Traffic police uses ringtones to raise awareness about rules

Ringtones like 'Follow traffic rules' or 'Use helmet and seatbelt' will greet you when you dial any mobile number in Kanpur, India. Zee News reports.

In a novel move, the city traffic policeplans to educate commuters in a big way by introducing a ring tone on traffic regulations during the 'Traffic Awareness' month being celebrated this month.

"Arrangements have been made with service providers such as Vodafone, BSNL and Reliance to make the drive a success," Kanpur Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Ramlal Verma told a news agency today.

Full article.

World's longest ringtone lasts over an hour

Dwango, a Japanese firm, aims for a Guinness big book of records with the world's longest ringtone, lasting 61 minutes and 40 seconds.

[via TechRadar]

New Snow Patrol Album to Feature Downloadable iPhone App

The new Snow Patrol album, due out next month, is the first to offer a downloadable application for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The digital booklet, which will be available online, will let fans access behind-the-scenes footage from video shoots. Album artwork, lyrics and other features will also be included.

[via Switched]

Condom a cappella ringtone promotes safe sex

A ringtone that chants "condom, condom!" has been launched in India to promote safe sex and tackle the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, writes Breitbart.

"The "condom a cappella" has been designed to break down Indians' reluctance to discuss condom use and to make wearing a condom more acceptable.

Organisers of the campaign, funded by the foundation set up by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, hope the ringtone will become a craze among young Indians. "

[via Gizmodo]

Arphiola launches annoying Out-Of-Tune ringtones

Arphiola has announced the official launch of their 'Out-Of-Tune ' ringtones after a successful pre-launch in selected markets.

Out-Of-Tune ringtones are ugly and annoying re-productions of popular songs and TV and movie themes. "An excellent way of demonstrating that you are really, really tired of that song", said Bjorn-Ivar with a smile. Available titles in the Out-Of-Tune library includes MacGywer, Grace Kelly, You're beautiful, James Bond etc and is updated frequently.

[via Phone Content]

History corrected of the first ringtones

One of my readers, Sumanth S Gopinath, who is writing a book on the subject, has pointed out that James Winsoar, who has been credited as the first person to sell downloadable ringtones via Nokia phones - may have been the first - but only in the UK.

"Research by Noriko Manabe has shown that downloadable ringtones appeared in 1997 in Japan (apparently, Astel Tokyo sold them), and in Finland, Vesa-Matti Paananen seems to have been the person to do this first in Europe, beginning in 1998.

The Paananen story can also be found in Dan Steinbock, "The Mobile Revolution: The Making of Mobile Services Worldwide" (London: Kogan Page, 2005), p. 125.

And Noriko Manabe's essay, "Going Mobile: The Mobile Internet, Ringtones, and the Mobile Music Market in Japan," ed. Gerard Goggin and Mark McLelland (London: Routledge, forthcoming).

Related:

-- Ringtone instigator celebrates 7 years in business

-- James Winsoar, first ringtone provider

Crazy Frog ringtone requested at funeral

At one UK funeral service, the dearly departed went to meet his maker to the accompaniment of the Crazy Frog ringtone. Just one of the bizarre choices, in a round-up by The Sunday Mail, of music requested by grieving families.

This is the first for a funeral to the best of my knowledge. Once though (in 2003), as the organ player didn't make it to a wedding on time, the bride walked down the aisle to the ringtone, "Here comes the Bride" played from one of the guests' mobile phones'.

Nokia N80 As Recording Studio? First Ever Album Made on a Mobile.

After yesterday's news of a ringtone released as a record, today we get news of an album recorded entirely on a cell phone and released on the Internet.

Omri Levy's new EP "about:blank" is the first album to be recorded entirely onto a mobile phone. The album was recorded on a Nokia N80 handset, using an Alon MP3 dictaphone, according to Mobile Crunch.

"The release, “about:blank”, which is available via Omri blog is availble for free under a Creative Commons release."

