also seen as: ring tone

A ringtone is the sound made by a cell phone when it rings and it specifically refers to the customized sounds one selects on his or her mobile device.

In telecommunication jargon, cell phones (also called wireless phones, mobile phones, and handheld phones) are a mobile communication system that applies a mix of radio wave transmission and common telephone switching to enable telephone communication to and from mobile users within a specified area. The "ringtone" facility was provided so that people would be able to determine when their phone was ringing when in the company of other mobile phone owners.

Ring tones have proved a popular method of personalizing phones. People like the idea of customizing their phones with their favorite music, however, some people find certain ringtones annoying in certain public situations. As such, many people opt to use the vibrate feature on their cell phone when in public. A mobile vibrator is a mechanical device designed to generate vibrations instead of ringtone. They are mostly used for noisy environments, such places where ringtone noise would be disturbing or for the hearing impaired.

Some basic technical properties of mobile phone ringtones include MIDI. A mobile phone ringtone is a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) file that is played by a mobile phone. These tunes can be monophonic (very simple because the phone can only deliver one sound/beep at a time) or polyphonic (with multiple phonetic values consisting of several tone series or songs). As of 2007, 16 separate sounds can be produced by the phones that carries polyphonic ringtones. This makes for music that is rich in texture and the tunes seem more like the music you hear on CDs. Furthermore, polyphonic ringtone sounds can also include voices.

Enough explanation ;-) The fun of ringtones is picking out your favorite sound so that each time your cell phone rings, you get to hear it! Cell phones from companies such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens, Sony-Ericsson, LG, Sanyo, and Panasonic have ringtone capabilities. Some phones allow you to have a different ringtone for each person who calls you. Usually the ringtones are pre-loaded on the phone but you can also download your own ringtones to personalize your handheld experience.

See also : iPhone  
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