People Context Feature Request
 

Apologies in advance if this is planned to happen or is currently technically impossible - It would be very useful if contexts could also be linked to other phones, either iPhones other, so that In my people contexts, when I am near that person, I can be prompted with tasks relating to them.

Two ways I imagine this would be possible (again nothing new) is using bluetooth or wifi to detect nearby devices and link them to a context. If this was possible it would be simpler than an additional service or software being required to share to location information.

I don't know that we particularly already plan to do this. I'll file a feature request though.

Obviously there are some privacy concerns to think about.

As far as privacy I think there are various opt-in algorithms. See, for example, the app Twinkle, [url]http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284967867&mt=8[/url], which apparently has at least one privacy related problem in its implementation.

Privacy Concerns
 

If it were to use the other device's bluetooth UUID for location then it would just be aware of information that is already being transmitted by the phone and would not really affect the privacy of wither user any more than is currently happening should bluetooth be on.

Another solution would be different and would be more appropriate with an opt-in/more robust privacy.

The bigger picture is the possibility of interactions as described here:
[url]http://www.mindjack.com/feature/phone012606.HTML[/url]

But for the purposes of contexts to get things done, having awareness of other people's devices would be pretty powerful.

wow - this is a really neat idea - I second this one! it would replace any need for shared lists outside of OF (in my case, tada list)

[QUOTE=Lizard;42193]Obviously there are some privacy concerns to think about.[/QUOTE]

my comment to this would be I would use such a feature with trusted colleagues and friends I collaborate with frequently and much like validation is done up front to add someone to the group - maybe this is how it would work.

This strikes me as the sort of idea that sounds cool, but doesn't end up being all that useful. Unless you have an enormous amount of people you deal with (or can't remember people's names), wouldn't it be just as easy to create a context for each person and access it yourself when you see them?

[QUOTE=Stormchild;42297]wouldn't it be just as easy to create a context for each person and access it yourself when you see them?[/QUOTE]

that's correct - that's how I do things now.

I look forward to having shared contexts.

i'm not attached to how it's done - I just know it's useful and something my old Palm didn't have because the Internet was never a conduit - the strength of the iPhone IMHO.

Contact Notes
 

I don't see how you could possibly implement proximity sensing without background processes, and without draining the battery. However, it would be tremendously useful if agenda items could be tied to the corresponding contact's address book record. A few ideas:
[LIST][*]Add items to the user's notes. I [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=3903"]did this via AppleScript[/URL] a while back.[*]Add a badge to the user's avatar to indicate that there are action items associated with the contact record.[/LIST]
This way, when I get/place a call, the actions (or at least a visual indication of the presence of actions) associated with the contact are right in front of me.

gotcha on the reality of it all (background processes, battery, etc)

[QUOTE=dansays;43965][LIST][*]Add a badge to the user's avatar to indicate that there are action items associated with the contact record.[/LIST]
This way, when I get/place a call, the actions (or at least a visual indication of the presence of actions) associated with the contact are right in front of me.[/QUOTE]

i like this idea - I'm not a salesforce.com user but does sound reminiscent of it!

I also would be quite supportive of an approach where OF could manage a "smart context" whose "subclasses" are contacts in one's address book that have action/items associated with them.

It's sorta how my @Agenda and @Waiting contexts look like for my key contacts.