Other related ringtone-release related firsts:

-- Planet Funk First band to release a single by phone (april 2006)

-- Chinese singer Long Pang Launches First ‘Mobile Album' In China (June 2005)

-- Crazy Frog Ringtone to be released as UK music single (February 2005)

-- "SUPER SMART" released its album "Panda Babies" as ringtones (April 2004)

-- Ricky Martin's Album Debuted on Cellphones in S Korea (June 2003)

-- Finnish band Nylon Beat, released first ringtone teaser a (March 2003)

Nokia's 8800 Sirocco features "sonic texture" by Brian Eno

Everyone is talking abou Nokia's new 8800 model, and I had gathered the main difference with the previous model, was the upgraded 2 megapixel camera feature. But what I missed is the "sonic texture" feature, created by ambient music innovator Brian Eno. [via Digital Trends]

"In pop circles, Eno is best known as one of the prime movers behind Roxy Music and a key force in the production team that's turned Irish band U2 into a worldwide phenomenon, but he's also regarded as one of the fathers of ambient music."

Just as a reminder, the earlier model launched in April 05, the Nokia 8801, included a signature ringtone "Dharma", by an award-winning composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Sakamoto was commissioned to compose the ringtones and alerts."

Ringtone instigator celebrates 7 years in business

It's now seven years since James Winsoar first had that spark of inspiration that led him to launch the first ringtone customising business back in 1999.

Phat Tonez ringtone service officially made it into the history books when a prestigious Yale University publication entitled "Ringtones, or the auditory logic of globalization” by Sumanth Gopinath recognised the company as being the first to market ringtone customisation services.

The top 10 most popular ringtones of all time are (in reverse order):

10. A Spoonful of Sugar (from Mary Poppins)
9. The Prisoner (starring Patrick McGoohan)
8. Archers (BBC Radio 4)
7. Rouge - Don't Be Shy
6. Lord of the Rings
5. Austin Powers
4. Superman
3. Indiana Jones
2. Spiderman
1. Mission Impossible

Interestingly, when you add up sales of all artists' ringtone tracks overall, the most popular artist is Eminem together with his band D12.

Phat Tonez is always responding to consumer demands. James Winsoar next plans to revolutionise the industry with a new low cost 50p per ringtone download service and the ability to 'earn' free ringtones by recommending friends.

Related post: James Winsoar, first ringtone provider

MyNuMo.com announces “Funniest Ringtone” Contest

myNumo will be running a “Funniest Ringtone” contest.

The contest is open to anyone who creates a comic ringtone. Contestants can upload their audio file or call into an 800 number to record their funny ringtone and myNuMo will make them available for purchase by Cingular, AT&T, and T-Mobile users. The best selling comic ringtone from May 15th to May 31st wins.

“The winner will receive $100,” states Sherri Cuono, President of myNuMo, “but everyone wins because artitsts get paid for every one of their ringtones sold.” The contest is open to new and existing artists on www.mynumo.com. The prize winner will be announced on June 5th.

New Omarion Single to Premiere as Ringtone "106 & Park"

The chart-topping R&B superstar Omarion and entertainment network BET have joined forces to make Omarion's new single, Entourage, available for the first time in any format as a ringtone exclusively through BET Mobile.

The new Omarion single, Entourage, will premiere on the BET hit series, "106 & Park," on Friday, May 12." [via Press Release]

Fans will hear the song for the first time and learn how to get their exclusive Omarion Entourage ringtone:

To download the exclusive ringtone of "Entourage," the new Omarion single, directly to their mobile phones, cellphone users simply text message the letter "O" (for Omarion) to "23888"

Shia ringtone sparks scuffle in Iraqi parliament

The fragile state of the sectarian divide in Iraqi politics was exposed today when a fight broke out in parliament after a mobile phone ringtone played a Shia Muslim chant, reports The Times Online via The Raw Feed.

... "The mobile phone belonged to Ms al-Saidi, who is a member of the Islamist movement led by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. One of her guards was holding her phone when it rang, playing a Shia prayer.

Mr al-Mashhadani sent one of his guards -- because of the risk of assassination in Baghdad, all Iraqi politicians come to parliament accompanied by armed men -- to ask her to turn it off. But the phone rang again, at which point a fight broke out in the lobby of the parliament building, with guards from both sides and a veiled Ms al-Saidi joining in."

Cingular pulls racist ring tone

According to M&C Tech, a ring tone offered for sale online that makes fun of illegal Hispanic immigrants has been pulled from the Cingular Wireless Web site.

"In the ring tone entitled La Migra, a siren is heard, followed by a male voice that says in a southern accent: \'Calmate, calmate, this is la migra. Por favor, put the oranges down and step away from the cell phone. I repeat-o, put the oranges down and step away from the telephone-o. I`m deporting you back home-o.\'."

