ringtone
Latest
iToner 1.0.8 ready for iPhone 2.0
iToner is Ambrosia's application that makes it easy to put free ringtones on your iPhone. Because really -- paying for ringtones is ridiculous.It works without hacks or tricks. Simply drop any MP3, AAC, WAVE, or AIFF audio file onto the application's window and boom! You're done.Ambrosia released version 1.0.8 this week, which offers compatibility with the iPhone 2.0 software. Other changes include Support for iTunes 7.7 Japanese localizaton A single license will cost you $15US and requires Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later. Of course, you can always make your own rigntones for free with GarageBand.[Via Ars Technica]
iToner 1.0.7 is available
iToner by Ambrosia Software lets iPhone owners put an unlimited number of custom ringtones onto their phones with no hacks and no per-ringtone fees. We've written about iToner several times, and interviewed Ambrosia's president Andrew Welch about the future of the product.This week, iToner 1.0.7 was made available. Changes include: Fixes with iTunes compatibility. iToner should no longer prevent iTunes from removing iTMS ringtones. Fixed crash when syncing with iPod touch from iTunes Various fixes and enhancements iToner allows for drag-and-drop ringtone sync, support for MP3, AAC, WAVE, and AIFF files and the ability to assign specific ringtones to certain contacts.This is a free upgrade to registered users. iToner costs $15US, requires Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later, and is a Universal Binary application.
AT&T pays out for shady third-party charges
It's just the tip of the iceberg for the legal fallout from deceptive charges rung up by cellphone users hoping for a shot a free ringtones, wallpapers, and winning shots at contests simply by sending off a text message or an online form with their mobile number. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and others are likely going to have to end up taking it on the chin after AT&T was taken to task -- first by the state of Florida and now by a series of class-action lawsuits that the carrier has chosen to settle (without admitting any wrongdoing in the process, for the record). It seems that customers will be able to file for refunds for such charges rung up between January 1, 2004, and May 30, 2008, for a total of up to three bill cycles' worth. AT&T will be sending out notifications of the settlement to its subscribers shortly; meanwhile, the lawyers involved in the suits collect a nice paycheck of $4.3 million -- a shade more than the average class action member is liable to get, we'd imagine.[Via Phone Scoop]
The "missing" iPhone ringtone
We've all seen the iPhone ads. As my wife says, "I get it! The iPhone is for sale! I GET IT!"Like I said, we've all seen them.None are identical, but most have something in common. Namely, that peculiar ringtone. We call it peculiar because it isn't actually included with the iPhone. Luckily, most of us have it installed on our computers already.As LifeClever points out, those with iLife '08 installed can find the ringtone in /Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects/Work - Home/Cell Phone Ringing.aif. Converting it to a ringtone is simple. First, drag a copy to your desktop. Launch GarageBand and import the clip. Next, click the Cycle Region button and drag the yellow indicator to the end of the clip.Finally, select "Send ringtone to iTunes" from the "Share" menu and you're all set. If that seems like too much work for you, just download the file as a ringtone here. Incidentally, there are a lot more sound files in Loops directories that would make good ringtones as well.
RingtoneFeeder supplies your iPhone with ringtones
Here's a new way to fulfill your ringtone lust. RingtoneFeeder is a paid subscription service ($1.98US/mo. or $19.98US/year) that allows you to download brief songs and other audio files to use as ringtones on your iPhone. Once you're subscribed, a new ringtone will be sent to your machine one a week via iTunes.From there, you can easily make a Smart Playlist (kind = ringtone) and you're all set. All of the ringtones you'll receive from RingtoneFeeder are created by Geoff Smith, whom you may remember from Adam Curry's Daily Source Code Podcast.Of course, you can create your own ringtones for free (what's the difference between a "ringtone" and an audio file, anyway?). For example, create a file in GarageBand (40 seconds max) and select "Send ringtone to iTunes" from the "Share" menu. Note that you can only use unprotected audio files for this process (Unless you strip the DRM. We would never suggest doing that!).For those of you who couldn't be bothered, check out RingtoneFeeder.
Get your Dingtones here!
The DORK Club has it right: the Ding is the sound of progress. There is no finer sound on Earth than the chime, or vamp, or whoosh of leveling up. It's visceral, it's addictive, and now, it can be all yours in mp3 form! The Club has collected no less than 40 dings from various games including Tabula Rasa, Star Wars Galaxies, Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, and even Diablo 2 for completeness' sake. Listening to all 40 one after another is an interesting experience. Some dings sound downright ominous, while others are veritably orchestral and epic. And sad as we are to admit this, just listening to them all makes us want to play them! At least one of these is going to be someone's new ringtone, guaranteed. See who stops you in public when your phone rings; it's like a geek mating call!
