Nokia's N-Gage Ringtones

According to this article from Mobile Burn on Nokia's N-Gage, apparently it's speaker function comes with a side effect, the many pre-loaded ringtones are, well, LOUDER than expected.

And Websites are popping up offering N-Gage Ringtones:

-- Nokia N-Gage Ringtones

-- Nokia N Gage Polyphonic Ringtones

-- N-Gage Ringtones - FunFone Net

Ringtones as a birthday gift

If you're stuck on what to get as a birthday gift, Swiss mobile content provider Infowing.ch has just the thing for you. A birthday ringtone! (a Happy Birthday ringtone or any other song)

It's easy. Just write an a text message with the keyword (RING), the ringtone title, and your friend's phone number, and send this SMS to short code 248. For example:

RING BIRTHDAY 0781234567

Works with all Swiss networks as well as abroad.

Happy Forecasting

An estimated £70 million worth of ringtones are expected to be sold in 2003, up from £40m in 2002 according to the Mobile Data Association (MDA).

Record labels using ringtones to promote new singles and albums is also fuelling this trend, according to the BBC,

Bollywood theme hits as ringtones

In India, with almost every hit film, a theme or popular number becomes a ringtone. According to Dinesh Gulati, vice-president, sales and marketing, Airtel, "this is the most popular service, which both prepaid and post-paid customers can avail." [Newindpresscom]

«MyCaller»: Ringback Service for US Mobile Operators

Wireless technology company NMS Communications and Cellus USA, a leading provider of premium mobile content in North America, are launching «MyCaller», a ringback service that should drive operator revenu.

The new service lets subscribers replace the common, non-distinctive "ring ring" sound for their callers to hear with music selections, celebrity voices, amusing sounds, and other types of premium, for-fee content.

BBC Research & Consulting recently validated the high interest in this service through a three-city concept test. Nearly 75 percent of the youth and young adults surveyed in geographically diverse Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Tallahassee liked or loved the MyCaller service, using "cool," "different," "entertaining," and "interactive" to describe the experience.

"Ringback tones go further than ringtones by allowing a subscriber to personalize not only their own calling experience, but also the calling experience of their friends. This creates a viral effect that rapidly spreads awareness and demand for ringback tones," according to Mark Winther, IDC's Group Vice President, Worldwide Telecommunications. "IDC believes this will be a big ARPU driver over the next few years, and NMS' MyCaller makes this an easy solution for operators."

NMS is providing the system platform, operating software, and networking expertise while Cellus USA is providing the subscriber and content management capabilities, as well as the actual for-fee content. The existing library of fully licensed content is in excess of 120,000 music tracks and 50,000 sounds and noises.

Ringtone Search on Rediff

Rediff, an Indian online provider of news, information, communication, entertainment and shopping services, has announced the national launch of «Rediff Mobile Search» on Tuesday, the first keyword-based search for ringtones on the SMS-based mobile platform, reports The Financial Express.

The service will enable more than 17 million cellular subscribers across the country to search for ringtones sing a SMS mobile code — 7333.

According to IDC, the ringtone market is estimated to increase from $17 million in 2002 to $400 million by 2005.

Cellular subscribers in India account for nearly 100,000 downloads a day and the market is expanding at a rate of one million subscribers a month."