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To: blam
I checked on this yesterday. It turns out that Yamaha Corp. in Japan has already patented a device that points to Mecca - U.S. Patent #6,946,991.

A portable terminal (e.g., portable telephone) is constituted using a geomagnetic sensor for detecting an azimuth, and a GPS receiver for detecting a present position thereof. A direction of a prescribed place (e.g., Mecca) is calculated based on the azimuth information and position information, so that the calculated direction is indicated by an arrow displayed on the screen of a display. In addition, a prescribed message is displayed on the screen of the display, or it is produced as preset vocalized sounds by a speaker. The azimuth information and position information are automatically produced at each religious service time, at which a user, especially a muslim who pray, holds a religious service in the direction of Mecca. In addition, the portable terminal can detect a direction match between the direction designated by the prescribed portion (e.g., antenna) of the portable terminal body and the direction of Mecca.

Too bad we didn't think of this earlier, we could have made a fortune.

7 posted on 04/21/2006 11:52:47 AM PDT by HAL9000 (Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
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To: HAL9000

still be useful for missles.


22 posted on 04/21/2006 12:17:09 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Many at FR would respond to Christ "Darn right, I'll cast the first stone!")
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