Some might say that the mobile phone is already a piece of technology that has bitten off far more than it can chew. The model that's charging on my desk at the moment lets me send and receive email, browse the internet, locate my position on a map, take pictures, record videos and voice memos, connect to my Sky+ box and watch TV, play Pacman, convert between pounds and kilos, read Powerpoint demonstrations, watch YouTube, engage in instant messaging, place bets on greyhound races, plan optimum routes, wake up on time – oh, and (as many trusty stand-up comedy routines like to point out) it can even make phone calls.
But that's nothing compared to what Microsoft appear to be envisaging.
In this patent application filed about a month ago, Microsoft have outlined a device called the "Guardian Angel" which can "dynamically evaluate environments" and will, amongst other things, be able to:
• choose your holiday and book it
• guide you to a restaurant with empty tables that serves your favourite food
• remind you to take your medicine
• assess whether you've met an individual before
• gauge whether your jokes or comments are appropriate (and, indeed, switch settings depending on whether you're at work, home or socialising)
• monitor your heartbeat relative to your situation (and call an ambulance if it stops)
• suggest rendezvous points
• detect people in the immediate vicinity who have a disease
– along with dozens of other applications, including, of course, the ability to target advertising at you. One wag on the Slashdot forums said:
"Traditionally, the way to block devices this intrusive was to divorce them."
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I wish those clever MicroSoft folks would think about the basics sometimes.
You get an incoming sms from a contact who isn't in your Contact-List, and you'd like to save them to your Address-Book? Guess what, you have to write the number down with a pencil, then tap it in manually! Whoever wrote Windows Mobile v5.0 clearly had an abacus in mind.
Posted by: Neil McGowan | Wednesday, 14 May 2008 at 02:21 PM