Teaching Your Cell Phone Where It Is And How To Act

ScienceDaily — "Future cellular telephones and other wireless communication devices are expected to be much more versatile as consumers gain the ability to program them in a variety of ways. Scientists and engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have teamed up with a variety of computing and telecommunications companies to develop both the test methods and the standard protocols needed to make this possible."

"Programmable networks will include location aware services that will allow users to choose a variety of 'context aware' call processing options depending on where they are and who they are with. For example, a cell phone that 'knows' your location could be programmed to invoke an answering message service automatically whenever you are in a conference room or in your supervisor's presence. Context aware, programmable cell phone or PDA networks also may help users with functional tasks like finding the nearest bank or restaurant. Within organizations, these capabilities might be used to contact people by their role and location (e.g., call the cardiologist nearest to the emergency room)."

More simply -- recognize when I walk into church and turn off the ringer automatically.