User notification for digital content access systems per mutable or fixed selection criteria

1 . A method for notifying a user of an electronic device of changes to characteristics of one or more items of interest, the method comprising:

recording, by the electronic device in an electronic device memory,

(i) a specification of the one or more items of interest and the characteristics thereof, and

(ii) a specification of criteria for notification of changes to the characteristics of the one or more items of interest, the criteria including at least one of (a) availability of any of the one or more items of interest from any provider, (b) availability of any of the one or more items of interest from a particular provider, (c) a drop in price of any of the one or more items of interest, (d) availability of any of the one or more items of interest for rent rather than or in addition to for purchase, or vice versa, (e) availability of any of the one or more items of interest at a particular resolution, or (f) some other criterion as specified by the user, satisfied by any of the one or more items of interest;

querying, by a server on a periodic basis, a plurality of data sources from which information related to the characteristics of the one or more items of interest is obtainable;

receiving, by the server in response to said querying, the information from the plurality of data sources;

storing, by the server, said information in a server memory;

sending, by the electronic device, a query to the server that includes or identifies the one or more items of interest;

retrieving, by the server, corresponding information from the server memory that is responsive to the query received from the electronic device;

transmitting, by the server, said corresponding information received from the plurality of data sources to the electronic device;

comparing, by the electronic device, said corresponding information with (i) the recorded specification of the one or more items of interest and the characteristics thereof and (ii) the recorded specification of the criteria for notification of changes to the characteristics of the one or more items of interest;

determining, by the electronic device in response to said comparing, that

(i) a given item of interest has an updated characteristic, and

(ii) at least one of the criteria is satisfied; and

in response to said determining,

replacing, by the electronic device in the electronic device memory, a characteristic of the given item of interest with the updated characteristic of the given item of interest; and

notifying, by the electronic device, the user of the updated characteristic of the given item of interest, such that the user is notified asynchronously of the updated characteristic of the given item of interest without the need to perform a search.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the criteria comprises availability of the one or more items of interest at either lower price or different offering terms.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said notifying comprises causing display of a visual notification on the electronic device.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the visual notification is in the form of an SMS message, an email message, or a social media message.

5 . A method performed by a computer program executing on an electronic device associated with a user, the method comprising:

receiving input that is representative of a selection of a digital content item;

recording, in a memory of the electronic device,

(i) an identifier of the digital content item,

(ii) a characteristic of the digital content item, and

(iii) a criterion for notifying the user of changes to the characteristic, the criterion being representative of (a) availability of the digital content item from any of multiple services, (b) availability of the digital content item from a particular one of the multiple services, (c) a drop in price of the digital content item, (d) availability of the digital content item for rent rather than, or in addition to, for purchase, or vice versa, (e) availability of the digital content item at a particular resolution, or (f) some other criterion that is specified by the user and that is satisfied by the digital content item;

querying a server for information related to the characteristic of the digital content item,

wherein the information available at the server is updated through periodic querying of a plurality of sources for information related to characteristics of different digital content items, including the digital content item;

determining that the digital content item has an updated characteristic based on an analysis of the information; and

in response to said determining,

replacing, in the memory of the electronic device, the characteristic of the digital content item with the updated characteristic of the digital content item;

confirming that the criterion is satisfied; and

generating a notification regarding a change of the characteristic to the updated characteristic, such that the user is notified asynchronously of the change of the characteristic to the updated characteristic without the need to perform a search.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the identifier is a name of the digital content item.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

recording, in the memory of the electronic device, an identifier of an affinity group of which the user is a member.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving second input that is indicative of a request to find mutually acceptable content for the affinity group;

transmitting the request to a destination external to the electronic device, so as to prompt determination of the mutually acceptable content as a mutual intersection of respective digital content items of interest of members of the affinity group; and

receiving third input that is indicative of an indication of the mutually acceptable content.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the affinity group is automatically discovered through analysis of the digital content item, the characteristic of the digital content item, or a combination thereof.

10 . The method of claim 7 ,

wherein the digital content item is one of multiple digital content items with which the user has indicated an interest,

wherein the affinity group includes the user and only one other individual, and

wherein the other individual is determined to have a highest degree of overlap among multiple individuals with respect to interest in the multiple digital content items.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein members of the affinity group are limited to a specific personal characteristic of the user or a specific geographic radius of the user.

12 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

causing, in response to said recording, at least one other member of the affinity group to be notified.

13 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

discovering that the user has indicated an interest in two-party affinity groups but not affinity groups having more than two members; and

identifying an appropriate other member for the affinity group based on an analysis of the digital content item.

14 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

discovering that the user has indicated an interest in affinity groups having more than three members; and

identifying appropriate other members for the affinity group based on an analysis of the digital content item.

15 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

recording, in the memory of the electronic device, the multiple services from which the digital content item is available.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein said querying is performed for each of the multiple services, such that the computer program is able to monitor changes in the characteristic across the multiple services.

17 . A method performed by an electronic device that is associated with a user, the method comprising:

recording, in a memory of the electronic device,

(i) a specification of an interest list item, specified by the user, and accompanying metadata that specifies a characteristic of the interest list item, and

(ii) a specification of a criterion, specified by the user, for notification of a change of the characteristic of the interest list item;

querying a source for information related to the characteristic of the interest list item,

wherein the information available at the source is updated through periodic querying of a plurality of sources for information related to characteristics of different items, including the interest list item;

receiving, in response to said querying, updated metadata that specifies an updated characteristic of the interest list item;

comparing the updated metadata with (i) the recorded specification of the interest list item and the metadata and (ii) the recorded specification of the criterion;

determining that the criterion is satisfied by the updated metadata; and

in response to said determining,

notifying the user of the change of the characteristic to the updated characteristic, such that the user is notified asynchronously without the need to perform a search; and

replacing, in the memory of the electronic device, the characteristic of the interest list item with the updated characteristic of the interest list item.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the criterion is availability of the interest list item at a lower price or availability of the interest list item with different offering terms.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said notifying includes causing digital presentation of a visual notification that explains the change of the characteristic to the updated characteristic.