First of all, hi everyone. I’m glad to be blogging for MOpocket.

Now to the post at hand…Trade gatherings such as this past week’s 3GSM are a great opportunity for many things including attending parties, getting to know a new city and racking up those frequent flier miles, but for those of us playing along at home they’re a great opportunity to get a sense for the current state of the mobile industry. It’s especially important to look back and try to pick out and recognize the trends that were present throughout.

One such trend, in my opinion, is the OEM’s answer to Steve Jobs. One of the most valuable aspects of the iPhone announcement to me didn’t actually have anything to do with Apple. Throwing a curve ball like Apple did is one of the best ways to put the industry up to bat and see how they’re swinging these days.

So let me get to right to it… The pattern I’ve found has been a shift to the all-screen form factor with a little ambivalence showing here and there manifested by the side-sliding keyboard we’re seeing more and more of. I know, I know, we’ve been seeing a lot of that recently, but not like this at a conference like 3GSM. Not at the clip we saw. Not after a major hardware announcement such as Apple’s. Just take a look down Engadget Mobile. Here are some highlights:

• Neonode N2
• Teclast T59
• OpenMoko
• LG KE850
• Meizu M8
• Eliya
• Samsung Ultra Smart F700
• HTC Vox
• Toshiba G900
• Samsung i760

These phones are mostly targeted at the shinny new RIM Pearl audience — that of course would be the space between the intersecting circles of the ~5% business phone users and the general consumer population — some of which are still clunky and for the aforementioned business users and others which are just plain spin-offs of the iPhone.

There are of course some very compelling new concepts. Take Samsung’s F700 for example. It’s a beautiful phone with a very competitive array of features including high speed connectivity and a 5 megapixel camera — none of which the iPhone has.

Next is the HTC Vox (S710). It’s even lighter and more run-of-the-mill than the Samsung, but it keeps to the same idea which is that people are looking for more functionality and therefore easier ways to interface with their device. It provides that in its slide out full QWERTY keypad.

The last one I’ll mention is Neonode’s N2. This is a device by a company I only became aware of recently that apparently decided to attempt to make the killer phone themselves instead of just waiting for it to come like the rest of us. They use some interesting (read: makeshift) technologies such as an optical touch sensitive display, but their idea is pretty intriguing. They’re offering
a decently solid piece of technology and releasing it on an open development platform along with some features such as mail, calendar and a media player. All I can say is that I wish them luck.

To recap, there are basically three types of phones coming through from this trend of larger screens and new input methods. There’s the big name, high-end, side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, probably going to stay mostly a business phone phones. The iPhone-ys (namely the LG KE850) . And, the iPhone-y open source models such as the Neonode
N2 and the OpenMoko. These phones are what the OEMs are introducing into the same market the iPhone will be in. How will they compete? Just fine.

As A New Yorker I am ashamed to have missed the opening of Nokia’s New York flagship store at 5 East 57th Street. But for those of you who, like me, would like to feel the experience of what it was like then just head on over to Darla Mack’s Blog and read her amazing post on the experience and review of the store (it even comes with a celebrity siting). Thanks Darla! Sorry I missed you there!

I will be visiting the Nokia store as soon as I get back to NY from CTIA.

Technorati Tags: darla mack, nokia, nyc

I really enjoyed this review of Nokia’s N73 by Daniel Appelquist over at his self named Dan’s Blog. Dan is top notch guy over at Vodafone and I have always enjoyed his mobile musings. The review is a great and insightful discussion of the Nokia N70 and and the N73 which left me clutching my N70 and wanting more.

It’s not that it’s some huge revolution in usability and design. It isn’t. It’s a step up from the N70 (pictured at left) which I’ve been using for a few months. But what a step up! It is just a little bit better in almost every aspect of operation and use.

[read Dan’s Blog]

Technorati Tags: daniel appelquist, n70, n73, nokia, vodafone

I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these. Bravo Rafe from AllAboutSymbian on a great sneak peak :-).

Technorati Tags: nokia, n93, rafe, allaboutsymbian

Much to suprise, and without warning I have recently been shipped Nokia’s new N Series Music Phone the N91. Perhaps it was because I was not anticipating it or perhaps it because I am not one who carries music around with me everywhere I go (I have a second generation iPod with about 4 gig of music stuck on it that never gets used) or perhaps because I was awaiting the N90 but upon opening the package I was excited to see that it was the much talked about N91 but did not feel the fanatic urge to dive into it and start playing. My brother is much more the musician and I figured I would just let him test drive it a little bit. But he uses Verizon, which is CDMA, so the option of him testing out this GSM phone (besides in my company) was pretty much out of the question.