AT&T gets slapped for deceptive third-party charges
Suffering a rash of complaints after allegedly free ringtone downloads from shady random companies started showing up on AT&T subscribers' bills, the state of Florida stuck it to the carrier -- and they've agreed to pay up. AT&T and the state have jointly announced that as much as $10 million or more could ultimately be refunded to customers, depending on how many folks file claims, in addition to a $2.5 million fine payable to the state itself and $500,000 for educating consumers on "safe internet use." What's really funny about the whole deal is that Florida's attorney general has flat-out admitted that they went after AT&T only because the actual offenders -- the fly-by-night shops operating the free ringtone schemes -- were too difficult to round up and sue. The carrier has said that it has since made unauthorized charges more difficult to rack up, and is quick to point out that other carriers have been just as guilty of allowing the shady dealings; indeed, Florida says there are other investigations underway.
CTU ringtone for iPhone
Just last night we were chatting about ringtones on the Talkcast, and I mentioned that I was so happy with my iPhone that I hadn't taken steps to change either the ringtone or the wallpaper yet-- that Xylophone ringtone is probably the best ringtone I've ever heard.Until now, anyway. Matt Devost used that GarageBand tip posted by Apple to turn none other than the CTU ringtone from tv series 24 into an easy-to-install, completely (mostly-- who owns this ringtone? did Fox make it up?) legit iPhone ringtone. Yes, you too can have your iPhone sound just like the phones at Jack Bauer's place of employment.And this also illustrates just how easy it is to make these things now. Matt says he just put this together in GarageBand, and then followed Apple's doc, and all I did was drag it from my Desktop into my iTunes ringtones folder. Super simple. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I hear my phone ringing. Must be the President wanting to know how the hostage situation is going.
GarageBand 4.1.1 brings custom tones to iPhone
As the pic says ladies and gents, Apple has decided that if you're clever enough to work in GarageBand -- and really, aren't we all? -- you deserve custom tones. To get this working all you need do is grab at the fresh GarageBand 4.1.1 update released yesterday, select a cycle region in your song -- a cycle region is just an area in the song's timeline you want to repeat -- then "share" and select "send ringtone to iTunes" option. Of course, your iPhone will need to be at version 1.1.2 to accomplish this little feat of magic, but we're sure most of you out there have sorted updates by now. Enjoy the music and feel free to drop us a note with how things go.[Via TUAW]Read - Create custom ringtones in iTunesRead - GarageBand 4.1.1 update
The lowdown on ringtone changes in iTunes 7.4.1?
Remember how Apple rushed out 7.4.1 on the double after folks hacked 7.4 to enable free ringtones in mere hours? Turns out we may now know exactly what Apple did to patch it up -- and, naturally, how to enable 'em once again. It looks like Apple added new metadata to music in 7.4.1 that was missing in 7.4, a value called "stik" (what that could possibly stand for, we're not sure). Anyway, the value needs to be present and set to "14" on any AAC tune for iTunes to identify and sync it as a ringtone. That's it. Turns out there's an open source package to let you play with the metadata, too, so the whole procedure really couldn't get less expensive. Give it a shot and let us know how it goes!
Halo 3 site offers ringtone downloads
For all of you waiting to pick up your prepaid copies of Halo 3, the Microsoft Halo 3 site has a few mobile goodies to get at while you wait. Finish the Fight, Last Spartan, and the Halo theme can all be grabbed as ringtones for your MP3 playing handsets. Also up are a collection of pics and avatars and while not specifically for mobiles, a wee bit of Photoshoppery --or an online resize with Imageshack -- can correct that. So if you dig the game, dig ringtones, or just like new things, pop on over to the site to have a look-see.
iFuntastic: GUI iPhone custom ringtone manager
Let me preface this by saying I haven't tested this myself and you should read the warnings before you try this.Some rather complicated instructions for installing custom ringtones on the iPhone have been floating around the net of late. Unfortunately they required some pretty involved under-the-hood tinkering. The newly released iFuntastic is designed to simply this process immensely. This little program allows you to install and manage custom ringtones just by selecting them in a GUI. There is a warning that after using this iTunes won't automatically launch when you dock your iPhone, but you can still sync manually.iFuntastic is a free download, but you will have to register at modmyiphone.comThanks, Kyle!Update: Direct link (no registration required). iFuntastic is Intel only.
