Massachusetts Industry of Technology professor Hal Abelson put that question to about 20 computer science students this semester when he gave them one assignment: Design a software program for cell phones that use Google Inc.’s upcoming Android mobile operating system.

In the process, they revealed the power of an open system like Android to shake up the mobile phone industry, where wireless companies are being pressured to loosen the control they have maintained over what devices do. If the brainstorms of these MIT students are an indication, phones will soon challenge the Internet as a source of innovation.

While most of the students designed applications related to location (locative media, mobile users), one team came up with exactly what you described for the Blackberry:

Then there was Locale, which lets users configure their phones to automatically adjust their settings when the devices detect themselves in certain zones. So you might set your phone to automatically go into vibrate mode in the office and silent mode at the movie theater, and ring everywhere else.

Read the article here.

Would not turning the Blackberry off for the duration of the meeting accomplish the same thing as an app that ’silences’ it during the meeting ? The alerts will stlll be there when it’s turned back on, no ?