A new Muslim-targetted mobile phone uses a compass and location data to tell its owners which direction Mecca is at prayer-time. Bruce Sterling wrote this into a story called "We See Things Differently" for the seminal and brilliant Semiotext(e) SF anthology in 1990.
By setting the -5300-compass to the north and inputting their location information, Muslims can now easily find the direction of Mecca. With this feature, the handset positions itself as a specialized functional phone in the Middle East market. In particular, it is expected to spur a boom in the region because the compass may be used even where GPS services are unavailable.
I wonder if you can get a ringtone of a Muzzein's call to prayer?
(via Gizmodo)
