14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is working to add a new feature to Windows Phone, that would allow devices to automatically switch to silent mode, and thus remove audio and visual notifications when watching a movie or sleeping.
At this point, users do have an option called quiet hours, which is controlled by personal assistant Cortana, but the company is developing a new independent system that wouldn’t require users input to automatically switch the phone to silent.
A new patent called “inconspicuous mode” that was spotted by TNW on the USPTO website shows that Microsoft’s new service would use several surrounding factors to determine when the phone’s notifications need to be turned off.
Auto-silent when sleeping or watching movies
According to the abstract section of the patent, Windows Phone devices could soon be capable of analyzing information offered by GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi mac addresses and surrounding sound to determine your location and thus figure out whether the notification system should be turned off or not.
What’s more, the new feature can also analyze your browsing history and see whether you searched the web to purchase a movie ticket and determine the right hours to disable ringtones.
Users will be provided with options to manually disable this silent mode, but the system will also include settings to automatically restore the original settings when the event comes to an end.
Similar features on BlackBerry
Although Microsoft’s “inconspicuous mode” seems to be a really advanced piece of technology, similar features already exist on other mobile platforms, including BlackBerry 10.
BlackBerry’s devices automatically monitor your calendar entries and turn notifications off and on when an event starts and ends, respectively. Such features are actually the foundation of BlackBerry’s state-of-the-art productivity side, so with the new technology, Microsoft might be aiming to gain more ground in this direction.
The new feature could be part of Windows Phone 10 when it hits the market later this year, and more information could be provided by the company itself next week, during a new Windows 10 event taking place on January 21.