For the last couple of days it sat in my travel bag, wiping it out from time to time showing it off to people I know would be awed. But the time was coming that I had to write a review. I set aside some time,took out the phone. Put in my SIM card and started to play. My opinion has since RADICALLY changed.

The N91 is a powerful phone. Actually, it more of a portable music player first and a phone second. If the phones very appearance (the dial pad is only exposed by sliding down the music keys which sit on top of the phone) does not convince you of that then its 4GB hard drive, 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, wireless LAN support (I sense future mobile LAN music stores), dedicated music keys, and easy PC synchronization with Windows Media Player should.

My one big complaint is that the back of the phone was VERRY VERRY difficult to slide open to access the battery and SIM Card holder. You really have to press the side button down and push down on the back of the phone hard to get that sucker to open. But, so far I am amazed at how well the battery holds up as it works in duel functionality as both a phone and an MP3 player throughout the day.

This is also my first time playing with a 3rd Edition Symbian device (N91 is Symbian OS v9.1 Symbian 60 3rd Edition). Maybe its the hard-drive or maybe its the Symbian but whatever it is the Symbian Operating system runs better than any Symbian phone I have ever used. It has zero, I mean zero lag.

I do, however, miss the flash from the N70.

Syncing With A Mac

My one, usual, complaint is that the phone came with all the syncing software you could possibly need… if you are a windows user… and being that I am still using an old IMB chip Apple Power Book G4 I immediately set to the task of finding a way to sync the N91 with iSync and thus get all my mac calendar and address info onto the phone. Luckily, thanks to Mac Hacks just like me I was able to get all the info I needed on how to do this here, here and especially here. I am syncing like a charm now, between my Nokia 6682, N70, Treo 650 and now Nokia N91.

As my attention turned to the Mac I then realized that since this is a music phone I should probably put some music on it. Only problem is all my music is on my apple computers iTunes. How do I sync the n91 to that. Well, while Nokia is not up to par on the iSync syncing (don’t get me wrong though, they are the fastest Mac compatible phone manufacturer out of any of them… but maybe thats Apple’s doing, anyways…) it appears that Nokia already thought of that one.

Nokia released some software called Nokia Music Manager for Mac thats lets 1) Import music from your CD collection to your Macintosh hard drive and 2) Transfer AAC and MP3 files from your Macintosh hard drive to your Nokia N91 and back again (2-way) as well as Select music automatically and manually Create playlists on your Mac or Nokia N91 Access track info such as albums, artists, genre, etc. (with Nokia Music Manager plug-in). You can also use iTunes on the Mac* to manage your music for the N91 Unfortunately, music purchased from the Apple iTunes Music Store cannot be played on the Nokia N91. Well, we cant have it all, can we Apple.

Anyways, I downloaded the Nokia Music Manager for Mac, synced a whole plethora of music onto the (and left a whole plethora of iTunes songs behind). Nevertheless, its enough to really leave my iPod behind for good as a phone / Mp3 player in one device is really all I need (if I where into that sort of thing).

It is on these grounds that I have been using the N91 as my primary phone for a couple of days now. I am surprised as to how well the battery life holds up as the phone gets duel usage as an Mp3 player and phone (both pretty heavily). And the transition between music playing and a call and back again was so obviously simple I did not notice it at first. While the phone is pretty big its duel purpose usage seems to make up for the clunk in your pocket.

SOME METAPHYSICAL THOUGHTS

But here is a little speculative thought I have been thinking about. I wonder what the “go through” rate is of how many people “go through” MP3 players versus mobile phones. What I mean by that is how many times do people get a new MP3 players and how many times do they get a new phone. I cant find the statistics anywhere but I would say that people hold onto MP3 players longer then they do their phones… at least here in the States you are given an incentive to get a new phone every year or two when your contract needs to be renewed. Mix this fact with the MP3 phone and DRM transfer laws and you may be looking at a problem.

I believe that a person will choose a new phone even if their current phone is acting as their MP3 player (they may choose another MP3 phone) but the thing is, with some of these DRM laws you only get so many “song transfers” from one device to another. So, say I get a new MP3 phone. Now I have transfer all my songs to the new phone which means I can only transfer songs from the latest Robbie Williams album 2 more times. After 2 more phones only four years down the line this will turn into a problem.

Or, the new phone I want is not an MP3 phone. Now I probably have to go out and and by an IPod or another Mp3 player and transfer all the songs onto that.

I wonder what the effect on the “go through” rate between MP3 players and mobile phones will have… any ideas?

Nevertheless, the N91 is a great utilization of both and Nokia has definitely one-upped Apple here showing them the phone manufacturers can play at this game to. Especially alluring to the fact that our “phone part” of the MP3 phone will always be better, at least.

