Microsoft Patents Tech That Would Silence Your Phone For You

tsamsoniw writes "Microsoft has filed a patent for a mobile technology called Inconspicuous Mode, aimed at helping you not be 'that guy' who disrupts movies, meals, or meetings with noisy, bright-screened phone alerts. It's a setting that would effectively put your phone in stealth mode when the device sensed it was in a movie theater (thanks to location information) and that the lights had gone down. The idea is, you could still receive alerts if a call or text came in, but no one around you would be disturbed by phone sounds or screen flashes."

Comments

How does it know when the lights go down.....

[Ellis D. Tripp]

as opposed to just sitting in your dark pocket?

Re:Already got it.

[iamhassi]

I already have a phone that does this. As someone who is aware of my surroundings and generally conscientious, I simply turn my phone to "vibrate" or even - God forbid - OFF... It works very well indeed. And I even still receive alerts if a call or text came in. Amazing technology.

Yes Apple already patented the technology, silencing the phone based on GPS location. Similar to geofencing that came out in iOS 5

Turn it off, or leave

[innocent_white_lamb]

I own and operate a movie theatre. I have policy trailers that I play before every show telling you to turn your cell phone off. If I see a light from a cell phone while the show is on, I'll go in and ask you to turn it off until the show is over. If I see your light again, I'll ask you to come to the lobby with me, and when you get there I'll tell you to go home.

Since I have been doing this for years, ever since cell phones existed, I have very little problem with cell phones here.

Consistent enforcement is the answer. I have to tell maybe one or two people a month to turn their phones off, sometimes I can go a few months without having to do it once. And I can't remember the last time I threw someone out for that -- it's been at least a couple of years.

Re:this is like trying to make people good drivers

[Joce640k]

the people disrupting the movie won't care about this.

Even if they did, they'd still answer and say "I can't talk, I'm in the cinema... Really? No way, dude!! Haha. So what did he do next??? You're kidding me!!! " etc.

Re:this is like trying to make people good drivers

[icebike]

the people disrupting the movie won't care about this. and probably won't enable it even if their phone had it.

Most of the people who disrupt movies are not jerks, just forgetful, or they came in a few seconds late and missed the ever present "Cell Phone Off" request that appears on the screen in every theater I've been to in the last 5 years.

This would save a lot of embarrassment and I suspect a lot of people would turn it on if it worked properly.

If they do get it working properly, I'd like to see it on by default, with the setting to turn it off buried 5 menus deep. That would keep the clueless users who can't figure out how to silence their phones from being able to defeat it without the manual.

Re:this is like trying to make people good drivers

[bitt3n]

the only solution is to wait two weeks or more until after a movie comes out to see it in an almost empty theater

that's what I do. otherwise there's always some jerk who thinks it's funny to throw popcorn at me while I'm trying to talk on the phone.