Patent Publication Number: US-2019188984-A1

Title: Recovery system for lost items using electronic sensors

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/619,708, filed Jan. 19, 2018 entitled “Facilitate Recovery of Lost Items,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/631,456, filed Sep. 28, 2012, entitled “Lost Item Database to Facilitate Recovery of Lost Items”, which claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/224,247, filed Sep. 1, 2011, entitled “Maintaining and Using a Lost Item Database”, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/379,687, filed Sep. 2, 2010 entitled “System And Method For Inventory And Return Of Lost Items,” all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Everyone has forgotten a personal item at least once. Once lost, the items may or may not ever be returned to the rightful owner. For example, when on vacation, a user may forget an item(s) in a hotel room. In another example, a customer may forget an item in a rental car, sporting event, or any other establishment or event. The most common item left in hotel rooms is chargers, such as a cell phone charger. However, any other valuable items may also be lost or left behind such as clothing, cell phones, jewelry, and the like. Typically hotel personnel simply toss the lost charger in a lost-and-found box at the front desk, wait for a phone call from the customer, then rummage through the lost-and-found box to see if the description provided by the customer matches any charger they have in the lost-and-found box. 
     Hotel personnel then need to contact a shipping company, such as FedEx, UPS, or package the item and drop it off at a post office. The guest is typically charged for the return of their lost item, which is typically very expensive since the hotel does not have a favorable shipping rate. Since the process is laborious and costly, either the hotel simply does not make the effort to return the lost item to the customer and/or the customer decides to forgo the lost item to simply buy a new item at a lower cost. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the invention allow users to recover their lost items in a cost effective and efficient manner. Since many of the processes are automated and more cost effective, the cost of shipping is lower than the cost to replace the lost item. As such, a consumer (and establishment) may be more inclined to have their lost items returned rather than buying a new one. A founder device may receive a tracking alert signal from a lost item having a sensor device attached thereto. An establishment near to the location of the founder device may be determined and the founder may then quickly and efficiently return the lost item to the nearby establishment. A recovery server may determine whether the sensor device is registered in a database to quickly and efficiently locate the client or owner of the lost item. 
     If the owner is located, the owner may want to give the founder a reward for finding and returning the lost item. The shipping costs associated with returning the item to the client may be increased by the amount of the award. 
     Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate example systems for the return of lost items. 
         FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate is an example method for recovering lost items. 
         FIGS. 3A-3B  illustrates an example of a client-side method for recovering lost items. 
         FIGS. 4A-4C  illustrates another example of a method for recovering lost items. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an example screen shoot of a log-in screen. 
         FIGS. 6A-6B  illustrate example screen shots of a lost item report. 
         FIGS. 7A-7C  illustrate example screen shot for reports and services provided by recovery server. 
         FIGS. 8A-8B  illustrate example screen shots of a recovery notification. 
         FIGS. 9A-9C  illustrate example screen shots of responses to a selection of the recovery notification. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a same screen shot of a payment method. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a screen shot of an example alert notification. 
         FIGS. 12A and 12B  illustrate example shipping documents. 
         FIG. 13  illustrates an example detailed lost item report. 
         FIGS. 14A-14B  illustrate example screen shots of shipment notifications. 
         FIGS. 15A and 15B  illustrate example screen shots of a recovery item request. 
         FIG. 16  illustrates an example coupon provided by an establishment. 
         FIGS. 17A-17L  illustrate example screen shots to recover a lost item. 
         FIG. 18  illustrates a method of associating a sensor device with an item. 
         FIGS. 19A-19B  illustrate an example method for recovering lost items. 
         FIG. 20  illustrates another example of a method for recovering lost items. 
         FIG. 21  illustrates a block diagram of a computing device according to one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments are described herein in the context of a system and method for inventory, notification, and return of the lost items. The following detailed description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts. 
     In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps, and/or data structures may be implemented using various types of operating systems, computing platforms, computer programs, and/or general purpose machines. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature, such as hardwired devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or the like, may also be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive concepts disclosed herein. 
     Embodiments of the invention allow users to recover their lost items in a cost effective and efficient manner from an establishment. Since many of the processes are automated and more cost effective, the cost of shipping is lower than the cost to replace the lost item. As such, a consumer (and establishment) may be more inclined to have their lost items returned rather than buying a new one. The establishment may transmit a lost item report and a client may transmit a recovery item request to a recovery server. The lost item report and the recovery item request may be compared to determine whether there is a match. If there is a match, a shipper may be notified and shipping information may be transmitted to the establishment and the client to notify them that the lost item has been found and when it will be returned to the client. For example, a website may be used to report, query, and notify clients of the existence of a lost item. In another example, embodiments may evaluate and determine the disposition of the lost item and return the lost item to the client. In still another example, embodiments may query the lost item database for the current status of a lost or recovered item as well as access a complete chain of custody. 
     Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to  FIGS. 1-21 . However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention can extend beyond these limited embodiments. 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate example systems for the return of lost items. Referring to  FIG. 1A , in one embodiment, the system  100  can have a plurality of client computing devices  102   a,    102   n  (where n is an integer) configured to communicate with a recovery server  108  via network  112  to transmit a recovery item request with the hope of recovering their lost items. Client computing devices  102   a - n  and recovery server  108  may be connected to network  112  via any known wired or wireless manner. Client computing devices  102   a - n  may be any computing device such as a desktop computer, laptop, netbook, as well as any mobile computing device such as mobile (e.g., cellular) phones, media players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like. 
     The system  100  may have an establishment server  104  configured to communicate with the recovery server  108  via network  112  to transmit lost item reports and conduct any other transactions such as receive shipping documents, authentication of the customer, and the like. The establishment server  104  may be associated with any type of business such as a hotel, supermarket, airport, airline company, coffee shop, car rental company, school (e.g. primary school, university, college, and the like), cruise ship, movie theaters, parks and campgrounds, shopping centers, business centers, private residences, or any other location where a lost item may be found. Furthermore, the establishment server may also be an event, such as a football game, convention, seminar, and the like. 
     Recovery server  108  may have a lost item database  110  to store lost item reports  114 . In one embodiment, the lost item reports  114  may be transmitted from the establishment server  104  to the recovery server  108 . In another embodiment, the lost item reports  114  may be transmitted from the client device  102   a - n  to the recovery server  108 . The lost item report  114  may include lost item description such as the location of where the item was found, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information, current storage location of the lost item and other descriptive information. The location of where the item was found may include a business name, room number, seat number, and/or additional location data of where the item was located. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. 
     When a customer calls the establishment to report a lost item or if the customer themselves reports the lost item electronically, the lost item and the customer may be matched using any known match validation methods. For example, in one embodiment, the establishment server may create and transmit to the recovery server  108  a lost item request. In another example, the client  102   a - n  may self-report the lost item using a recovery item request. The recovery item request  116  may be stored in the lost item database  110 . The recovery item request  116  may include the same or similar categories as in the lost item reports  114 . For example, the recovery item request  116  may include recovery item descriptions such as the location of where the item was lost, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, additions, client contact information, and other descriptive information. The location of where the item was lost may include a business name, room number, seat number, and/or additional location data of where the item was lost. The recover item request may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. The example embodiments of the match validation method insure that the item is returned to the rightful owner. 
     The lost item description and the recovery item description may be sorted and stored in a table or in any other format in lost item database  110 . A data structure of the lost item description and the recovery item description may be compared to determine whether there is a match. Any known comparison method may be used to compare the lost item description and the recovery item description in the lost item database  110 . For example, if a first image is associated with the lost item report and a second image is associated with the recovery item report, the images may be scanned and compared. Based upon the match percentage resulting from the image scan, the lost item may be recovered. For example, if the match percentage is greater than 75%, then there is a high probability that the lost item may be located. 
     In one embodiment, a timestamp may be provided for each item in the database so that after a predetermined amount of time (e.g. 30 days, 3 months, 6 months), older lost item reports  114  and recovery item requests  116  may be removed and deleted. 
     In other embodiments, the lost item and the customer may be matched by using a filter (as illustrated in  FIG. 7C ), keyword search, and other match methods. Once there is a match, the lost item may then be referred to as a recovered item. In another embodiment, allowing the client and/or establishment to upload an image of the lost item may enhance the identification of the lost item. The image of the lost item may be associated with a lost item report and/or a recovery item request, such as with a pointer or any other association methods. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1A , lost item database  110  may have a coupon manager  120 . The coupon manager may be configured to generate and transmit a customized coupon to the establishment server  104  and/or client device  102   a - n.  The coupon may be customized to the establishment such as including the establishment logo, tag lines, colors, and any other indicia necessary or desired by the establishment to customize the coupon. The coupon may be provided to customer or client  102   a - n  to provide a discount on the return of their lost times, such as a discount on shipping costs, hotel stays, buffet, show tickets, and the like. The coupon may be provided to the client at different times. In one example, the coupon may be transmitted to the client device  102   a - n  concurrently with, before, or after a recovery notification is transmitted to client device  102   a - n.  In another example, a physical coupon may be provided to the customer upon check-in at the establishment or event. The physical coupon may have a coupon code that the customer may enter to obtain the discount. In still another example, the coupon may be provided to the client device  102   a - n  after logging into a website. In yet another example, the coupon may be included in the return shipment of the recovered item. 
