Method and systems for checking that purchasable items are compatible with user equipment

1. A method for providing purchase opportunities for purchasable items related to a media program, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a user equipment;

determining, using a processor, a category of the user equipment;

identifying a purchasable item wherein the identifying is based at least in part on the category of user equipment and wherein the purchasable item is related to a media program; and

communicating a purchase opportunity for the identified purchasable item to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment determines whether the purchasable item is supported by the user equipment, and wherein the user equipment discards the purchase opportunity if the purchasable item is determined to be not supported by the user equipment, and does not discard the purchase opportunity if the purchasable item is determined to be supported by the user equipment.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the purchasable item includes at least one of: application-specific merchandise, electronic merchandise, and physical merchandise.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the purchasable item includes electronic merchandise and the electronic merchandise includes at least one of: a ring tone, a wallpaper, a screen saver, a user interface skin, a video program, a video game, and a soundtrack.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user equipment identifier associated with the request, wherein the category of user equipment is determined based on the user equipment identifier.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the category of user equipment is mobile user equipment.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the mobile user equipment supports a telephone application, and wherein the purchase opportunity includes an opportunity to purchase a ring tone for the telephone application, wherein the ring tone is related to the media program.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to the request, communicating the media program together with the purchase opportunity to the user equipment.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying a purchasable item comprises:

providing categories of user equipment, wherein each of the categories of user equipment is associated with a purchasable item related to the media program; and

accessing a purchase opportunity for the purchasable item associated with the category of user equipment for the user equipment which issued the request.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the categories of user equipment is based on applications that are supported by the user equipment in that category.

10. A system for providing a purchase opportunity for a purchasable item related to a media program to different categories of user equipment, the system comprising:

a communication circuit configured to:

receive a request from a user equipment, and

communicate a media program and a purchase opportunity for a purchasable item related to the media program to the user equipment; and

a processor circuit that executes machine instructions to:

determine a category of user equipment for the user equipment,

identify a purchasable item, wherein the identifying is based at least in part on the category of user equipment and wherein the purchasable item is related to the media program, and

provide a purchase opportunity for the identified purchasable item to the communication circuit for transmission to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is configured to determine whether the purchasable item is supported by the user equipment, and wherein the user equipment is configured to discard the purchase opportunity if the purchasable item is determined to be not supported by the user equipment, and is configured to not discard the purchase opportunity if the purchasable item is determined to be supported by the user equipment.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the purchase opportunities include information for application-specific merchandise related to the media program.

12. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

a storage containing categories of user equipment and purchase opportunities for purchasable items, wherein the purchasable items are associated with the categories of user equipment.

13. A system for presenting purchase opportunities for purchasable items through an interactive program guide, the system comprising:

a storage containing a plurality of purchase opportunities for purchasable items, wherein the purchasable items are related to a television program and wherein the purchasable items are associated with categories of user equipment;

a communication circuit configured to communicate purchase opportunities;

a processor that executes machine instructions to identify purchasable items based on their applicability to one category from the categories of user equipment; and

an interactive program guide that provides an indication to a user equipment that purchase opportunities for the identified purchasable items related to the television program are available, wherein the user equipment is configured to determine whether the identified purchasable items are supported by the user equipment, and wherein the user equipment is configured to discard the indication if the purchasable items are determined to be not supported by the user equipment, and is configured to not discard the purchase opportunity if the purchasable item is determined to be supported by the user equipment.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the interactive program guide is located on user equipment.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the interactive program guide is a networked interactive program guide.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the networked interactive program guide is configured to:

receive the one category of user equipment from a first user equipment in communication with the networked interactive program guide; and

provide the purchase opportunities for the identified purchasable items to a second user equipment in communication with the networked interactive program guide, wherein the second user equipment is associated with the one category of user equipment.

17. A method for presenting purchase opportunities for a plurality of purchasable items through an interactive program guide, the method comprising:

accessing a plurality of purchase opportunities for the plurality of purchasable items, wherein the plurality of purchasable items are related to a television program and wherein the plurality of purchasable items are associated with categories of user equipment;

identifying, using a processor, purchasable items from the plurality of purchasable items based on their applicability to one category from the categories of user equipment; and

providing, to a user equipment, an indication that purchase opportunities for the identified purchasable items related to the television program are available through an interactive program guide, wherein the user equipment determines whether the identified purchasable items are supported by the user equipment, and wherein the user equipment discards the indication if the purchasable items are determined to be not supported by the user equipment, and does not discard the purchase opportunity if the purchasable item is determined to be supported by the user equipment.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the interactive program guide is located on user equipment.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the interactive program guide is a networked interactive program guide.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

providing, from a first user equipment to the networked interactive program guide, the one category of user equipment from the categories of user equipment; and

communicating, to a second user equipment in communication with the networked interactive program guide, the purchase opportunities for the identified purchasable items associated with the one category of user equipment.