Mobile phones to notify namaz timings through image

WASHINGTON - A new software application meant for mobile phones can alert Muslim users to namaz timings through an image combined with audible alerts.

The screen of the mobile phone shows an image of the sun lining up with a green circle when it is time to pray.

‘Users told us that tracking the sun was the most religiously valued method to determine prayer times,’ said Susan Wyche, doctoral candidate at Georgia Institute of Technology, and member of the team that developed the application.

Wyche and colleagues tested their application with Muslims from Georgia Tech and the greater Atlanta area for two weeks with favourable reaction. After some alterations, they plan to make the application available for download, according to a Georgia Tech release.

The device is being discussed this week at the human-computer interaction conference in Boston.