Technorati Tags: n91, nokia, music, mp3, mac, apple

My N70 arrived from Nokia and I have been using it as my main phone for the past couple of days now, replacing my Nokia 6682. What a phone the N-70 is! So far it has passed my “use in everyday life test” beautifully never freezing, stalling or needing to be rebooted (this has been my experience with several S60 phones).

The phone also draws a lot of attention. Whenever I whip it out, and yes sometimes I do it on purpose, people seem to immediately notice that I am holding a cool looking and great functioning phone. Have you seen my cool new European phone Doug? People who I have let play with it have all had positive reactions all commenting on its easy hardware and software user experience. The reaction most of the time is simply, “wow! this is a solid phone.” The phone even passed the parent test where my father spent a good deal of a family dinner playing with it and marveling over the Symbian S60 OS (a rarity here in the US). Trust me, that says a lot.

The phone has a different sized charger plug then the Nokia’s around today (much smaller). Because they only had European socket charges they had to send me a converter plug to use with a standard Nokia charger. I am sure a US version will come with a US plug but I can see this new plug size as annoying some people.

There still is a little lag time when moving from one option to another but it is a world of difference faster than the Nokia 6682. The email client is also more reliable and, while not perfect, actually usable.

I am also happy to say that the phone has survived falls from multiple stories and full water and windex submergence (just kidding Andy).

Now, I only wish that I could use some of the cool 3G functions that the phone has such as the Video Call and Radio features but you cant have everything, at least in the US.

So far what I have been using the phone mostly for, besides phone calls and SMS, is for picture taking which I immediately upload to my Flickr account via a software called Shozu. I have to be honest in that the picture taking and quality of the N70 took some time to get used to, at least from just after using the 6682. The flash lasts a little longer and the zooming is not as smooth (and is accompanied with an annoying beeping sound) as the 6682. The camera takes beautiful 2 megapixel shots in normal light (with great contrast in colors and detail) but it seems that with any variation of lighting or indoor dark shots like on a night out you pretty much point shoot and see. Subjects at a bar had to stand pretty close to get a decent shot.

For a while I thought that the 6682 was actually taking better pictures, even though the 6682 is only 1.3 megapixels. The flash on the 6682 seems to be a bit brighter (which is not always a good thing). But after closer examination I was dead dead wrong. The N70 photo’s do seem to have a bit of fuzziness to them though and that is what threw me off.

Have not played much with the mobile video yet but the little I have tested seem to play back smooth.

I don’t want to comment on reception because, as a European Phone, its on a 900/1800/1900 MHz. As my Cingular Network predominately relies on 850 and 1900Mhz I have a feeling that I am only picking up one of these bands (the 1900) and it has been noticeably so. My coverage has spotty in some areas where switching the Sim Card to my 6682 worked perfectly. I would imagine that an American version would have the 850 instead of 900. Damn American’s. Why do we have to be so different. Perhaps its a bad idea to use this phone as my main one?

The speakers, by the way, are incredible and have made choosing ringtones difficult as some of them are just to loud and some of them sound to good. The first day I brought the phone into work one of my colleagues said it sounded like a musical train was passing through every time my phone rang. I especially like to demonstrate the quality of the speakers with the built in “Stay That Way.acc” ring-tone, a short woman’s vocal pop ring tone. Amazing.

Anyways, my first impressions of the N70 is that this a serious phone with serious back-bone, literally. And for the first N series phone I have played with I am excited to see the rest.

Here is some more mobile porn for you.

My only fear is what they will do to tone down this phone so it can be released in the blah blah American market.

Since I will be using this phone for my day in and out operations there will be multiple reports on how it fares with other Symbian applications and other daily usages. Think of it as kind of a long term life action review. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: n70, nokia, nokia n70, nseries, s60, symbian

While the subject of deeply analyzing MVNO phones has come up as a topic of interest recently, I thought I would use this opportunity to highlight a study on ESPN Mobile completed by the Usable Products Company and thus also point out a great new blog called HandHeldUsability.com which is an extension of the book of the same name and of which Scott Weiss (Principle of UPC) is the author of.

While the major study on ESPN Mobile is for sale Scott does highlight some pretty interesting aspects on his blog. SOme of the interesting things he points out are that the Mobile ESPN handset does include a web browser, but the primary interaction is instead through a series of applications that draw content from the web. This major difference allows a lot of embellishment of the interaction through visually rich information displays, spruced up menus and the addition of a “Sideline” element.

While these desktop like elements have a lot of potential aiding users manage the influx of information on a small screen problems in area of unfamiliar and shifting key mappings, poor indications of context, and interactive elements that were easily overlooked.

