One of the most striking things about this early batch of Android apps is how many excellent freebies there are. Ringdroid is yet another sophisticated, intuitive freeware app that will prove a boon to T-Mobile G1-toting ringtone-lovers.
Ringdroid lets you create ringtones from MP3, WAV, and ARM files you load onto your phone through the SD card or that you purchase through the Amazon MP3 store.
(Credit:
Ringdroid)
Unlike many Android apps that use the Menu keys to store some software functions, most of Ringdroid's controls are out on the interface and all respond to touch. You can set the start and ending notes by sliding arrows along the timeline, by pressing Start and End to record the point, or by typing in time stamps.
You can zoom in to set more precise marks on the timeline, and can press the Menu key while in zoom mode to reset to the beginning. When you're ready to save, you'll choose from the drop-down menu to create a ringtone, alarm, notification, or edited tune.
Ringdroid is also equipped with a Record button on the app interface, letting you lay down your own sounds from scratch.
Ringdroid is missing the ability to fade in and out, loop, and equalize song selections (read more here), but its ease of use and flexibility in saving audio snippets as more than just ringtones make it an instant must-have app.
Step 1: Pick a song. Step 2: Select a clip. Step 3: Send to phone.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Not long ago, CNET Editor Brian Tong gave an instructive Insiders Secret video on creating your own iPhone ringtones using only iTunes 8. Although he only used one program as promised, there was quite a bit of cobbling involved to turn that song into a phone tune. Truth is, I'm a little lazier than that. I'm looking for one application to make me a decent-sounding ringtone I can get on my phone with the least amount of hassle possible.
ToneThis is a good fit for this endeavor. I've reviewed this freeware application in the past--it was the update it received this month that recaptured my attention. More on that later.
The core application makes use of buttons and tabs to guide you through creating audio or video ringtones and wallpaper. (Games may be available for some handsets.) You'll choose the format and browse for your media from either your hard drive or from an internal Flickr browser. Then you'll crop the image if you're making wallpaper, or you'll use the mouse to pick off a selection for your audio or video ringtone. When you're done, you can click to send the link to your phone via SMS, or e-mail it to yourself or a pal.
ToneThis 3.6 includes a new toolbar for Firefox that gives you avid ringtone-collectors an easy way to scout and save new media. It promises you'll be able to conduct quick searches for wallpaper and mobile videos, and even click a button to highlight the media available on a given Web page. Clicking the media opens it in ToneThis, where you'll be able to make your simple edits and then send it to your phone.
...but it will be neat when it does.
(Credit: CNET)In reality, the toolbar is a fair idea with a big bug problem. For one reason or another, sending videos and images from the toolbar may fail. For example, sending YouTube videos to the phone from the toolbar may not work if YouTube updates their protocol before ToneThis can adjust. The toolbar takes up a fair amount of precious browser space. For it to only sometimes work doesn't make it a useful addition, though it's no reason to shun the entire product. It is, however, reason enough for the ToneThis team to get cracking on that bug list. Other known bugs include the first frame of a video not displaying while in edit mode (make your selection first, and then press 'play' to preview), and the mouse temporarily disappears if you roll over the video while in editing mode.
These would be formidable stumbling blocks were this a premium program, but users are generally much more forgiving about freeware, me included. As a simple ringtone-maker that's geared toward novices or ringtone opportunists, ToneThis' basic settings and controls will calm new users and will almost assuredly disappoint the ringtone elite.
However, there are a few settings, like the Flickr browser for making wallpaper out of images let loose in the public domain. There are also volume adjustments for audio ringtones, selections for adding fade-ins and fade-outs, and an option to make high-quality true tones. It's frustrating, however, that there's no option for manually setting the range or adjusting the selection on either side--it's easy to lose your place and be forced to start over to capture the sample you want.
The same elementary features go for wallpaper. You can crop and rotate an image, but you'll see no other editing features bundled in.
As a smooth operator bent on impressing the populace, ToneThis trips and falls. Yet as an incredibly easy and free way to self-produce decent ringtones and phone wallpaper from your own collection, ToneThis achieves a high measure of success.
A few days before CTIA Fall 2008 began, the National Geographic Society announced a new effort to bring its content to mobile devices. The society will launch a WAP site next month that will offer photos, animal ringtones, articles from National Geographic magazine, and video from the society's television shows. Though exact content and the URL are still under development, mobile division vice president Aaron Kohn said that there also will be an online "green" guide with tips on eco-friendly products and shopping for sustainable fish.
Kohn confirmed that National Geographic is not looking to form an MVNO, but he said that the society is in talks with carriers and manufacturers to bring National Geographic branding to new handsets. That's good news considering our disappointment with the Cellular Abroad's National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone. What's more, he said an National Geographic app for the iPhone is in the works.
At launch, all content on the WAP site will be free. Next year, however, the society plans to introduce paid content.
Verizon Wireless has launched three new applications that interact with the voice recording feature on select cell phones to allow users to create new content. The content can be used on the phone or shared with other Verizon customers.