     In one embodiment, recovery server  108  may transmit a recovery notification to client  102   a - n  to inform client  102   a - n  that their lost item has or had not been found. In one embodiment, the notification may include a customized and/or personalized message to the client  102   a - n.  For example, the notification may include a customized pre-formatted response that is transmitted to the client. In another example, the message may be a text, audio, attachment or any other type of notification message. In still another embodiment, after a pre-determined period of time (e.g. 30 days, 2 months, 3 months, and the like) the customized and/or personalized message may be a notification to the client  102   a - n  that the item was not recovered. 
     The recovery server  108  may monitor the recovery notification (or any other transmission to the client  102   a - n ) to determine whether and when the client or customer  102   a - n  viewed the recovery notification. When the client  102   a - n  has viewed the recovery notification, the status indicator (as discussed with reference to  FIG. 7C ) may automatically be updated to reflect that the customer was contacted. Additionally, the recovery server  108  may notify the establishment sever  104  that the client  102   a - n  was notified. 
     If the lost item was recovered, the recovery notification may include an option to have the lost item shipped to back to client  102   a - n,  held at the establishment for pick-up by client  102   a - n,  or a rejection to not have the lost item shipped back to client  102   a - n.  If client  102   a - n  selected to have the recovered item held at the establishment for pick-up by client  102   a - n,  recovery server  108  may transmit a hold request to establishment sever  104 . If client  102   a - n  selected to not have the recovered item returned, recovery server  108  may transmit a rejection notification to establishment sever  104 . 
     If client  102   a - n  selected to have the recovered item shipped back to them, in one embodiment, recovery server  108  may transmit shipping and payment options to client  102   a - n.  The customer or client  102   a - n  may then select the preferred shipping method (as further discussed below) and provide payment information to pay for shipping costs. The shipping method may also include different shipping options such as the purchase of insurance, delivery confirmation, expedited delivery, and the like. In one example, the client  102   a - n  may pay for the shipping costs using a credit card. In another example, the client  102   a - n  may have a promotional code provided by establishment or another third party to use to pay for or discount the shipping costs. 
     Recovery server  108  may have a payment manager  124  configured to conduct financial transactions such as obtain customer financial information, verify credit card payments, and the like. In on embodiment, payment manager  124  may be configured to communicate with third party payment server  126  to conduct the financial transactions. In another embodiment, payment manager  124  may perform the financial transactions without the use of a third-party payment server. Upon payment of the shipping costs, recovery server  108  may transmit the shipping selection and payment notification to establishment server  104 . 
     Although illustrated with the use of payment manager  124  and third party payment server  126 , this is not intended to be limiting as payment for the shipping costs may be conducted by other methods. For example, establishment  104  may contact client  102   a - n  directly to have the costs charged to a credit card on file at the establishment  104 . In another example, establishment  104  may obtain payment information directly from client  102   a - n.  In yet another example, establishment  104  may have an open billing account to charge the shipping costs to. 
     Recovery server  108  may also have a shipment manager  122  configured to communicate with shipping server  106  via network  112 . Shipping server  106  may be any company that performs shipping services such as UPS™, United States Postal Service, DHL™, FedEx™, common carrier, local delivery service, or any other company that provides similar services. If a lost item is matched with its customer, shipment manager  122  may be configured to transmit a shipping request to shipping server  106  via network  112 . The shipping request may include a request for shipping documents and/or information such as a tracking number, cost and/or bill, receipt, and any other shipping information and/or documents. Shipping server  106  may transmit the requested shipping documents to shipping manager  122  via network  112 . Once shipping manager  122  receives the shipping documents, the shipping documents may be transmitted to establishment server  104 . The shipping documents may be transmitted by any known means, for example via electronic mail, text, and the like. In another example, establishment can log into a website associated with the recovery server and access the shipping documents and/or information from the website. 
     Establishment server  104  may then be able to print shipping labels (i.e. plain paper or label stock), assign a tracking number, print a receipt for billing purposes, and conduct any other requirements to efficiently ship the recovered item to the customer or client  102   a - n.  Establishment sever  104  may then notify shipping server  106  that the package or shipment needs to be picked up at the establishment  104  by any known methods such as electronic mail, text message, use of the shipment company&#39;s web page, telephone call, or any other notification methods. In one embodiment, the printing of the shipping documents may automatically notify the shipping server that a package is ready for pickup at establishment. 
     Once the recovered item is shipped, establishment server  104  may transmit a shipped notification directly to client  102   a - n  and/or recovery server  108  to inform client  102   a - n  that the recovered item has been shipped. The shipped notification may also allow the client  102   a - n  to track the shipment at shipping server&#39;s  106  website. 
       FIG. 1B  illustrates another embodiment of an example system for the return of lost items. The example system  130  can have a plurality of client computing devices  102   a - n  configured to communicate with a sensor server  132 . Client computing devices  102   a - n,  may each be associated with an owner or client. Each client may have at least one item  134  having a sensor device  138  attached thereto. The at least one item  134  may be any item such as a mobile phone, keys, backpack, toy, or any other items the client would like to track or locate if stolen, misplaced, or lost. Sensor device  138  may be any known device configured to track and locate an item it is attached to, such as the at least one item  134 . An example of a sensor device may be Trakdot™ by GlobaTrac, LLC, Tile™ Mate by Tile, or TrackR™ by TrackR, Inc. Sensor device  136  may use any known tracking method to determine the location of an item such as Bluetooth technology, global positioning systems, radio frequencies, short range WiFi, and the like. 
     Client computing devices  102   a,    102   n  may register sensor device  138  with sensor server  132  via network  112 . Client may transmit client information and/or sensor information to sensor server  132  to be stored in client database  134 . Client information may include any identifying information or data to identify the client such as client name, address, contact information (e.g. phone number, email address, and any other contact information), and the like. Client information may also include item information such as the item name, description of the item, picture of the item, and any other item information desired to identify the item  134  the sensor device  138  is attached to. Sensor information may include any sensor identifying information such as serial number, identification number, purchase date, barcode, and any other information desired by sensor server  132 . Client information and sensor information may, in one embodiment, be transmitted to recovery server  108 . In another embodiment, recovery server  108  may be configured to communicate with client database  134  to obtain the client information and sensor information. 
     If the item  134  is lost, sensor device  138 , in one embodiment, may transmit a tracking alert to be received by at least one founder device  136   a - n.  The tracking alert may notify a person that an item having a sensor device attached thereto is located proximate to or nearby the at least one founder device  136   a - n.  The at least one founder device  136   a - n,  in one embodiment, may be configured to receive the tracking alert transmission. For example, the at least one founder device  136   a - n  may have an application configured to receive the tracking alert. When the tracking alert is received by the at least one founder device  136   a - n,  the location of the at least one founder device  136   a - n  may be determined by any known method such as Bluetooth technology, global positioning systems, radio frequencies, WiFi, satellites, and the like. The location of the at least one founder device  136   a - n  may then be transmitted to recovery server  108 . When the location of the at least one founder device  136   a - n  is determined, at least one establishment server  104   a - n  located near the location of the at least one founder device  136   a - n  may be determined. The at least one establishment server  104   a - n  may be transmitted to the at least one founder device  136   a - n.  In one embodiment, a list of establishment servers  104   a - n  may be transmitted to the at least one founder device  136   a - n.    
     Establishment server  104   a - n  may be any establishment or location where lost items, having the sensor device attached thereto, may be returned. In one embodiment, the location may be an establishment such as an airport, store, post office, or any other type of establishment. In another embodiment, the location may be a container, kiosk, mailbox, or any other object located within an establishment. The founder may deliver or drop the lost item to an employee of the establishment or into the container, kiosk, mailbox, or object. 
     The founder associated with the at least one founder device  136   a - n  may select at least one of the establishment servers  116   a - n  from the list of establishment servers. The selection may be transmitted to the recovery server  108 . A return alert may then be transmitted from the recovery server  108  to the selected partner location  116   a - n.  Return alert may inform the selected partner location  116   a - n  that a lost item  134  was found and that the founder associated with the at least one founder device  136   a - n  will be dropping off the lost item  134 . 
     When the lost item  134  is delivered at the selected establishment server  104   a - n  location, recovery server  108  may match the sensor identifying information from the sensor device  138  attached to the item  134  to the sensor information stored in the client database  134 . When a match is found, a recovery notification may be transmitted to the client device  102   a - n  associated with the sensor information. The recovery notification may notify the client that the lost item was found and is being stored at the establishment server  116   a - n  location. 
