Looks like Apple’s interested in turning the iPhone into your travel buddy. According to a patent application, the phone could someday sport a dynamically updating screen featuring local weather, time, maps and contacts — all based on the user’s location.
The filing — which was entered in February 2008 as "Transitional Data Sets," but only recently came to light — focuses on a gadget whose displayed apps are populated by variables like location. Unlike typical mobile devices, this gadget would minimize a crowded screen by providing just what users need based on where they are. A change in location could also even trigger an icon swap.
Like, say you’re in San Francisco, so it shows an icon of the Golden Gate Bridge. When you fly to Las Vegas, it could change to an Elvis impersonator or a showgirl automatically. That would be fun. And if the features work as it’s supposed to, you could find a rental car, look up the nearest casino, and ask a local friend to go to Cirque du Soleil with you, all from the main display on the iPhone.
I like the idea of this, as long as the new icons occupied its own page. But if it messed with the order of the apps I already had, I’d be one cranky blogger.
What do you think? Cool idea or silly novelty?
[via AppleInsider]
