Portable shopping assistant

• US 20020194303A1
• Filed: 05/29/2001
• Published: 12/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Aho, Elina, Suila, Mika, Eklund, Caj, Ikonen, Ari, Hamynen, Kimmo, Malk, Kirsi
• Application Number:
  US09/867,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20020194303A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/343 Cards including a counter
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system and method of providing consumer item information to consumers by equipping the consumers with portable shopping assistants (PSAs), which can receive identifying information (OI-Id) concerning specific consumer items (OIs). The PSA transmits the OI-Id to an information server system (ISS), which responds with either the appropriate consumer item information (P/S-Info) or a “key” (OI-Key) which can be used to retrieve the P/S-Info.

Claims

1. A system for providing information concerning a consumer item to a user comprising:

an object of interest (OI) identification information (OI-Id) provider, wherein the OI is a consumer item and said OI-Id provider is in a specific location;

a portable shopping assistant (PSA) for receiving the OI-Id in the specific location and for transmitting the received OI-Id;

an information server system (ISS) for receiving the OI-Id transmitted by said PSA, for matching the received OI-Id with a record containing consumer item information (P/S-Info) corresponding to the received OI-Id, for determining a communication method, and for transmitting the P/S-Info using the determined communication method; and

an output device for receiving P/S-Info from said ISS and outputting the P/S-Info to the user, said output device being separate from the PSA;

wherein the specific location is one of a location where the OI is present, a location having material associated with the OI, and a location where an event associated with the OI is taking place.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, in the location where an event associated with the OI is taking place, the associated event comprises one of a concert, a lecture, and a sports event.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA comprises one of a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, and a dedicated device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA receives OI-Id by one of radiofrequency (RF) communication, infrared (IR) communication, sonic communication, label scanning and manual entry.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the OI-Id comprises a consumer item identification code.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA receives the OI-Id by short-range, low power radiofrequency (RF) technology.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA is a cellular telephone, further comprising:

a cellular telephone network for receiving the OI-Id transmitted by said cellular telephone and for transmitting the OI-Id to the ISS.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA is a cellular telephone, said cellular telephone being registered to receive services of the consumer item information system by having appropriate information entered in a file of a subscriber database maintained by a cellular telephone system.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA transmits the OI-Id by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the ISS transmits the P/S-Info by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the ISS determines which one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network is used to transmit the P/S-Info.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the PSA transmits OI-Id and the ISS transmits the P/S-Info using different communication networks.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the output device is one of a personal computer at a home of the user, a television set at the home of the user, a portable laptop computer equipped with communication means, and a set of portable virtual reality goggles.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a means for attaching user information (UID-Info) to the OI-Id, said UID-Info comprising at least a communication destination address for the user;

wherein the ISS uses the communication destination address to address the P/S-Info to the output device.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the UID-Info attaching means is one of the PSA and the ISS.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the ISS comprises:

an OI-Id server for receiving the OI-Id, resolving a correct destination address for a P/S-Info server which has the record containing the P/S-Info corresponding to the received OI-Id, and transmitting a request for P/S-Info to a P/S-Info Server;

said P/S-Info server for receiving the request for P/S-Info, for finding the record containing the P/S-Info, and for transmitting the P/S-Info;

means for determining a user identification (UID) of a user of the PSA;

a user information (UID-Info) server containing UID-Info files sorted by user identification (UID) for matching a UID-Info file with said determined UID, wherein the UID-Info file comprises at least a communication destination address for the user; and

means for transmitting said P/S-Info to the communication destination address in the matching UID-Info file.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

a public switched telephone network (PSTN) comprising the OI-Id server, the UID-Info server, and the means for determining a UID;

wherein the means for transmitting the P/S-Info comprises the Internet.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the P/S-Info server is on the Internet and the P/S-Info request and response is transmitted over the Internet.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a cellular telephone comprising the PSA;

a short message service (SMS) system connected to a cellular telephone system and to the Internet, said cellular telephone being in a transmission area of said cellular telephone system, said SMS system for receiving the OI-Id, resolving a destination Internet Protocol (IP) address for a P/S-Info server which has the record containing the P/S-Info corresponding to the received OI-Id, resolving a destination IP address for the output device, and transmitting a request for P/S-Info containing the destination IP address of the output device over the Internet to the P/S-Info server; and

said P/S-Info server connected to the Internet for receiving said request for P/S-Info, for finding the record containing the P/S-Info, and for transmitting the P/S-Info to the output device.

26. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a Bluetooth chip comprising the OI-Id provider;

a mobile terminal comprising the PSA;

a mobile network for receiving the OI-Id from the mobile terminal and for transmitting the OI-Id to the ISS;

the ISS comprising;

at least one information database for storing P/S-Info;

an ISS server for finding P/S-Info in the at least one information database based on the received OI-Id from the mobile terminal;

a network connected to the ISS server for transmitting the P/S-Info;

at least one broadcasting provider connected to the network for transmitting the P/S-Info, said at least one broadcasting provider comprising at least one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system; and

said output device comprising one of a personal computer at a home of the user, a television set at the home of the user, a portable laptop computer equipped with communication means carried by the user, and a set of portable virtual reality goggles worn by the user;

wherein the ISS server stores information indexed to each user, said indexed information being used by the ISS in determining the communication method and which one of the at least one broadcasting provider and the network is to be used to transmit the P/S-Info to the output device.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the ISS further comprises:

a communication determination server for maintaining records concerning PSAs requesting P/S-Info and output devices corresponding to the requesting PSAs, and for broadcasting particular P/S-Info to output devices in a specific broadcasting area when a number of output devices in the specific broadcasting area corresponding to PSAs requesting particular P/S-Info exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein, in the location where an event associated with the OI is taking place, the associated event comprises one of a concert, a lecture, and a sports event.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA comprises one of a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, and a dedicated device.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA receives OI-Id by one of radio-frequency (RF) communication, infrared (IR) communication, sonic communication, label scanning and manual entry.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the OI-Id comprises a consumer item identification code.

33. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA receives OI-Id by short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

35. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA is a cellular telephone, further comprising:

a cellular telephone network for receiving the OI-Id transmitted by said cellular telephone and for transmitting the OI-Id to the ISS.

36. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA is a cellular telephone, said cellular telephone being registered to receive services of the consumer item information system by having appropriate information entered in a file of a subscriber database maintained by a cellular telephone system.

37. The system of claim 28, wherein the output device is one of a personal computer at a home of the user, a television set at the home of the user, a portable laptop computer equipped with communication means, and a set of portable virtual reality goggles.

38. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA transmits the OI-Id by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

42. The system of claim 28, wherein the PSA communicates with the ISS and the P/S-Info Server communicates with the I/O device using different communication networks.

43. The system of claim 28, wherein the P/S-Info Server and the I/O device maintain a communication link by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

46. The system of claim 43, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

47. The system of claim 43, wherein the one of the ISS and the P/S-Info Server determines which one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

48. The system of claim 28, wherein the OI-Key comprises a communication destination address for the P/S-Info server.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the communication destination address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

50. The system of claim 28, wherein the OI-Key comprises the OI-Id.

51. The system of claim 28, wherein the OI-Key is manually input to the I/O device by the user.

52. The system of claim 28, wherein the ISS comprises:

an OI-Key server having the record containing the OI-Key for receiving the OI-Id, for matching the record containing the OI-Key to the received OI-Id, and for transmitting the matched OI-Key to the PSA.

53. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

a cellular telephone network for transmitting the OI-Id to the ISS and transmitting the OI-Key to the PSA.

54. The system of claim 28, wherein the P/S-Info server is on the Internet, the OI-Key is transmitted to the P/S-Info server over the Internet, and the P/S-Info is transmitted to the I/O device over the Internet.

55. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

a cellular telephone comprising the PSA;

a short message service (SMS) system connected to a cellular telephone system and to the Internet, said cellular telephone being in a transmission area of said cellular telephone system, said SMS system for receiving the OI-Id, and for transmitting a request for an OI-Key corresponding to the received OI-Id; and

said OI-Key server having the record containing the OI-Key for receiving the request for the OI-Key, for matching the record containing the OI-Key to said received OI-Id, and for transmitting said OI-Key to the SMS system;

wherein the SMS system transmits the OI-Key to said cellular telephone.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein, in the location where an event associated with the OI is taking place, the associated event comprises one of a concert, a lecture, and a sports event.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of transmitting the OI-Id to said ISS comprises:

transmitting, by said PSA, a Short Message Service (SMS) message containing the OI-Id to a base station of a cellular telephone network;

receiving, by a Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of said cellular network, said SMS message containing the OI-Id; and

forwarding said processed message to the ISS.

59. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of matching by the ISS of the OI/Id with the record containing the P/S-Info concerning the OI comprises:

resolving a correct destination address for a P/S-Info server which has the record containing the P/S-Info;

transmitting a request for the P/S-Info to the P/S-Info Server; and

receiving the requested P/S-Info from the P/S-Info server.

60. The method of claim 56, wherein the PSA transmits the OI-Id by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

62. The method of claim 58, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

63. The method of claim 58, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

64. The method of claim 56, wherein the P/S-Info is transmitted by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

66. The method of claim 64, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

67. The method of claim 64, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

68. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

determining, by the ISS, which one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network is used to transmit the P/S-Info.

