A quick note about a new feature in the email client on the iPhone in the latest iOS4 release. When you receive an email with a date or time mentioned in it, Apple’s email client automatically detects the date, and presents it as an underlined hyperlink. Clicking the date then creates an event in your Calendar on the date/time that was recognised in the text. Apparently it defaults to using the email’s subject line as the event title. (As an aside, it’s also worth noting that Gmail has had similar functionality since around 2006.)

I’m guessing Apple has rolled-their-own date recognition code, probably using simple rules or regular expressions. Does anyone know more about the technology behind this feature?

(Hat tip to Rob Tot for alerting me to this functionality)