iLounge

Another patent awarded to Apple this week suggests that an upcoming iPhone could change settings according to its location. The patent concerns itself with enforcing “policy” on a wireless device, enabling the phone to adapt its settings when in a particular “range of policy.” This invention could create alerts using GPS, WLAN communication, and cellular triangulation, already standard technologies in Apple’s Location Services feature.

The patent suggests that dynamic settings could be used to automatically disable noises, lights, and communication with other devices in areas such as a movie theater or a classroom, evolutions of the current geofencing technology found in iOS 5. If the patent is implemented in an iPhone, it’s unclear what effect the new technology would have on battery life, as frequent use of Location Services tends to reduce run time. [via Apple Insider]