Unfinished Businesses

Update: I did this myself (for Windows Mobile phones), and it’s now for sale here.

Problem: Couple of beers after work. Get on train. Fall asleep. Wake up at the end of the line.

Solution: Phone app to wake you up as your station approaches. Simply tell the app the station you’re intending to get off at, and how many minutes’ warning you want, and stick it on your pocket. You may now doze off happily on the phone, safe in the knowledge that it’s going to vibrate and make alarming noises when it’s nearby your station. It’s a pretty simple app – you just need a list of stations and their latitudes and longitudes, and you’re pretty much good to go. You can probably even get these from Google Maps or similar (I think there’s a Google API for the iPhone, and I know there’s a Bing one for Windows Mobile).

Some refinements that I thought of – this needn’t just set off an alarm. How about it sends your other half a text message at the same time, telling them to come and pick you up? And it doesn’t really just have to apply to stations. What if you’re carpooling and you need to let your carpool buddy know that you’re 2 mins away from his house?

I might actually do this one (Windows Mobile) – if anyone’s interested in knocking up a partner iPhone app, let me know.