     In another embodiment, founder information may be associated with the client information. Founder information may be any identifying information to identify the founder such as the founder&#39;s name, address, and contact information. The founder information may be received by establishment server  104   a - n  and transmitted to recovery server  108  to be stored in client database  134 . The information may be stored to allow the client to give the founder a reward, if desired. 
     The recovery notification may contain information such as the address of the establishment server  104   a - n,  a picture of the lost item, and any other desired information. In one embodiment, the recovery notification may include a selectable reward option indicator. If the client would like to give the founder a reward for finding the lost item  134 , the client may select the reward option indicator. In another embodiment, the client may select or indicate an amount of the reward. For example, if the client would like to give the founder $10.00 for finding the lost item, the client may type $10.00 and select the reward option indicator. In another example, various amounts may be listed having a selectable indicator. For example, the client may select a $10.00 indicator and/or the reward option indicator. 
     Although illustrated with the use of a monetary reward, this is not intended to be limiting as any type of non-monetary reward may be provided. For example, the reward may be goods or services, such as a gift card, certificate for one hour massage, movie tickets, food or non-food products, and the like. Once the client is contacted via the recovery notification, the return system to return the lost item to the client is then substantially similar to the example system described above in  FIG. 1A . 
       FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate is an example method for recovering lost items. Referring to  FIG. 2A , the method  300  may start with the recovery of a lost item at an establishment at  302 . A lost item report, including lost item description, may be received at a recovery server at  304 . Lost item description may include lost item description such as the location of where the item was found, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information, current storage location of the lost item, and other descriptive information. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. 
     If a recovery item request, including recovery item description, is received at  306 , the lost item description and recovery item description are compared at  308 . The recovery item description may include description such as the location of where the item was lost, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information, and other descriptive information. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. The recovery item request may be completed and transmitted via the establishment server (e.g. establishment server  104  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) or completed and transmitted via the recovery server (e.g. recovery server  108  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). 
     If no recovery item request is received at  306 , the system will continue to wait for the recovery item request. If there is a match between the lost item description and recovery item description at  310 , a shipping request may be transmitted to shipper at  312 . The lost item and the customer may be matched using any known methods. For example, categories in the lost item report and recovery item request may be matched. In another example, the lost item and the customer may be matched by using filters (as illustrated in  FIG. 7C ), keyword search, and other matching methods. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2B , the method  200  may start with the receipt of a lost item report at  202  from an establishment to the recovery server. A determination may be made whether the lost item report includes client or customer information at  204 . If no client or customer information is provided at  204 , the method may continue to wait for the customer information. If customer information, such as an electronic mail address, phone number, and the like, is included in the lost item report at  204 , a recovery notification may be transmitted to the customer at  206 . In one embodiment, the recovery notification may inform the customer that their lost item has or has not been located. The recovery notification may be transmitted to the customer through any known means such as a text to a mobile phone, electronic mail message, and the like. In one embodiment, the notification may include a customized and/or personalized message to the client. For example, the notification may include a customized pre-formatted response that is transmitted to the client. In another example, the message may be a text, audio, attachment or any other type of notification message. In still another embodiment, after a pre-determined period of time (e.g. 30 days, 2 months, 3 months, and the like) the customized and/or personalized message may be a notification to the client that the item was not recovered. 
     The recovery server may monitor the recovery notification (or any other transmission to the client) to determine whether and when the client or customer viewed the recovery notification. When the client has viewed the recovery notification, the status indicator (as discussed with reference to  FIG. 7C ) may be updated to reflect that the customer was contacted. Additionally, the recovery server  108  may notify the establishment sever that the client was notified. 
     If the lost item was recovered, the recovery notification may include an option to have the lost item shipped to back to client, held at the establishment for pick-up by client, or a rejection to not have the lost item shipped back to client. If a request to not have the recovered item returned to the customer is made at  208 , a rejection notification may be transmitted to the establishment at  210 . In one embodiment, the rejection notification may be a hold request to have the establishment hold the recovered item for pick-up by the customer. In another embodiment, the rejection notification may be a rejection to inform the establishment that the customer does not want the recovered item returned to them. 
     If a request to have the recovered item returned to the customer is made at  208 , a shipping and payment options may be transmitted to the customer at  212 . The customer or client may then select the preferred shipping method and provide payment information to pay for shipping costs. The shipping method may also include different shipping options such as the purchase of insurance, delivery confirmation, and the like. 
     A payment manager may be used to conduct financial transactions such as obtain customer financial information, verify credit card payments, verify coupon codes, and the like. In one embodiment, payment manager may be configured to communicate with a third party payment server to conduct the financial transactions. In another embodiment, payment manager may perform the financial transactions without the use of a third-party payment server. Upon payment of the shipping costs, recovery server may transmit the shipping selection and payment notification to establishment server. 
     Although illustrated with the use of payment manager and third party payment server, this is not intended to be limiting as payment for the shipping costs may be conducted by other methods. For example, establishment may contact client directly to have the costs charged to a credit card on file at the establishment. In another example, establishment may obtain payment information directly from client. 
     A shipment manager may be configured to communicate with a shipping server. Shipping server may be any company that performs shipping services such as UPS™, United States Postal Service, DHL™, FedEx™, common carrier, local delivery service, and any other service provider. Shipment manager may be configured to transmit a shipping request to shipping server. The shipping request may include a request for shipping documents and/or information such as a tracking number, cost and/or bill, receipt, and any other shipping information and/or documents. Shipping server may transmit the requested shipping documents to shipping manager. 
     Once the selected shipping option is received and payment is made at  214 , the shipping documents and payment notification may be transmitted to the establishment at  216  to let it know how the customer would like the recovered item to be shipped and that the customer has paid for the shipping costs. The shipping documents may be transmitted by any known means, for example via electronic mail, text, and the like. In another example, establishment can log into a website associated with the recovery server and access the shipping documents and/or information from the website. Establishment may then notify shipping company that the package or shipment needs to be picked up at the establishment by any known methods such as electronic mail, text message, use of the shipment company&#39;s web page, telephone call, or any other notification methods. In one embodiment, the printing of the shipping documents may automatically notify the shipping server that a package is ready for pickup at establishment. 
       FIG. 2C  illustrates another example method to recover lost items. The method  220  may start with the recovery server (e.g. recovery server  108  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) receiving a first lost item report, the lost item report including at least one selected property or establishment  222 . The property or establishments may be, for example, hotels, supermarkets, stores, and the like. In one embodiment, the list may be a list of a plurality of events, such as a convention, fair, and the like. In another embodiment, the list may be a list of a plurality of companies, such as rental car companies, cruise ship companies, and the like. The first lost item report may include the at least one selected establishment and may also include customer information, lost item information, and any other desired information necessary to identify, locate, and return a lost item to a customer. 
     A second lost item report may be transmitted to the at least one selected property at  224 . The second lost item report may include the customer information, lost item information, and any other desired information necessary to identify, locate, and return the lost item to a customer. The second lost item report may also present a selection to assist the customer in locating the lost item or a selection to not assist the customer in locating the lost item. For example, the second lost item report may include a “Not Interested” selection and an “Interested In Helping” selection. The second lost item report may be transmitted to the selected establishment by any known means, such as via electronic mail, text, and other similar methods. 
     A determination of whether a response was received at the recovery server may be made at  226 . If no response is received, a determination of whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed may be made at  228 . The predetermined period of time may be between twelve hours and forty-eight hours. In another embodiment, the predetermined period of time may be twenty-four hours. The predetermined period of time may be any period of time in which a response from the establishment is expected to be received by the recovery server. If a response from the establishment is not received within the predetermined period of time at  228 , the recovery server may transmit an Nth (wherein N is an integer) notification or reminder to the selected property at  234 . The reminder may again include customer information, lost item information, and any other desired information. The recovery server may transmit as many notifications or reminders to the selected property as desired. For example, if no response is received from the establishment within the predetermined time period at  228 , the recovery server may transmit a second notification or reminder to the establishment. If still no response is received from the establishment within the predetermined time period at  228 , the recovery server may transmit a third notification or reminder to the establishment. Still further, if no response is received from the establishment within the predetermined time period at  228 , the recovery server may transmit a fourth notification or reminder to the establishment. 
     Each time a notification or reminder is transmitted to the selected property at  234 , an Nth update notification may also be transmitted to the customer at  236 . The update notification transmitted to the customer at  236  is to keep the customer informed of the progress of the submitted lost item report. The update notification may be the same or substantially similar to the notification or reminder transmitted to the establishment. 
     After the final notification is transmitted to the selected property at  240 , the method  220  can end. The final notification may be any desired number of notifications or reminders transmitted to the selected property. For example, the final notification may be the third notification or reminder transmitted to the selected property. In another example, the fifth notification or reminder may be the final notification. 
     If a response is received at  226  a determination of whether the response is positive may be made at  230 . If the response is not positive at  230 , a negative update notification may be sent to the customer at  242  as illustrated in  FIG. 2D . In one embodiment, the negative notification may be a notification informing the customer that the establishment is not willing to assist in the recovery of the lost item. In another embodiment, the negative notification may be a notification informing the customer that the establishment was unable to locate the lost item. In any event, the negative notification informs the customer that recovery of the lost item is not possible. 
