Here’s a neat little Palm Pre feature its makers didn’t go into too much detail about during its launch at CES: If you’re running late for a meeting the phone will automatically tell the people you’re due to meet. Yep, that’s right. It’s a dirty little snitch.
Actually, it’s pretty clever, and sounds a little like plans Apple has already let slip for the iPhone.
The premise is that the Palm Pre will hold your calendar, and has GPS. So it knows where you are, where you need to be, and what time. Add that to traffic reports and it can figure out if you’re going to be late, and fire off a message to your colleagues, or anyone else you’re meeting.
Elecation Partners has sunk half a billion dollars worth of investment into Palm, and has its hopes pinned on this sort of integration to make the company top dog in the handheld world.
Elevation Partners’ Roger McNamee explained the tech to Gizmodo, saying: “it realizes you’re going to be late, it says, ‘Hey, not only are you going to be late, but I can take care of it for you. I’ll send an email to your assistant or to the people in the meeting, which would you prefer? And oh, by the way, here’s the map.’”
But it’s not the only firm doing this stuff. Google has patented similar systems, as has Apple. And in the UK, the INQ1 phone is already pooling feeds from personal calendars and social networks. The next-gen will have GPS too, so you can bet it’ll follow in Palm’s footsteps.
TBC | £TBC | Palm
