Every one of my previous simple Nokia phones had a feature in the calendar, with which I could get a reminder for birthdays either on the very day or one or two days in advance. There are apps in the store which list all birthdays entered in the addressbook (e.g. HappyDayz, HappyDays) but apparently Apple doesn't allow them to create an alarm. To program an event with no duration in the calendar is not a solution. Apple - please allow such programs access to alarm launching!