What happened to the iPhone's Ringtones tab?
See that picture on the right? It comes straight from the iPhone's Q&A page. Go ahead, count the iTunes tabs... we'll wait. Right, 8 tabs. Up until now, Apple's only been showing the iPhone's iTunes sync with 6 tabs: Summary, Info, Music, Photos, Podcasts, and Video. So what can we expect on the other two (assuming this isn't another graphics screw-up)? Well, MacRumors is speculating Ringtones on one of them, and we think they're right. After all, we photographed a Ringtones tab during the iPhone's MacWorld debut. They're reporting that the unreleased iTunes version 7.3 -- listed as a requirement on the iPhone specs page -- will introduce a steep, $0.99 ringtones service to create your own 30 second ringtone from available iTunes (store) tracks. No word on whether it will work with tracks you already own. Whatever the case, Apple certainly seems poised to make good on their promise to "surprise and delight" iPhone owners with software updates. $0.99, though? If true, well, it would definitely be surprising since that's the cost to purchase a full single. Now, what could that other tab be for?
Update: And sure enough, Apple's dropped the image back down to six tabs. (Shown above.) Why fight it, Cupertino? You know we're all watching. Thanks, Duvi.
Update: And sure enough, Apple's dropped the image back down to six tabs. (Shown above.) Why fight it, Cupertino? You know we're all watching. Thanks, Duvi.




















I'm sure it doesn't – it's just a coincidence. Now here, drink this kool-aid and it'll be ALL better.
does anyone know if this phone as a vibrate function for when calls are recieved... i havent heard anything about that yet
I remember seeing that in one of the demos, but I can't recall which. Hopefully it's easy to make a shortcut to turn that on.
It does vibrate. Watch the guided tour movie- vibration is mentioned under the "Sounds" section.
For legally downloadable music ringtones, Apple's $0.99 price will be one of, if not THE cheapest. Calling it "steep" when sprint and other companies offers ringtone donwloads at $2.49 is just straight up ridiculous.
I was thinking the same thing. You'd think Engadget would know about ringtone pricing.
Yes, ringtones are ridiculously overpriced pretty much everywhere in the world - but whatever, if retarded teens (or their parents) pay for it, I don't care.
You are correct, it IS cheap... However, you're missing two points...
firstly is the ringtone is only 30 seconds long, big woop...
secondly, the fact remains that you cannot use your own mp3's as a ringtone, you are FORCED to buy a ringtone from itunes, despite the fact that nearly all phones that play mp3's allow you to set them as a ringtone with no restrictions and no DRM interferance.
The I-phone forsakes some standard phone features for some new, flashy ones.... The question seems to be do you prefer the features that the Iphone has introduced, or the ones everything else has?
Normally I don't get along too well with people who type in all caps, but this time I actually agree with you up until the last two sentences.
Everyone chill out. It's just a blurry tab until Friday, and then we can all find out what it is and get on with life.
First of all, "another graphics screw-up"? Whoever confirmed that the 80GB thing was a screw-up??
JD:
I don't want you to have to wait until Friday.
The blurry tab is for: Pr0n. iphoNE Pr0n.
Ringtones for other carriers like Sprint are $2.50. Hell, SONGS for other carriers are $2.50. Some charge a bit over $3.00 for ringtones. If you can't pay $.99 to make an iTunes song a ringtone after buying an iPhone, you're a dumbass that needs to be kicked off the face of the planet.
Really, quitwit'thebitchin'. It's getting old. If you don't like the iPhone, don't post in an iPhone thread. Get out of the basement and get some fresh air.
I swear, the internet creates more dumbasses than the GOP.
Amen!
Seems to me as if something like this will hurt the fledgling Phone Sherpa (http://www.phonesherpa.com/) if you can make 30 second clips of otherwise regular iTunes tracks. Of couse if all the tracks on iTunes were DRM free, folks could be doing this today with their own tracks for free.
Compared to some of the prices for ringtones in the UK, which can be £4.50 or even more each, ~£0.50 will be rather cheap.
yea...yea.. i agree, every thing just sucks. the iphone, the steve jobs, the apple, the every body that will buy it because they want it. I just hurts me not to see a iphone post here at the engadget,every non iphone post is a missed chance to show the ppl how much i phone is the sux. god!
Does anyone know where the SIM card goes? If the thing can't be opened for the battery then can it even be opened for the SIM?
It seems like with all the restrictions it would make sense that they don't let you swap users on the phone.
Any thoughts?
it goes in the top, you can see the slot in the pictures
I've heard that they've "locked" the phone to be only used on Cingular/AT&T. I'm not sure if they meant that the SIM card tray wouldn't be able to pop out but that dosen't make any sense.. I think they meant that the programming code is fixed that cannot be "unlocked" to be used on any other GSM carrier.. Though, I can be wrong but--
Only T-Mobile uses SIM cards from my knowledge.. and this isn't a T-Mobile phone. I'm assuming you've only ever had T-Mobile?
I think it's hilarious that there's all this frenzy over a $600 phone (yes, that's right, it's a fancy cellphone), yet everyone panned the PS3 for being the same price. Don't get me wrong, I think the iPhone looks like it's going to be a great gadget. I'd love to have one, but if I had to choose which of the iPhone or PS3 I had to burn $600 on, I'd probably choose the PS3.
Thankfully, I don't have to make that choice.
the fanciness has zero to do with it. the fact that it's the only one on the market like it is dictating the price tag.
Me either.
Like most working stiffs, I can't afford either one.