Hours after Cingular received complaints of the "la Migra" ringtone, it was pulled from the company website, reports WROC TV News. Eight people had purchased the ring tone since it was available in March.

"Cingular agreed the ring tone should have never been a part of its collection and called it "blatantly offensive." The tone was made by Barrio Mobile, a brand owned by a French media company. Cingular says the company will monitor its ring tones more closely in the future".

Related: - Response to "offensive" ringtone's removal mixed

First band to release a single by phone

Planet Funk will next month release a single exclusively via mobile phones, reports The Guardian.

The band are the latest to eschew the traditional route of slogging around provincial radio stations and record stores to attract a following in favour of building a profile digitally.

The mobile network will this week continue its campaign of premiering videos on its handsets with a new Pet Shop Boys promo for new single I'm With Stupid that features the comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams. It said an increasing number of singles were being sold via mobile downloads and already accounted for nearly 4% of the singles chart. Altogether, the mobile network claims to have sold more than 16m music video or song downloads over the past two years.

As the cost of downloading becomes more realistic and mobile handsets become more sophisticated, analysts predict an increase in the number of people looking to download tracks directly to their phone.

Major ringtone auction takes on classical tunes

U.S.A. first major ringtone auction will put original tunes by classical U.S. composers up for sale, reports Arizona Republic.

Organized by the American Composers Orchestra to raise money for its young-composer and educational programs, the auction offers miniworks written expressly for cellular phone by 10 artists. Among them are already established composers such as Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson, Danny Elfman and emerging talent Jason Freeman.

Each will conceive one 20- to 30-second ringtone. The bids, which start at $100, may be placed online from April 10 to May 5.

"Everyone can get a Beyonce ringtone for a buck or so," said Barbara Burch, director of development at the non-profit group. "But just one person in the world will have the ringtone by Philip Glass. This is a collectible ringtone."

"We still see the dominance of rap, R&B, alternative, punk and pop," said Drew Hull, research director of mobile content at NPD Group. "But we are definitely seeing growth in jazz and classical music."

Almost non-existent three years ago, ringtones in those genres now make up about 5 percent of the market. The participation of big names in the auction is a sign "that this market is growing and becoming part of the mainstream," Hull added. "You have famous classical composers, whom you won't associate with the teenager market, becoming involved, and it's not looked down upon."

Indian group Elusive's tracks as standard MP3 ringtones on Nokia 91

"We have just been in contact with Nokia who want to use our tracks “Jogi” and “Jawani” as the standard mp3 ringtones on the soon to be released Nokia N91 phone which will be going worldwide. Keep and eye out for it!

A quote from The Asian News columnist DJ Ravi's interview with Elusive - the top Bhangra outfit from the north west making waves across the Asian music industry.

Mobile phone having perfume spraying apparatus

Mobiledia reports that Samsung Electronics has developed a perfume spraying cell phone to release "smell tones" when incoming calls are received.

"According to the recently filed patent application, controls are also available to adjust the type or amount of perfume sprayed. And when the perfume is used up, exchangeable cartridges can be reloaded.

More details and a drawing of the device in Mobiledia.

Related in a silly way:

-- Keitai KunKun cellphone smell tones. - A smell charm to attach to your cell phone, called Keitai KunKun, which will emit a "refreshing fragrance that has a relaxation effect" every time the phone receives incoming email, or calls.

1956: First ringtone

A blast from the past on MIT Advertising Lab.

"This article from Popular Electronics via Modern Mechanix dated 1956 reads: "Telephone users will welcome the news that the Bell Telephone Laboratories is experimenting with a new device that will eliminate the b-r-r-r-ing of present-day instruments. The gadget, using transistors, will produce pleasant musical tones resembling those of a clarinet.

Sound emanates through the louvred area at the base of the set, shown in the photo with a white background."

Other ringtone related "first":

-- Boy George, first ringtone composer

-- James Winsoar, first ringtone provider

-- Nylon Beat, releases first ringtone teaser

-- Some general ringtone history

Juvenile Offers Fans Customizable Ringtones

While most rap artists would rather sell their hit singles as ringtones, Juvenile wants his fans to make their own ringtones from any part of a song featured in his upcoming album, reports SoHH.com

" Due March 7, Reality. will be the first U.S. released album to include ID Interactive's UrTone player which allows consumers to create and purchase personalized ringtones.

