It's Britney on the blower

The age of irritating phone tunes might be over after a Nottingham-based company claims to have developed the UK's first ring tones which can play more than four instruments.

Phat Tonez's offerings can include guitar, piano, violin and drums instead of the single beeps which have irritated countless train and restaurant users since the invention of the mobile phone.

A spokesman said that the firm was also developing technology that will allow 'mixing' ring tones with sampled sounds, such as singing or celebrities' voices.

This would mean that you could have David Beckham, Russell Crowe or Britney Spears telling you that you had a text message.

The spokesman maintained that Phat Tonez has been approached by several record companies which want to convert new releases into a sound-alike ring tone that can be quickly delivered over the air to customers' phones.

Record companies could send a ring tone of a new single to a fan who might later buy the record.

The new tones will be compatible with several handsets which are being made with the technology in mind, including the new Nokia 3510 and 7210 phones due for release in the latter half of 2002.