The words in the Pepsi advertisement jingle compiled for the Indian audience, literally translating to "the heart wants more" and most everyone's craze for new and varied ring tones are a perfect match. With the number of cell phone connections sky rocketing in India and the rest of the world, this is one craze that has very little chance of ebbing away. Not that I am one to complain, especially if the tune is one of Kishore Kumar's evergreen melodies! But I'd draw the line at some of the more bizarre tunes or so called tunes, like a baby crying or the sound of a 'fart' that some individuals insist on assaulting our eardrums with.

Some basic points about the ring tone:

1. It is the name given to the sound made by any kind of telephone, not just mobile phones, to announce an incoming call or text message. Most of these sounds, especially those that do not have a tune or are not customised, are not tones at all and should actually be called ring sounds.

2. The first telephones had a bell which made a 'ring'ing sound when struck by a hammer, operating electromagnetically, to announce a call. While this system is still common, most cell phones and modern land line phones have advanced from the ring to producing different kinds of sounds.

3. While receivers nowadays allow adjustments to the volume, there are many variations on offer regarding the type of ring tone - to allow differentiation between two or more instruments lying side by side. Specific customer requirements are also covered, such as for the hearing impaired.

4. Towards the late 1980s mechanical ring tones were slowly getting replaced by electronic ones progressing from single tones to those playing two, three or more tones and then on to melodies.

5. 1996 saw the advent of the customised ring tones on mobile phones, with some Japanese manufacturers offering a number of options, both customised and pre-recorded.

6. Downloadable ring tones were available from 1998 and this service has now become an enormously successful industry right across the globe.

7. Real tones, which are usually taken from popular songs, began to be distributed from late in 2002.

All the new music being generated by bands, composers, films, etc. number in the hundreds of thousands across the world. Marketing these as ring tones before or at the time of launch allows the tune to become popular and improve the prospects of it becoming a 'hit'. Ring tones are now available online, can be sent via sms or copied from a DVD or CD. A number of sites specialise in bringing the latest offerings to the consumer, sometimes the second it's out of the recording studio. There is a huge amount of financial turnover in this business, running into billions of dollars, because everyone would love to have only the latest and the best. Since I am no different from most others and want options for everything, my heart to get to have more . ring tones!