A demo of this ing tone technology can currently be viewed at www.juvenilerealitycheck.com.

Atlantic is constantly looking for new ways for consumers to feel personally involved with our artists' music. By giving his fans the ability to create their own unique ring tones, Juvenile has taken the connection between artist and audience to an exciting new place." said ID Interactive Vice President of Sales & Marketing Bobby Israeli.

Verizon, MySpace Give Bands a Chance

Leveraging the newest medium for artists to reach their fans, the "Calling All Bands" contest from Verizon Wireless and MySpace offers one lucky unsigned band the opportunity to have their song, music video, ring tone and ring back tone released on Verizon Wireless -- the nation's leading wireless provider with 51.3 million customers.

"Verizon Wireless will release the "Calling All Bands" winner's song on V CAST Music -- marking the first time an unsigned band will release its first single on a wireless phone.

The winner will also work with Verizon Wireless to produce a music video that will be released on V CAST, plus a ring tone and ring back tone of the winning song that will be available for purchase by Verizon Wireless customers.

[Press Release]

Related, sort of:

-- Cingular Launches New Concert-Content For Video Phones

-- New Fugees album exclusively available through VCast

New Fugees album exclusively available through VCast

Verizon Wireless has partnered with Columbia Records and reunited hip-hop act the Fugees , for a series of industry firsts designed to promote Verizon's new VCast music service. Billboard reports.

"Music from the upcoming new Fugees album will be made available exclusively to the service. Although "Take It Easy,"the first track from the untitled album, is currently available at a number of digital services (including iTunes and Rhapsody), subsequent singles will be limited to VCast.

And while record labels have made a standard practice of debuting singles as ringtones, this is the first time that studio masters to an unreleased album will debut exclusively via a wireless full-song music download service.

The use of exclusive content is considered essential to drive awareness and adoption of mobile music services. The VCast service went live only last month, with competitor Sprint operating a similar service since last November.

Sprint is making the live performance of the Rolling Stones' Super Bowl halftime show available as an exclusive download of its music store, powered by Groove Mobile."

Endtones and Hang-up Tones

Here's something new: Endtones or disconnect tones "to enhance the user experience when a wireless connection is completed. "

Endtone disconnect tones are marketed and sold like ring tones. Whereas ring tones signify incoming calls, endtone notify wireless device users that voice and data connections are terminated. Endtone disconnect tones include "hang-up tones" and "drop tones."

Users hear endtone disconnect tones when individuals hang up (hang-up tones) and when connections are accidentally dropped (drop tones).

According to Zeeshan Zaid, Vice President, Digital Business Operations, RCA Music Group, "Endtone is a a promising opportunity for exposing and selling music... We’ve seen great results with ringtones and we hope to see great returns with Endtone.”

[via mpocket]

Warner to launch the SMS tone

Mobile Entertainment reports that Warner Music has hinted it will launch a new kind of mobile music product: the SMS tone.

"The SMS tone will comprise music and video and playback on receipt of a text message. Consumers can already personalise their SMS alerts, of course, but this is thought to be the first time a music major has specifically designed a music product to do so.

The first example will roll out with a German operator soon".

[via Moco News/a>]

Ringtone garments

Industrial designer Christopher Glaisterand fashion designer Michelle Shakallis's barcode textiles are decorated by a pattern that translates a piece of music (When the Saints Go Marching In) into a barcode. The pattern can be turned back into real music or a ring tone by scanning it with a modified camera phone. The tune can then be used as the ringtone for that mobile phone.

reBlogged from WMMNA

Sunday Herald Sun offers free holiday ringtones

This is a first for a newspaper. Australia's Sunday Herald Sun is offering free seasonal ringtones and wallpapers.

"The colour wallpapers, black and white logos, or Good King Wenceslas and Jingle Bell Rock ringtones are usually $4 each.

For more information on how to get your phone festive offer for free, turn to page 15 of IE in your Sunday Herald Sun."

Nokia Releases Patch for N70 Ringtone Issues

Darla mack reports on a patch being issued by Nokia for the N70. Sometimes the user can't chose his own ringtone and the phone might not ring or vibrate when a call is received. This is the first time I've ever read of a patch to fix a ringtone problem.

howard forums

Slain rapper revival through ringtones

Some of the biggest names in hip-hop, both dead and alive, have contributed to "The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter," including Eminem, Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliott. T

The 22-track set is due Dec. 20 and features songs built around unreleased Biggie Smalls music.

