Method and apparatus for making recommendations

A method of recommending goods or services to a user, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) determining the types of goods or services to be recommended;
• b) determining a time limit within which to retrieve information on which to base a recommendation;
• c) determining one or more sources from which to retrieve the information, given the determined types of goods or services and the time limit;
• d) accessing the determined sources and retrieving the information within the time limit;
• e) determining a recommendation to make based on the retrieved information;
• f) informing a user of the recommendation;
• g) offering the user the opportunity of obtaining an improved recommendation;
• and
• h) if the user requests an improved recommendation, altering the time limit, and repeating steps c) to f) to make an improved recommendation.

A method of recommending goods or services to a user, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) determining by means of a mobile computing device the types of goods or services to be recommended;
• b) determining by means of the mobile computing device a time limit within which to retrieve information on which to base a recommendation;
• c) determining by means of the mobile computing device one or more sources from which to retrieve the information, given the determined types of goods or services and the time limit;
• d) accessing the determined sources and retrieving to the mobile computing device the information within the time limit;
• e) determining by means of the mobile computing device a recommendation to make based on the retrieved information;
• f) determining by means of the mobile computing device a confidence measure (CP) and an information used measure (IP) associated with the determined recommendation;
• g) informing a user by means of the mobile computing device of the recommendation, the CP, and the IP;
• h) offering the user by means of the mobile computing device the opportunity of obtaining an improved recommendation;
• and
• i) if the user requests an improved recommendation, transferring details of the determined information to a fixed computing device, altering the time limit, and repeating steps c) to g) using the fixed computing device instead of the mobile computing device to make an improved recommendation.

A system for recommending goods or services to a user, the system comprising:

• at least one mobile computing device;
• at least one fixed computing device;
• each device comprising (i) a user interface including means for data input and means for data output, (ii) computer processing means for processing data to determine recommended goods or services, a confidence measure, and an information used measure, (iii) computer memory means for storing input, output, and working data, and (iv) communications means for transmitting and receiving data to and from remote locations, including the other of the fixed or mobile computing device and databases;
• and
• at least one database means for storing information regarding users, goods, and/or services and for providing data to the mobile and fixed computing devices.

A method of operating a system for recommending goods or services to a user, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing one or more databases containing information regarding users, goods, and/or services;
• allowing users to access the databases by means of mobile computing devices, and/or fixed computing devices, to determine goods or services to recommend;
• and
• charging the users for access to the databases.