Product Trends Magazine

About the company: “Established in 2002, Ringingphone.com is one of the nation’s first cell phone ringtone websites. The popular membership-based site also offers customers the option of purchasing ringtones and cell phone wallpapers one at a time, or through a Value Plan, with which users can take advantage of greatly reduced prices. We offer ringtones for AT&T, Cingular, Rogers Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon cell phones.”

The big pitch: Thousands of ringtones to download to your cell phone, for as low as 47c each!

Ringingphone.com is one of the leading providers of cell phone ringtones, graphics and on-demand wireless information services in North America today, or so the hype says. It offers one of the largest selections of ringtones and graphics, which are broken down into different categories ranging from disco to movie soundtracks, pro wrestling themes to country and western, and everything in between, so you can quickly find what you’re looking for.

How are they able to provide customers with this type of service? RingingPhone.com has been able to assemble an array of content and technology partners, as well as a team of world class licensing agents and media partners, and the result of these combined efforts has been the creation of a cell phone content provider that we would describe as the slightly more buttoned-down, corporate version of Jamster.

Here is how it works: First you need to confirm that your cell phone is compatible with their service. Simply download a test ringtone to see if it works, and if it does, you will receive a message to your phone that confirms it. Once you have ordered a subscription plan, a membership is created for you, and you are set to go. Next time you login to the site, you can pick and choose which tones you want.

The cost for the download of the ringtones is $1.99 each, or you can choose the option of the Value Plan, which allows you to purchase 15 downloads for $6.99, a progam that includes ten ringtones and five wallpapers and breaks down to 47c per track, which is more than reasonable.

The Product Trends rating: If you are looking for ringtones or graphics as a way to express your individuality and keep up with the latest cellphone trends, this site is for you. RingingPhone.com can at times be a little slow, but it is updated all of the time, so you constantly have new options to choose from. Four stars. —Reviewed by Denise Seegobin

To try RingingPhone.com for yourself, click the image below:

About the company: Jamster! plans offer you credits for numerous content downloads at a great value, for just $5.99 per month. Each plan provides credits for a specific number of ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, logos, software and/or games, etc.

The big pitch: Every Jamster plan, from the Basic Plan to the Platinum Plan, costs just $5.99 per month.

People in Europe know Jamster really well, mostly because the cellphone culture out there is far more advanced and entrenched than it is in the US, and even more so because the Jamster ‘Crazy Frog‘ has been heard millions of times on TV, radio, and on that annoying cellphone sitting next to you on the bus every morning.

What Jamster does is simple - they provide content for mobile phones. And by content, we mean a whole lot more than just an annoying frog. We mean screensavers, themes, wallpapers, ringtones, games, videotones, picture messages, and news on just about everything, from sports to celebrity gossip.

You want Jenna Jameson to tell you whenever you have a phone call? Jamster can make it happen. You want The Knights Who Say ‘Ni’ to announce you have a message waiting? Jamster will allow you to exhibit your immense inner geekdom by doing so.

Of course, for many of us, this is all quite baffling. I mean, we know that the kids just gotta have the latest 50 Cent or Kanye West track on their cellphone and all, so they can be like EVERY. OTHER. TEENAGER IN THE WORLD. But it all just makes us think… why? How does it ‘express your individuality’ to have the same ringtone as everyone else in your class? And as if to prove the futility of it all, in a fit of ridiculous irony, the most popular comedy download ringtone on Jamster is… you guessed it, an old-fashioned telephone ring.

Regardless, if the kids want Jamster, the kids can afford Jamster, with every single plan in the system costing just $5.99 per month. When it comes right down to it, that’s pretty freakin’ cheap, and credit where it’s due, we were surprised at how expansive the content bank at Jamster actually is. Voice ringtones include recordings by Donald Trump, Jiminy Glick, Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Foxworthy, Jenna Jameson, Ice T, Green Day, or if you don’t like voices on your ringtone you can choose from music from any genre you like, from classical to hip hop, reggae to latin music.

Have Mariah Carey in your pocket. Have Bow Wow announce that your mother is calling you. Hear Jessica Simpson trying to sing whenever someone wants you to pick up, or go a little retro and slap some Depeche Mode tunes on your Nokia, Motorola, Samsung or Sanyo phone. Jamster, as annoying as that frog can be, will help you find what you need.

The Product Trends rating: It’s not expensive, and it does what it promises, and does that well, so as much as we think it’s all a bit of a fad, Jamster is not a bad deal if you’re into your cellphone. 3.5 stars.

To try Jamster for yourself, click the image below: