Apple axes RingTone iTunes Plan?

[Applespider]

Interesting article in The Register suggesting that Apple were set to announce iRingtones which could be transferred by Bluetooth to mobiles as part of iTunes and iLife 06.

They are saying that the phone companies kicked up a fuss... although as far as I'm aware most ringtones in Europe aren't sold by the phone companies but by people like Jamster who I'd love Apple to put out of business.

I'm also curious about this since some US carriers cripple Bluetooth so that it can only transfer certain data on the phones so not sure why this was going to irritate those companies anyhow.

[Lacero]

Ringtones is like a $3 billion a year industry for the cell phone companies. Anybody trying to compete in what is historically a competition-free segment will be met fiercely at the Gates.

Here's to the Crazy Ones http://forums.macrumors.com/attachme...chmentid=35452

[SummerBreeze]

Originally Posted by Lacero

Ringtones is like a $3 billion a year industry for the cell phone companies. Anybody trying to compete in what is historically a competition-free segment will be met fiercely at the Gates.

Here's to the Crazy Ones http://forums.macrumors.com/attachme...chmentid=35452

Wow, $3 billion a year? What's wrong with the regular "ring ring" sound that phones are supposed to make? And who in their right mind spends $3 on a 30 second clip from a second rate pop song?

[mikeyredk]

Originally Posted by SummerBreeze

Wow, $3 billion a year? What's wrong with the regular "ring ring" sound that phones are supposed to make? And who in their right mind spends $3 on a 30 second clip from a second rate pop song?

I make my own ringtones from garageband

[Mord]

chavs, i swear they have to have at least 30 "bling" tones on their phones, personally if i had a phone i'd make my own, and i'd end up just using imperial march.

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif

TheRegister.co.uk claims that Apple had big plans to introduce ringtone sales into the iTunes Music Store. Users were also reportedly given the capability to remix the ringtones before transfering them to their phone.

The new feature was reported to be a headline feature of iLife '06 at Macworld San Francisco. According to The Register, however, it has been cancelled just weeks before the supposed announcement.

A source described the feature, which included integration with GarageBand and Flickr, as "giving ringtones the Apple makeover".

It's unclear why the feature was cancelled.

[runninmac]

Sounds cool for all the tenybopers with the cool cells

[otter-boy]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif

TheRegister.co.uk claims that Apple had big plans to introduce ringtone sales into the iTunes Music Store. . . The new feature was reported to be a headline feature of iLife '06 at Macworld San Francisco.

A part of iLife cancelled from the iTunes Music Store? This sounds like a fundamental misunderstanding of the Apple product line.

Even if the ringtone feature were part of iTMS, I have a hard time believing that it would also depend on iLife.

[noel4r]

Oh well, personally I've no use for it. I just use the mp3 files stored in my cell as my ring tone.

Hopefully, they have much much more bigger things to announce at Macworld than ringtones....

[nagusjim]

just leave the things on vibrate anyways. then we don't have to hear them going off in rude places all the time!

~runs and hides~

[narco]

I'm sure it has something to do with the cellular carriers. They're almost as bad if not worse than the RIAA.

Fishes,
narco.

[rendezvouscp]

Headline feature? Integration with GarageBand and Flickr? I just don't get it.

First off, ringtones as a major feature? Doesn't make sense, or they've somehow revolutionized a ring. Right.

GarageBand, alright, but Flickr? What in the world does Flickr have to do with ringtones?
-Chase

[iJon]

Gotta love the MP3 feature on my SE 710a. I just go pick out my favorite song in iTunes, snip it up a bit and transfer via bluetooth. Nice, free and easy.

jon

[Applespider]

Originally Posted by nagusjim

just leave the things on vibrate anyways. then we don't have to hear them going off in rude places all the time!

It's much more fun having them vibrate in rude places anyhow

[bigandy]

how bizarre to be planning something so big and shelve it so near to launch... that's definately the work of the mobile providers...

[Mord]

though i have to admit it's a close call between thriller and imperial martch, the trouble is if my phones playing out thrilla i'm more likely to wait a bit before picking up.

[Lord Blackadder]

Originally Posted by Applespider

It's much more fun having them vibrate in rude places anyhow

HA!

I really don't care much - I use the default ring on my cell and don't ahve the inclination to change it.

[Loge]

Originally Posted by Applespider

They are saying that the phone companies kicked up a fuss... although as far as I'm aware most ringtones in Europe aren't sold by the phone companies but by people like Jamster who I'd love Apple to put out of business.

So what if they did? It's no business of the phone companies what Apple sell over iTMS, which can subsequently transferred to phones that support such music files.

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by Applespider

It's much more fun having them vibrate in rude places anyhow

Vibration in rude places is never a bad thing. Sometimes a naughty thing, yes. But never bad.

[Lord Blackadder]

Originally Posted by mkrishnan

Vibration in rude places is never a bad thing. Sometimes a naughty thing, yes. But never bad.

Naughty is definitely good.

[SiliconAddict]

$10 says greed is involved in some form or another. *coughs*RIAA*coughs*

[wjdennen]

ring tones are annoying. bleah.

[SiliconAddict]

Originally Posted by mkrishnan

Vibration in rude places is never a bad thing. Sometimes a naughty thing, yes. But never bad.

Yah well a friend of mine does kilt. OK he has one. The kilt in question he has, has a pocket strategically placed right in the front. So when he sat down it sat between the legs. Imagine his surprised at a party, I was there, when his Treo went off in vibrate mode.

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by SiliconAddict

Yah well a friend of mine does kilt. OK he has one. The kilt in question he has, has a pocket strategically placed right in the front. So when he sat down it sat between the legs. Imagine his surprised at a party, I was there, when his Treo went off in vibrate mode.

When I first received a pager at work, I was playing around with it while seated in a meeting, and I dropped it in my lap while I was doing something else, and it went off in vibrate mode, and I almost jumped out of my chair.

[SiliconAddict]

Originally Posted by wjdennen

ring tones are annoying. bleah.

All but one. I want a sound bite of Majel Barrett Roddenberry saying "Incoming subspace Communication" with a good 4 seconds of silence afterwards so it doesn't repeat over and over and over again immediately.

*shrugs*
Its a geek thing.

A friend of mine has a Pocket PC Phone edition where he used the text to speech synthesizer in Windows XP to capture everyone's name in his address book then associated each number with an MP3 that says the person's name and phone they are calling from. So x number would say "Silicon Addict is calling you on his cell." Y number would say "Silicon Addict is calling you on his home phone."
A lot of work but oh so cool.