I have already mentioned that LCD streetlights and stoplights make sense and I've heard from a few people close to the technology who have explained various aspects of why this technology isn't moving faster.

Here comes another one. Sony Ericsson has some rather cool and rather obvious ideas for things cellphones should be able to do:

Sony Ericsson’s latest idea is to sell phones which automatically change the way they behave, depending on the time, date and place, reports New Scientist.

"For example, the wallpaper display on the screen shows pumpkins when the phone’s calendar sees the date is Halloween, and Christmas puddings on December 25th. Network roaming, or GPS, can tell a phone what country it is in, so the ring-tone might change to a reggae tune as the plane touches down in Jamaica, for example.

A restaurant could use short-range Bluetooth signals to deliver the specials menu direct to the phone's screen, and a cinema or church could use Bluetooth to switch it to silent mode. Stockbrokers could enable an option to display the latest share prices every 10 minutes and golfers could use continually updated weather forecasts for wallpaper.

Priority coding lets some automated controls override user settings."

Read the location-aware cellphone patent here.

I certainly want an intelligent cellphone that knows where "we" are and how best to let me know when it needs my attention. Is it just me or does this seem like this is a no brainer. The problem is just how carriers will squeeze revenue out of these features. Will they understand that better behaved cellphones are good for their bottom line or will they see these as added "features" for which they have to charge a premium. Time will tell.
[Textually: A Location Aware Cellphone]

Technorati Tags: Sony Ericsson, cell phone, cellphone

Comments

[Joelage]

Hi, yeah, I'm with you on this, this is something that is 'not surprising' - a 'given' really. I like how they mention superficial details such as changing "desktop wallpapers" and "ringtones" because thats where the technology and market is at... (well, perhaps for the teenage girls...)

[Daniel]

Yes this is just what the world needs. I can think of the excitement in Aceh, Eritrea, Panama and Timor Leste when this news gets out. if we're so clever, why don't we focus tech on people who could really benefit? (confession: I wear leather shoes, go to see pictures, drive an MPV, drink beer, trade stocks, am a consultant ie. tart and consume vast quantities of plastic bags...am i part of the prolem or part of the solution?) but goodness gracious! couldn't the clever people on this planet find something more useful to do? or do we just blame the mktg dept...