Methods and systems for notifying clients concerning electronic presentations

Abstract

Systems for enabling users to register for notifications pertaining to electronic presentations of interest are described. In one embodiment, a notification system is configured to receive source information from at least one source of an electronic presentation. The source information describes one or more aspects of the electronic presentation as it is being or is about to be broadcast by the source. The system evaluates the source information against user information that gives an indication of electronic presentations that might be of particular interest to a particular user. The system generates a notification to one or more users if, as a result of an evaluation of the source information against the user information, it appears that the one or more users would be interested in an electronic presentation.

1 . A notification system for notifying a plurality of users regarding an electronic presentation, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving source information from at least one source of an electronic presentation, the source information describing one or more aspects of the electronic presentation as it is being or is about to be broadcast by the source;    means for evaluating the source information against user information that gives an indication of electronic presentations that might be of particular interest to a particular user; and    means for generating a notification to one or more users if, as a result of an evaluation of the source information against the user information, it appears that the one or more users would be interested in an electronic presentation.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said means for receiving the source information comprises means for receiving source information from a plurality of sources during their respective broadcasts of their electronic presentations.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said means for receiving the source information comprises means for receiving source information that pertains to one or more events that occur within a particular electronic presentation for the one source.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said means for receiving the source information comprises means for receiving source information from a plurality of sources during their respective broadcasts of their electronic presentations, said source information pertaining to one or more events that occur within a particular respective electronic presentation for at least some of the sources.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user information includes topical information for at least one of the users regarding one or more topics of interest to the one user.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user information includes one or more key words.  
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising means for recording one or more electronic presentations for one or more of the users, in the event that a user is unable to view a particular electronic presentation.  
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising means for acquiring user information by monitoring user viewing habits.  
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the electronic presentations comprises a multimedia presentation.  
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the electronic presentations comprises an audio/video streaming media presentation.  
   
   
       11 . One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       12 . A server having programmed instructions which, when executed by the server, implement the system of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       13 . A notification system for notifying a user regarding one or more electronic presentations, comprising: 
 means for receiving user information from one or more users, the user information giving an indication of electronic presentations that might be of particular interest to a user;    means for monitoring source information from one or more sources of electronic presentations, the source information describing one or more aspects of a source's electronic presentation, at least some of said monitoring taking place during broadcast of an electronic presentation for the source; and    means for generating a notification to one or more users that contains an indication that a particular electronic presentation that is being broadcast might contain information of interest to the user.    
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein said means for receiving the user information comprises means for receiving user information that pertains to one or more events that can occur within a particular electronic presentation by one or more of the sources.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 13  further comprising means for receiving source information from one or more different sources, the source information pertaining to electronic presentations associated with each of the sources.  
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said means for receiving the source information comprises means for receiving updated information during a broadcast of an electronic presentation by at least one of the sources.  
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said means for receiving the source information comprises means for receiving updated information during a broadcast of an electronic presentation by all of the sources.  
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said means for receiving the source information comprises means for receiving information that relates to one or more events that can occur within a particular electronic presentation for one or more of the sources.  
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising, for at least one of the sources, means for manually generating the source information during broadcast of a particular electronic presentation.  
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising, for at least one of the sources, means for generating the source information during broadcast of a particular electronic presentation.