This add-on turns your cellphone into 'smellphone'

Want to go beyond sending and receiving text messages, videos or ringtones via your smartphone? This add-on might be for you, as it turns a cell phone into a smell phone.

Japanese company ChatPerf is rolling out a smartphone add-on - a tiny tank - that contains a certain smell, which can be released when the user taps a "Puff" button on the screen.

"The idea is that besides pictures and sound clips, one can send scents. ChatPerf seems to see a big application in gaming, one could smell gunpowder or maybe the poppies in the fields while watching The Wizard of Oz. The company also sees itself selling scent tanks with different scents," Discovery News said.

For now, the add-on is available for iPhones, with the USB stick-sized tank attaching to the iPhone's 30-pin connector.

A company spokesperson was quoted as saying another version for phones running Google's Android may be available this fall.

On the other hand, Discovery News said ChatPerf has also released a software development kit.

But the ultimate question remains – will it gain traction?

Discovery News noted "Smell-O-Vision-type" systems did not prove a hit in movie theaters.

Yet, it said the add-on may yet gain a market among foodies who want a whiff of the aroma of certain foods.

Other sectors that may be interested in the device include perfume outlets. — LBG, GMA News