The Aura of Porsche in a ringtone

During the summer, communication agency DDB, urban furniture company JCDecaux, and Alterwave specialized in marketing via Bluetooth, have set up the first mupy (standalone advertising panel) allowing the free download of a ringtone, specially recorded for the fans of Porsche cars, reveals PR.com

People passing by the poster within a range of 10 meters are invited to take away in their mobile phone a bit of the aura of the Porsche Cayman S, caught into a ringtone recording the 6 cylinders engine into an acceleration phase.

The interactive mupy is installed in Knokke-le-Zoute in Belgium, where fans of quality cars are numerous. Besides the poster, the Porsche Cayman S is exhibited behind a glass cover, just as collection scaled models.

Other engine tones:

-- Ford Mustang rocks your phone - Ford rolled out a new, well, treat for Mustang fans today - cell phone ringtones. One of the available ringtones is "The Star Spangled Banner," played with Mustang exhaust tones.

- FX and G Sedan and Coupe ringtones - The ringtones will allow all Infiniti enthusiasts to experience the engine roars of both the FX and G Sedan and Coupe whenever they receive a call or message

-- LG's Sports Car Mobile Phone with Vroom Vroom Ringtone - the LG M4300 shaped like a car, has an interesting (and obvious) featured missed out by most; it comes with a "car starting engine ringtone, to give users more speedy vibe".

-- Aston Martin engine as a ring tone - A limited edition of Aston Martin and Motorola co-branded handsets, the Motorola V600, are being made. They will be branded with the Aston Martin logo and feature the sound of an Aston Martin engine as a ring tone".

-- Formula 1 engine ringtone - Siemens, who has partnered with the Formula 1 racing series since 1998, will premiere official Grand Prix cell phones in Barcelona. Available as a limited edition, the two new models (S55 S and C55 C) will be configured with distinctive Formula 1 motifs, the F1 logo as a screensaver, and engine-sound ringtones. (2003)

Scout: The City in Audio

Scout: The City in Audio, developed by Emily Conrad, Todd Holoubek and Jeffrey Galusha, is an urban broadcast, transmitting live audio from throughout New York City.

During Conflux 2006, Scout will be heard on unused FM frequencies. Each Scout will be sampling a different part of New York City. The “scouts” are cell phones always on, often in motion, and they tirelessly report real time news from the street. Their audio streams are received by five receivers at the scout base camp which broadcast each stream on unused FM radio frequencies. The broadcast can only be heard within 200 feet of the Conflux, but will be available online after the event.

The developers of the projects wil provide 20 to 25 walkman radios to connect with the scouts, though people should be encouraged to bring their own.

XM Channels to Air on Alltel Cell Phones

XM Satellite Radio Inc. has made a deal with Alltel Wireless, a cell phone service provider, to distribute some of XM's commercial-free channels over cell phones, reports Forbes. The deal will allow Alltel subscribers to get access to 20 XM music channels for a monthly fee of $7.99.

The pact mirrors a similar arrangement announced last year between XM's competitor Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and Sprint.

Sirius and Sprint have not said how many customers have signed up for their service, which launched last September.

Related:

-- Telus cellphones to relay music, entertainment from XM satellite radio

Vendor’s dulcet tones ring out in Newcastle

The cries of an Evening Chronicle street vendor in Newcastle, who is dubbed the "voice of the North", have been recorded by the paper to be sold in the form of mobile phone ringtones, reveal Press Gazette and The Evening Chronicle.

Ronnie Gill's iconic calls have long echoed the streets of Newcastle and now The Chronicle is encouraging people to buy the ringtone by offering random cash prizes if readers approach newspaper street vendors and play them the ringtone from their phone.

To receive Ronnie Gill, text CHRON 710512 to 84700.

Cell phone got washed with your jeans? Well, your ringtone's safe

A lucrative business has emerged around helping people preserve what's on their phones, reports AP reports. "The Carriers charge fees to back up address books, and hardware- and software-makers peddle products that can pull the data off your phone. Meanwhile, to replace ringtones or games, you often have to buy the application all over again.

But ringtone and game peddler Oasys Mobile is bucking the trend by allowing customers to download applications they've purchased again and again from an online "virtual locker."

Customers can store contact information, photos and other data in their online account and download it to a new phone as many times as they want as long as they keep the same number."

Listening to Baseball games on your cell phone

Baseball fans will soon be able to use their cell phones to take them out to the ballgame, reports the AP.

"Sprint Nextel Corp. reached an agreement with Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the sport's Internet wing, to make audio of radio broadcasts available to its subscribers' mobile phones for $5.99 a month.

Under the deal, scheduled to be announced Wednesday, the local flagship station broadcasts will be available for all 30 teams for each game. The service will likely launch in mid-August, Sprint spokesman Dave Mellin said Tuesday".

Dial '30303' for Artist-Related Mobile Content

The ECommerce Times reports that Universal Music Group and mobile software developer Motricity have joined forces to create "30303," a new multimedia service that will allow users to access music, mastertones, photos and other content simply by texting artist-related keywords to 30303 from their cell phones.

"UMG will promote the 30303 shortcode -- which will enable Cingular, Sprint and T-Mobile subscribers to purchase recordings by such popular artists as Mary J. Blige, The Killers and Busta Rhymes, along with related content -- through various marketing venues, including CD cases, print, television and radio advertisements, and artist Web sites."

Nokia tunes in with Loudeye deal

Nokia has bought Loudeye, holder of a major digital music catalogue, for $60m as it seeks to offer mobile owners a full range of music services. The BBC reports.

"The deal gives Nokia access to content it can offer to millions of customers with music-enabled mobile phones. Nokia said it would soon offer a "comprehensive, mobile music offer".

