Patent ID: RE44877

Claim:
A method of automatically gathering information from a computer network onto a hand held computer system comprising the steps of: defining a search criteria, the search criteria including one or more topics; storing the search criteria in a flash memory of the hand held computer system; providing the hand held computer system with access to the computer network through a phone line and modem; signaling a processor in the hand held computer to execute search application software, the search application software being stored in the flash memory; automatically searching the computer network for information corresponding to the search criteria, the search being performed during a period of time when there is no interaction between the computer system and a user; automatically downloading the information corresponding to the search criteria from the computer network into the flash memory of the hand held computer; the downloading being performed during a period of time when there is no interaction between the computer system and a user; displaying portions of information on a display screen of the hand held computer system in response to user input commands at a time when the user desires to view the stored information corresponding to the search criteria.