Nevertheless, Scott points out, despite the usability issues, the fresh UI design and the basic fact that Mobile ESPN is targeting a unique auidence unlike the typical, young and credit challenged group are steps in the right direction for mobile data services and we look forward to more changes of this ilk.

I do not need to have the last word on this post other than to say that I have sat down with Scott and reviewed his Usability Testing in other areas and other mobile devices and was blown away by the thoroughness of the reports. His studies really should be the go to reports for this type of information.

“Handheld Usability” (Scott Weiss)

Technorati Tags: espn mobile, espn, usable prodcuts company, handheldusability, scott weiss, mvno

A couple of days ago I announced the release of Helio, the new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) brought to by Earthlink founder and CEO Sky Dayton. Well, looks like the boys and girls over at Helio like to distribute some blog candy and sent me one of their new Kickflip phones (there other phone, which is a black slider is called the Hero). But as I said earlier in my report, I liked the Kickflip ever since I first got my hands on one at CTIA.

The Helio team really spared no expense, it looks like at first glance. The phone comes in a beautiful magnetic closing hard box. The phone itself is small, compact but feels the way a reliable machine should when its in the palm of your hand. I will get into more in-depth reviews of the phone as time goes on but for now let me just say that right from turning it on, the phone is very easy to use, navigate and understand. This is important. Whenever I make the transition from a Nokia to a Motorola phone, for example, it takes me a jolt or two to adjust to navigating around and understanding where and how I am supposed to do things. The Helio OS is a breeze… and like a breeze its fast! Whether its moving between web browsers or from the 2.0 mega pixel camera back to the Main Menu and then to mobile games, there is no lag time like with my Nokia 6682 Symbian S60 phone. The Ev-Do network is fast when browsing and surfing (NYC city does not have HSPDA for Cingular yet). However, so far I only tried to download one music video from the typical Ev-Do walled garden which seemed to take a little long, 45 seconds - 1 min. But once it downloaded it played beautifully on the 1.25 x 1.75 inch screen which, by the way, is way easy on the eyes. And the speakers… woah man! Excellent speaker quality, I could hear Blind Mellon’s No Rain playing clearly on the phone from the kitchen in my studio.

The two megapixel camera (with flash) takes great pictures!

I only played with Helio’s Helio On Top (H.O.T) application which streams relevant feeds directly on the phones desktop. It was not that easy and the directions on how to do so in manual were a little cryptic. Once I got it working I decided that it was to much to always have that info flashing at me on my phone all the time so I turned it off. Plus, I did not see a way to add any feeds that I liked beyond Yahoo info.

I played a little with the phones Mypace capabilities and logged into my My Myspace. It was really easy to move around and interact with! It even seemed to run faster then any experience I have ever had using Myspace online!

And as if the fuel for a Myspace addiction is not enough… the actual Hardware of the phone is, as EngadgetMobile has already sited, like tactile crack. Ever since I first flipped the phone open at CTIA I have been waiting to get my hands on my very own, just for the purposes of being able to flip it open yet again. And now that I have my own I found my self flipping the thing open and closed over and over again while watching television long after I was done playing with all the other things the phone has to offer.

The phone came with a cute Helio dangle that was almost impossible to put on! A Helio rep helped me out. Guide it with a paper clip. That is what he did.

By the way, if you sign up twelve of your friends to Helio you get the whole year free. You see, the phone also comes with little Helio friendship cards that tell you that if they give your number when signing up you a get a free month of membership. So sign up twelve friends and don’t pay all year

My overall first impression is that I am impressed but I will have to give it the life test before a good old fashioned wholesome review.

My one big complaint is that the sync software to sync the contacts from my computer to the phone is not available yet… and even if it were I could not use it anyways being that I have an now old-fashioned Mac (no Intel, no Bootcamp). I guess Dayton has a PC.

Anyways, its to bad that the phone wont week while I am in Helsinki this weekend for the Mobile Monday Global Summit, I want to play with it more. But I will bring it along with me for some mobile bling bling

Here is some more phone porn.

More to come…

Technorati Tags: cell phone, helio, mobile

Just read a report on CNET about Innovative Solutions and Technologies’ SideWinder charger, a hand-crank accessory that will charge your phone anytime, anywhere–without a wall socket. This type of technology is important to me because I work and help out with a lot of non-profits and groups in the developing world that are using mobile phones for different types of activities. One of the biggest problems a lot of these groups have is charging these phones, especially in small towns and villages where electricity is scarce. I have heard stories about people walking miles to the local post office just to charge a cell phone. And while solar panel charges are an option, the good ones that work efficiently are often extremely expensive.

