Auto Tech: Use your car horn to blare out any recording
By Mark Glover - Bee Auto Editor

Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page G2

http://www.sacbee.com/wheels/story/373668.html

It was only a matter of time in this high-tech age that someone got
around to customizing the sound of the automobile horn.

Enter San Clemente-based Horntones Corp., the 2-year-old company
specializing in mobile audio products. Its flagship product is called
the Horntones FX-550 System, billed as "the first mobile audio system
that allows you to augment the sound of your vehicle horn function
using virtually any standard audio file format."

The company offers a handful of suggested audio offerings.

You can hit your horn and get the tough-guy line actor Clint Eastwood
made famous in the 1983 Dirty Harry film, "Sudden Impact": "Go ahead,
punk. Make my day."

Of course, the discriminating motorist might want to be careful about
using that one; using it when you're in line behind a massive, jacked-
up pickup at a monster-truck rally might not be a good idea, for
instance.

Just saying.

But there are more gentle audio horn choices produced by the company.
You can opt for the happy tune of "I Got You, Babe," a hit for Sonny
and Cher back in 1965. Horntones said it's a great way to announce
your arrival at your girlfriend's home.

The instantly recognizable theme from the 1975 movie thriller, "Jaws,"
is likewise on the audio menu, although one is inclined to wonder just
when that piece might be appropriate. Maybe in a traffic jam of
goldfish.

Anyway, you get the idea. If it's in audio form via any MP3 audio
clip, the Horntones FX-550 System can project the sound outward from
your vehicle.

"The brain-seed for this invention occurred at a coffee shop back in
the summer of 2005, when a group of teenagers were heckling me about
the Incredible Hulk that is airbrushed on the hood of my H1 Hummer,"
said Horntones Corp. President Mike Kosco, a California native and
graduate of California State University, Fullerton. "I thought to
myself, 'I wish I had a button I could push that would make my car
growl.'

"Well, the Hummer now growls and makes hundreds of other sounds too,
from simple voice clips to entire theme songs."

The Horntones FX-550 System is basically made up of three pieces -- a
controller/player, an audio amplifier and a speaker. The system can
store 256 megabytes of tones. It has 9 preset buttons.

Tones are organized into "themes," with names such as Tailgate Party,
Concert, Car Show, Soccer, Carpool, Movies, Politics and
Advertisements.

New tones can be added by using a standard USB thumb drive. The
company's Web site -- www.horntones.com -- includes a "virtual player"
that allows users to configure their FX-550 online and then save the
file to a USB thumb drive.

The thumb drive can then be plugged into the FX-550 system, where new
tones and configuration settings are automatically loaded. The system
does not have to be removed from the vehicle during this process.

The Horntones FX-550 System can be ordered at the company Web site for
$250, plus shipping costs.

More details can be obtained by calling (949) 429-7900 or sending e-
mails to inquire at horntones.com.