Google predictive text-entry patent knows where you are

If you're anything like me, your first thought will be that this is just a joke: Google have patented a phone that predicts your calls.  "I get it, " you're saying, "this is poking fun at smartphones that try to be the be-all and end-all of your mobile life."  But it's actually true; the patent goes on to explain that, based on your geographical location and predictions honed through learning your routines, your phone can, say, offer up nearby Indian restaurants at dinner-time.

It's similar - though obviously far more complex - to the profile scheduling some phones already have, automatically switching to silent, say, when you're down to attend a meeting, or immediately diverting to voicemail while you're on the commute home.  Only this being Google they've added in search and location.

 

"In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of providing text entry assistance data is disclosed. The method includes receiving at a system location information associated with a user, receiving at the system information indicative of predictive textual outcomes, generating dictionary data using the location information, and providing the dictionary data to a remote device. The received information indicative of predictive textual outcomes may relate to search requests made by a plurality of remote searchers. Also, the dictionary data may include a plurality of terms with a corresponding plurality of predictive weightings, and dictionary data may be generated using the information indicative of predictive textual outcomes)"

Complicated, yes, but it boils down to a phone service that adapts the information it serves up to the routine of your lifestyle.  An interesting twist, then, when most other manufacturers are trying to squeeze keyboards - physical or virtual - into their handsets; instead, Google's patent describes a system where the need to enter text would be greatly reduced as the company's servers interpret you in real-time.

Patents being what they are, this could be a feature we see in the mysterious "Google phone", it could be an add-on to someone else's handset range or it might just be mental exercise over at the Googleplex.  No matter; the important thing is that data entry is only going to get easier and more naturalistic.

Non-Standard Locality-Based Text Entry [via mad4mobilephones via SmartMobs]