The unit with adaptable cords will run you about 25$ You get about six minutes of talk time for two minutes of manual winding.

I have heard about hand crank phone chargers before but have not heard great things about them. But it seems like the technology is improving a bit.

The SideWinder has generally gotten positive marks. The CNET product team liked its compact size and reusability, but found the device hard to crank. Take note: It won’t work on a completely dead battery. Still, it’s a nice gizmo for squeezing out some extra talk time in a pinch.

Other Hand cranked units that charge cell-phones include Maxxima’s Emergency Hand Generator Flashlight & Mobile Phone Charger and Kaito’s Self-Powered 5-LED Dynamo/Crank Flashlight with Nokia Cell Phone Charger, Kaito MT 023.

“185 Wireless Secrets: Unleash the Power of PDAs, Cell Phones and Wireless Networks” (Jack McCullough)

Technorati Tags: cell phone charger, cell phones, mobile

Wired News’ article about Hyperscore, a new “create your own” ringtone technology and community pumped out by the geniuses over at MIT’s Media Lab couldn’t have come at a better time. I have been toying with the concept of “create your own” ringtones for some time now and am currently working on a project that, hopefully, will take the concept to the next level.

(I promise to review the Hyperscore hype a little further down)

Last year’s total ringtone market (realtones and polyphonic) made $4.9 billion dollars in profit. And while ringtones are still only a trickle of the recording industries 12 billion dollar surplus, ringtones pulled in $600 million, 20% ahead of estimates and more than double the 2004 take.

The number of Americans downloading ring-tones is increasing according to an Ipsos poll which puts the amount of mobile phone owners who have actually downloaded ring-tones to their phone at 23%. That translates to approximately 30 million Americans, a drastic increase from the 5% of a year ago. And you cant talk about anything mobile without pointing out that the highest rate of ring-tone downloads occur amongst the American youth market.

With the rate of ringtone downloading increasing and with almost all ringtones set to become “real music” by 2010, mobile music is estimated to reach $11.3 billion, with nearly $6.8 billion worth of realtones by that date.

But why should the industry giants have all the fun? How many times have we heard a certain sound or bit of music that your or a friend just wrote and thought…”damn, I wish I could turn that into a ringtone.”

The concept of being able to create ones own truly customizable ringtone is political in nature. In fact, it has its origins in viral political activism. A couple of months ago, Cnet News ran a special on the new political implications of ringtones. The possible political implications of ring-tones was also one of the many discussions that developed out of the MobileActive conference that took place last October in Toronto where representatives from the Philippine group Txtpower shared the way they used ring-tones to severely criticize President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. A conversation that took place between Arroyo and the former Commissioner of Elections Virgillo Garcilliano (a.k.a. Garci) before the elections was recorded and converted into a ringtone by TxtPower. The “Hello Garci” ring-tone features music and the voice of Arroyo saying, “Hello? Hello? Hello, Garci?… So, will I lead by more than one million?” Although possession of the audio file was declared illegal under a wire-tapping law, it spread quickly throughout the country, where SMS is a major form of communication, and the ability to share ringtones over SMS is also widely available. While the Filipino story was already a couple of months old when demonstrated at the Toronto conference, it was the first time many of us, especially from North America, were able to play with and see the technology of homemade ringtones first hand. It also afforded us the first opportunity to consider the implications of homemade ringtones for U.S politics. We also spent some time trying to find an easy way to get the ringtones downloaded fom the txtpower website onto our phones.

This ended up being an important consideration. Ring-tone installation in the United States does in fact vary, not only from carrier to carrier but also from phone to phone. As the Cnet article points out, “some phones are not allowed to install ring-tones from anywhere other than their phone carrier’s site, or are not allowed to send files that are designated as ring-tones to other phones.” There are also different types of ring-tone file formats for different types of phones. And these are only commercial ring-tones we are talking about. When it comes to installing custom homemade ring-tones the current network / cellphone infrastructure can be a real barrier.

Problem Area One: Ringtone Creation.

The problem begins with creating the ring-tone in the first place. While its relatively simple to create a 30 second MP3 or WAV ring-tone, not all phones can play those formats or may require additional software to do so. Even my Treo 650 doesn#039t let MP3 ring-tones play by default. Luckily, there are software applications that will help any ring-tone maestro convert his or her MP3 or WAV recording to other standard mobile device formats such as AMR, QCP and WMA. Most of these are for Windows (Mac users can use Sound Grinder) . But even these files won’t play in all phones, especially older phones which may only be able to play MIDI (.MID) like Polyphonic ring-tones. So the only phones to truly take advantage of this are 3rd Generation Phones, which are now only beginning to proliferate the American market.

