Apple might turn the iPhone into an answering machine, a recent patent suggests

The Cupertino giant has just patented an audio call screening feature, which might enable iPhone users to listen to a voice message while the caller is leaving it. Apple's US Patent No.8,666,034 allows "a user to screen messages being left at a hosted voicemail system from a telephone terminal".



What does this mean, exactly? Simply put, it's an answering machine for your iPhone. Just as the conventional answering machines for landline phones, Apple's audio call screening system allows you to listen to a voicemail message while the caller is leaving it. If you decide that the call is important, ...