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A cellphone that is aware where it is and adjusts its ringing mode accordingly is being patented by IBM’s research lab in Winchester (EP 1162853/4). IBM notes that the cellphone industry already plans to build Global Positioning System receivers into handsets so that they can tell emergency services where the caller is. The new system uses GPS to switch the phone’s ringing modes. In “region definition” mode, the phone stores its current GPS coordinates while the owner tells it whether to ring loudly, quietly, vibrate or divert to an answering service. This can be done separately in several locations—home, work, church and your favourite bar, for example—so the phone knows afterwards exactly how to behave there.