B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls aka Christopher G. Wallace was a talented rapper, who was gunned down in 1997 while he was leaving a star-studded Vibe magazine party after the Soul Train Music Awards.. It was L.A.'s boldest gangland killing of the decade, accoridng to Salon.com.

Both the new album and many of Biggie's hits have been transformed into over 60 ringtones custom-tailored for the wireless world. In all, ringtones have been created from 26 different Notorious B.I.G. songs. The Notorious B.I.G. ringtones, including ringback tones and video ringers, will be available across multiple carriers, including all wireless partners, ringtone portals, and Premium SMS services.

"Big was and still is a huge presence who has had a major influence on modern music and culture," said Sean "Diddy" Combs. "It is only fitting that his music now takes on a new life with ringtones, the newest use of music made popular by our kids".

Coldplay get single push in forensics cop show CSI

Coldplay are to be promoted in an innovative cross-promotional deal, in which one of the songs from their platinum-selling 'X&Y' album is played on a character's mobile phone in the hit crime drama 'CSI: NY. [via Brand Republic]

"During the episode, detective Danny Messer is investigating a cold case, pun probably intended, when his phone rings to the sound of Coldplay's song 'Talk'.

The US TV promotion, between CBS and Capitol Records, then offers viewers the chance to download the song to their phones, taking product placement to the next level. The ringtone will be available via a deal with a US cellular network and CBS.com.

It does not end there. Later in the episode, 'Talk' serves as background music. The promotion is believed to be a first for the music industry and, if successful, stars in other TV shows are likely to have their phones ringing with the latest songs from the Billboard 100.

Read also Moco News' take on story.

CSI is so cutting edge. What has come up in this column before - via Engadget's watchful eye, is how with it, CSI writers are. They have previously worked in episodes, such current fads as "toothing" and flashmobs as well as including in one plotline an enhanced image related to a camphone shot.

Music recognition applied to Ringtone Search

According to James Pearce for Moco News, 411-Song (previously Musikube) is expanding it's music recognition service to allow people to search for ringtones by speaking into the mobile handset. The new service should launch in the fourth quarter of this year.

"CEO Sunjay Guleria ran James through the service. After calling you say the name of the band you want (in this case Black Eyed Peas) and the automated voice on the other end repeats it back to you — everytime they check you say “OK” to confirm — they system then tells you how many polyphonic and master ringtones are available and which one you want, then it tells you the price and plays you a sample.

If you say “OK” it sends an SMS with a download link. The idea is that it's easier to search this way than via a wap page, and it's on the mobile rather than another device."

To the best of my knowledge, this would be the first music recognition technology geared specifically to ringtones. Well known companies such as Shazaam and Rocket Mobile identify music tracks, not ringtones.

cf Using Your Cell to Name That Tune for links to companies which offer music recognition.

"Personalise Skype"

Skype today launched Personalise Skype, letting Skype's 55 million callers show off their individuality with sounds, ringtones and pictures. [via e-mail press release]

Available now at personal.skype.com, the Personalise Skype service allows Skype users with the latest version of Skype for Windows 1.4 to download pre-recorded voice clips and sounds to use as a ringtone or to customise any of the default sound events in Skype . There is also a wide variety of pictures and avatars.

Related: - Skype's Big Idea: Ringtones?

Walflram Tones: an experiment in a new kind of music

A well known scientist, Stephan Wolfram published "A New Kind of Science" in 2002, hailed as a major intellectual landmark. Which right there makes it way over my head, but I'm sharing it with you anyway.

At the core of his work is the idea of exploring a "computational universe" of simple programs, and one application is with music.

In his own words:

WolframTones works by taking simple programs from Wolfram's computational universe, and using music theory and Mathematica algorithms to render them as music. Each program in effect defines a virtual world, with its own special story--and WolframTones captures it as a musical composition.

It's all original music--fresh from "mining" Wolfram's computational universe. Sometimes it's reminiscent of familiar musical styles; sometimes it's like nothing ever heard before. But from just the tiniest corner of the computational universe WolframTones can make everyone on Earth their own unique cellphone ringtone."

Johnny Hallyday launches mobile version of new single

In what is being heralded as a first in France, the AP reports that icon rock star Johnny Hallyday, will be releasing an excerpt of his new single «Ma religion dans son regard» for mobile phones on Friday, at 3 pm, before the official launch of the single itself and before any radio releases.

