Computerized information and display apparatus and methods

A method of enabling a user to locate an entity, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a computerized information apparatus, a plurality of data from a server, the plurality of data relating at least to a plurality of entities and received via at least a network interface of the computerized information apparatus;
• storing the plurality of data on a storage device of the computerized information apparatus;
• receiving a user's speech input via a microphone of the computerized apparatus, the user's speech input comprising at least part of a name of the entity;
• digitizing the speech input;
• utilizing at least one speech recognition algorithm to evaluate the digitized speech input so as to at least identify the at least part of the name therein;
• using the identified at least part of the name to identify at least one matching entity, the identification of the at least one matching entity comprising accessing at least a portion of the received and stored plurality of data;
• and
• displaying a visual representation of a location associated with the at least one matching entity on a display device of the computerized apparatus, the visual representation also including a visual representation of at least a portion of immediate surroundings of the location.

A computerized apparatus configured to enable a user to locate an entity, the apparatus comprising:

• a wireless network interface;
• a display device;
• a microphone;
• speech digitization apparatus in signal communication with the microphone;
• processor apparatus in data communication with at least the wireless network interface;
• a data storage device in data communication with the processor apparatus;
• power supply apparatus;
• and
• computerized logic in data communication with the processor apparatus, the computerized logic configured to:
• receive data from a remote server via at least the wireless network interface, the received data comprising data relating to a plurality of entities;
• store the received data on the storage device of the computerized apparatus;
• receive a user's speech input via the microphone;
• digitize the received speech input using at least the speech digitization apparatus;
• utilize at least one speech recognition algorithm to evaluate the digitized speech input so as to identify at least one word therein;
• use the identified at least one word to identify at least one matching entity, the identification of the at least one matching entity comprising access of at least a portion of the received stored data;
• and
• display a visual representation of a location associated with the at least one matching entity, including at least some surroundings thereof, on the display device.

A computerized apparatus configured to enable a user to locate an entity, the apparatus comprising:

• a wireless interface;
• a display device;
• a microphone;
• speech digitization apparatus in signal communication with the microphone;
• processor apparatus in data communication with the speech digitization apparatus and the wireless interface;
• a data storage device in data communication with the processor apparatus;
• and
• at least one computer program, the at least one computer program configured to, when executed:
• download data from a server to the computerized apparatus, the data relating to and limited to a particular geographic area only, the particular geographic area including the user's current location;
• store the data on the storage device of the computerized apparatus;
• receive a user's speech input via the microphone;
• digitize the speech input using at least the speech digitization apparatus;
• cause utilization of at least one speech recognition apparatus in data communication with the speech digitation apparatus to evaluate the digitized speech input so as to identify at least one word therein;
• use the identified at least one word to identify a plurality of matching entities, the identification of the plurality of matching entities comprising access of at least a portion of the downloaded and stored data;
• advise the user of the plurality of matching entities;
• thereafter,
• receive an input from the user, the input causing or enabling identification of one of the plurality of entities as the entity which the user desires to locate;
• and
• display a graphical representation of a location associated with the one entity, including surroundings thereof, on the display device.

A method of enabling a user to locate an entity utilizing a computerized apparatus, the method comprising:

• receiving data relating to a given geographic area from a server in data communication with a network, the computerized apparatus also being in data communication with the network;
• storing the received data locally on the computerized apparatus;
• subsequently retrieving at least a portion of the stored received data;
• and
• without further access to the server, utilizing the retrieved data to cause display on the display device of a visual representation of a location associated with a business entity to which the user wishes to navigate, the visual representation comprising a visual representation of the location and at least the immediate surroundings thereof.