Custom iPhone ringtone hacking instructions prepped for noobs
If you can't wait for the eventual Apple update, then by all means have at it weekend hackers: custom iPhone ringtones can now be yours. Disparate hacks have been cobbled together into a step-by-step guide over at the appropriately named hacktheiphone site. The instructions make use of both the iPhoneInterface and jailbreak hacks which opened up full access to the iPhone's UI and filesystem. Unfortunately, the former only works on the Intel-based Macs at the moment. For those of you a bit wary of screwing the $600 pooch somewhere along the 23 steps, take heed: "everyone [they] know has been able to restore their iPhone fully by using iTunes." So go ahead, we double-dog dare ya. Just report back in the comments how it went, mkay?[Thanks, HaJo and Richard]
Video hints at customized iPhone ringtones
Chris Hughes -- the gent who brought us the RoombaWii -- is up to new shenanigans and this time with an iPhone. Apparently using a bit of software that is "... close to being releasable ..." he was able to add the "CTU" ringtone -- yeah, we know, poor choice -- to his iPhone. Of course, this would be dead-easy to dupe -- and we can't verify 100 percent either way -- but his honest demeanor, striking resemblance to Matt Damon, and previous tricks help us to at least hope that there is a shred of truth in this. Check the vid after the break.[Via Wirelessinfo.com]
Ringtone images hidden in iTunes 7.3
Oh yes they are folks, ringtone icons snatched straight from the newly launched iTunes 7.3 resource folder. First noticed by reader Michael (and confirmed by us) in the comments -- nice work, bro. So what could the little guys be doing there, after all, there isn't a Ringtones tab in any of the iPhone how-to guides unlike the slide presented at WWDC? Don't know, but let's hope they'll sit next little MP3/AAC ringtones we create ourselves for free and not just the ones we download from the iTunes store for a fee, eh?
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.
Cellphone moos, Indian leopards fooled
Got leopards? Officials in western India have discovered a novel approach to capturing wayward individuals without having to resort to live bait or potentially dangerous pit traps. The angle is pretty clever, pile some critter sounds on a mobile -- cows and goats are favorites -- plug it into some speakers in a cage and let it rip. This technique has apparently worked a handful of times so far, with the captured cats then safely delivered to a new home in the woods. We're hoping nobody gets silly and test drives Emotive's push ringer on some unsuspecting sap while on safari.
Emotive's Push Ringer overrides ringtones, pranksters overjoyed
Forget personalized ringtones and ringbacks, the next tween obsession has arrived in the form of Push Ringer, which "enables a caller to push an outgoing ringtone to the receiving phone -- allowing the caller, not the called person -- to set the tone." We're assuming you're either elated or sighing mightily after reading that, but there's 7.7 million reasons why you wish you would've implemented it first. A group of deep-pocketed investors have sunk $7.7 million into Emotive Communications' flagship idea, which temporarily overrides the phone's preset ringer, and moreover, allows the recipient of the surprise sound-byte to "instantly buy a copy" if they so desire. Notably, this very service has already taken the VoIP world over, as Skype users are probably more familiar with the RingJacker concept. Now, who's down for inventing the Push Ringer Reverser to send a "you got punk'd" clip back at the egotistical sender?[Via The Raw Feed]
Will it blend: oh crap, I forgot to put my phone on silent! edition
Forgetting to put your phone into silent mode can often have embarrassing consequences, the scale of which depends on your setting and the quality of your ringtone. Say, for example, your Rocky theme ringtone goes off in the middle of an anti-boxing lobby group meeting. That's at least a 9 on the ringtone embarrassment scale, but as this video from WillItBlend.com shows, it's definitely not the worst combo that you could encounter. The host of the show, Tom Dickinson, really doesn't like it when phones go off during a shoot: especially when he's trying to blend something as unlikely as a crowbar. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what comes next, so peep the video after the break and ogle as Tom turns some phones into bricks into dust.
Some guy offering silent ringtone
We think this is a joke, but we're actually more afraid that it's not. San Francisco-based "conceptual artist" Jonathon Keats has generously offered his latest composition, "My Cage," free of charge as a ringtone through mobile multimedia vendor Start Mobile. But wait, there's a catch, it's four minutes and thirty three seconds of pure silence. And it's not the kind of silence teens can hear, either -- it's actually pure silence. So pure, in fact, that Start Mobile keenly points out that "the silence may take place without the listener being aware of it." While we think it really doesn't serve the intended function of a ringtone in the purest sense of the word, we can't argue with the price: free. Let us know in comments what percentage of calls you manage to answer, mkay?
