Soon, Windows Phone will predict which app you will use and preload for faster usage

Its an interesting idea, but very thoughtful for heavy phone users. Lets say you entered a new place and the first thing you do (most of the time) is Foursquare check in. Now to check in, you launch the app, wait for GPS to find you and then you find that place and then check in. Now majority of this time goes into loading up the app. What if this app was preloaded every time you enter your favorite coffee shop ? That will be great !! No ?

Microsoft Research has come with an app which analyses your usage on factors, What, Where and When and then make predictions of which app you might use, loads it in the background and when you launch it, you are ready to use it instantly. This is seriously a good idea !!!

Now here is even a better idea, the app has been built and being tested by the group already and named as Falcon which is a part of Microsoft Research project called “Context Data OS (ConDOS)”. The goal of which is to improve mobile OS experience by making it smarter by using context and making it a part of the OS.

If this feature can make into next OS or even becomes available as an App, will set Windows Phone apart from rest of the Mobile OS.

Video :

Watch at Source | Via Long Zheng

We have identified ways in which context can benefit key OS services such as memory management, scheduling, I/O and security. As a first step, we have built a prototype of Falcon: Fast App Launching with Context. As mobile apps become more deeply integrated into our everyday lives, mobile app interactions ought to be rapid and responsive.

Unfortunately, even the basic primitive of launching a mobile app. is sorrowfully sluggish: 20 seconds of delay is not uncommon even for very popular apps.

We have designed and built Falcon to remedy slow app launch. Falcon uses context such as user location and temporal access patterns to predict app launches before they occur. Falcon then provides apps systems support for effective app-specific pre-launching, which can dramatically reduce perceived delay.

We use novel features derived through extensive data analysis, and a novel cost-benefit learning algorithm that has strong predictive performance and low runtime overhead. Analysis shows that the user can save up to 35 seconds on a single app launch, resulting in significantly improved user experience. Falcon is implemented as an OS modification to Windows Phone.