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(via theunwired)

In the realm of "what might come to pass", Microsoft has recently been awarded a patent, titled "Extensible Filtered Lists for Mobile Device User Interface".  The patent primarily concerns itself with methodologies and systems for providing mobile users with an improved user interface for "including, but not limited to, a PDA, text messenger, cellular phone, pocket personal computer, smartphone, ultra-mobile tablet PC" and other similar ilk. The idea is to allow software applications to provide access to their services and information via lists or groups of items. These items can then individually hold items that enable access to tasks or data from numerous applications.

What does this mean for mobile users? Well, rather than having to first think about what you need to do for a given task, then think about what app you need to use to do that particular task, followed by considering how to use that app, the general idea from Microsoft is to streamline the process so that needed information can be more efficiently accessed.  In other words, interface usability would in theory be driven more by a user’s desire for more discrete information  as opposed to having to muddle through several applications to get data. In addition,  situational user profiles could be created to access data by user-specified criteria.

From the patent:

For example, a user can specify a work profile that includes a set of item groups specific to the user’s occupation. The user can also create a separate user profile for use outside of work that can include entertainment information, personal contacts and the like. Users can create profiles specific to geographic locations, which can be particularly useful for users that travel frequently. A user profile can also effect other mobile device or user interface settings and is not necessarily limited to specifying the set of display item groups.

I’m not sure if any of this logic or set of features will appear in the successor to Windows Mobile 6, code named Photon (release date said to be 2008), as this may be years away from fruition, but we can always hope.