Samsung Electronics has developed a perfume spraying cell phone to release "smell tones" when incoming calls are received.

Photo: Mobile phone with perfume spraying apparatus

According to the recently filed patent application, controls are also available to adjust the type or amount of perfume sprayed. And when the perfume is used up, exchangeable cartridges can be reloaded.

The invention uses a pressurized heating chamber to store one or more scents. Using an ultrasonic controller triggered by the press of a button or an incoming call, perfume is excited and released into the air.

However practicality may hinder its integration and eventual product release. The spray unit adds considerable bulk, contrary to slimmer and smaller market trends. "It may be difficult to embed a perfume spraying apparatus in a small and lightweight mobile phone," the application states. And more fundamentally, "the perfume may stain the mobile phone or the user's clothes."

Mobile multimedia has grown to become a $9.1 billion industry. With ringtones and more recently ringback tones projected at making up 12% of total music sales by 2008, consumers continue to look for new customizations. And Samsung is hard at work to find new ways to differentiate mobile phones.