System and method for locating and notifying a user of a person, place or ...

1. A method of notifying a user using a device about people, places and things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a user preference profile, wherein the user preference profile is created by the user;

storing the user preference profile;

creating a profile of at least one of the people, places and things;

storing the at least one of the people, places and things profile;

determining the location of the user;

comparing the user preference profile and the at least one of the people, places and things profile to determine if the at least one of the people, places and things has attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein the step of comparing the user preference profile with the at least one of the people, places and things profile comprises the step of determining whether the at least one of the people, places and things is within a distance that is specified by the user in the user preference profile; and

notifying the user of all of the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user's explicit preferences and are within the desired proximity to the user's location.

2. The method of claim 1, which further comprises the step of providing additional information, if requested by the user, about the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user preference profile.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the additional information comprises driving instructions to the at least one of the people, places and things.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the device is a wireless device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the device is a PDA.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the device is a cellular telephone.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile of the at least one of the people, places and things includes keywords.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of inputting the user preferences comprises selecting the preferences from a series of hierarchical menus.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the people, places and things comprise real estate.

10. The method of claim 1, which further comprises the step of updating, if necessary, the user preference profile.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the location of the user comprises the step of using pre-loaded mapping software.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the location of the user comprises using a GPS location-based system.

13. The method of claim 1, which further comprises the step of providing means for the user to communicate with the at least one of the people, places and things.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the device is a stand-alone device.

15. A method of notifying a user using a stand-alone device about people, places and things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to the user's location, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a user preference profile, wherein the user preference profile is created by the user;

storing the user preference profile;

creating a profile of at least one of the people, places and things;

storing the at least one of the people, places and things profile;

determining the location of the user;

comparing the user preference profile and the at least one of the people, places and things profile to determine if the at least one of the people, places and things has attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein the step of comparing the user preference profile with the at least one of the people, places and things profile comprises the step of determining whether the at least one of the people, places and things is within a distance that is specified by the user in the user preference profile;

notifying the user of the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user's explicit preferences and are within the desired proximity to the user's location; and

downloading the profiles of the at least one of the people, places and things.

16. A location-based and preference-based matching system for notifying a user about people, places and things having attributes that match preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the system comprising:

a device comprising output means:

input means for the user to input the user preferences;

means for determining the location of the user;

input means for creating a profile for the people, place and things;

storage means for storing the user preferences;

storage means for storing the profiles of the people, places and things;

means for comparing the user preferences and the attribute profiles of the people, places and things to determine whether there are any matches that are within the desired proximity to the location of the user; and

means for displaying information about all of the matches, if any, on the output means.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the device is a wireless device.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the wireless device is a PDA.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the device is a cellular phone.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the means to determine the location of the user comprises pre-loaded mapping software.

21. The system of claim 16 wherein the means to determine the location of the user comprises a GPS location-based system.

22. The system of claim 16 wherein the input means comprises a series of hierarchical menus.

23. The system of claim 16, which further comprises means to provide directions from the location of the user to the people, places and things that match the user preference profile.

24. The system of claim 16 wherein the device is an integrated vehicular device.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein the device is an integrated vehicular device.