Japan phone alerts couples to baby-making window

OKYO, Oct 30 (Reuters) Is it a phone call, a text message or simply time to make love? A new mobile phone available through Japan's NTT DoCoMo can ring to let would-be mothers know when they reach the most fertile part of their monthly reproductive cycles.

By tapping in data on menstruation dates, the user can programme the phone to alert her three days before ovulation and again on the day. The company warns that the calculations are based on average cycles.

The new phone comes after Japan's fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- fell to an all-time low of 1.25 in 2005, sparking worries about a shrinking population.

The phone was the idea of female designer Momoko Ikuta, who also provided its pastel paisley look.

The handset provides several other functions designed to appeal to women, such as a recipe database and a button on the side that sets off a ''camouflage melody'', allowing the user to avoid unwanted attention by pretending to receive a call.

Reuters SAM DB1006