     A positive response may be a response that the establishment is willing to assist the customer in locating the lost item. Referring now to  FIG. 2D , if the response is a positive response at  230 , the recovery server may transmit a recovered or not received selection to the selected property at  246 . For example, a “Recovered” selection and a “Not Recovered” selection may be presented to the establishment. The selections may be transmitted to the selected establishment by any known means, such as via electronic mail. 
     If a “Not Recovered” response is received from the establishment at  248 , a “no recovery” notification may be transmitted to the customer at  256 . The “no recovery” notification informs the customer that the lost item was not recovered. 
     If a “Recovered” response is received from the establishment at  248 , a shipping and payment options may be transmitted to the customer at  250 . The customer or client may then select the preferred shipping method and provide payment information to pay for shipping costs. The shipping method may also include different shipping options such as the purchase of insurance, delivery confirmation, and the like. 
     A payment manager (e.g. payment manager  124  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) may be used to conduct financial transactions such as obtain customer financial information, verify credit card payments, verify coupon codes, and the like. In one embodiment, payment manager may be configured to communicate with a third party payment server to conduct the financial transactions. In another embodiment, payment manager may perform the financial transactions without the use of a third-party payment server. Upon payment of the shipping costs, recovery server may transmit the shipping selection and payment notification to establishment. 
     Although illustrated with the use of payment manager and third party payment server, this is not intended to be limiting as payment for the shipping costs may be conducted by other methods. For example, establishment may contact client directly to have the costs charged to a credit card on file at the establishment. In another example, establishment may obtain payment information directly from client. 
     A shipment manager (e.g. shipping manager  122  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) may be configured to communicate with a shipping server (e.g. shipping server  106  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). Shipping server may be any company that performs shipping services such as UPS™, United States Postal Service, DHL™, FedEx™, common carrier, local delivery service, and any other service provider. Shipment manager may be configured to transmit a shipping request to shipping server. The shipping request may include a request for shipping documents and/or information such as a tracking number, cost and/or bill, receipt, and any other shipping information and/or documents. Shipping server may transmit the requested shipping documents to shipping manager. 
     Once the selected shipping option is received and payment is made at  252 , the shipping documents and payment notification may be transmitted to the establishment at  254  to let the establishment know how the customer would like the recovered item to be shipped and that the customer has paid for the shipping costs. The shipping documents may be transmitted by any known means, for example via electronic mail, text, and the like. In another example, establishment can log into a website associated with the recovery server and access the shipping documents and/or information from the website. Establishment may then notify shipping company that the package or shipment needs to be picked up at the establishment by any known methods such as electronic mail, text message, use of the shipment company&#39;s web page, telephone call, or any other notification methods. In one embodiment, the printing of the shipping documents may automatically notify the shipping server that a package is ready for pickup at establishment. 
       FIGS. 3A-3B  illustrate an example of a client-side method for recovering lost items. Referring to  FIG. 3A , the method  330  beings with the receipt of a recovery notification at  332 . The recovery notification may be received at any computing device such as a computer, laptop, media device, mobile telephone, netbook, personal data assistant, and the like. The recovery notification may inform the customer or client that their lost item has been recovered. The recovery notification may include an option to have the lost item shipped to back to client, held at the establishment for pick-up by client, or a rejection to not have the lost item shipped back to client. 
     If the customer would not like the item to be returned at  334 , a determination is made whether the customer would like the item to remain on hold at  336 . If the customer would like to pick up the recovered item, the customer may transmit a hold request at  338  to the establishment to have the establishment hold the recovered item for pick-up by the customer. If a determination is made that the customer does not want the item to be held at  336 , the method  330  may end as the customer most likely does not want the recovered item returned. Once the customer selects an option, a status indicator (e.g. status indicator  732  illustrated in  FIG. 7C ) in the lost item report may be automatically updated to reflect the customer&#39;s section. 
     In one embodiment, if it is determined that the customer would like the item returned at  335 , shipping and payment options may be received at  340 . A status indicator may also be automatically updated to record that the customer has provided a shipment selection and/or has paid for the recovered item to be shipped back to him. The client may select a preferred shipping method and provide payment information to pay for shipping costs. The shipping method may also include different shipping options such as the purchase of insurance, delivery confirmation, and the like. Once the shipping option and payment information is received at  342 , the selected shipping method and payment information may be transmitted to the recovery server at  344  and a payment receipt showing payment in full may be received at  346 . Once the establishment ships the recovered item, a shipped notification may be received at  348 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3B , another example of a client-side method for recovering lost items  350 . The method  350  starts with the customer selecting at least one property or establishment from a list of a plurality of properties or establishments  352 . The property or establishments may be, for example, hotels, supermarkets, stores, and the like. In one embodiment, the list may be a list of a plurality of events, such as a convention, fair, and the like. In another embodiment, the list may be a list of a plurality of companies. The user may select the at least one establishment using any computing device, such as a computer, laptop, media device, mobile telephone, netbook, personal data assistant, and the like. 
     The user may then transmit a lost item report, the lost item report may include the at least one selected establishment at  354 . The lost item report may be transmitted to the recovery server (e.g. recovery server  108  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). The lost item report may also include customer information and any other desired information necessary to identify, locate, and return a lost item to a customer. 
     A determination of whether a negative notification is received at  356 . In one embodiment, the negative notification may be a notification informing the customer that the establishment is not willing to assist in the recovery of the lost item. In another embodiment, the negative notification may be a notification informing the customer that the establishment was unable to locate the lost item. In any event, the negative notification informs the customer that recovery of the lost item is not possible. If a negative notification is received at  356 , the method  350  ends. 
     If a negative notification is not received at  356 , a determination of whether a found notification is made at  35 F 8 . If a found notification is not received at  358 , the method  350  may end. However, if a found notification is received at  358 , the customer may transmit a return or dispose response  360 . If the customer does not want the item returned, a dispose response may be transmitted to the recovery server. However, if the customer would like the found item returned to the customer, the customer may transmit a return response to the recovery server. In one embodiment, the method may optionally continue at step  340  in  FIG. 3A . 
       FIGS. 4A-4C  illustrates another example of a method for recovering lost items. Referring to  FIG. 4A , method  400  may start with the recovery of a lost item at an establishment at  402 . Establishment may be authenticated at  404 . Authentication may require the establishment to log into recovery server using an identification and/or password. However, any known means or methods for authenticating a user may be used. Additionally, in one embodiment, different security levels may be implemented for an establishment. For example, different security levels may be accessed based upon the passwords and/or identification used to authenticate the user. However, any type of method may be used to allow access to different levels of information. For example, access to client information may require a different password and/or identification than access to view a lost item report. 
     A lost item report, including lost item description, may be transmitted to the recovery server at  406 . Lost item description may include lost item description such as the location of where the item was found, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information, current storage location of the lost item and other descriptive information. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. 
     If shipping documents and/or information is received for a lost item, including recovery item description, at  408 , establishment may prepare the shipping documents and package the recovered item at  410 . Shipping documents and/or information may include such as a tracking number, cost and/or bill, receipt, and any other shipping information or documents. The shipping information may include the recovery item description to allow establishment to determine which item was recovered. Establishment may then provide the package to a shipper at  412 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4B , method  420  may begin with the recovery of a lost item at an establishment at  422 . The establishment may then create a lost item report at  424 . Lost item description may include lost item description such as the location of where the item was found, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information, current storage location of the lost item and other descriptive information. The location of where the item was found may include a business name, room number, seat number, and/or additional location data of where the item was located. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. The lost item report may then be transmitted to the recovery server at  426 . 
     A determination may be made whether customer information is received at  428 . In one embodiment, if enough data and information about the lost item is collected, the establishment may attempt to proactively contact the customer to inform them of the lost item. For example, if the lost item is a wallet with an identification card, the establishment may attempt to contact the customer. In another embodiment, the customer themselves may contact the establishment inquiring about the lost item. 
     If customer information is received at  428 , the lost item report may be updated with the customer information at  430 . The updated lost item report may then be transmitted to the recovery server at  432 . 
     A determination is then made whether shipment and payment notification is received at  434 . If a selected shipment option and payment notification is received at  434 , establishment may prepare shipment documents at  436 . Shipment information and/or documents may be obtained from recovery server. The shipment information and documents information such as a tracking number, cost and/or bill, receipt, and any other shipping information and/or documents necessary to prepare and ship a package as further illustrated in  FIGS. 12A and 12B . The recovered item may then be packaged and shipped to the customer at  438 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4C , the method  450  may begin with the recovery of a lost item at an establishment at  452 . The establishment may then create a lost item report at  454 . Lost item description may include lost item description such as the location of where the item was found, detailed description of the item, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information, current storage location of the lost item and other descriptive information. The location of where the item was found may include a business name, room number, seat number, and/or additional location data of where the item was located. The lost item report may then be transmitted to the recovery server at  456 . The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. 