69. The method of claim 56, wherein the transmitting the OI-Id and the transmitting the P/S-Info are performed using different communication networks.

70. The method of claim 56, wherein the output device is one of a personal computer at a home of the user, a television set at the home of the user, a portable laptop computer equipped with communication means, and a set of portable virtual reality goggles.

71. The method of claim 56, further comprising the steps of:

attaching user information (UID-Info) to the OI-Id, said UID-Info comprising at least a communication destination address for the user;

wherein the communication destination address is used to address the P/S-Info to the output device in the transmitting P/S-Info step.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the step of attaching UID-Info is performed by one of the PSA and the ISS.

73. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of transmitting the P/S-Info in the matching record to an output device comprises:

determining a user identification (UID) of the user;

matching a user information (UID-Info) record in a UID-Info server with said determined UID, where said UID-Info record comprises at least a communication destination address for the output device; and

transmitting the P/S-Info to the communication destination address in the matching UID-Info record.

74. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

maintaining records at the ISS with information indexed to each user, said indexed information being used by the ISS in determining the communication method.

75. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

maintaining records concerning PSAs currently requesting P/S-Info and output devices corresponding to the requesting PSAs; and

broadcasting particular P/S-Info to output devices in a specific broadcasting area when a number of output devices in the specific broadcasting area corresponding to PSAs requesting particular P/S-Info exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

28. A system for providing information concerning a consumer item to a user comprising:

an object of interest (OI) identification information (OI-Id) provider, wherein the OI is a consumer item and OI-Id provider is in a specific location;

a portable shopping assistant (PSA) for receiving the OI-Id in the specific location, for transmitting the received OI-Id, and for receiving key information (OI-Key), the OI-Key comprising a means for accessing consumer item information (P/S-Info) concerning the OI;

an information server system (ISS) for receiving the OI-Id transmitted by the PSA, for matching the received OI-Id with a record containing an OI-Key corresponding to the received OI-Id, and for transmitting the OI-Key from the matching record to the PSA;

an input/output (I/O) device for receiving the OI-Key previously received by said PSA, for transmitting the received OI-Key to access consumer item information (P/S-Info) concerning the OI, and for accessing the P/S-Info; and

a P/S-Info server for receiving an OI-Key from said I/O device, for matching the received OI-Key with a record containing the P/S-Info, and for allowing said I/O device to access the P/S-Info;

wherein the specific location is one of a location where the OI is present, a location having material associated with the OI, and a location where an event associated with the OI is taking place.

56. A method for providing information concerning a consumer item to a user, comprising the steps of:

receiving, in a portable shopping assistant (PSA), an identifier (OI-Id) having identification information concerning an object of interest (OI), wherein the OI is a consumer item and said receiving occurs in a specific location;

transmitting the OI-Id by the PSA to an information server system (ISS);

matching by the ISS of the OI-Id with a record containing consumer item information (P/S-Info) concerning the OI;

determining which communication method to use to transmit the P/S-Info;

transmitting P/S-Info in the matching record to an output device, using the determined communication method, said output device being separate from the PSA; and

outputting of the P/S-Info by the output device to the user;

wherein the specific location is one of a location where the OI is present, a location having material associated with the OI, and a location where an event associated with the OI is taking place.

76. A method for providing information concerning a consumer item to a user, comprising:

receiving, in a portable shopping assistant (PSA), an identifier (OI-Id) having identification information concerning an object of interest (OI), wherein the OI is a consumer item and said receiving occurs in a specific location;

transmitting the OI-Id by the PSA to an information server system (ISS);

matching by the ISS of the OI-Id with a record containing key information (OI-Key), the OI-Key comprising a means for accessing consumer item information (P/S-Info) concerning the OI;

transmitting by the ISS to the PSA of the OI-Key of the matching record;

inputting the OI-Key from the PSA to an input/output (I/O) device;

transmitting by the I/O device of the OI-Key to a P/S-Info server having a record containing the P/S-Info concerning the OI;

matching at the P/S-Info server of the OI-Key with a record containing the P/S-Info; and

allowing the I/O device to access the P/S-Info in the matching record;

wherein the specific location is one of a location where the OI is present, a location having material associated with the OI, and a location where an event associated with the OI is taking place.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein, in the location where an event associated with the OI is taking place, the associated event comprises one of a concert, a lecture, and a sports event.

78. The method of claim 76, wherein the step of transmitting the OI-Id by the PSA to the ISS comprises:

transmitting by the PSA a Short Message Service (SMS) message containing the OI-Id to a base station of a cellular telephone network;

receiving and processing, by a Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of said cellular network, said SMS message containing the OI-Id; and

forwarding the processed message to the ISS.

