http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/nokia-themes%3A-celebrate-in-style.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/nokia-themes%3A-celebrate-in-style.html Fri, 09 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0600
A Nokia theme is more than just a ring tone. It's also a wallpaper and screensaver that are designed to work with your ring tone choices, and that you can switch around to suit yourself as the seasons change, or as you do.

What can you do with a Nokia theme?

1. Send it to someone you love. Instead of buying the traditional Mothers Day or Fathers Day card, a Nokia theme letting your mum or dad know how special they are to you is a great way of letting them know you remember them. Or you can send an anniversary theme to your wife or boyfriend, birthday themes to that special someone, or a rock theme or other personalized Nokia theme to someone as a special occasion gift or just because.

2. Celebrate the season. Sometimes we all have a little trouble getting into the holiday spirit. Having a Christmas song in your Nokia theme can make a difference; or a Valentine's theme can be great in February, both to keep you in that romantic mood and to remind your significant other that the Big Day is on its way. Or maybe you're just one of those people who likes to decorate everything for your favorite holiday. Either way, a Nokia theme for the season can be a great idea.

3. Brag a little. Did you just graduate, or did you just land that great new job? Maybe you just had a new baby, or your girl just agreed to marry you. You might be able to find a Nokia theme that's perfect to express your pride about your new accomplishment, status, or addition.

4. Express yourself. With Nokia themes based around the Bible, around rock and roll, odd aliens, and technology, you can express your preferences and a part of your personality with your Nokia phone. Think of it as a modern way to wear a button to let people know who you are – or as an electronic bumper sticker.

5. Have some fun. With Nokia themes for just about everything, you can download themes to your phone that are just fun. How about a theme focused around aliens and rock? Or sports? Or the beach? Or maybe your favorite celebrity. Maybe you like surrealist art, or computer generated art. Whatever you prefer, you'll find a Nokia theme that will work for you.

No matter what you're looking for in a Nokia theme, you'll be able to find it here. Fun-loving or serious minded, avant-garde or conservative, you can find the things you’re passionate about in your Nokia themes.

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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/christmas-ringtones.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/christmas-ringtones.html Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600
'Tis the season to buy gifts for your family, smell the holly and evergreen, and eat lots of seasonal goodies. If you're in the mood for Christmas, shouldn't your cell phone be in the mood too? You can get some great Christmas ringtones for your cell phone, and get yourself and everyone around you in the mood of the season. Best of all, more and more of the new ringtones are moving toward the realistic true tones, and the ones that aren't true tones are mostly polyphonics. No more tinny "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" for you!

What's more, if there's a Scrooge on your Christmas list, you can help get him or her in the mood for the season by sending a ringtone to their cell phone. It's one of the latest and greatest way of letting someone know you care about them.

You can get the following types of Christmas ringtones for your cell phone:

Fun songs. You want "Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo" from South Park? You'll find it here. Or maybe you want something unique: how about a techno remix of "The Little Drummer Boy?" Whatever your preference, you can find a perfect Christmas ringtone to express your joy in the season.

Traditional favorites. If your favorite Christmas song is "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," you're in luck. This and dozens of other traditional Christmas songs can be downloaded to your cell phone as ringtones.

Religious favorites. Your favorite song is "What Child Is This?" You prefer the songs you sang in church as a child to the modern ones that seem to negate the true meaning of Christmas? You can find the songs you remember and love today as ringtones you can put on your cell phone.

Instrumental songs. Because of the limitations still inherent in even the best ringtones, the ones that sound the best are the ones that are primarily instrumental. You can find a fantastic version of "Ave Maria" for your cell phone, or you can find "Ring Christmas Bells" and other old favorites.

International Christmas Music. You want something really different that translates well to a polyphonic ringtone format? Try one of the "Christmas at Bali" ringtones, which translates a Christmas favorite into an Oriental sound, using unusual sounds and blended background noises to make your ringtone the coolest one around. Or you can try "Christmas in Palestine," or "Russian Christmas," depending on what you really like.

You may want something else to go with your ringtones. You can find great wallpapers and screensavers with Christmas themes as well as your ringtone themes. Whether you want St. Nick on your phone, Garfield in Christmas attire, or the soft beauty of a Thomas-Kinkaid-style Christmas landscape, you can find it. Put together the perfect theme, with wallpaper, screensaver, and ringtone, and send it to the ones you love in lieu of a Christmas card.

However you want to use your Christmas ringtones, they're there for you. Celebrate Christmas in style with the best ringtones on your phone.

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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/funny-ringtones.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/funny-ringtones.html Fri, 25 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600
Luckily, there are a huge number of funny ringtones available today for nearly every kind of cellphone – and for every kind of personality. You can download the perfect ringtone to go with your mood, current obsession, and for more fun, match it with a person on your address book. This means you’ll know your boss is calling when you hear Darth Vader’s march, or better yet, an agonizing scream. But seriously, if you’re a movie buff, you’re sure to have hours of fun with some of the film-inspired ringtones around – from the Terminator’s harsh Austrian accent informing you of a call, to the unmistakable Tarzan howl replacing the monotonous “ring-ring” on your phone. And its not just Stars Wars fanatics who are sure to get a hoot out of Yoda saying “Answer the phone you must” or “Press the button to fulfill your destiny”. Who wouldn’t giggle (or gawk) at the sound of Jack Nicholson, Robert de Niro or the throaty voice of Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood) telling you to pick up the call?

