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Well, I think you're right that the screen is still the best and simplest way to check for many indicators, but at least there's someone out there trying to innovate. Also, I can think of some examples where it's better than looking at the screen.
For example, I'm constantly checking my Windows Mobile device to see if I have new emails (the email notification is quirky and won't always alert me when new mails come in). With this, I could theoretically just shake my phone to see if there are messages without having to take it out of my pocket. Of course, it probably wouldn't work when the phone is in sleep mode, but that is solvable.