(Credit:
Vringo)
Like most mobile platforms, Android phones can assign ringtones to incoming calls. What the platform can't do on its own is let callers choose their own favorite ringtones to play when calling a friend. Vringo for Android is a beta application that can do that. What's more, it makes this self-chosen ringtone a video ringtone, which is immensely cooler.
Vringo got its start on Java feature phones, and now works on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian, too. Here's the premise--you sign up for an account and choose one or more video ringtones, or "vringos," to use. You download it, and can set your vringo, changing it as often as you like. That vringo becomes the ringtone that other Vringo buddies see when you call them. You also see it when your own phone rings with an incoming call--unless the caller is a fellow Vringo user, in which case you see the Vringo they've selected, not the vringo you've chosen. Got all that?
After logging in on the Android phone, new users will see a dashboard with three preloaded video ringtones to get started. You can get more from Vringo's library by browsing categories. We're disappointed that there seems to be no search feature. After a 5-second default preview (you can click to see a full clip at launch, except for the Marvel category), you can decide to download the vringo to your gallery.
Most vringos are free, with Marvel-themed Vringos costing $2. Unfortunately, Vringo beta for Android also doesn't seem to let you filter by price, something that will need to happen as more premium vringos are offered. You can add your own vringos by uploading a video from the Android phone, or by recording a new video to turn into a vringo. You can also create new vringos from the computer in the online Vringo Studio beta by importing a video from a Web URL.
At this point, Vringo for Android beta isn't in the Android Market. You'll need to download the APK file from the mobile browser, then install it using an app like AppInstaller, which you can get from the Market (hint: search "installer" to see a list of choices). Open the installer app you chose and select Vringo. You'll need to make sure that you've configured the phone to accept applications downloaded outside of the Market environment. If you have not, the installer should prompt you. Here's another hint, if the application icon doesn't appear in the program list, try rebooting the phone.
Vringo hasn't told us much about the new beta yet, so we'll fill in more information as we get it. In the meantime, you can try it out for free. You get the first premium vringo free as well, so choose wisely.
You've got time to cut and save one ringtone on your Android phone, but what about three or ten or twenty? If you're too busy to edit a bundle, check out Sharetones 1.0 beta, a new app that takes a clever twist on the concept of ringtone sales.
We'll leave you to our First Look video for the details, but let's just say it's legal and lightening-fast. Best yet, for a limited time, it's also free.
(Credit:
DJ Nitrogen)
Industrious cell phone users can always create their own ringtones, and lazy ones can buy them packaged. Sharetones 1.0 beta for Android, released to the Android Market on Tuesday, falls somewhere in between.
The premise is simple, but intriguingly computational. You create ringtones from songs you already own on your phone. Instead of asking you to do the tedious editing legwork, Sharetones will send your songs to a database of over 65,000 tones and return several options that someone else has created. One ringtone may capture the intro instrumentals; another may clip the chorus.
The key here is that Sharetones isn't shuttling any actual files to and fro. It's sending a musical 'recipe' based off of another user's edit, which tells your song where to start and end to form the ringtone. Once Sharetones receives the timestamp instructions, it will rip a ringtone from your own file on the fly--including fade-ins and fade-outs--and will save it as a separate MP3. It will save the metadata 'recipe,' too.
Since Sharetones deals in formulas rather than files, it can duck the usual legal tar pits of ownership, licensing, and fair use. But that doesn't mean Sharetones is free. It's still providing the service of quickly carving out a ringtone for your use. The app won't charge a thing on Android throughout the beta period, but after that it'll cost you $1.49 for 3 recipes, $2.49 for unlimited use for a month, or 7.49 for unlimited use for a year.
Interface and performance
The application's actual interface is a little sparse. It looks through your library at first launch, displaying how many available ringtones there are for each positively-matched song (remember that ringtone formulas are user-created). You can preview the ringtone, pausing or saving it. The menu button reveals options to sort by title or artist, to re-sync the library, and to view the ringtone, alarm, and notifications library. There is, however, no built-in ringtone editor and no album art. There's also no arrow navigation to scroll forward or backward on the preview screen through ringtone options, nor a way to tag favorite matches from a deep results list.
Those with a little more time on their hands can create ringtone recipes through the Sharetones plug-ins in Audacity or Songbird (links below). Alternatively, Ringdroid is an easy way to make free ringtones yourself.
Sharetones' music-matching is certainly an interesting idea. It might even be one some users are willing to pay for, especially those looking to acquire ringtones in bulk. The interface could use some polish, and we'd like to see a way for users to contribute new ringtones directly from their phones. An incentive program would be even better, where the author of a new ringtone recipe can download a different tone for free.