For comic types and practical joke lovers, a funny ringtone has got to be part of your everyday repertoire, and here you truly can go nuts. Try the bugle call-charge! ringtone, which is sure to grab attention on a crowded bus. The classic silly fart is another gem for those quiet times when lining up at the bank. If you want something a little more convincing, try the laughter fit and watch the person behind you try not to giggle. With an endless list of amusing ringtones, you can be funny without even trying. One word of advice though, stay away from the 50 mm machine gunfire ringtone at the airport. Others may just get the wrong end of a stick with that particular one.

The list of entertaining ringtones spawns even to that of political icons. Imagine Tony Blair’s voice enumerating your cellular phone’s destructive prowess. How about George W. Bush reminding you of an incoming call? Or Prince Charles telling you politely that you have a call coming through? These political movers and shakers are here for one purpose- to take your calls. Beats voice mail, doesn’t it?

For the non-political minded, there are still bound to be some ringtones to tickle your funny bone. Ladies, what about a sexy male voice telling you how gorgeous you are? Or the leery construction-worker wolf whistle? For the boys, maybe a sultry Latina voice is more your style, or even the infectious yawning tone? You can even try to test if the ringtone actually transmits the yawn to the person next to you.

Finally, the new breed of personalized ringtones are here not just to add a little ego to our lives, but some fun as well. You may not have the latest hi-tech robot at home to do the dishes, but your cellphone declaring “Eric, you have a phone call” can make you feel like 21st century boy.






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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/shopping/java-games-for-your-cell-phone.html http://www.articletrader.com/shopping/java-games-for-your-cell-phone.html Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600 Java games are based on a very skinny programming language, and have surprisingly great functionality even on a limited tool like your cellphone.

Today's cell phones are multifunctional organizational tools, you can use them to entertain yourself, and you can personalize
them as a fashion or personal style statement. But a lot of people just don't give a hoot about anything but games.

What's your personality in games? Action, puzzles, racing, sports? Do you like cerebral entertainment, or do you prefer first-person shooters?

Action Games

Ghost Force, Alien Unleashed, Conflict Vietnam, Predator these are just a few of the action games you can pick up for your cell phone. It's not going to look as good as it does on your flat-screen games-enhanced system at home, but you'll find that many of the functions you're used to having are there, like AI and full missions. The best news: If you're nostalgic for some of the original games, fully-functional java game versions may be available for you to download.

Online Play with Java Games

Prefer playing against real opponents? You can do that. With games like Badaz Poker and Blackjack, you have the option of playing your cell phone java games online or offline, and you can even engage in tournament play and chat with your opponents. Watch for more of this sort of game in the future.

Racing Games

Have you ever wanted to see if you could beat Lance Armstrong? Well, you can try it now from your own armchair. With games like Tour de France and Extreme Motorbike, you can race around the track or the course while you're standing still. Or you can try some Race2Kill and drive the way you've always wanted to drive in rush hour with guns, bottle rockets, and flamethrowers. Onscreen, at least, you can finally take out your fellow drivers while you're showing them your exhaust. With cell phone java games, you can dream wherever you are, without actually hurting anyone.

Adventure Games

You prefer your games with a little princess, a little sword? Try some of the great adventure games available for your cell phone. With java games like The Black Citadel, the classic Baldur's Gate, or Pirates, you'll never be caught with empty time on your hands. In fact, you might find your hands itching to play your new java game instead of whatever you're supposed to be doing.

Sports Games

With games like Dream Team Soccer or Smash and Ace (a tennis game), you can play your favorite sports while standing in queue at the grocery or just whenever. If you want to be laid-back, consider Darts and Drinks; feeling a little violent, try Ko Kickboxing. Or you can try a little sports fishing, with Shark Hunt.

Future Trends

Java games on cell phones are a new trend. Watch for more games with more functions, especially online functionality, coming in the near future.

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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/technology/mobile-phones/mobile-wallpaper.html http://www.articletrader.com/technology/mobile-phones/mobile-wallpaper.html Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600
So why not go all the way and personalize your cell phone wallpaper? That's the part of your phone you're going to be looking at the most anyway. You can go classy with scenic wallpaper, or with pictures by French Impressionists. Or you can go total coordination with cell phone wallpaper that matches your faceplate.

Or you can download pictures of your favourite stars and movies.

Celebrity Mobile Wallpaper for Your Cell Phone

Whether you prefer Christina Aguilera or Aishwarya Rai, you can find your idol in celebrity mobile wallpaper. Why not have cell phone wallpaper that matches your ringtone – if you use Madonna's new song for your ringtone music, download a picture of the star to go with it?