With Sonic Boom's ToneMaker users can create their own music by layering their own vocals on prerecorded tunes. You can then use the clips as a ringtone or pass them on to others. ToneMaker is $3.99 per month on handsets with Verizon's Get It Now Internet service.
YouTones from FunMobility takes the same concept in a slightly different direction. Users can combine their own voices with a selection of prerecorded thematic YouTones performances to use as ringtones or audio messages. Also available on Get It Now phones, YouTones charges $2.49 for each created clip.
The last application is mSpot's Make-Ur-Tones. With this application you can create customized ringtones from a catalog of over 250,000 music tracks. Users select a 30-second audio clip of their chosen song before downloading the new ringtone to their phone. Ringtones are $2.49 each.
Ringback Buddies
(Credit: Verizon Wireless)If you're not a fan of the preloaded ringtones on your cell phone, Verizon Wireless is providing an alternative way to get more catchy tunes on your mobile. On the eve of CTIA Fall 2008, the carrier announced Ringback Buddies, a Facebook application that lets you browse, purchase, and manage ringtones and "jukeboxes" from the social networking site.
You can install the Ringback Buddies application by searching for the word "ringback" on Facebook, and from there you can do a number of things. First, you can see what songs your friends like or want, purchase them as ringback tones, and then assign them to your friends so they hear the track when they call you. There's also a Top 10 list of popular tones and jukeboxes (a group of tones) that you can preview or buy.
While free to add the app to your Facebook page, individual ringback tones are available from Verizon Wireless for an annual fee of $1.99 while prices vary for premade jukeboxes. In addition, there's a 99-cent monthly subscription for customers using ringback tones.
(Credit:
CrunchGear)
Love dogs. Love the Japanese even more for their highly bizarre gizmos. No other country has consistently amused and amazed the world with its weird and wacked-out inventions. Try topping this latest idea: Ringtones audible only to dogs, from Tokyo-based interactive content provider Dwango (PDF in Japanese).
Lest you think it's an error in translation, Dwango describes the download service very clearly as Inu ni shika kikoenai chakushinon--which translates to "Ringtones only dogs can hear," according to CrunchGear. But since this is available specifically for DoCoMo's i-mode phones, only Japanese dogs need apply.
(Source: Crave Asia)
A personalized ringtone is worth a thousand preset tones. It's no wonder why so many users produce their own, and why so many developers join the talent show. While all ringtone-making software share some commonalities, they usually vary by some degree of pricing, audio editing sensitivity, and delivery mode. RingtoneExpress, for instance, is light on editing tools, but offers four methods for loading MP3 and WMA content onto the phone. The pricing is kept low, about $10 for limitless ringtone creation, and uniquely, it can also suck the audio out of YouTube videos for conversion to an MP3 ringtone.
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's
You 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 from its servers. "Fans can use their mobile phones to take fun pictures of themselves posing with Adam Sandler as The Zohan,
and then walk away with voice tones that are soon to be classic one-liners," the studio says.
And what do the lines say? Though we're not sure of the exact wording, they "pay tribute to The Zohan's basic necessities of life: disco, silky smooth hair, and hummus."
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 favorite portion for a 30-second ringtone. Of course, there will be a fee involved. Make-Ur-Tones is available will require a monthly subscription of $6.99 for three ringtones, with additional ringtones costing $2.99 each.
Remix, also from mSpot, will let you use your handset and AT&T's network to access music saved on your PC. Not only can you play songs using the Remix player, but also the track download to your handset's memory card. At $9.99 per month Remix is more expensive than Make-UR-Tones, but you'll be able to download 75 songs. If you go past your amount, you can can get a "Remix booster pack" for $2.99, which will give you 10 additional song downloads.
Though the two services each accomplish something pretty nifty, we're not fans of the subscription model. Charging $7 to $10 per month is a bit steep and we don't like how it locks you into a set number of transactions (use it or lose it!). Here's hoping that AT&T also comes up with a purely a la carte mode. Also, the services won't be available on the same selection of AT&T phones, which is rather odd. While Make-Ur-Tones will work on the Samsung Sync SGH-A707, Samsung SGH-737, , and Motorola V3xx, Remix will be available only on the Samsung Sync SGH-A707, Samsung SGH-A737, and LG Shine CU720.
Party with the top ringtone.
(Credit: Flycell.com)With so many "Best of 2007" lists, we couldn't let the year end without showing you the most popular ringtones of 2007. We didn't actually compile the results; instead we're relaying which tones were the most popular for AT&T customers. So here the are, the top tunes of 2007.
1. Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rockstar"
2. Mims - "This Is Why I'm Hot"
3. Soulja Boy - "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
4. Nickelback - "Rockstar"
5. Akon - "Don't Matter"
6. T-Pain - "Buy You A Drank (Shawty Snappin)"
7. Hurricane Chris - "A Bay Bay"
8. Sean Kingston - "Beautiful Girls"
9. Huey - "Pop, Lock & Drop It"
10. Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry"
