Just about everywhere is reporting that the only option for getting ringtones onto the soon to be released Apple Iphone is via sideloading with Itunes.
I love it.
I’m conjecturing that Apple’s idea is to push more business through it’s Itunes store. That’s not a bad thing. Itunes store charges $0.99 for most tracks where as the carriers and other ringtone providers are charging $2.50 or more to get a single tune as a ringtone. (don’t get me started on the services that charge five bucks plus a week to subscribe)
The hype surrounding the Iphone is going to make a major impact on the phone market in the US where it is due to be released on 29th June. The carry through from that is the industry is going to realise people will be saving themselves a fortune by not being ripped off every time they want to put a new ringtone on their phone so more phones will be released with sideloading features.
I figure that by the time we have gone through the product cycle another 1-2 times there won’t be a cell phone that doesn’t offer sideloading and it will kill the ringtone market as we know it.
Pocket Picks has an article on how people can now download their music from their home computer to there phone from anywhere.
It involves setting up winamp and winamp remote on your computer then pointing your phones web browser to winamp.orb.com
I’m not sure if it’s a download or streaming service but I’ll leave it for someone else to try as my data charges with my provider are horrendous. I think I’ll stick to sideloading.
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Put simply sideloading is transferring content or data from a computer to a mobile phone.
Sideloading is a great thing, it cuts down the cost of transferring ringtones, wallpapers etc to your phone. So instead of paying $6 day/week/month or whatever over priced fee they offer, you can copy your favourite mp3 across to your phone for free.
Another bonus is that you can also transfer things off your phone and onto your computer.
I get quite snap happy with my phone when I’m out with my friends. To transfer my pictures via wap or email costs me a fortune, so it was very rare I bothered.
My current phone (Motorola V6 Maxx) connects directly to my computers USB port with the same cable I use for my digital camera.
A survey conducted by Orange shows that 13% of users are now sideloading ringtones onto their phones.
Cellphone carriers were initially cool to the concept of sideloading. It cuts back on their revenue as you no longer need to use your data allowance to transfer ringtones, nor do they get their share for putting the cost of the ringtone onto your phone bill. (sometimes up to 50% of the price the consumer pays).
Some carriers restrict the sideloading feature on the phones they sell with firmware but this seems to be reducing as demand for the service picks up.
I can see sideloading taking off over the next few years as more modern phones penetrate the market and people get used to the concept. I can’t wait !
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Pocket Picks has produced a simple tutorial showing how you can shrink down your mp3’s to make them more suitable to use as ringtones. The tutorial uses the freely available Itunes software so more anyone can do it without paying for overpriced ringtones.
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A survey in the UK shows that of the people that changed ringtones in the last three months only 13% were dumb enough to pay for them. [via ringtonia]
I’d love to see this figure drop down to an even lower number. Most people seem to think that just because the ringtone providers advertise a lot that it’s the only way to get a ringtone onto your phone.
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It used to be that the only easy way to get a ringtone onto your phone was to pay someone to send it to you.
With modern cell phones it’s now quite easy to transfer all sorts of files to your phone.
My new Motorola V6 Maxx came with a USB cable and some software that makes it almost as easy as copying music onto an MP3 player.
Check the book that came with your phone and find out if you can choose your own MP3’s as ringtones
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I’m sick of seeing ads on TV offering membership to ringtone clubs. If you’ve got bad eyes or a small screen you won’t realise that some of these places are charging $24 a week.
It’s crap, I’m fortunate that with my new phone I can download any MP3 via a USB cable and use it as a ringtone.