Or you might just want some eye-popping eye candy. Whatever you want, you can find it.

Dress Up For the Holidays

What about a picture of Old Saint Nick coming down your chimney with a bag of toys just for you? Or maybe a classic snowscape, or even a snow globe with animated snow drifting down for you. Don't forget the appropriate ring tone – a hearty Ho! Ho! Ho! might be nice, or some classic holiday tunes. Your mobile wallpaper can be more dressed for the holidays than you are. You can get holiday cell phone wallpaper for any holiday you choose: Chinese New Year, Halloween, Passover, Yule – your choice.

Moving Pictures: Animated Mobile Wallpaper

It's not supported by every cell phone yet, but if you don't want a boring static picture on your phone, you can find great animated mobile wallpaper with a variety of subjects online. Think about having flickering flames on your phone just behind your latest romance's name.

Cell Phone Themes

If you're one of those people who like to match all the time, you can find cell phone themes that include mobile wallpaper too. Each theme is specific to your cell phone's brand, so be sure you choose the right one. Cell phone themes are currently available for Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson mobiles.

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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/polyphonic-ring-tones-old-fashioned.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/polyphonic-ring-tones-old-fashioned.html Mon, 31 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0600
Then Nokia invented text messaging, and Paanen, a Finnish programmer, realised that you use the same technology to easily transmit songs to mobile phone handsets. This led to the development of Harmonium, the first complex polyphonic sound creator. Instead of being locked into single tones, users suddenly could have rings with harmony and texture.

Still, someone had to programme the sounds; you couldn't just convert your favourite songs into Harmonium polyphonic sounds. Digital content providers picked up Harmonium quickly and used it to create polyphonic ringtones, selling them to both phone users and phone providers. While polyphonic tones were better than monotones, they still sounded more like an old video game than the music they were patterned after.

MP3 Ringtones: The New Wave

Today, ringtone providers are switching to MP3 ringtones with realistic, near-CD-quality sound. Also called master tones or true tones, these are usually bits of a real song, using your favourite music to alert you to a call. Voice ringtones, sound effects, and instrumental or lyrical music are all available as MP3 ringtones today.

MP3 ringtones today account for two thirds of new mobile ringtones. The sound is a snippet of your favourite music with lyrics and the whole band playing -- much nicer than the old-fashioned ring or dull monotone melody. Most mobile phone manufacturers today include this type of ringtone on their newest handsets. Even better, you can program today's phones to play different tones for different reasons.

If you have more than one life, as most people do, you can also have multiple ringtones. The songs you want played when you're out at a pub are probably different from the ones you want sounding at work and with most phones today it's not hard to switch. You can also assign different ringtones to different people; your mother might have a radically different tone from your boyfriend.

Most cell phones come with some ringtones pre-installed, but you can find the ones you really like out on the wireless web. There are several methods for downloading ringtones. You can subscribe to a service that will send them to your phone weekly for a fee. Or you can download new ringtones from your favourite band's website. If you prefer to look at a wider variety of ringtones, you can download them directly to your phone from several sources, using either a scrollable menu or choosing a numerical code linked to the ringtone you want. Not all rings are compatible with all phones, so do try to sample them first.

If your ringtone sounds awful, it may not be the ringtone; it may be the phone. Older phones aren't perfectly compatible with the newer
ringtones, though they'll probably play them. Imagine the difference between stereo systems in the 1950s and today; that's about the difference you're looking at between a three-year-old phone and a brand new one, in terms of sound output. Your mobile phone provider should be able to tell you what your phone can handle.

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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/ringtones-the-multibillion-dollar-business.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/ringtones-the-multibillion-dollar-business.html Sat, 29 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500
Once considered a passing craze, ringtones now account for more than 10% of the global music market and are overtaking CD sales sooner than expected. Few thought that the monophonic tones of the late 1990s would evolve into the multi-billion dollar market that exists today. But, following the advent of true polyphonic ringtones in 2003, the realisation of their potential has developed a fresh momentum.

Unable to ignore the ringtone market, the music business has come to embrace its future and its influence on youth culture. This is especially true of the hip-hop industry whose output makes-up more than half of all downloaded ringtones. Successful artists such as 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Kanye West have all learnt that ringtones are by no means a niche product.

If there is a key to this success then it is probably the creation of a 'total product', that is, the full customisation of phones with ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, logos, picture messages and games. This has led to huge consumer choice and demand, with endless catalogues of music and themes now available on both mono and polyphonic phones. Another factor has been the obvious media impact, with the likes of the infamous Crazy Frog ringtone experiencing unprecedented coverage.

This popularity should continue for a while yet, thanks to advances in sound quality and the use of MP3 and Real Music by the current generation of phones. There are still new markets to explore as well, with the music-loving Latin Americans expected provide the next big growth area.

Ultimately, the long term success of the ringtone market could depend on the ability of the major phone manufacturers like Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Samsung to combine the very latest technology with wide-ranging compatibility; a balance which is becoming increasingly important in this truly global industry.

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Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>