As I said before, people who text or use their phones in theaters are jerks. I didn't just pay like a billion dollars just to hear about your grandmother's arthritis. Thankfully, that may all change. 

Apple had a patent approved just yesterday that will "chang[e] one or more functional or operational aspects of a wireless device...upon the occurrence of a certain event.” That means that apple could theoretically change the settings on your i-cellular-phone (you Android people and your freedom!) depending on where you are through science and magic. 

Apple could install a feature that will ultimately dim your phone screen, shut down your calls and texts, and lock your camera features through something called "geo-fencing technology" (read as magic). Something like this wouldn't conceivably have an effect on us for some time though as the whole kit and kaboodle sounds very expensive. Theaters would have to invest in the tech, and the patent shows no sign of retroactively installing the feature on past models (presumably the tech will be featured in future iterations of the iPhone). 

While the geo-fencing technology has 1984 implications, I'd like to think it's just going to stomp down jerks instead of what the feature may actually do...like decide when it's appropriate for me to call people. 

[Engadget, via /Film]