In the future this may become easier as 3G phones become more standard. This could be further helped as more networks and phone manufacturers conform to the 3GPP (for GSM) and 3GPP2 standards for CDMA phones such as those provided by Verizon. These .3GP files are optimized for Third Generation mobile devices. Quicktime Pro is just one of the more mainstream softwares that allows one to export 3GPP and 3GPP2 files from MP3 or WAV. But for now, an exported .3GP file converted from a self made MP3 file would not play on my Treo 650.

One must also consider that as MP3 phones, such as Motorola’s ROCKR and the newly introduced SLVR, become more common, MP3 tones might just settle into a standard. But that is a long way off. So, for now, if you are going to offer your own ring-tones, its best to make them available as MP3’s, WAV’s and AMR. While these formats won’t play on everyones phone, it should allow a good majority of mobile users to install and use your tones.

Problem Area 2: Installing a self-made ringtone

That is, of course, if they can figure out how to get the ring-tone onto their phone in the first place. This is another barrier to the home-made ring-tone. Most people that have downloaded ring-tones are already used to service providers making it easy. Some companies have specially designed WAP or XHTML-MP websites that can be accessed via ones mobile device. This was my first experience downloading a ring-tone and it was nice in that it allowed me to download the tones directly into my phone via my mobile web browser. Other PC-Web based companies allow you to chose and purchase a ringtone from their website and then send an SMS to your phone with a link that automatically downloads the tone. Other, even more sophisticated companies will send you the ring-tone directly over SMS/MMS, as if it were getting directly beamed to your phone.

The SMS option has been popular in Europe for some time now and is just beginning to take off here in the United States. This is the way the networks like to do things. Being that they control the roads for access, the networks make money on the data-traffic needed to download the tones as well as get a cut for handling the billing. As San-Franscico activist and creator of Riot.tones Evan Henshaw Plath put it “cell phone service providers operate their networks as closed systems exercising complete control over customer access to content… Nothing goes in or out without the carrier taking its cut.”

For the political campaign, non-for profit or individual activist / artists, therefore, distribution of self made ring-tones is burdensome let alone costly and time consuming. But there are some alternatives.

Here are six do-it-yourself solutions.

The first way is the most basic way but also requires a bit of mobile tech-savyness. One can simply download the ring-tone, email it to his or her self, open the email on their mobile device and download the attachment. This of course assumes that the mobile user has an email enabled phone and knows how to use it. And of course data charges do apply.

A second option is to use MMS (Multimedia Messaging System). Thats right, the same 3G enabled technology that allows you to send pictures and video from one cellphone to another also allows you to send sound files, that is, ring-tones. While this is not an option for political marketers in the sense that it would cost a fortune to send multiple MMS messages to those who wanted it, it does lend itself nicely to the concept of individual viral campaigns. I am constantly beaming or texting several home-made ringtones my friends have made to people I meet at parties. And of course, data charges apply.

A third option is for phones that can access a users email account. One could simply email the ringtone to their email account and then open the email on their phone. But this only works if your phone allows email’s with attachments.

A fourth option would be to upload the ring-tone to a website and instruct users with mobile web browsers on their phone to visit the link. One should be able to install a ring-tone this way but mobile browser capabilities do vary. One could also send the link as an SMS message as some phones will allow you to access the link directly from a text-message (that’s a home brew version of the SMS technology being utilized by the commercial industry mentioned above).

A fifth way is by utilizing a phones bluetooth or infrared technologies. If two phones have have both either bluetooth or infrared then they can send files such as ringtones to one another by these means.

Finally, some phones allow a user to connect their mobile device directly to a computer by means of a cable cord or bluetooth for the purposes of file transfer. It may be possible to install a ring-tone that way. I have had some success installing ring-tones on my Treo 650 and Nokia this way.

Between making your political ring-tones “cell-phone compatible” and figuring out ways to allow people to easily install your tones on to their phones, it would seem that the use of home made ring-tones, wether for political discourse or personal pleasure, has some pretty hefty barriers to overcome. Barriers which are for the most part created by the networks but is also rooted in the general populations lack of mobile technology ‘know-how.’ In a country where SMS is just beginning to take hold, these options do seem better left to tech-savy individuals such as your teenage son or daughter.

But have no fear, third party solutions are here (well, sort of).

Programs such as Hyperscore and Xingtones (which I will get to later) help make the process of actually producing a ringtone easier (Hyperscore creates a more polyphonic sound while Xingtone can turn any good quality recording into a ringtone).

