Handy application ideas

Knight Walker moko at kobran.org
Fri Feb 2 01:31:06 CET 2007


On Fri, Feb 02, 2007 at 12:57:22AM +0100, Richard Bennett wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> There's 2 apps I think would be really usefull:
> SMS Remote Control.
> Allow the NEO user to record a 'macro', like 'Call number xxxx in 
> speaker-phone mode' , 'Beep loudly' or 'SMS my GPS coordinates to number xxx' 
> etc (basically a shell script that could be created by selecting actions from 
> a list in a GUI).
> Then allow them to assign this macro to a key-word, and password.
> If an SMS or email is received with that keyword and password in it, the phone 
> should execute the associated macro .
> This would allow you to sms your phone to beep loudly if you can't find it, 
> even if it is in the 'silent' profile and you wouldn't hear it ring if you 
> called it.
> You could also sms it to send you its GPS coords, if you think it has been 
> stolen.
> You could initiate it to make voice calls in speaker-phone mode, controlled 
> from your PC, or some other device.
> You could build the phone into a car, and use this to command your car 
> remotely, through a USB break-out box - set heating to x degrees, lock 
> everything, cut engine at next halt, talk to driver over speaker-phone etc. 

I had a similar idea.  Basically, add the ability to the Messaging
framework for messages with certain content (keywords? paterns?) to be
intercepted before the Messaging software notifies the owner of them and then
execute a pre-defined routine (shell script, other program, etc).

My thought was for mail notification (a.la Push and random access voicemail
aka "Visual Voicemail") but it could be extended into something like the above.

> These SMS commands could be set to suppress any audio signal normally played 
> when a message is received, and auto-discard themselves after execution.

If they are processed before the audio signal is played, all the better.  With
my original idea, if an SMS comes in regarding an important message, rather
than getting just the normal SMS beep, the phone could play a different beep.
Or if the message is detailing a voice mail message, the phone could kick off
a routine to download the message without otherwise bothering you, or play
a different alert tone for voicemail (This has been hashed over several times
on this list already).

> The second app would be a simple 'phone home ping' That would SMS the phone's 
> current phone number, and GPS coords to a secure SMS gateway each time the 
> SIM card is changed.
> This way if the phone was stolen, and the sim card was changed you would know 
> the current phone number so you could send SMS commands to track the phone, 
> etc.

That gives me another idea: use an identifying number read from the SIM as
a key to access some of the data on the phone, so if the SIM is swapped, the
phone locks user data until another pass code is input to unlock it...

> Then a nice sensor for V2 would be an RFID chip scanner. This way the phone 
> could be completely locked unless it detected the RFID chip you had put in 
> your arm on your last trip to a disco on Ibiza, or it could know how much 
> money you had on you by detecting the RFID chips that are in banknotes...
> Not meant 100% seriously that one ;o)

You had me until this one. :)

-KW




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