tones

ToneThis hails from the school of personalized cell phone content that errs on the side of simplicity. Not everyone wants or needs dozens of settings to produce a functional ringtone or wallpaper photo, and to that end, ToneThis is the perfect entree for casual customizers.

It's got a few basic enhancements for editing ringtone length and adding fades, but it could stand to gain a few more. Even novice users might like to reduce red-eye in a favorite photo. Still, for many, ToneThis will be the hassle-free vehicle of choice for getting their videos, music, and photos onto their … Read more

If movie theaters are indeed facing extinction as some believe, Columbia Pictures and Regal Entertainment deserve credit for experimenting with free and readily available technology to help stave off the pending obsolescence.

To promote Adam Sandler'sYou Don't Mess With Zohan, moviegoers will encounter a novel prop in the lobby: a hair stylist's chair that they can sit in and then download Zohan voice clips to their Bluetooth cell phones. Six "voice tones" will be available for free as part of a "proximity marketing" campaign coordinated through Blue Media, which will distribute them … Read more

AT&T today announced two enhancements to its AT&T Mobile Music service that will let users use music to customize their cell phones. With mSpot's Make-Ur-Tones (couldn't they have come up with a better name?), AT&T customers can create their own ringtones using an application downloaded to their cell phone. While that in itself is hardly new, the application gives aspiring musicians a lot more freedom than you might expect. Instead of just offering a selection of Midi tones, users will be able to download an actual music track and then cut their … Read more

The electro punk renegade Peaches teams up with '80s pop-rap icon Tone-Loc on a grindy, rump-shaking 'Wild Thing' remix. Tone-Loc's gruff voice is a good match with Peaches smoothly-delivered naughtiness. Get your free download right here, thanks to our friends over at Delicious Vinyl.

Tone-Loc: "Wild Thing" (Peaches remix)

Given how often Nintendo introduces different colors for the DS Lite, it's hardly remarkable that the handheld gamer is getting yet another new look. This one, according to Mobile Magazine, is a two-toned model in colbalt blue and black.

What does seem surprising, however, is that Nintendo isn't doing a special edition for Valentine's Day. (So far as we know, anyway.) Maybe that's because it already comes in red and pink, the two standard colors for the holiday. But even if they do decide to play the Cupid game, remember, it can always be worse.

Online photo editing has just taken a significant step closer to its computer-based predecessors: Picnik has added a curves editing feature.

Curves, one of the early killer features that drew people to Adobe Systems' Photoshop, lets people adjust in detail the distribution of light and dark tones in photographs. For example, it can be used to bring details out of shadowy murk or carefully increase contrast.

I didn't try out the feature: curves editing is reserved for those with premium accounts, which cost $24.95 a year. But it looks like it can edit red, green, and blue channels … Read more

LetsTalk has launched a new service this morning called ToneMine that lets you build your own ringtones. The service uses a multitrack composer that lets you drag and drop short, prerecorded sound clips onto an editing canvas. There are eight themed "packs" to choose from ranging from hip-hop and salsa, all the way to heavy metal. You also get some shared sound clips that will show up no matter what pack you've chosen.

The eventual goal is a takeaway ringtone you'll be able to use on your phone. You can get it sent directly to your handset via your carrier (which is configured when you sign up for the service), or download it as an MP3 ringtone to transfer on your own. You can also share it with other ToneMine users in a massive pool. There you can preview other people's ringtones and go in to remix them if you'd like to change something. It also keeps track of how many times it's been listened to and downloaded by other users.

Despite the selection of eight packs, there's really not that much to play with, although the editor is quite snappy. As an occasional user of Apple's Garageband application, I felt like the one thing it's missing is the capability to extend a looping sound clip. Instead, you're often dragging more clips together as well as you can. The service is also missing some of the commercial tie-in you'll find on competitors like Razz and Ringblender--the latter of which actually lets you go in and remix bits of commercial songs. It also reminded me a little bit of MusicShake, which demoed at last month's TechCrunch40 conference, although with a little less extensibility.

On a side note, for any 24 fans, you can get that wonderful CTU office ringtone free of charge from the site. I've embedded it after the break.… Read more

Google has just announced the much-rumored acquisition of communications service GrandCentral. TechCrunch broke the news about the acquisition last week and is now reporting the deal is rumored to be somewhere in the range of $50 million. Details about final price and terms are confidential.

This is Google's latest move into the telecommunications market and one of their biggest. For current GrandCentral customers, service will go uninterrupted. For users interested in signing up, GrandCentral is now limiting sign-ups to invitation only.

The other big change in place as of today is GrandCentral's RingShare service. Previously, users were able … Read more

Practically everything is customizable in this digital age, and your phone's ringtone is no different. It's a personal statement of individuality with a practical backbone--you flaunt your musical tastes and differentiate your ring from the dozens of other phones sounding off around you. We like MiniTones for Palm OS, a recent addition to the CNET Download.com library, because it's small, free, and straightforward.

The 51K app runs on Palm OS 5 and higher--we installed it on the 64MB memory card of a Treo 650. The app opens a list of MP3s stored on your Treo or … Read more