     A determination may be made whether to contact the customer at  458 . In one embodiment, if enough data and information about the lost item is collected, the establishment may attempt to proactively contact the customer to inform them of the lost item. For example, if the lost item is a wallet with an identification card, the establishment may attempt to contact the customer. If it is determined that the customer is not to be contacted at  458 , the method may continue at “A” in  FIG. 4B . 
     If the customer is contacted at  458 , a determination may be made whether shipping and payment information is received at  460 . For example, once the customer is contacted, the customer may be provided the opportunity to select a shipping option and provide payment information to pay for the shipping costs. The establishment may then update the lost item report with the customer information at  462  including the selected shipping option and payment information. However, if no shipping and payment information is received at  460 , the method continues to wait for the shipping and payment information. 
     Once the updated lost item report is transmitted, the establishment may receive and prepare the shipping documents at  464 . The shipping documents may be transmitted by any known means, for example via electronic mail, text, and the like. In another example, establishment can log into a website associated with the recovery server and access the shipping documents and/or information from the website. The Establishment may then be able to print shipping labels (i.e. plain paper or label stock), assign a tracking number, print a receipt for billing purposes, and conduct any other requirements to efficiently ship the recovered item to the customer at  466 . 
     EXAMPLE 1 
     These examples are for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, although illustrated with the establishment being a hotel, establishment may be any other location such as a cruise ship, airline, casino, car rental company, seminar, convention, and the like. 
     Brian reserves a room at My Hotel using their website for one night. Brian arrives at My Hotel late in the evening after a long client meeting and is assigned room 1223. Unfortunately, Brian is only able to get 3 hours of sleep before he has to wake up to catch a flight home. Brian is so tired that he forgets his cell phone charger in the room. 
     Later that morning as the housekeeper is cleaning the room, she finds the cell phone charger. In one embodiment, the housekeeper can turn in the cell phone charger to the lost and found department (L&amp;F) once her shift is complete. In another embodiment, the housekeeper may use a portable mobile device to report the lost cell phone charger. For example, the housekeeper (as opposed to L&amp;F) may input lost item description information, including at least one image of the lost item, and create the lost item report. In still another embodiment, the housekeeper may only have limited access (as discussed with reference to  FIG. 4A ) to input a limited amount of lost item description information (e.g. image of the lost item and/or location of the lost item). 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example screen shoot of a log-in screen. To authenticate the establishment, the log-in screen  500  requires an identification  502  as well as a password  504 . However, this is not intended to be limiting as other authentication and/or verification methods may be used to authenticate the establishment such as speech recognition, retinal and/or fingerprint scans, and the like. The authentication and/or verification may be conducted by the recovery server (e.g. recovery server  108  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) or any third party server. 
       FIGS. 6A-6B  illustrate example screen shots of a lost item report. Referring to  FIG. 6A , after being authenticated, L&amp;F may create a lost item report  600 . The lost item report  600  may include lost item description such as the location of where the object was found, detailed description of the item  602 , such as color, shape, additions, date when the object was found  606 , current storage location of the lost item, and other descriptive information. The location of where the item was found may include a business name, room number  604 , and/or additional location data of where the item was located such as a conference room and the like. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. 
     The name of the person that found the lost item  618  may also be included. If additional customer information is readily available, the customer name  608 , contact information  610  (e.g. phone number  614 , electronic mail address  616 , and other contact information), and address  620  may be included in the lost item report  600 . 
     Prior to the housekeeper completing her shift, Brian realized that he forgot the cell phone charger in the room and calls My Hotel. Referring now to  FIG. 6B , Brian informs L&amp;F of the lost cell phone charger and L&amp;F inputs as much information as they can into the lost item report  620 . For example, L&amp;F may log a description of the item  622 , such as color, shape, manufacturer, date when the object was lost  624 , location of where the object was last seen  626 , current storage location of the lost item, and other descriptive information. The lost item description may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. Customer information may also be included such as the customer name  628 , contact information  630 , return shipping address  632 , and any other desired or necessary information. 
     While L&amp;F is logged into their account at recovery server, they are able to obtain various reports. In one embodiment, recovery server may manage and control the lost and found inventory for the hotel. For example, recovery server may manage a list of lost items found by the hotel as well as a list of recovered and returned items. Recovery server may control the lost and found inventory for My Hotel by automatically deleting lost times from the lost item list once the item is recovered and/or returned to its rightful owner and/or post the recovered items to a recovered and returned item list. 
       FIGS. 7A-7B  illustrate example screen shot for reports and services provided by recovery server.  FIG. 7A  illustrates an example screen shot for the various reports that may be provided to an establishment by recovery server. Although illustrated with specific reports, this is not intended to be limiting as any type of report may be generated for the establishment for any reason, such as documentation, financial, and the like. For example, recovery server (such as recovery server  108  in  FIG. 1 ) may provide a profit reports  702 , total item shipped reports  704 , inventory reports  706 , and tracking reports  708 . Profit reports  702  may report the amount of profits to the establishment by using the disclosed invention as compared to shipping the recovered products without using the disclosed invention. This may illustrate the benefits of using the disclosed invention to the establishment. The total item shipped reports  704  may indicate the number of lost and recovered items that have been shipped to clients. Inventory reports  706  may be a list of lost items currently at the establishment. In one embodiment, the inventory report  706  may also include the estimated value for each item. In another embodiment, the inventory reports  706  may also sort the inventory by criteria such as type, description, quantity, estimated value, or by any other criteria. An example screen shot of an inventory report  720  is further illustrated in  FIG. 7B . Lastly, tracking reports  708  may provide tracking information for shipped recovered items. 
       FIG. 7B  illustrates an example inventory report. Once L&amp;R transmits the lost item report, it may appear in the inventory report  720 . As illustrated, on Jul. 3, 2011, in room 1223, Brian Colodny lost a cell phone charger  722 . Other lost items include a key chain left in room 122222 by Adrienne Yeung on Jul. 10, 2011  724  or a vodka bottle left in conference room 5 by Mac Mcl on Aug. 17, 2011  726 . 
     In one embodiment, the inventory report  720  may be filtered to obtain a customized report. Referring to  FIG. 7C , the criteria by which the user may filter the lost item list may be presented in a drop down list  730 . For example, the list may be filtered by items that were reported by guests, items that were reported by staff, items in which the guests were notified by email, items in which the guests were notified by a phone call, items which have been shipped, items on hold, and the like. Each filter may be associated with a status indicator  732 . The status indicator  732  may also be located in the inventory report  720  under “Status”  734  as illustrated in  FIGS. 7B and 7C . 
     The status indicators  732  may also provide for evidence of the chain of custody of the lost item. Chain of custody may be important for some establishments, such as hotels, casinos, and the like. As such, the use of status indicators  732  may make it easier to track the lost item through its progress from the time it was found, until the time the recover item is shipped to the customer or client. The status indicators  732  may also be used to enable or disable selection options for the client and/or establishment. For example, if a “Shipped To Client” status indicator is selected, the “Ship It” indicator may be disabled. 
     In one embodiment, the status indicators  732  may be automatically updated upon a transaction. For example, if the “Ship It” indicator is depressed (as illustrated in  FIG. 13 ), the status indicator may be automatically updated to indicate that the recovered item is shipped. In another example, if customer information is inputted and the lost item report is updated, the status may automatically be updated to indicate that the client was contacted. In yet another example, the status indicator may be automatically updated when the client has viewed or made a selection from the recovery notification. 
     Once the lost item report is transmitted to the recovery server and the lost item report includes Brian&#39;s contact information, Brian may receive a recovery notification that his cell phone charger is found. The recovery notification may be transmitted from the recovery server to Brian&#39;s email address, text messaged to Brian&#39;s portable electronic device, or any other way to transmit a recovery notification.  FIGS. 8A-8B  illustrate example screen shots of a recovery notification. Referring to  FIG. 8A , the recovery notification  800  may display several options: 1. have the recovered item returned  802 ; 2. not have the recovered item returned  804 ; and 3. have the recovered item held for pick up  806 . 
     The recovery notification may be customized to the establishment such as including the establishment logo, tag lines, colors, and any other indicia necessary or desired by the establishment to customize the coupon. Referring to  FIG. 8B , the recovery notification  810 , as illustrated, is customized for Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nev. including the logo  808 , color scheme (not illustrated), and any other establishment requirements. In one embodiment, the recovery notification may also have a unique code embedded in the notification to automatically direct Brian to a specific location in the recovery server as discussed with reference to  FIG. 9A-9C . 
     The recovery server may monitor the recovery notification (or any other transmission to the client) to determine whether and when the client or customer viewed the recovery notification. When the client has viewed the recovery notification, the status indicator (as discussed with reference to  FIG. 7C ) may be updated to reflect that the customer was contacted. Additionally, the recovery server  108  may notify the establishment sever that the client was notified. 
