New app lets you transfer data by ‘singing’

In the second bird related story of the day, a brand new app has been launched which lets smartphone users send data to each other via a ‘digital birdsong'.  At present it's only available to iOS users but an Android version should be available sometime in the future.

The app sends audible data links as a short burst of sound called a ‘chirp'.  These ‘chirps' are designed to work at low volumes in noisy places like pubs and workplaces and are reliable over short distances.

Chirp was designed and built by Animal Systems, and is based on the work of senior researchers in a new spinout from University College London, Department of Computer Science.

Each chirp lasts for about two seconds and is essentially a sequence of music which consists of about a dozen rapid notes.  When your smartphone ‘hears' the chirp, it is decoded by the phone and the server and a shortlink is returned to the user which points to the data which can then be downloaded.  If you don't have an active data connection then the chirp can be saved and downloaded later.

It has a significant advantage over other apps used for data transfer as it can be used to transfer data to multiple devices at the same time without needing to pair with another device.

For more information on chirp, take a look at chirp website or watch their ‘Introducing Chirp‘ video on vimeo.  To download chirp from the App store, please click here.

KitGuru says: It seems that birds are at the forefront of communication these days.  Tweeting has been popular for a while and we expect that chirping will follow!

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