Phones horn in on vuvuzela craze

THEY may be under threat of being banned from World Cup football stadiums but the vuvuzela is here to stay as mobile phone users can keep the sound in their pockets.

A range of phone applications, most of them free, are being snapped up by users of Apple iPhones and other smartphones to mimic the sound of the horns that are making as much news as the action at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Despite the efforts of global TV bosses to have the noisy instruments banned because of complaints from soccer fans having difficulty hearing commentaries, FIFA decided this week not to ban fans from bringing them into the stadia where the top teams are vying for glory.