Android: If you’d like to be able to tell who’s emailing, texting or calling you without even taking your phone out of your pocket, free app WhoIsIt will let you assign specific ringtones and vibration patterns to each contact on your phone. More »
Researchers in Germany have found that the brain does indeed power up and start running whenever it hears the ringtone you’ve associated with your ever-present phone. Change your ringtone to something very unique, then, to avoid accidental anxiety and interruption. More »
If your phone’s ringtones just aren’t doing it for you anymore, or if everyone at work is sick of that one MP3 snippet, WolframTones can generate original, 8-bit-sounding ringtones based on genres you select and send them to your phone. More »
Get alerted to incoming calls and text messages without a lot of impolite clamour with a subtle ultrasonic ringtone. More »
Windows only: Free application ToneThis makes it simple to create MP3 ringtones, wallpaper, and videos for your mobile phone. Apart from its simple MP3 ringtone creator, ToneThis sports a lot of great features—like simple tools for sending media to supported phones in a few clicks. Unfortunately those features don’t always work perfectly—as CNET can attest to—but as a simple ringtone and wallpaper creator, it does the job admirably. If you decide to give it a try, be sure to read the installer carefully—this thing tries its best to install all kinds of toolbars and other crap that you probably don’t want. ToneThis is a free download, Windows only. ToneThis [via CNET]
Windows only: Desktop app iRinger converts any video or music file into an iPhone ringtone, including YouTube videos. You already saw how to make a ringtone using only iTunes, but iRinger brings audio effects (like fade in and out, flanger, and delay) and video support to its single, simple interface. You can download any YouTube clip, for example, and import it into iRinger to create a tone. iRinger does nag you with a pop-up sponsor window that you can’t close unless you donate to the project; otherwise it’s a handy all-in-one iPhone ringtone utility. iRinger is a free download for Windows only. Thanks, nyifan!
iRinger [via Life Rocks 2.0]The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued a warning this week to providers of ringtones, games, wallpapers and other “premium” mobile content, noting that “attempts to distract and confuse so that consumers cannot make informed choices are not acceptable”. At the same time, it reminded consumers not to dive into these deals without careful consideration:
Television advertisements with small print disclosure and busy or distracting images and magazine advertisements featuring tiny print and confusing clutter mean that many consumers would not appreciate the significant ongoing costs they could incur by simply texting in to the number on the screen or in print.
While this may seem obvious advice, it’s worth reinforcing in an era when people will rush out to buy the latest fashionable phone and its accessories (though arguably one advantage of the iPhone is that it doesn’t work with most of these providers). If you want to make your own ringtones instead, here’s how to get it done for Windows and Mac users. More »
We’ve shown you how you can turn your (non-DRM-protected) music collection into custom iPhone ringtones using GarageBand and iTunes on a Mac, but the CyberNet tech site’s made it easy for those with just a copy of iTunes for Windows to hack together their own tones. The basic trick is to single out a short section of a song in iTunes, export it to a non-protected AAC/M4A format, then do a quick file extension switch and re-upload it to iTunes. CyberNet details the process in greater detail, of course, and it’s a nice fix for those who don’t want to edit waveform files just to rock out to 20 seconds of “London Calling.” Create Free iPhone Ringtones Using iTunes in Windows [CyberNet]
