Interview

A new smartphone app called Chirp allows short-range data exchange using digital ´birdsong´. Sounds like fun, but there´s a very serious side to chirping, says inventor Patrick Bergel. I´M SITTING in a loud pub in south London. Bruce Springsteen is blaring out on the jukebox, crowds of men are shouting at footballers on plasma screens, and an energetic argument has broken out over a game of pool. This must be the perfect place to test a new sonic data transfer protocol.