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For Immediate Release, April 15, 2010

Contact:  Peter Galvin, Center for Biological Diversity, (707) 986-2600
Tom Wallace, Mobile Culture Lab, (323) 630-4000
Bradley Feldman, Bradley Mobile Media, LLC, (347) 599-6677

New iPhone App Features Wolf Howls, World's Largest Free Collection of Endangered Animal Ringtones

Wild Calls App Believed First to Use "Push Notification" Technology for Environmental Education, Activism

Mexican gray wolf
Mexican gray wolf photo © Robin Silver.

SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity today announced the release of an innovative new iPhone application, Wild Calls, a free app designed to increase awareness of the plight of endangered species worldwide and to spur people to take action to protect wildlife.

The free application allows users to receive a randomly selected endangered species sound each week (or more frequently if users choose) via push notification. Through the “Call of the Wild” feature, each week one of 30 endangered species sounds will be randomly selected from the Center’s library and “pushed” to app users, who can then experience a genuine recording of an endangered species in its natural habitat, captured by someone in the Center’s global network of scientists and researchers. Users can then download the sound as a ringtone or browse the app’s gallery of additional “Rare Earthtones” to download additional ringtones, along with matching wallpapers, or learn more about endangered species. Another feature of the app, “Wake Up Wild,” allows users to make their cell-phone alarm clock play an endangered species sound as their wake-up call.

Said Peter Galvin, conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity: “Wild Calls is destined to be one of the top green apps ever developed; we’re excited to help bring authentic sounds of nature to offices, subways, stores, and other urban locations through iPhones across the country.”

The Wild Calls app is believed to the first iPhone app specifically devoted to the protection of endangered wildlife. The app also allows users to subscribe to Endangered Earth Online, the acclaimed weekly electronic newsletter of the Center for Biological Diversity; to receive press releases in real time as they are issued from the Center; and to respond to action alerts from the Center by signing letters and petitions in support of protecting species, places, and the climate.

Added Galvin: “Wild Calls is a great app for iPhone users who care about animals and nature; it allows folks to experience the sounds and images of endangered species and other fascinating wildlife throughout the day, to learn more about the issues, and to take action to protect the environment. Wild Calls helps keeps the wild close by, no matter where you are.”

The iPhone application was developed by a team including Tom Wallace, creative director of Mobile Culture Lab – a division of Label Networks – and Bradley Feldman, owner of Bradley Mobile Media, LLC. These companies have collectively worked on many complex mobile applications, including Royal Caribbean’s Royal Connect, The Keep-A-Breast Foundation, and Label Networks.

“The Center for Biological Diversity wanted to leverage its deep informational and multimedia resources on endangered species to put something intriguing and fun in the general public's hands while, at the same time, increasing public awareness of the importance and urgency of its outreach programs,” said Feldman. “Tom and I believe we've delivered a platform that not only allows the Center to reach that goal, but also permits rapid deployment of new features down the road.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national nonprofit devoted to protecting endangered species and wildlife through litigation, science, and creative media. The Center’s free ringtones site, www.RareEarthtones.org, was launched in 2007 and now features almost 100 ringtones, 30 of them available for downloading by Spanish speakers.

The sounds and images of endangered, rare, and fascinating species included as part of the Wild Calls app are:

Mexican wolf
Orca
Beluga
Bobcat
African elephant
Elk
Grizzly bear
Humpback whale
Bald eagle
Polar bear 
Blue-throated macaw 
Whooping crane 
Yosemite toad
Pine Barrens treefrog
Crawfish frog 
Great Basin rattlesnake
Florida panther
Giant panda
Puerto Rican screech owl
Peruvian plantcutter 
Emperor penguin chick
Boreal owl
Fringe-backed fire-eye
Red poison dart frog
Coquí guajón rock frog
Barred owl
Common loon
Barn owl
Coyotes
Eastern screech owl

About the Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity works through science, law, and creative media to secure a future for all species, great or small, hovering on the brink of extinction. The Center is supported by more than 255,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For more information, visit www.BiologicalDiversity.org.

About the Developers
Mobile Culture Lab, based in Los Angeles, is the technical division of Label Networks (a leading Global Youth Culture Intelligence Company) that specializes in designing and developing applications for the mobile generation. Having developed wireless applications in various youth markets, Mobile Culture Lab comes with a deep understanding of the mobile lifestyle and the potential and future growth based on the rapid evolution of this market for a new generation. For more information, visit www.mobileculturelab.com.

Bradley Mobile Media, LLC, is a mobile-application design, development, and publishing boutique, specializing in the iPhone, iPad, and Android OS Platforms. The company, based in the Times Square area of New York City, focuses on finding unusual projects and opportunities to develop applications for clients that catapult their products, services, and offerings into their customers' mobile hands, while leveraging their already existing corporate-technology infrastructures. For more information, visit www.bradleymobilemedia.com.

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