FREE Ringtones
Just about everyone has heard of a ringtone. Ringtones apply almost always to mobile phones or cell phones. The main reason for the differences in ringtones is so people can recognise their own phones ringing. Through computers in mobile phones, ringtones have become more sophisticated. A ringtone can also be the sounds that you hear when you are on the phone waiting for the other person to pick up.
Why are ringtones important
The main reason for a ringtone is to alert the phone owner that they have a incoming call.
Ringtones and the workplace
In Australia, some Australian workplaces have levied fines for ringtones that sound during meetings.
Can ringtones give an indication of an owners personality
Yes, ringtones give an indication to people's personal tastes. Having a loud and annoying ringtone may indicate a need to be seen.
Ringtones and the economy
Ringtones are a great significance to the economy as a major source of income to companies that sell ringtones. Also music companies get royalties for selling tunes to ringtone companies. Try to calculate the number of mobile phones. In a typical year Nokia seems to sell around 160 million phones. Just multiply this figure by $2 or even $3 and you get a few hundred million dollars per year just on a ringtone market.
How does a ringtone work
A ringtone relies on the computing power of the mobile phone. The common ringtone is actually programmed through a language called Ringing Tone Text Transfer Language (RTTTL) format, developed by Nokia. Different mobile phones use different systems for encoding ringtones on their devices but most are delivered directly to your phone as part of an SMS system.
Types of ringtones
There are now three main types of ringtones:
* monophonic ( the standard and first type)
* polyphonic ringtones
* TrueTone
The main difference is monophonic means that only one tone or sound can be played at a time. Polyphonic means several notes can be played. Some mobile phones can set the ringtone to be different depending on the incoming caller. This seems to be useful to avoid nuisance calls.
What is the history of ringtones
Ringtones have really only been around in their current form since the mobile phone. So ringtones are really about the history of mobile phones. Ringtones used to be important to operators in the very early days of telephone exchanges. The very first telephones required the telephone caller to Ring Off. Some of the first ringtones were downloaded in 1997 through a system called Smart Messaging developed by Nokia.
The Future of ringtones
Ringtones are likely to continue as a major component of mobile phone technology. The actual ringtone may eventually be replaced by just standard music. It is possible that any sound file be used as a ringtone. Could there be any dangers associated with ringtones? Probably not directly although it is possible that certain combinations of pitches and tones could be irritating. A potential idea might be to have a standard system for allowing mobile phone ringtones to be blocked in sensitive places, such as cinemas or concert halls.