«Ma religion dans son regard» is the first title of his new album «Ma vérité», available in stores October 31st.

[via the AP (in French)]

Movie Ringtone Rights Fight Goes To Court

A very interesting fight on ringtone/telecom rights for a new movie, the first of such a dispute.

"Sarkar, a new movie starring superstar Amitabh Bachhan (a remake of The Godfather), is a songless wonder but with a slick background score, is at the center of this controversy.

Apparently, the film producers gave the “telecom rights” to the Indian mobile content company Mauj, and song rights to Super Cassettes Industries (SCI).

But SCI went ahead and sub-licensed the ringtone development to another company and started promoting it in TV advertising. Now Mauj is suing the two companies…"

[via Content Sutra and Moco News]

From ring tones to car horns? Only in the Philippines

From ring tones to car horns? Only in the Philippines.

The "Hello! Hello! Garci" sound clip is now a car horn and the Department of Justice (DoJ) can't do anything but blame it on Filipino culture.

"It does not speak well of our culture. What we do is make something ugly, uglier," said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez upon learning that the audio of the President allegedly talking with an election official is now trumpeted by some cars in Metro Manila.

"If you feel for your country, even if it is not beautiful, you do not make it ugly," he said in reply to a question on whether all these CDs, text jokes and ring tones on the GMA tapes are making a mockery of the administration.

"It's part of destabilization," Gonzalez said of those giving away free CDs of the audio tape.

While Ms Arroyo struggles with a record-low popularity, a simple two-word greeting attributed to her has shot to the top of the charts in this cell phone-mad country.

'Hello Garci' overload.

A website offering a mobile phone ring tone featuring the words "Hello Garci" briefly crashed late last week as thousands of Filipinos clamored to download it.

Previous related posts:

-- Filipinos clamour for scandalous mobile ringtone

-- Ringtones express widespread disgust over (Ms Arroyo's) obvious poll fraud

-- Wiretapped Voice Latest Ringtone Craze

SK Telecom launches ‘Ment Bell' service

SK Telecom, the nation's dominant mobile carrier, is launching a new service called ‘Ment Bell', which provides a voice messaging option with background music. [via Telecoms Korea]

Users compose a 50 letter message and select the background music of their choice. The message is then converted into a voice message and can also be downloaded as a ring tone.

Hurray! Launches First ‘Mobile Album' In China

“Chinese mobile company Hurray! has announced that it has launched the first mobile album in China, entitled “You Are My Roses,” which users can download or listen through their mobile phones. This is the latest release from Long Pang, who is an up-and-coming pop singer in China.[via MocoNews]

Mobile phone ring tone becomes hit single in Britain

A cellphone ring tone based on the sound of a revving Swedish mo-ped is set to top the charts in Britain, reports KBCI.

The tune is called "Crazy Frog Axel F." And one music retailer says it's outselling the new single by the band Coldplay by nearly four to one.

One music industry experts say it's the first cellphone song to cross into mainstream music charts.

Nokia announces Ryuichi Sakamoto phone

In what I believe is a first, a new phone, the Nokia 8801 includes a signature ringtone "Dharma", by an award-winning composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

“...the Nokia 8801 features exclusive audio accompaniment, including all ring tones and alerts, by award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto."

Award-winning composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto was commissioned to compose the ringtones and alerts. Throughout his distinguished career, Sakamoto has crossed musical and technological boundaries, experimenting with different musical styles and making a name for himself in popular, orchestral and film music.

Inspired by its modern lines and organic curves, Sakamoto has produced a musical accompaniment for the Nokia 8801 that captures an essence and emotion that touches both heart and mind."

More poetry in Nokia press release - but no picture or audio files... via Joi Ito.

Update Click here for picture of handset posted by Engadget

Ringback tone contest in China

Three companies in China (Linktone and two local magazines, Mengya and HuGang Economics) are holding a content competition where users can submit their own creations. The content categories include ringback tones, stories, illustrations and Flash.

The prize is to have the winning content distributed via Linktone. Information on the Chinese website is here: http://yuanchuang.linktone.com. [via RingerNews.com]

NEC takes ringtones into three dimensions

PC Pro informs that NEC has introduced the PD9971 melody chip for mobile phones, which offers 3D positioning technology, sound effects, and 128 polyphonic tones to help phone manufacturers deliver high sound quality for applications such as games.

