Conference looks at social, mobile possibilities

With the convergence of social networking and mobile phones becoming more pronounced, tech companies are working toward a future when those devices are beyond smart and become intuitive, speakers at a San Francisco conference said.

Using built-in accelerometers, GPS systems and compasses, a phone can have a "sixth sense" in determining when its owner is driving to work or sitting down to lunch, speakers at the Social-Loco Conference said. And then the phone can tap into a social network to make contextual recommendations, such as routes to get around a traffic jam or a new dish to try. "It should be able to understand you automatically," said Sam Liang, founder and chief executive officer of Alohar Mobile, a Palo Alto company that is working on just such a mobile platform.