       FIGS. 9A-9C  illustrate example screen shots of responses to a selection of the recovery notification. Brian may decide that he would rather buy a new cell phone charger and opt to not have the cell phone charger returned to him. As such, he may select the “Do Not Return” indicator (e.g. “Do Not Return” indicator  804  illustrated in  FIG. 8A ). Upon that selection, Brian may receive a “Do Not Return” confirmation  900  as illustrated in  FIG. 9A . The “Do Not Return” confirmation  900  may indicate that My Hotel will discard the cell phone charger. In one embodiment, a unique code embedded within the recovery notification will direct Brian to a specific location in the recovery server to inform Brian that the establishment will discard the cell phone charger. 
     On the other hand, Brian may decide that since he will be back at My Hotel within a few days, he may opt to select the “Hold For Pickup” indicator (e.g. “Hold For Pickup”  806  illustrated in  FIG. 8A ) and pick up the cell phone charger when he returns to My Hotel. Upon that selection, Brian may receive a “Hold” confirmation  902  as illustrated in  FIG. 9B . The “Hold” confirmation  900  may indicate that My Hotel will hold the item for pick up. The “Hold” confirmation  900  may include a tracking number  904  that tracks the recovered item. The tracking number  904  may be used when querying the recovery server for lost item description information for the lost or recovered item. In one embodiment, a unique code embedded within the recovery notification will direct Brian to a specific location in the recovery server to inform Brian that the establishment will hold the cell phone charger for him. 
     In another embodiment, the “Hold” confirmation  900  may also include an expiration date until which My Hotel will hold the recovered item. For example, My Hotel may determine that they will only hold recovered items for 30 days before disposing of the recovered item. In another embodiment, My Hotel may transmit a reminder “Hold” confirmation after a predetermined period of time. The reminder may include the various options for the customer to select as the customer may have changed his mind about having the recovered item returned to him. 
     In the end, Brian may decide that he would like his cell phone charger shipped back to him. Thus, he may select the “Return To Me” indicator (e.g. “Return To Me”  802  illustrated in  FIG. 8A ). Upon detecting that selection, Brian may be directed to a shipping option and payment screen as illustrated in  FIG. 9C . In one embodiment, the shipping option and payment screen  910  may require Brian to verify his ownership of the recovered item  912 . In another embodiment, Brian may not be required to verify his ownership of the recovered item. Various methods to match the owner and the recovered item may be used. For example, Brian may be required to sign in using the same identification and password as used when signing into his My Hotel account. In another example, Brian may input a description of the recovered item  912 , tracking number, or any other identifiable keywords and it may be matched with the items in My Hotel&#39;s recovery list. 
     Brian may then input a return address  914  as well as select his preferred shipping method  916 . The shipment costs may also be displayed. For example, if the cell phone charger is returned via the United States Postal Service, Priority 2-3 days, it will cost Brian $9.75. However, if Brian would like the cell phone charger to be shipped FedEx Overnight, the cost will be $20. 
     Once the shipment method is selected and the return address is transmitted, Brian may be directed to a payment information page to pay for the shipping costs.  FIG. 10  illustrates a same screen shot of a payment method. Brian may be presented with a payment screen  1000  to obtain financial information such as credit card information, bank account information, or any other financial methods to pay for the incurred costs. In one embodiment, recovery server may utilize a third party payment server (e.g. third party payment server  126  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) to handle the financial transactions. 
     Once Brian submits his shipping option and payment, recovery server may notify My Hotel.  FIG. 11  illustrates a screen shot of an example alert notification for My Hotel. The alert notification  1100  may inform the establishment of a variety of issues that need attention. As illustrated, the establishment has  2  items that need to be addressed. For example, an alert may be a notification that a customer selected and paid for their recovered items to be shipped to them. In another example, the alert may be a notification that a customer sent them an inquiry to follow-up on the status of their recovered items. In still another example, the alert may be a notification that a customer received the wrong recovered item. In yet another example, the alert may be a notification that a customer does not want their recovered item returned to them. In another example, the alert may be a notification of a new or changed item description that was transmitted to the establishment from a client or customer. The alerts may also be any other issues such as reminder for the establishment to renew their account, and the like. 
     When alerted, L&amp;F may prepare the cell phone charger for shipment back to Brian. L&amp;F may insert the cell phone charger into the appropriate shipping package based upon Brian&#39;s selected shipping option. L&amp;F may then print out the shipping documents to attach to the shipping package.  FIGS. 12A and 12B  illustrate example shipping documents.  FIG. 12A  illustrates an example shipping label  1202  and  FIG. 12B  illustrates an example shipping bill and/or receipt  1204 . Establishment may then notify shipping server that the package or shipment needs to be picked up at the establishment by any known methods such as electronic mail, text message, XML, SMS, use of the shipment company&#39;s web page, telephone call, or any other notification methods. In one embodiment, the printing of the shipping documents may automatically notify the shipping server that a package is ready for pickup at establishment. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates an example detailed lost item report. In one embodiment, shipping documents are provided once L&amp;F clicks the “Ship It” button  1302  of the detailed lost item report  1300 . In another embodiment, shipping documents are automatically provided to the establishment. 
     Once the package is prepared and delivered to the shipping company, Brian may receive a shipped notification to inform him that his cell phone charger is being shipped back to him.  FIGS. 14A-14B  illustrate example screen shots of shipment notifications. Referring to  FIG. 14A , the shipped notification  1400  may notify Brian that his cell phone charger was shipped via the United States Postal Service (USPS)  1402 . The shipped notification  1400  may also include a tracking number  1404 . In one embodiment, Brian may click the USPS logo  1406  and be automatically directed to the USPS website to track his package. In one embodiment, the shipped notification may also include other shipping options such as the purchase of insurance, delivery confirmation, and the like. 
     Referring to  FIG. 14B , similar to the coupon and recovery notification, the shipped notification may also be customized to the establishment. The shipped notification  1410  may be customized to include the establishment logo, color scheme, tag lines, or any other customized desired by the establishment. As illustrated, the shipped notification  1410  may be customized for Silver Legacy  1412 . Additionally, similar to  FIG. 14A , the user may select the shipping company logo  1414  and be automatically directed to the shipping company&#39;s website to track their package. A physical coupon or other establishment promotional material may also be included with the shipped package. 
     As illustrated in the example above, the invention may provide for the quick and economical return of lost items, such as chargers, cell phones, and other important valuables left at an establishment. Among other things, the invention may provide for: (i) automatic notification to a shipper, such as FedEx, UPS, the USPS, or any other shipping company; (ii) automatic billing to the hotel shipper account; (iii) ability to print shipping documents, such as shipping labels and receipts; (iv) automatic issuance of a shipper tracking number; (v) automatic recovery notification to the client, including the tracking number; (vi) convenient billing to the client and/or establishment; and (vii) allows the establishment and client to track the shipment of the recovered item. 
       FIGS. 15A and 15B  illustrate example screen shots of a recovery item request. Referring to  FIG. 15A , the recovery item request may be completed and transmitted through use of the recovery server (e.g. recovery server  108  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). The recovery item request  900  may be submitted by a client for an item that may have been left behind or lost at an establishment. The recovery item request  1500  may require the client to input information about the lost item as well as client information. For example, the lost item information may include a description of the item such as a name and/or detailed description of the item, such as color, shape  1502 , when the item was lost  1512 , and the location of where the item was lost  1504 . The location  1504  may include a drop down menu  1506  for the user to select where the loss occurred. For example, the drop down menu  1506  may include a list of hotels, cruise ships, store names, rental car companies, and other establishments that the client may select from. Lastly, the client may include client information  1510  such as contact information, return shipping address, and any other necessary or desired client information. 
     Referring to  FIG. 15B , the recovery item request may be completed and transmitted via the establishment server (e.g. establishment server  104  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). As illustrated, the establishment server is Silver Legacy  1522 . The client may complete the recovery item request via the establishment&#39;s website and include recovery item descriptions such as the date of when the item was lost  1530 , location of where the item was lost  1524 , detailed description of the item  1526 , such as color, shape, additions, client contact information, and other descriptive information. The location of where the item was lost may include a room number, seat number, and/or additional location data of where the item was lost. The recover item request may also include an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances for identification of the lost item. Additionally, the recovery item request may also include client contact information  1528  such as name, phone number, email address, return shipping address, and any other necessary information. 
       FIG. 16  illustrates an example coupon provided by an establishment. The coupon  1600  may be customized to the establishment such as including the establishment logo  1602 , tag lines, colors, and any other indicia necessary or desired by the establishment to customize the coupon  1600 . The coupon  1600  may be provided to customer or client to provide a discount on the return of their lost times, such as a discount on shipping costs, hotel stays, buffet, show tickets, and the like. The coupon  1600  may be provided to the client at different times. In one example, the coupon may be transmitted to the client device (e.g. client device  102   a - n  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) concurrently with, before, or after a recovery notification is transmitted to client device. In another example, a physical coupon may be provided to the customer upon check-in at the establishment or event. The physical coupon may have a coupon code  1604  that the customer may enter to obtain the discount. In still another example, the coupon may be provided to the client device  102   a - n  after logging into a website. 
