Siemens has issued a warning about potential ear damage caused by its 65 series phones. If the battery is exhausted during a phone call, the handset shuts down, but before clapping out altogether, it plays a tune. Rather loudly. That's more polite than screaming "I'm spent!" in German into your ear, but the problem is serious. The handset plays the shutdown melody so loudly that the user's eardrum may be damaged, says Siemens.

The flaw affects version 11 of the software of the C65, CX65, M65, S65 model phones, and then only if the phone has already issued three low-battery warnings. Siemens has promised that users will get a free upgrade when it's available, and in the meantime recommends turning off "the disconnection melody".®

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