It often happens that I get a call (or text) to my mobile from someone I’m only metres away from. If I’m the one making the attempt at electronic communication it’s particularly annoying because it costs me a frightening amount to get connected -even if only for long enough to say “hi, where are you, oh I see you now.”
Today’s invention is a cellphone application which works out if the caller and intended receiver are within visual range (or at least within the same cell). Instead of making the call, the phone could simply issue a warning “YOU ARE NEAR THIS PERSON’S PHONE, STILL WANT TO CALL?”
Pressing ‘cancel’ would then offer the opportunity for the phone to say the name of the person repeatedly until the meeting occurs (people hear their own name effectively even in a noisy crowd). This would be particularly useful to those benighted drivers sent to pick up Mr Unspellable from International Arrivals, armed only with a small cardboard sign.