Hyperscore lets composers assemble music using blocks of melodic or rhythmic riffs, called “motives.” A songwriter assembles a collection of motives, represented as a palate of colors. Then, in the program’s sketch window, the composer literally paints the rhythms across the screen. Moving the brush up or down changes the pitch and user-selected harmonizing levels smooth out the sour notes and chords that emerge in the process. [click here to see the demo]

Windows users can now download the basic model, which limits song lengths to 30 to 60 seconds for free at the hyperscore (h-lounge) where Hyperscore artists can make and share music for free. (Mac and Linux versions are in the works.)

The actual music making part of the program is fun and easy to play with and learn. My problem is with its current claim as a ringtone maker. The problem with Hyperscore is that it only saves files in its own .hsc file (which no program yet knows how to convert) and only converts the file “on the fly,” that is it only converts files to different formats (such as MP3 or Wav) when they are sent to a mobile phone (and soon to the ipod) via the “send to mobile” Hyper Player function at the h-lounge. Currently, the file sent to a phone depends on the phone but usually is some form of MIDI. The service also does not have good time allocation in that lot of the “ringtones” made by users in the lounge are much to long to work on several mobile phones. Hyperscore also has another disadvantage in that it does not support sound meshing (the ability to mesh live recording with its music as an undertone) which can be found in a majority of the most successful political and personal home tones. Another downside is the price. For now, getting a Hyperscore melody sent your phone is free… but it will soon cost you (and anyone you want to send it to there phone) 2 dollars + your network charge for the MMS. The service also, for now, only supports Cingular and Verizon phones. I also tried sending myself some “Hypertones” on 3 different phone models, a Treo 650, a Nokia 6822 and an LG A7110. None of them worked. In all cases I waited a good 90 seconds until my speakers started buzzing and I received an MMS message from hyperspace@comcast.net saying

One or more of the message components have been deleted by MMS adaptation. Either the message was too large or the components were unsuitable for your terminal.

I have no idea if that message came from Cingular or Hyperscore but I sure am glad I didnt pay 2 bucks for it. To be fare though, you don’t actually get charged for the tone until you approve the download on your mobile phone (which I couldn’t get too) and the support section does mention something about a list of supported phones (which cannot be found anywhere on the site). I was told by a staff member who appears on the h-lounge as the fat king “Richard” amongst all his spoils that when it came to mobile devices “the list is little slim - most recent phones on Verizon and Cingular Orange work. For Verizon, you need to have VZWPIX enabled - check out your Verizon account on vzwpix.com.” He also mentioned that they are adding T-Mobile, Sprint, Cingular Blue, Dobson, and the rest of the North American carriers over the next couple of weeks.

The boys and girls over at MIT Labs are smart kids, the technology is new and I am sure they will work out the kinks. “Richard” also assured me that Hyperscore will soon be adding vocals / karoake and that therefore the files being sent to the phones will be more like MP3’s. That may, in the future, solve two of the above problems mentioned above. For now it is not a suitable option to mass produce your artistic talent all over the mobile world. When it comes to building a really suave music editing machine these guys are gold…they do, however, need a crash course in mobile network technologies… which I am sure they are now getting. But it sure is fun to play with and can create really great sound. Music wise it is a great editing tool, but that’s not the topic of this blog.

Companies such as Xingtone aim to make the process of producing your own ring-tones and installing them to your phone as simple as sending an email. The software, available for both Mac and PC, allows users to edit ring-tones from a plethora of sound file types and then produce them into files suitable for mobile device use. The software then allows you to send the ring-tone to your phone using SMS (it uploads the tone and texts you the link). The software is perfect for the individual desiring the ability to custom make ring-tones and send them to his or her phone with ease. However, Xingtone does have some limitations when considering it for political marketing. While Xingtone allows you to choose parts of already established sound-files to convert to mobile friendly sound files (and allows you to cut and paste), it is still incapable of meshing and overlapping sound. This means that if people are looking to, say, place a politicians voice over suitable music, they are still going to have to rely on more semi-profesional sound editing software. Secondly, the company really means it when they say that you should make ringtones from the best possible “original recordings” possible. Music I took from MP3’s sounded noticeably worse then music I took directly from a CD (something the Xingtone software lets you do, which is nice). So, if you are creating your own tone with a music editor, like GarageBand you should be ok. Thirdly, Xingtone does not produce a finished product on your PC. Once your done editing your tone the software immediately sends the file to your phone via SMS. It is possible to send the ring-tone from your phone to your PC using the reverse methodology of a lot of the “do-it-yourself” solutions mentioned above…but that, as we have already discussed, is a hassle and a barrier to distribution. Xingtone does allow its customers to open “mStores” where they can distribute and sell ring-tones in personalized stores, but one has to “contact them” if they wish to do so.

