an item identified by an item identifying message, and an item identified by a barcode.
- 37. A mobile device that provides for telecommunication and provision of opinions, comprising:
means for receiving an opinion from a user; means for determining an item to which the opinion relates; and means for sending the opinion, as well as identification information directly/indirectly identifying the item to which the opinion relates, for aggregation.
- 38. The mobile device of claim 37, wherein
the mobile device further comprises means to tune and play a broadcast; and said sending means includes means to include with said identification information an identifier identifying a broadcast, when the broadcast is the item to which the opinion relates.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This utility application is related to a previously filed U.S. Provisional Application, Serial No. 60/290,592, filed on May 11, 2001, the benefit of the earlier filing date of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e).
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/US02/14908 |
5/10/2002 |
WO |
|
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60290592 |
May 2001 |
US |