‘CHIRP’ app: Share files via ‘digital birdsong’

Animal Systems, a London-based technology company, has released an app for the iPhone called Chirp which allows people to send pictures through short bursts of sound. An app that transmits data via a burst of "digital birdsong" aims to simplify the way users share images and other files between smartphones.
Chirp plays a two-second long noise that sounds as if it was made by a robotic bird. When heard by other devices it triggers a download.

With Chirp, your friends just need to be within hearing range. Using the app, you upload your picture or link to their cloud hosting service, which assigns it a unique address. Then, when the others are ready and have their app open and listening, you hit a button and your phone will make a musical little noise — in fact, it is the unique address of that file, transposed into sound.

The others receive it immediately and their phones download it from the central server. If they don't have any signal, the app will remember the location and download it later.

Chirp has the advantage that it can quickly send data to multiple devices at once without them needing to be either paired or have a wireless connection.

If recipients are offline their devices will remember the "chirp" and download associated content later.

At the moment users are limited to sending pictures, website links or 140-character text messages. Besides, the app is free to use, only companies will be charges a fee for add-on services.

Increasing Chirp's potential, is its ability to work over public address systems and radio transmissions, enabling broadcasters and companies to instantly send extra information, coupons and promotional material to their audience. Animal Systems is thus planning to tempt marketers and businesses with a premium service, according to the BBC.

For now Chirp is only available as an iPhone app. An Android version is promised "soon".