KUCHING – An app that could set an alarm clock remotely on Android mobile devices via SMS won third prize in the SAINS Open Source Competition for Mobile Applications, recently.
The invention by computer science student Churchill Lee Chang Chean works by automatically first filtering the short messaging service (SMS) inbox upon receiving a text message. It then extracts the message and sets the alarm clock on the receiving device based on the time indicated in the message.
To trigger the alarm clock at 8:00 am, for example, all the sender needs to do is to enter “8-00” in the text message, explains Lee, an undergraduate student at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
“The receiver will have to give permission for the sender to set the alarm clock on his device, so there is a level of security and control,” he said, adding that not just anyone could set the alarm.
“The app is particularly useful to set a wakeup call or serves as a reminder for the receiver, for example when there is an important event to attend,” said Lee who came up with the idea for the app after he had difficulty getting up in time for his 8:30am classes.
“The app would allow my friends or even my lecturer to reset my alarm clock. More useful functions such as remotely inserting events and invitations or locating a misplaced mobile device via SMS, could be added in the future,” he said.
The app will however only work on the native SMS service. It will not function if there is an existing messaging app installed on the receiving device, such as GO!SMS.
The first prize in the SAINS Open Source Competition went to a student from Unimas while a team of students from UCTS, Sibu, took the second prize.