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Audiophiles constantly seek the next level in musical realism, as any reader of this website would acknowledge. The world at large, however, can't get enough of low-fidelity audio, as evidenced by the continuing popularity of the MP3 format.

Xingtone, a small company with offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Amsterdam, is betting on low-fi in a big way with technology that will allow people to send and receive MP3s over cell phones. The recently launched company already has 3000 users.

Reuters reporter Sue Zeidler notes that Xingtone's software can convert compressed music files into a format playable over the ubiquitous portable phone. The company hopes to "take the current ring-tone phenomenon one step beyond providing the robotic-sounding renditions of tunes currently playing on phones." Ring tones, such as riffs from Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" or Iron Butterfly's "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida," used to alert cell phone users to incoming calls, are a little-known source of revenue for the music industry.

Xingtone wants to take cell phone playback to the next level by providing a way to play entire songs, not just six-second clips. The company also claims that its technology makes the music sound better than ring tones, but it hasn't gone so far as to call it "CD quality." Wireless providers presently limit audio clips to no more than 30 seconds.

Zeidler says EMI Group PLC and other music labels have already licensed recordings to European and Asian wireless operators. "It's much easier for them [wireless companies] to license the content and sell it legitimately than to encourage thievery," explained Jay Samit, the British Phonograph Association's president of digital distribution.

Some industry execs are worried that Xingtone technology could enable a new form of piracy, with people bouncing unauthorized tunes to each other. Xingtone's software lets users load their own recordings into their phones and send them along, without extracting usage fees for the music industry. Sprint PCS subscribers with Sanyo or Samsung phones can do it now, according to Zeidler. Xingtone's Brad Zutaut said his company has already "spoken to one record label" about licensing agreements.