So . . . the iPhone is now inextricably entrenched in my life. I use it to record, organize, enhance and share my life. Barely a phone, more of a computer and definitely an extension of myself . And yet, there is always room for improvement. I need the iPhone – not an app – to be aware. What I mean, is that it needs to know where I am (which it does) and what time it is (which it does) and then adapt to meet my situational needs. Examples below:
Screen brightness – I get up early. The first thing I do is reach for my iPhone to check texts, Flipboard, etc. As you can imagine my eyes are sensitive and I’d like the screen to be dimmer than usual. The “Auto-Brightness” feature isn’t quite doing it. If anything it makes it brighter.
Volume – When I go to sleep at night, I need the volume on the ringer and the alerts to turn itself off. So, if the device is in my bedroom and it’s after ten (I wish!) AND the accelerometer hasn’t been triggered in the last 10 minutes, the volume for alerts turns off. (But the alarm still works.)
Kid mode – If you have a child, you already know what I’m talking about. When you hand the device to the little one, you should be able to use voice command and say “kid mode” and the device locks down all of your icons in their current location (to prevent the ensuing insanity you’ll feel when you get it back and all your apps are in two directories or have been nuked) and turns the signal off (to protect their little internal organs from the radioactive device they’re currently holding).
Phone booth – The only time I really make calls is when I’m in the car or walking. If the phone sensed that I was in motion, Siri could ask me if I’d like to make a call and if I replied yes, it could then recommend people I’ve most recently spoken with or most frequently called (your mother on Mother’s Day!).
Along with being waterproof, I’d like to see more awareness built into the iPhone 5 and hope that it looks exactly like the concept (shown above) created by CiccareseDesign. We’ll see . . .
