Loud phone tune could damage hearing

FRANKFURT: Mobile phone tunes are considered by many to be a curse of modern life, but for users of some Siemens handsets they could be a positive hazard to health, the German engineering giant warned.

Adding to worries about electromagnetic radiation and following last year's reports of exploding Nokia phones, Siemens said those who omit to charge their 65 series phone batteries could suffer hearing damage in rare cases.

"If a telephone call is automatically cut off because the battery has run down, the disconnection melody could possibly start to play loudly. In extreme cases, this volume could lead to hearing damage," Siemens said in a statement.

"However, this danger can only arise if the mobile phone is held up directly to the ear while the melody is playing," it added.

A Siemens spokesman said the problem had been identified in laboratory tests and that the firm knew of no cases where hearing had actually been damaged.

The company has developed new software to fix the problem, which will be supplied in the coming weeks through Internet downloads or customer service, the spokesman said.

In the meantime, Siemens recommended that users deactivate the disconnection melody or the disconnection animation function.

The defect affects the C65, CX65, M65, S65 and SL65 models as well as the CV65, CT65, CXV65 and CXT65 variations, it said. Consumer queries would be answered at www.siemens-mobile.com.