Sharetones is available now in the Android Marketplace for Android phones running version 1.1 of the operating system or higher. It has been tested for U.S. users, but should work elsewhere. Sharetones is expected to arrive for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry within a few months.
Note: We tested Sharetones on a T-Mobile G1 running version 1.5 of the Android operating system.
Related software
Sharetones for Windows
Sharetones for iPhone
Audacity 1.2.6 (Windows)
Audacity 1.3.7 beta (Windows| Mac)
Songbird browser (Windows| Mac)
(Credit:
Vringo)
Last month we took a look at Vringo Mobile Application 2.0, a downloadable application that lets you choose your own signature video ringtone for other Vringo users to see when you call them. Back then, it was severely limited to Sony Ericsson phones. On Tuesday, Vringo let it be known that Vringo 2.0 will also now also available for Java-enabled handsets, and for a wider variety of Symbian phones.
Among the most significant changes to Vringo's made-over mobile application are thumbnail images that let you see a tiny still of a video you might be interested in using, a video preview you can watch before downloading the selection, and higher playback resolution for some phone models, for instance those running the Java 8 operating system.
We'd still like to see Vringo's mobile application improve the speeds at which it loads those video previews. Especially if you're in a dry data zone, previewing a video can take a few pregnant moments.
Windows Mobile users itching to get their hands on Vringo 2.0 will still have to wait a few weeks. According to Vringo, it plans to announce its Windows Mobile client later in February.
In case you missed our news yesterday about the release of Vringo 2.0 Mobile Application, we created a little video to show you the app in action.
Vringo's free video-ringtone service lets you customize what your other Vringo-registered friends see on their screens when you call.
Although it's only available right now for Sony Ericsson handsets, all you other Java- and Symbian-phone owners will want to pay attention, because version 2.0 is said to be headed your way by the end of January.
(Credit:
Vringo)
Vringo's video-ringtone service has been on our radar for well over a year, and the company's fun and unusual product is just getting better and better. The release of Vringo Mobile Application 2.0, with its full-featured client for Java phones, makes up for the slight disappointment of the online video-ringtone-creation studio.
Vringo capitalizes on the fever of personalized media by letting you create a video ringtone that others see when you call them--so long as they're Vringo users, too*. When another Vringo user calls you, you'll see the ringtone they selected for themselves.
Giving people power over the sounds and images that announce themselves to friends is a twist on the usual ringtone deal, and--so long as you don't have obnoxious taste in videos-- is a cute way to express yourself.
Vringo's newly updated mobile app, available this week exclusively from CNET Download.com, makes selecting new video ringtones from the video gallery much more visual; you'll be able to quickly see thumbnail images of a video and view a preview before downloading it to the phone. On phone models running the Java 8 operating system, both previews and videos run in higher resolution.
Be forewarned that if your data connection is less than optimal, loading video previews can take some time. We hope the next version will pick up the pace in that department.
Vringo has also fluffed up its buddy-management system, adding an all-new Share button on the main interface and a few more prompts to invite buddies into the fold. The Share button, in particular, serves existing users well and is another outlet for Vringo to recruit new clients. No Vringo app, no quirky video ringtone.
The rest of the app looks good, too, with straightforward navigation and the ability to immediately access, scroll through, and preview videos in your collection without resetting them. Our favorite extra? Being able to upload your own cell phone video to your video collection.
Pricing and availability
Vringo Mobile Application 2.0 is a free download, as are the contents of its video gallery. At some point, Vringo will adopt a freemium model and sell premium video content, which has been the plan since its early beta days.
Version 2.0 is currently available for Sony Ericsson phones, with compatibility for a greater number of Java-enabled models projected to join the ranks in about three weeks. At that time, a Symbian S60 build should also materialize. You're still able to get version 1 of Vringo's mobile app until then.
*If you're using a Sony Ericsson phone running the Java 7 operating system, you'll also see your own Vringo ringtone play back silently when you call a pal.
What makes Ringdroid a must-have for Google Android phones? It's a fast, free, and all-around-good ringtone maker that will only get better in future releases.
Ringdroid doesn't stop at creating ringtones. You can also turn any edited song into an alarm or notification. Hopefully the publisher won't quit with the Android platform, either. I know an iPhone, a Nokia, and a BlackBerry phone that could sure use some homegrown ringtones.
Related stories:
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First Look video: TuneWiki
-Gmote gets Mac and PC music going
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.
Here's a thought: instead of wading through dozens of ringtone-making apps to find one suited to your iPhone, why not try--what else?--iTunes for Windows and Mac?
In this Insider Secrets video, CNET Editor Brian Tong gives you the lowdown on producing ringtones for your Apple phone using nothing but Apple's own free music library and player.
