Gizmodo Australia » ringtones

Somali Terrorists Ban Musical Ringtones

Danny Allen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:13:02 +0000

Seriously, how messed up is this. Al Shabaab insurgents in Somalia (Al Qaeda’s proxy in the region) are going around flogging teenagers for listening to music and watching videos on their phones. Not to mention the senseless killings and amputations.

Fighting has killed almost 20,000 Somalis since 2007, and though some semblance of order has been restored, the imposed Sharia law has banned even moderate muslims from dancing at weddings, or even playing and watching soccer. If you’re having a bad day today, take a moment and remember just how good you actually do have it. [Reuters]

You’re Not Infringing Copyright When Your Ringtone Goes Off

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:48:39 +0000

Funny thing about ringtones: A royalty’s paid every time one’s downloaded, but the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers wanted royalties paid every time one is played, claiming that it’s a public performance. A federal judge says nope.

Interestingly, some ringtone services actually did pay performance royalties at one point. US District Court Judge Denise Cote ruled against the ASCAP, saying that “when a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and [the cellular carrier] is not liable either secondarily or directly”.

I’m sure the music industry will find some other reason to sue somebody else next week, don’t worry. [EFF via Ars]

12 Ultrasonic Ringtones For Your Nearly-Silent Listening Pleasure

Jack Loftus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:00:00 +0000

The kiddies have been using ultrasonic ringtones to secretly take calls/texts in class since 2006, but if you’re an adult who can still hear these frequencies then by all means head over to Lifehacker for some of your own [Lifehacker]

Journo Interrupts Obama With Quacking Duck Ringtone

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Create Your Own iPhone Ringtone Using iTunes

Gizmodo US Edition — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:50:00 +0000

In case you wanted to create your challenge to the world’s longest ringtone, CNET has an interesting little video tutorial up that’ll show you how to do so on the iPhone using iTunes. Turns out the music software lets you choose the start and stop times of a song, rename the extension and create a custom ringtone. You’ll need Garage Band if you want to get fancier than that, but who needs fancy when all you want to do is make a 62 minute-long song? [CNET TV]

World’s Longest Ringtone Clocks In at Over an Hour

Gizmodo US Edition — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:45:53 +0000

For those of you who love to let your mobile phones ring incessantly, never bothering to pick it up or let it go to voicemail, here’s the world’s longest mobile phone ringtone. The ringtone, supplied by Japanese company Dwango, lasts 61 minutes and 40 seconds and will be submitted for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. [PlusD via Textually]

Question of the Day: Do You Use Your Mobile Phone Vibrate Function?

Sean Fallon — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:00:00 +0000

The problem with my iPhone is that I can barely hear the ringtone when I receive a call. Maybe I’m going deaf, but I have vibrate set at all times as a backup just in case. It helps me catch any crucial calls when the ringtone may be drowned out by ambient noise—plus I like the way it feels in my pants. But what about you? Do you use your mobile phone vibrate function?

Safe Sex Ringtone for India, Funded by Bill and Melinda Gates

Mark Wilson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:15:00 +0000

In order to thwart the spread of HIV in India, “condom a cappella” has been released by an organisation that’s funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A ringtone that’s meant to promote safe sex, we thought that it might consist of a crying babies, nasty bodily functions or soliloquies from one’s parents, but instead the ringer is a chant of “condom, condom!” And as everyone knows, if people chant a word on a mobile phone ringer, its correlating concept is immediately embraced by the youth of the world. [breitbart]

Question of the Day: What’s Your Ringtone?

Matt Buchanan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The noise your phone emits when someone’s trying to get a hold of you is a deeply personal thing. Our intern Dan likes to be shamed into answering his phone as quickly as possible—when his phone shrieked “EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!” at the office, everyone laughed and he ran into the corner to take his call, post-haste. I prefer the vibes, for discretion, though I’ve got a sweet Tokyo Police Club ringtone as a noisy backup since I hate every phone’s stock ringers. So, how does your phone get your attention?

Maximum PC has a list of 10 must-have ringtones for geeks, if your tones need a nerd-flavored refresh (via Major Nelson).

Police Drummer Stewart Copeland Lays Down Custom Interface Tones For BlackBerry Bold

John Mahoney — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:25:00 +0000

I’m loving this trend of prominent and/or English rockers with ambient/prog tendencies laying down soundtracks for gadgets and software. Most famously we have Brian Eno composing the “Windows Sound” for Win 95, then Robert Fripp of King Crimson helping out with Vista’s sound set. Now Police drummer Stewart Copeland has done the same for the BlackBerry Bold, composing a five-note “theme” that will pop up in preloaded ring tones and alarm chimes, whenever the Bold gets around to shipping. Personally, if I ever replace my Van Halen “Jump” ringtone, I want it to be with some custom-composed robot squawking by someone like Daft Punk. Somewhere, John Mayer is shedding a single tear of envy. For sound samples hit up: [APC via CrackBerry]