     EXAMPLE 2 
       FIGS. 17A-17L  illustrate example screen shots to recover a lost item.  FIG. 17A  illustrates an example screen shot of a user graphical interface to create a lost item report. The graphical user interface  1700  may be presented on any display of a computing device such as a computer, laptop, media device, mobile telephone, netbook, personal data assistant, and the like. The customer may enter any information necessary to identify, locate, and return a lost item to a customer. For example, the information may be item information  1702  such as a description of the lost item, date the item was lost, location of where the item was lost, where the item was last seen by the customer, and the like. In one embodiment, the user may select the drop down indicator  1706  under the “Where did You Lose It” selection. Once selected, a list of a plurality of properties or establishments may be displayed (not shown). The property or establishments may be, for example, hotels, supermarkets, stores, and the like. In one embodiment, the list may be a list of a plurality of events, such as a convention, fair, and the like. In another embodiment, the list may be a list of a plurality of companies. 
     Customer information  1704  may also be entered such as the customer&#39;s name, address, contact information, electronic mail address, and the like. This may assist the recover server and the establishment to contact the customer. 
     Once created, the customer may transmit the lost item report to the recovery server. Referring now to  FIG. 17B , an example screen shot of a lost item notification transmitted to the establishment. Once the lost item report is transmitted to the recovery server, the recovery server may transmit a lost item notification  1708  to the establishment. The lost time notification  708  may be transmitted to the establishment by any known means such as electronic mail, text, and the like. The lost item notification  1708  transmitted to the establishment may include the item information  1702 , customer information  1712 , and a “Help Recover” indicator  1714  as well as an “Unable To Help” indicator  1716 . If the establishment is unable or unwilling to assist in the recovery of the lost item the establishment may select the “Unable To Help” indicator  1716 . 
     If a response is received from the establishment, the response will indicate whether the establishment is able to not able to assist in the recovery of the lost time. However, there may be times when the establishment does not respond to the initial lost item notification. Thus, the recovery server may wait for a predetermined period of time for a response from the establishment. The predetermined period of time may be between twelve hours and forty-eight hours. In another embodiment, the predetermined period of time may be twenty-four hours. The predetermined period of time may be any period of time in which a response from the establishment is expected to be received by the recovery server. If a response from the establishment is not received within the predetermined period of time, the recovery server may transmit a second notification or reminder to the establishment. The recovery server may transmit as many notifications or reminders to the selected property as desired. For example, if no response is received from the establishment within the next predetermined time period (e.g. after another twenty-four hour time period), the recovery server may transmit a third notification or reminder to the establishment. If still no response is received from the establishment within the third predetermined time period (e.g. after another twenty-four hour time period), the recovery server may discontinue sending notifications or reminders to the establishment. The final notification may be any desired number of notifications or reminders transmitted to the selected property. For example, the final notification may be the third notification or reminder transmitted to the selected property. In another example, the fifth notification or reminder may be the final notification. 
     Simultaneously or subsequently, after each notification or reminder is transmitted to the establishment, the recovery server may also transmit an update notification to the customer. The update notification transmitted to the customer helps to keep the customer informed of the progress of the lost item report. The update notification may be the same or substantially similar to the notification or reminder transmitted to the establishment. 
     If the establishment is able to assist in the recovery of the lost item, the “Help Recover” indicator  1714  may be selected. Referring now to  FIG. 17C , once the “Help Recover” indicator  1714  is selected, a recovery inquiry  1720  may be transmitted to the establishment. The recovery inquiry  1720  may inquire as to whether the establishment has located or recovered the lost item. In one embodiment, the recovery inquiry  1720  may present a “Yes” indicator  1722  and a “No” indicator  1724 . In another embodiment, the establishment may simply transmit a “Yes” or “No” response to the recovery inquiry  1720 . 
     If the lost item was not recovered, the establishment may select the “No” indicator  1724  and a final response  1726  may be transmitted to the establishment. The final response  1726  may, in one embodiment, thank the establishment for their assistance as well as indicate that an update notification will be sent to the customer. In another embodiment, the final response may be an indication that the lost item report is deemed resolved.  FIG. 17E  illustrates an example screen shot of a final update notification or “no recovery” notification  1728  sent to the customer. The final update notification or “no recovery” notification  1728  informs the customer that the establishment was unable to locate the lost item and that the lost item report will be closed out and deemed resolved. 
     In one embodiment, the final update notification  1728  may also include advertising indicia  1730   a - n  from vendors whereby the customer may obtain replacements for the lost item. For example, if the customer lost a phone charger, the final update notification  1728  may indicate an advertisement  1730   a - n  from Best Buy® to indicate that the customer may purchase a phone charger from Best Buy®. The customer may select the advertisement, which may include a link directly to the establishment&#39;s website. Alternatively, when the customer selects the advertisement, establishment information about the establishment may be presented directly to the customer, such as the phone number for the establishment, address, and any other contact information. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 17C , if the lost item was recovered, the establishment may select the “Yes” indicator  1722 .  FIG. 17F  illustrates an example screen shot of a recovered notification. The recovered notification  1732  may notify the customer that the establishment recovered the lost item. The recovered notification  1732  may also present option indicators such as a “Return To Me” indicator  1734 , “Do Not Return” indicator  1736 , and a “Hold For Pickup” indicator  1738 . 
     If the customer would like the recovered item returned, the customer may select the “Return To Me” indicator  1734 . If the customer will be returning to the establishment to pick up the recovered item, the customer may select the “Hold For Pickup” indicator  1738 . However, if the customer would not like the recovered item returned, the customer may select the “Do Not Return” indicator  1736 . 
     If the customer selected the “Return To Me” indicator  1734 , a payment user interface  1740  may be presented to the customer, as illustrated in  FIG. 17G . The customer may be presented with a payment screen  1740  to obtain financial information such as credit card information, bank account information, or any other financial methods to pay for the incurred costs. In one embodiment, recovery server may utilize a third party payment server (e.g. third party payment server  126  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) to handle the financial transactions. Once the customer submits his shipping option and payment, a confirmation receipt  1746  may be sent to the customer as illustrated in  FIG. 17H . The confirmation receipt  1746  notifies the customer that the shipping option and his payment was received by the recovery server. 
     Recovery server may also notify the establishment that the customer submitted his shipping option and payment.  FIGS. 17I and 17J  illustrate screen shots of example payment notification for the establishment. The payment notification  1742 ,  1750  may inform the establishment that the customer paid to have the recovered item returned. The payment notification  1742 ,  1750  may also include a “Print Ship Label” indicator  1744  to allow the establishment to print a shipping label to return the recovered item to the customer. The “Print Ship Label” indicator  1744  helps to automate and streamline the return process for the establishment and the customer. When the establishment has packaged the recovered item and is ready to ship the package, the establishment may select the “Print Ship Label” indicator  1744  to print a shipping label, attach the shipping label to the package, which allows for a streamlined and automated process to return the recovered item to the customer. 
     In one embodiment, if the customer is not certain how the recovered item should be shipped to the customer, the establishment may be prompted to assist in the shipping selection. Referring back to  FIG. 17C , if the establishment indicates that the lost item is recovered, the establishment may be prompted to select a shipping method as illustrated in  FIG. 17K .  FIG. 17K  illustrates an example screen shot of a shipping method. The shipping method interface  1760  may display a plurality of shipping options  1762 , such as the size of a box, envelope, and any other shipping options. The establishment may select one of the shipping options and receive a shipping selection confirmation  1764  as illustrated in  FIG. 17L . 
       FIG. 18  illustrates a method of associating a sensor device with an item. The method  1800  starts with obtaining a sensor device at  1802  and associating the sensor device with at least one item at  1804 . Each client may have at least one item having the sensor device attached thereto. The at least one item may be any item such as a mobile phone, keys, backpack, toy, or any other items the client would like to track or locate if stolen, misplaced, or lost. Sensor device may be any known device configured to track and locate an item it is attached to, such as the at least one item. An example of a sensor device may be Trakdot™ by GlobaTrac, LLC, Tile™ Mate by Tile, or TrackR™ by TrackR, Inc. Sensor device may use any known tracking method to determine the location of an item such as Bluetooth technology, global positioning systems, radio frequencies, short range WiFi, and the like. 
     Client may register sensor device with a sensor server, such as sensor server  132  illustrated in  FIG. 1B . Client may transmit sensor information and client information to sensor server at  1806  using a computing device, such as client device  102   a - n  illustrated in  FIG. 1B . Sensor information and client information may be stored in a client database, such as client database  134  illustrated in  FIG. 1B . Client information may include any identifying information or data to identify the client such as client name, address, contact information (e.g. phone number, email address, and any other contact information), and the like. Client information may also include item information such as the item name, description of the item, picture of the item, and any other item information desired to identify the item the sensor device is attached to. Sensor information may include any sensor identifying information such as serial number, identification number, purchase date, and any other desired information. Client information and sensor information may, in one embodiment, be transmitted to recovery server at  1810 . In another embodiment, recovery server may be configured to communicate with the client database to obtain the client information and sensor information. 