The seven audio functions on the chip include, pitch bend, vibrato, delay, reverb, chorus, compression and Doppler.

The chip is also compatible with the Mobile Extensible Music Format as well as Standard MIDI Files.

Rapper's New Single Features Ringtone Innovation

Until now, the 30-second ringtone clips packaged with singles have been pre-determined by record companies. But the new CD single "Baby" from rapper Fabolous allows UK consumers to choose which part of the song they want to use as a ringtone, writes Reuters.

The single which includes built-in software that lets listeners isolate any part of the song and load it onto their phones, retails for 3.99 pounds ($7.51), the same price as other CD singles.

"It's the next step for music lovers," said Crispin Futrille, whose company Bounce supplied the technology. "Ultimately the idea is to get this included on all CDs."

Word Records Launches Online Ringtone Store

Premier Christian record label Word Records announced last week its launching of the first ever online store for Christian ringtones, reports The Christian Post.

"Supporting AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Sprint PCS and T-Mobile, “Word Records Ringtown” (www.wordrecords.com) will feature more than 80 polyphonic (keyboard simulations), mastertones (album recordings) and voice ringtones from Christian artists.

Not only will the ringtones be available at the Word Records website but the label has also begun offering online ringtone stores for individual Christian artists, the first being launched for rock group Stellar Kart.

In addition to the label's innovative response to the rapidly emerging ringtone market, Word has partenered in the ringback tone services recently launched by T-Mobile and Verizon."

Related:

-- Christian Ringtones - According to Chris Cole, chief executive of the Christian radio station Cross Rhythms, "young Christians in the UK are buying polyphonic ringtones of their favourite Christian artists as religious rock takes up modern technology".

-- Divine Calling - A mobile ringtone service offering top hits of the contemporary Christian music, gospel and worship genre.

-- Ave Maria ringtone - To inspire users into contemplation, the Roman Catholic church in Holland offers religious ringtones. Users can select from 15 different ringtone-hymns, including Ave Maria and Salve Regina.

RING MY BELL

Two different takes on New Yorker's essay on the ringtone market, "RING MY BELL".

From Marc Perton for Engadget: "New Yorker offers up history of ringtones"

"Harmonium, the first program developed to create polyphonic ringtones, was developed by a Finnish programmer. What may be more surprising is the size of the ringtone market: a whopping $4 billion in 2004. In true New Yorker fashion, the article looks at the ringtone business, tone junkies — one guy claims to spend $10 a month on tones, mostly of Led Zep songs — and the evolution of the technology, which is poised to take the wind out of that $4 billion market, since it's getting easier to make your own ringtones.

From Mark Frauenfelder for TheFeature.com: "Polyphonic Ringtone Nostalgia"

"The latest issue of the New Yorker has a fairly lengthy article about polyphonic ringtones versus MP3 ringtones. The author, Sasha Frere-Jones argues that the polyphonic tones deliver the pure pop essence of a song, and are in some ways, superior to the actual songs they're based on.

If a song can survive being transposed from live instruments to a cell-phone microchip, it must have musically hardy DNA. Many recent hip-hop songs make terrific ringtones because they already sound like ringtones. The polyphonic and master-tone versions of “Goodies,” by Ciara, for example, are nearly identical. Ringtones, it turns out, are inherently pop: musical expression distilled to one urgent, representative hook.

Missed the concert? Get the ring tone

The London Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1904, has become the first orchestra to record and sell ringtones, reports the The Times Online.

The orchestra has created tones for 54 well-known classical themes that can be downloaded onto a mobile telephone, including renditions from Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Beethoven and Vaughn Williams.

All tunes are samples of the orchestra's recordings, either as a realistic “true tone” sound, or simplified “polytone” or “monotone” adaptations.

The commercial venture is the latest money-making enterprise for the orchestra, which began its own label in 2000.

If you can make classical music everyone wants on their telephone then that is excellent,” he said. “We want to make classical music part of life. Even if we make a loss we feel it will have been worth it.” - Clive Gillinson, the orchestra's managing director.

Related:

-- The Royal Opera of London offers ringtones Themed around particular operas and ballets. Along with a text messaging campaign, the Royal Opera aims to broaden the appeal of opera and ballet and attract younger people.