Ringones WILL be available. Apple is working out everything, so if not included with v7.3 then in a few months. The last button, access to AT&T myAccount. They said iPhone users will have access to AT&T account information (for minute and text meters and payments) via iTunes. Maybe the last tab will be for that. Who knows, only 48 hours will tell.
OK, have i got this right, we have a smartphone coming out mid 2007 with 4 or 8GB of memory, WIFI, multi touch screen, and we can't just choose our own mp3's as ringtones ?? Come on, my 4 year old T610 could do that.
has anyone heard of phonezoo.com! it allows you to make ringtones out of your music or view other peoples ringtones and send them to virtually any phone via a text message... FOR FREE!!!!
(i hope phonezoo finds a way to send it to the iphone)
I understand why they are selling ringtones but it is a bunch of crap. I can use my songs as ringers on my pocket pc today and it is 2 years old! I feel like every new tech is nickel and diming us and I for one am sick of it. The 360 and it's overpriced content as well as most cell providers screwing their customers on overpriced content (Verizon is the worst at this).
I really wish that these providers would quit crippling built in functionality and leave the choices with the makers of the phone, which in this case wouldn't have helped as Apple is seeing $$ in ringtones like the rest of the cellphone world but as usual, the consumer gets screwed.
BTW, that extra tab is for games - I would count on it.
its
My ringtones currently cost 2.50, so 99 cents is better. Still, it would be awesome if they let you, for free, just create ringtones from your songs in itunes.
Guys...I have a feeling that engadget is secretly hosted at..
http://www.apple.com/PR
Hot tips for what to expect on engadget today:
6.00pm z0mg!! The font used on the iPhone disclaimer text in the Chinese manual has been changed!!! Shock! horror!
6.02pm False alarm on that story guys. Sorry. Our bad. It was the Dutch manual.
6.05pm Exclusive! Steve Jobs wipes own ass with 10 dollar bill. We take a closer look at the in depth details to this breaking story.
Has anyone mentioned if you can receive calls while the phone is docked/charging/syncing? It would seem reasonable to me, for a consumer to demand that they are able to receive calls at all times.
I ask because iPods basically shut down during charging.... at least mine did way back when I owned an ipod.
It's talked about in the Activation & Sync video on Apples site. If you get a call while it's syncing/charging, iTunes will pause so you can take the call.
I am NEVER paying for my ringtones. NEVER. As for the final tab, I imagine it will be your AT&T billing information possibly including minutes etc. Nothing cool or mysterious. Zoom into the picture, it looks like it was just added on. The top of the final tab is perpendicular to the image, not the angle of the graphic.
"Has anyone mentioned if you can receive calls while the phone is docked/charging/syncing? It would seem reasonable to me, for a consumer to demand that they are able to receive calls at all times."
Yes, you can receive calls while docked. If you watch the video on Apple's site it says if you are synching when a call comes in it will cancel the sync so you can answer the call.
It will be a cold day in hell, before I pay a dime for a ringtone. If my phone doesn't have the ability to use my own songs/files as ringtones, then I'll be using whatever comes stock till I switch phones.
The price they charge for these things are outrageous.
Engadget, STOP IT.
I don't care if the fanboys rank me down.
Many people don't use feeds, and it's SO ANNOYING to keep seeing iPhone, but not just iPhone, STUPID iPhone posts. Look at this post! Seriously! Who cares that two tabs were removed! Things are always changed before launch! This is so annoying it's driving me insane I'm off to Gizmodo.
I don't want to visit iPhone free engadget because some things about the iPhone ARE interesting. Like the reviews.
A missing TAB? Are you KIDDING? What the hell Tom!
You are probably the most worthless person on this site.
I've read many iphone posts and every time i scroll down the comments, you seem to always make an ass of yourself.
No one has a gun to your head forcing you to click any of the stories. I'm sorry you feel you are the only one that matters in the world, there are actually a bigger majority of people who enjoy the investigative and late breaking nature of engadget, like myself. ( not to mention the iphone, which is a pretty big deal for technology. )
Please do the world a favor and bury your head in the sand for a while. There will be plenty more iphone posts to come, and I hope each one will bring misery and suffering to you, in which point you will share with the world via comments, where we will proceed to realize how worthless you really are. Keep up the great work Jonathan.
The picture on the "right" has 6 tabs. Unless you meant my other right.
the pictures were just updated
Ok. What?
Oops wrong post above... was trying to Reply to Adnan Osmani
Did you notice that the colors on the bottom also changed. There is yellow content now as well.
I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE DAMN SIM CARD GOES
Goes behind the battery, YES the battery is removable. You'll find out with everyone else tomorrow morning after 9am
Did you really just call it the "iLoser phone" and then type out "Bwahahaha"?
...who's the loser?
That's what I love about Mac users. They analyze every bit of minutiae.
I'm at work all day, I cant have 50 cent as a ringtone.
i guess you dont know it costs over 2 bucks on every other phone to buy a REALLY crappy ringtone
It's NOT just a phone, you idiot. A phone makes and receives calls. The iPhone is also a video iPod. Do you know what that is? You can also surf the Internet...the REAL Internet! And geez, why don't you educate yourself on this device and learn all about it before saying something as stupid as "it's just a phone." You're probably actually that fat guy representing the PC in the Apple commercials. Are you THAT hung up and jealous of Apple's ingenius products/operating system/computer etc....?? The proof in in the pudding, baby, and Apple wins hands down. The iPhone will revolutionize the mobile device industry. Just read the New York Times article "Chasing the iPhone." Read it and weep dear PC loser user.
Actually Jomo, you are not forced to buy from iTunes. I've got Phone Sherpa up and running on mine and the sound quality of the ringtones is killer. BTW - I'm taking the songs directly from my iTunes. That said, my files are not locked and it only works for unlocked files.