       FIGS. 19A-19B  illustrate an example method for recovering lost items. Referring to  FIG. 19A , the method  1900  may start with the sensor device transmitting a tracking alert at  1902 . If an item is lost, sensor device, in one embodiment, may transmit a tracking alert to be received by at least one founder device. The tracking alert may notify a person that an item having a sensor device attached thereto is located proximate to or nearby the at least one founder device. The at least one founder device, in one embodiment, may be configured to receive the tracking alert transmission. For example, the at least one founder device may have an application configured to receive the tracking alert. When the tracking alert is received by the at least one founder device, the location of the at least one founder device may be determined at  1906  by any known method such as Bluetooth technology, global positioning systems, radio frequencies, WiFi, satellites, and the like. The location of the at least one founder device may then be transmitted to recovery server at  1908 . When the location of the at least one founder device is determined, at least one establishment location located proximate the location of the at least one founder device may be determined at  1910 . The at least one establishment may be transmitted to the at least one founder device. In one embodiment, a list of establishments may be transmitted to the at least one founder device at  1912 . 
     Establishment may be any establishment or location where lost items, having the sensor device attached thereto, may be returned. In one embodiment, the location may be an establishment such as an airport, store, post office, or any other type of establishment. In another embodiment, the location may be a container, kiosk, mailbox, or any other object located within an establishment. The founder may deliver or drop the lost item to an employee of the establishment or into the container, kiosk, mailbox, or object. 
     The founder associated with the at least one founder device may select at least one of the establishment locations from the list of establishment locations and transmit the selection to the recovery server at  1914 . A return alert may then be transmitted from the recovery server to the selected partner location at  1916 . Return alert may inform the selected partner location that a lost item was found and that the founder associated with the at least one founder device will be dropping off the lost item. 
       FIG. 20  illustrates another example of a method for recovering lost items. The method  2000  may start with the recovery of the lost item at an establishment at  2002 . When the lost item is delivered at the selected establishment location, the item record may be located in client database at  2004 . The recovery server may match the sensor identifying information from the sensor device attached to the item to the sensor information stored in the client database. If no match is found, the method  2000  may end and methods as illustrated in  FIGS. 2A-2D  or  FIGS. 4A-4C  may begin. If a match is found, a recovery notification may be transmitted to the client associated with the lost item at  2008 . The recovery notification may notify the client that the lost item was found and is being stored at the establishment location. 
     In another embodiment, founder information may be associated with the client information. Founder information may be any identifying information to identify the founder such as the founder&#39;s name, address, and contact information. The founder information may be received by establishment server and transmitted to recovery server to be stored in the client database. The information may be stored to allow the client to give the founder a reward, if desired. 
     The recovery notification may contain information such as the address of the establishment location, a picture of the lost item, and any other desired information. In one embodiment, the recovery notification may include a selectable reward option indicator. A determination may be made if a reward is to be given to the founder at  2010 . If no reward is to be given, the method  2000  can end. If the client would like to give the founder a reward for finding the lost item, the client may select the reward option indicator at  2010 . 
     In one embodiment, the client may select or indicate an amount of the reward. For example, if the client would like to give the founder $10.00 for finding the lost item, the client may type $10.00 and select the reward option indicator. In another example, various amounts may be listed having a selectable indicator. For example, the client may select a $10.00 indicator and/or the reward option indicator. The reward amount may then be added to the shipping fees at  2012 . Method  2000  may end and the method as illustrated in  FIGS. 3A-3B  may begin. 
     Referring to  FIG. 19B , in another example, the method  1920  may begin with locating a lost item having a sensor device attached thereto at  1922 . For example, a finder may find a cell phone that was left on a bus, a finder may find a set of keys in a grocery cart at a grocery store, or a finder may find a book at a hotel room. Sensor device may be any known device configured to track and locate an item it is attached to. An example of a sensor device may be Trakdot™ by GlobaTrac, LLC, Tile™ Mate by Tile, or TrackR™ by TrackR, Inc. The sensor device may have sensor identifying information. For example, the sensor information may include any sensor identifying information such as serial number, identification number, purchase date, barcode, and any other unique identifying information. 
     The founder device may transmit the sensor identifying information to recovery server at  1924 . For example, founder device may transmit the sensor&#39;s device Quick Response (QR) code to recovery server. In another example, founder device may transmit the sensor device&#39;s serial number to the recovery server. Once the sensor identifying information is transmitted to the recovery server, the location of the at least one founder device may be determined at  1906  ( FIG. 19A ) by any known method such as Bluetooth technology, global positioning systems, radio frequencies, WiFi, satellites, and the like. The method may continue as discussed above in  FIG. 19A . 
       FIG. 21  illustrates a block diagram of a computing device  2100  according to one embodiment. The computing device  2100  can represent circuitry of a representative computing device (e.g. client device, recovery sever, shipping server, third party payment server, establishment server) described and illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The computing device can be designed to primarily stationary or can be portable. 
     The computing device  2100  includes a processor  2102  that pertains to a microprocessor or controller for controlling the overall operation of the computing device  2100 . The computing device  2100  stores media data pertaining to media items in a file system  2104  and a cache  2106 . The file system  2104  is, typically, semiconductor memory (e.g., Flash memory) and/or one or more storage disks. The file system  2104  typically provides high capacity storage capability for the computing device  2100 . However, since the access time to the file system  2104  can be relatively slow, the computing device  2100  can also include the cache  2106 . The cache  2106  is, for example, Random-Access Memory (RAM). The relative access time to the cache  2106  is typically shorter than for the file system  2104 . However, the cache  2106  does not have the large storage capacity of the file system  2104 . The computing device  2100  also includes a RAM  2120  and a Read-Only Memory (ROM)  2122 . The ROM  2122  can store programs, utilities or processes to be executed in a non-volatile manner. The RAM  2120  provides volatile data storage, such as for the cache  2106 . 
     The computing device  2100  may also include a user input device  2108  that allows a user of the computing device  2100  to interact with the computing device  2100 . For example, the user input device  2108  can take a variety of forms, such as a button, keypad, dial, touch-sensitive surface, etc. Still further, the computing device  2100  includes a display  2110  (screen display) that can be controlled by the processor  2102  to display information to the user. A data bus  2111  can facilitate data transfer between at least the file system  2104 , the cache  2106 , the processor  2102 , an audio coder/decoder (CODEC)  2112  and/or a video CODEC  2115 . 
     In one embodiment, for example, if the computing device  2100  (e.g. client device  102   a - n,  establishment server  104  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) is a media player, the computing device  2100  may store a plurality of media items (e.g., songs, videos, podcasts, etc.) in the file system  2104 . When a user desires to have the computing device play a particular media item, a list of available media items is displayed on the display  2110 . Then, using the user input device  2108 , a user can select one of the available media items. The processor  2102 , upon receiving a selection of a particular media item, supplies the media data to one or more appropriate output devices. If the particular media item is encrypted, the particular media item is first decrypted as noted above, which could involve one or more layers of encryption. As an example, for audio output, the processor  2102  can supply the media data (e.g., audio file) for the particular media item to the audio CODEC  2112 . The audio CODEC  2112  can then produce analog output signals for a speaker  2114 . The speaker  2114  can be a speaker internal to the computing device  2100  or external to the computing device  2100 . For example, headphones or earphones that connect to the computing device  2100  would be considered an external speaker. As another example, for video output, the processor  2102  can supply the media data (e.g., video file) for the particular media item to the video CODEC  2115 . The video CODEC  2115  can then produce output signals for the display  2110  and/or the speaker  2114 . 
     The computing device  2100  also includes a network/bus interface  2116  that couples to a data link  2118 . The data link  2118  allows the computing device  2100  to couple to another device (e.g., a host computer, a power source, or an accessory device). The data link  2118  can be provided over a wired connection or a wireless connection. In the case of a wireless connection, the network/bus interface  2116  can include a wireless transceiver. 
     The various aspects, features, embodiments or implementations of the invention described above can be used alone or in various combinations. Embodiments of the invention can, for example, be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software. Embodiments of the invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium generally include read-only memory and random-access memory. More specific examples of computer readable medium are tangible and include Flash memory, EEPROM memory, memory card, CD-ROM, DVD, hard drive, magnetic tape, and optical data storage device. The computer readable medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. 
     Numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. The description and representation herein are the common meanings used by those experienced or skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present invention. 
     In the foregoing description, reference to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “one example” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, the order of blocks in process flowcharts or diagrams representing one or more embodiments of the invention do not inherently indicate any particular order nor imply any limitations in the invention.