Similar to Xingtone’s mStores, sans the ring-tone editing software, is JivJiv.com. JIvJiv is entirely dedicated to providing their users with a means to sell or widely distribute homemade ring-tones. Unlike Xingtone’s mStores, JivJiv works more like CafePress in that it allows anybody to open their own ring-tone store just by signing up. Once you have your own store all you have to do is upload your ring-tones. For now the only format they accept are MP3s, and then JivJiv takes care of the rest. You can mark up the price as much as you want or even provide the ring-tones for free. The service does however, have its limitations as my boss here at PDF, Micah Sifry, found out when he visited the site. JivJiv does not yet support Verizon. I have also personally experienced trouble receiving the SMS ring-tone on certain phones with certain providers. Both my father and I use Cingular, his Razor received the SMS. My Treo 650 did not. But I have had assurances from their customer support as well as from Billionaires for Bush founder Andrew Boyd (who has worked closely with the company for his Truth is a Virus viral campaign experiment) that they are working out these issues and are willing to work closely with JivJiv users and their concerns. (It’s Boyds ringtones that everyone at parties always asks me for when they hear them… especially “Bored Ringer”)

Riot.tones (mentioned above) is not completed yet but when it is (sometime in the 1st Quarter if 2006) it will offer an open source Web 2.0 approach to personal ring-tone freedom. The web based service, created by Evan Henshaw Plath simplifies the complicated process of editing, converting and transferring MP3 files into file formats supported by cell phones thus allowing activists, not-for-profits and political campaigners / markers the ability to deploy ring-tones into their next political event with ease. Evan is even working on ways to allow “content mixing” in his editing tools which would allow for such effects as sound overlapping and meshes. Riot.Tones also hosts a public directory that allows people to search for ring-tones or download specific ones they were told or seduced to go on to the site and get. There is a lot of hype around awaiting Riot.Tones and what it could mean. Jo Lee, founder of Citizen Speak has a great write up for it on the MobileActive wiki proceedings where she also lays out some interesting possibilities for incorporating ring-tones into political activist activities.

Another site to mention quickly is WAPDIAL. While not necessarily a ring-tone creator, WAPDIAL allows users to record messages for extreme distribution by simply making a phone call to the number provided on the site (for now a 212 NYC number). Dialing into the Asterisk server, one need only follow the directions provided and then speak into the phone when prompted. The recording is then made available online in a variety of sound formats which include MP3, AMR, WML and is even made Podcast friendly. It has some basic editing and sound effect features as well. WAPDIAL also makes it possible to send the recording you just made directly to your phone making WAPDIAL a possible distributor of voice only ring-tones. This lends itself well to the possibility of what I want to call “ring-casts;” the ability to broadcast short political messages as ring-tones on a daily, monthly or whatever schedule. Just think of it, a daily ring-tone from your favorite political thinker or candidate. A powerful tool, especially for candidates of political campaigns.

Then there are also Ringbacks to consider. While not yet ready for customization (or even provided by most networks), Ringbacks allow you to change what the person calling them hears while they wait for you to pick up. So instead of the usual ring you might hear some Bushisms or musings from the characters on the T.V show Family Guy before your friend or colleague picks up the phone… they might be so good that you are mad they picked up the phone and interrupted :-). Verizon is one of the first to start offering the service (but only in select locations). Sprint and Bell have followed suite. The ring you hear on the other end of the phone is completely controlled by the networks so it may take some time for an open ended solution for this to arise. I#039m sure it won#039t take long, however, for the networks to begin allowing people to upload their own ringbacks or make deals with business#039 who find a commercial appeal with the idea . But the power of controlling what people hear when they call you is perhaps more powerful than what you hear when your phone rings because people are forced to hear it if they want to call you (long hours listening to company advertisements while on hold for customer service come to mind).

And don’t forget the story I broke a while back about the Endtones and SMStones.

While the influence of ring-tones may one day go both ways, political and personal ring-tones still have a long ways to go in terms of getting over the early adaptor hump and colonizing the mobile media mainstream. Either way, the politicalization of ring-tones has the capability of being the next big viral thing, the new bumpersticker electronically communicating personal and political discourses while in the very act of communication itself. Political marketers are already eyeing the mobile medium as a means to attract youth activity. It only makes sense to make ringtones part of the strategy. In the wiki generation where anyone can edit, ring-tones are the next thing to be set free. Mobile technology is getting a new ring to it… and that ring is all yours!

UPDATE: A relevant article written about latter on yet another uber do it yourself mobile content application called MyNuMo, here.

UPDATE2: If you have a Windows Mobile Phone check out this article for ways to record a ringtone right on your phone.

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