Polyphonic Ringtone Sales Collapse

Realtones account for more than three-fourths of consumer spending on music ringtones to personalize their phones, according to Telephia, reports Cellular News.

"The research firm's latest quarterly Mobile Ringtone Report shows that mono and polyphonic ringtones now account for only 12% of consumer spending on music personalization products, down from nearly 30% in Q3 2005.

Ringback tones, which were launched in late 2004, now account for 11.5% of consumer spending in this category, an increase of almost 50% since last year.

According to Telephia, the number of mobile consumers purchasing a ringtone increased to more than 24.6 million in Q2 2006. While the overall market is growing, mono and polyphonic ringtones are losing market share to realtones and ringback tones."

Alltel To Offer Podcasts on Phones

Alltel is the first operator in U.S. to officially offer podcasts on mobile phones, according to MocoNews via Reuters.

"Privately held Melodeo of Seattle is providing Alltel with the technology to offer the podcasts, which could include everything from sports, entertainment or news clips from media companies to clips from independent podcast creators.

It It will charge $3.99 a month to let subscribers download or stream."

Related:

-- Listen to Podcasts on your mobile phone - Thanks to Pod2Mob, you can listen to any podcast on your cell phone for free.

-- Podcasts for Cell Phones - Rogers Wireless and Melodeo, Inc., a developer of software and services that bring digital media content to mobile phones, have announced the launch of Rogers Podcast Service for cell phones.

-- Melodeo plans free podcast downloads to phones - Melodeo's Mobilcast software would allow users a way to bypass a computer to download audio content directly to a phone.

Angling ringtones bring harmony to the riverbank

Richard Hewitt, a fisherman and the owner of Salmon Reel, a company that specialises in mobile phone ringtones, has decided to reproduce the sounds of Brass Perfect, Fortuna and Zane Grey, reports The Times.

These are not rock bands but the sounds of some of the finest fishing reels ever made, each boasting a lovingly crafted mechanism.

Mr Hardy had the idea of harnessing the soothing tones of a fishing rod in action when his daughters showed him how far ringtone technology had advanced. “One of the motivating factors was my irritation at mobile phones and the way ringtones are so intrusive,” he said.

The sounds were recorded in the museum of Hardy in Alnwick, Northumberland, where a vast collection of vintage reels is on display. Many ringtones can be downloaded free, but Mr Hewitt is charging between £3 and £5 for his via the internet, with some of the proceeds going to the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, a conservation body.

Salmon Reel’s other ringtones include the songs of the sparrow, lark and crow, the sounds of goats, sheep and rustling woodland. There is also a selection for the keen equestrian, who can be alerted with the sounds of a neigh, a trot or a gallop.

Rapper's ring bling

Texan rapper Chamillionaire — real name Hakeem Seriki — has sold more than one million records in the US and his single Ridin’ was No1 for two weeks on the Billboard charts, reports The Sun Online.

"Chamillionaire has also sold a staggering 3.5million ringtones and 30,000 mobile video downloads of Ridin’ — 5,808 in one day — in the UK alone and the debut single is not even out yet."

Ringtone Reenacts Gibson's Drunken Debacle in Malibu

OASYS Mobile today unveiled the "Mel In Malibu" ringtone, which dramatizes the star's recent highway arrest.

The ringtone can be downloaded for free and reenacts the controversial actor's altercation with the Los Angeles County police as he was pulled over for allegedly driving under the influence.

Cell phone users will know they are receiving a call when they hear an Australian accented voice scream "I own Malibu!"

"Mel in Malibu" is the first in a series of National Lampoon "ScandalTones" carried exclusively on OasysMobile.com.

You've got a message from Samuel L. Jackson

The forthcoming movie Snakes on a Plane is launching a marketing campaign by which users can create a customized voice message from Samuel L. Jackson they can send to their friends’ phones, reminding them to go see the movie when it comes out August 18.

[via mobhappy]

Crazy Frog hops to No. 1 on Canadian charts

Crazy Frog is No. 1 on the album charts in Canada, reports Jam! Showbiz.

Crazy Frog's "More Crazy Hits" debuted at No. 1 in the nation this week, racking up over 15,000 in sales, according to data compiled by Neilsen SoundScan.

The debut also helped the ringtone sensation's other release, "Crazy Hits," to re-enter the top 10 at No. 10.

Over the air music downloads to increase in the next five years

Analysts forecast that mobile music revenue is to shift away from ringtones and be generated more by over the air music downloads, informs pocket lint.

The latest report from Jupiter Research shows that annual mobile music revenues will reach $14 billion worldwide by 2011, and that Asia Pacific will contribute 40 percent at that time.

At the moment, ringtones occupy an 81 percent share in mobile music services, but this is set to fall to 51 percent by 2001, while over the air full track music will rise from 9 percent to 32 percent.

The analysts see OTA full track music taking off thanks to the growing popularity of 3G networks and music handsets.

Zidane headbutt bestselling ringtone in France

Three weeks after Zinedine Zidane's attack on Marco Materazzi cost the French team their star player and arguably the match, a chirpy tune about the incident called Headbutt is dominating the Gallic pop charts, reports The Guardian.

Written in a mere 30 minutes by a trio of record producers the day after the final, Headbutt - Coup de Boule in French - has become a unique viral phenomenon. Released online, it invaded email inboxes all over the country in days. Two after it was on the net, the radio broadcasted the tune,

It wasn't long before Warner Music stepped in to distribute it commercially. After two days on general release, La Plage's jaunty tune made its debut at number two in the French charts. It is already the bestselling ringtone in the country, and Warner is confident the single will hit No 1 in the French charts this week.