As handheld communication devices become part of everyday life, device manufactures and service providers strive to enhance the versatility and performance of such devices.
Handheld communication devices in the art (e.g., mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc.) typically use auditory and visual cues to alert a user when incoming messages, such as voice calls and emails, are received. Such auditory and visual alerts, however, have the disadvantages of being distracting in some situations (e.g., during driving), or annoying in others (e.g., during a meeting or a concert). Although vibratory alerts are made available in some communication devices such as cellular phones, such vibratory effects cannot be customized or personalized according to applications, thus conveying little information to the user. A need, therefore, exists in the art for a new sensory modality that delivers information to users of handheld communication devices in a personalized fashion.