March 7, 2003
Real music as a ringtone
Reuters reports on a small California company called Xingtone.com which has developed software which converts MP3 files to ringtones and enables users to make thier cell phone ring with any piece of real music or any voice or recorded sound. A favorite tune can play as a ringtone or someone's voice message can play for instance, "answer the phone!". For now, the technology works with the following phone models: Samsung A500, Samsung N400, Sanyo 4900 and Sanyo 5300, but more should be compatible soon.
What's left to be seen is how the music industry will react to this technology which goes way beyond polyphonic ringtones, already a great improvement over the existing metallic tunes we are used to, sounding more like a small orchestra with several different instruments and sound effects. Click here to listen to a polyphonic ringtone.
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