Archive for November, 2007

Ringtone Fidelity on Skype

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

We have launched a new Skype ringtone software to change some concepts about what ringtones can be. Ringtones can be assigned individually to callers, but moreover friends can send ringtones to each other expressing the mood or whatever they like. Our RipIt & RingItTM software is not intrusive but remains out of sight—but not out of hearing.

Now I have to admit that the billion dollar market for mobile ringtones has never resonated with me. The entertaining of others with my preferred musical interlude has never seemed important. Worse the fidelity of some squawking cell phone is not much to be enjoyed regardless. The polyphonic tones still make the most sense to me. Now in the world of PC calling, and Skype specifically, any ringtone could actually be heard and enjoyed if you like.

The branding of you by playing some ringtone is game for some, but RipIt & RingIt offers new richer dimensions to ringtones. I like to think of it as Message Tones, but that is just one way of thinking about it. It can be a musical interlude that has a shared meaning, or simply identifies the caller. It can be left as the ringtone indefinitely or changed when desired. It may be a mood indicator or it can simply be a spoken message. There are no bounds on making your own ringtones. It can be like a mashed-up twitter and ringtone; a twing if you like.

Ringtones as informative and fun. Not what you may think of today. You are invited to download the free software and let ‘er rip.

Woo Hoo, Google’s In

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

I had delayed blogging about Facebook and the recent deluge of meetings I have attended on Facebook. Someone mentioned all you have to do is mention the “F” word and you will get a crowd at your meeting. The Facebook movement is very important and real. This is all about the social graph, which I find to be a funny nomenclature but it is what it is.

For developers the entry and some kind of unification that Google may offer is helpful. The application program interface (API) is important, but this is not really about that. All the hyperventilating pundits need to be careful about declaring any conclusions here. Google is a giant that imagines to do no evil, but users will decide what social graph is relevant. Users don’t care directly about advertising dollars. Contextual ads are not a user’s nirvana; they are an advertiser’s illusion.

The whole social networking space will gravitate at the user’s whim. Hopefully there will be substance behind the value of crowds. A crowd of advertisers is not a crowd of buyers. Today I am not going to crawl out a branch to be cut down, but let’s acknowledge that the user is the big winner. This is a great time to be an entrepreneur.