‘Theatre mode’ can switch back to normal.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian consulting firm called Patent Yogi has uncovered a patent detailing a brand new “theatre mode” that can be automatically activated at the movies.
In “inconspicuous mode,” which is what Microsoft is calling the unreleased feature, sounds are gone, the screen is dimmed to a low glow, and notifications are entirely omitted from a phone’s home screen. The clock, as opposed to being stymied along with the notifications, is displayed in large numerals that make it easy to read at-a-glance.
Within the patent documentation, Microsoft asserts the mode could be tailored to the specifications of various users, but the key feature is that it will be fully automatic. A phone’s GPS may detect its user is at a movie theatre and enter inconspicuous mode. Or a venue’s Wi-Fi or Bluetooth beacons could be programmed to tell phones to enter the discretionary mode. Phones could even be programmed to enter inconspicuous mode when light sensors detect darkness at the same time the microphone detects silence, such as at the beginning of a box-office flick.
Theoretically, devices could also tap into personal calendars or recent mobile payments to determine when a phone’s inconspicuous mode should be activated. If movie tickets are bought via a tap-to-pay service such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay, a phone would know when to go quiet.
Microsoft was careful to avoid implying the service would hijack control of a phone. The Redmond-based company was certain to include verbiage dispelling any such notion in their patent application: “The mobile communication device can exit the inconspicuous mode and return to the normal mode upon the user’s request,” it states emphatically.