79. The method of claim 76, wherein the PSA comprises a cellular telephone and the step of transmitting by the ISS to the PSA of the OI-Key comprises:

receiving, by a Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of a cellular telephone network, the OI-Key;

creating an SMS message containing the received OI-Key; and

transmitting the created SMS message containing the OI-Key from a base station of the cellular telephone network to the PSA.

80. The method of claim 76, wherein the step of inputting the OI-Key from the PSA to the I/O device comprises:

manually entering, by the user, the OI-Key.

81. The method of claim 76, wherein the step of inputting the OI-Key from the PSA to the I/O device comprises:

downloading the OI-Key from the PSA to the I/O device.

82. The method of claim 76, wherein the OI-Key comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the P/S-Info server and the step of electronically transmitting by the I/O device of the OI-Key to the P/S-Info server comprises:

transmitting an Internet Protocol (IP) message over the Internet to the IP address in the OI-Key.

83. The method of claim 82, wherein the OI-Key comprises a key code and the step of matching at the P/S-Info server of the OI-Key with the record containing the P/S-Info comprises:

starting a Transport Control Protocol (TCP) session between the I/O device and the P/S-Info server;

sending, in the TCP session, said key code in the OI-Key to the P/S-Info server; and

matching the key code with the record containing the P/S-Info.

84. The method of claim 76, wherein the output device is one of a personal computer at a home of the user, a television set at the home of the user, a portable laptop computer equipped with communication means, and a set of portable virtual reality goggles.

85. The method of claim 76, wherein the PSA transmits the OI-Id by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

87. The method of claim 85, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

88. The method of claim 85, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

89. The method of claim 76, wherein the PSA communicates with the ISS and the P/S-Info Server communicates with the I/O device using different communication networks.

90. The method of claim 76, wherein the P/S-Info Server and the I/O device maintain a communication link by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a broadcast network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein the broadcast network comprises one of a digital audio broadcast (DAB) system, a digital video broadcast (DVB) system, a satellite system, a microwave broadcast system, and a cable television system.

92. The method of claim 90, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

93. The method of claim 90, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

94. The method of claim 90, further comprising:

determining, by one of the ISS and the P/S-Info Server, which one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network is used to transmit the P/S-Info.

95. A portable shopping assistant for providing information concerning a consumer item to a user, comprising:

a receiver unit for receiving an identifier (OI-Id) having identification information concerning an object of interest (OI), the OI-Id being received in a specific location;

at least one memory unit for storing processor-readable code and for storing selectable output device information comprising communication destination addresses of each of a plurality of output devices;

a processor operatively coupled to said at least one memory, said processor configured to implement said processor-readable code, said processor-readable code configured to;

maintain the selectable output device information;

allow the user to select selectable output device information comprising a communication destination address of a user desired output device; and

attach the user-selected selectable user information to the received OI-Id; and

a communication unit for communicating with a network for transmitting the OI-Id with the attached user-selected output device information to an information server system (ISS) via the network;

wherein the ISS, after receiving the OI-Id transmitted by said portable shopping assistant via the network, matches the received OI-Id with a record containing corresponding consumer item information (P/S-Info), determines a communication path to be used in transmitting the P/S-Info, and transmits the P/S-Info contained in the matching record to the user desired output device using the user-selected output device information attached to the OI-Id.

96. The portable shopping assistant of claim 95, wherein the portable shopping assistant is a cellular telephone, said cellular telephone being registered to receive services of the consumer item information system by having appropriate information entered in a file of a subscriber database maintained by a cellular telephone system.

97. The portable shopping assistant of claim 96, wherein the portable shopping assistant transmits the OI-Id by one of the Internet, a wired telephone network, a short-range, low power radio-frequency (RF) technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a cellular telephone network.

98. The portable shopping assistant of claim 97, wherein the short-range, low power RF technology comprises one of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.16 technology, and HiperLAN technology.

99. The portable shopping assistant of claim 97, wherein the cellular telephone network comprises a third generation cellular telephone network.

100. The portable shopping assistant of claim 95, wherein the ISS server stores information indexed to each user, said indexed information being used by the ISS in determining the communication method.

101. The portable shopping assistant of claim 95, wherein the ISS maintains records concerning portable shopping assistants requesting P/S-Info and output devices corresponding to the requesting portable shopping assistants, and broadcasts particular P/S-Info to output devices in a specific broadcasting area when a number of output devices in the specific broadcasting area corresponding to portable shopping assistants requesting particular P/S-Info exceeds a predetermined threshold values.