Ringtone Producer

Sunshine. Leisurely strolls through the park. Birdsong.

These are just some of the loveliness we all associate with summer.

However, residents of the Northern Hemisphere, who are enjoying summer right now, might find something disturbingly unnatural about the birdsong these days.

According to German ornithologists, an increasing amount of wild birds are imitating the simple ringtones of mobile phones.

These birds can “sing up to 78 different phrases, and many of the simplest telephone ringtones coincide with them,” said ornithologist Matthias Werner, of Germany’s bird protection agency.

“The common titbird (Parus major) can sing 32 different songs,” he said.

According to Werner, birds like the Eurasian jackdaw (Corvus monedula), the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) - very common in Germany and Central European countries - were put in contact with electronically created sounds as a result of the expansion of urban life, the food opportunities provided by cities, and the fast-paced growth of mobile phone use.

“It’s in the nature of these birds to imitate sounds in their environment that correspond to their own musical capabilities,” said Richard Schneider, of the NABU Bird Protection Centre, in the city of Mössingen (600 km south of Berlin).

“They can imitate those sounds so well that sometimes it is very difficult to hear the difference.”

Luckily, the experts agree that these phenomena don’t indicate the loss of the species’ original songs. Nor, they claim, is it dangerous.

We don’t think the experts took into account the danger to Germans who might suddenly be overcome with the desire to scale trees in order to answer the incessant ringing?

While the German birds try to master the new, more complex ringtones, ringtones in Japan are literally going to the dogs.

The Japanese, who can always be counted upon to come up with strange if impractical gizmos and gadgets, have done it again. A Tokyo-based cellular content provider, Dwango, has now launched ringtones that are ‘only audible to dogs’.

Imagine telling your boss that you missed your calls because the dog didn’t answer your phone! Must say, we never would’ve guessed that the old staple excuse of “the dog ate my homework” could ever have the potential to be upgraded/modernised!

Staying in the east: It’s bad enough that one has to be subjected to the annoying ringtones of others. But imagine having to jump to attention every time a co-worker’s phone rings?

But this is exactly what may happen in India. Although patriotic tunes are widely used in that country without causing offence, people who have downloaded the Indian national anthem ‘Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he’ as their caller tune or ringtone may be in trouble, following an objection alleging disrespect. Indian rules state that when the national anthem is being sung, all present must stand up and remain so until it is over.

Our advice? Stick to Bollywood’s greatest hits!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under Ringtone Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.