App. idea for iPhone developers (for other location aware phones as well)

By Chandoo at 11 June, 2008, 5:46 pm



iPhone GPS App IdeasNow that iPhone is going to have GPS built in, here is an application idea any of you iPhone app developers out there.

The idea is simple, whenever the phone-holder is driving, this app would automatically answer calls with a pre-recorded message (that can go like, “Hi.., I am driving right now, please leave a message and I will get back to you when I stop”) and record callers message with in the phone hard-disk (instead of directing the caller to cell phone company’s voice mail service) and play when the phone-holder choose to.

You can find out if the phone-holder is driving by monitoring how fast the GPS co-ords are moving (beyond a reasonable threshold of 10mph implies they are driving, of course the person could be in a moving car / train as a passenger, in that case, they will let the app know by tapping a few keys / options)

I think, this would prevent a lot of people from actually taking calls while driving, reduce some concentration laps. Of course, its wholenother story that people may drive less, thanks to fuel prices ;)
What do you think?

PS: Image source





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Comments
Sukhbinder Singh June 12, 2008

Great idea!!! :)

gouri June 19, 2008

Nice Idea, Great!!!

GWBE June 20, 2008

It’s a good idea and will work with people like you and me who would want to be careful. But most of the population, especially in India, would turn-off this feature even if it was a standard iPhone app. This is the same reason why people has the audacity to ask 10 other people at a meeting to wait for a minute, while they answer a call. People are worried about missing calls. It’s like missing opportunities!

Chandoo June 20, 2008

@Sukhbinder singh, Gouri - thanks :)
@GWBE … You have a good point, its right, people are afraid to miss the opportunities, but the reality is entirely different. out of every 1000 calls a person gets may be 5-6 are actually an opportunity knocking their door, its mostly the otherway round (ie people calling others to get opportunity).

nevertheless, it all boils down to personal choices, whether you want to make use of software to make yourself safe or want a risky life of accelerating while texting..

Aatif June 26, 2008

People may also turn it off if they don’t want to let the caller know that they are now driving to some other place. :)

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