Finding/adding free ring tones to cell phone

[ialsohaveadream]

A friend of mine who actually has (and uses!) a cell phone wants to add ring tones and whatnot to it. Apparently ringtones cost $2.50 plus some download fee, which seems fairly ridiculous for a 30-second clip when the whole song is 99 cents at iTunes.

Somebody steer me in the right direction to help her, please?

[Jenny]

Yeah, I'm interested, too! *waits for answer*

[AlpineJay]

what carrier and phone? that may change the answer.

[ramazank2]

I tend to edit my own mp3 and upload them to my phone. Most decent phones can connect via bluetooth or cable you can purchase cheap on ebay or http://www.axshop.com/

But be warned it has never been easy to connect a phone the first time.

[ialsohaveadream]

She's got one of those Razr phones. So trendy!

And I think it's Cingular.

[ramazank2]

Should be pretty easy if her computer has bluetooth. Or she can get this:

http://www.axshop.com/details.aspx/sku-413/

[zero2dash]

Depends on the carrier and the phone.
-If you have Sprint, most likely you have to make it a .qcv format and send it to your phone through an uploader; there are free uploaders out there. If it's Sprint and a multimedia phone, I believe most of those take .mp4/.aac files

If you're wondering how to do the above with Sprint - check out these pages -
general info/starting guide (http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58361)
how to make .qcv ringers from mp3/wav files (http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11225)
aac ringers for multimedia phone (http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54271)
list of alternative uploaders (free ones) (http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83030)
note that i usually use these two depending upon what i'm sending to my phone
http://rumkin.com/tools/sprint/index.php
http://www.gtoal.com/pcs/
The SprintUsers site has the "Focus" uploader but they restrict it (like 30 uploads per month if you register but don't pay a fee); the above 2 (rumkin.com and the gtoal.com ones) are both 100% free

I have Sprint now (again)...I like my phone (Samsung A840) but it doesn't support mp3 ringtones and that bums me out. :disa: I miss my v300....:(
it does support jpegs though (and some other formats) so it's not all that bad

**********

-I also used to have T-Mobile and was able to just take an mp3 (my phone supported them), upload it to a website (ie geocities), and go to the link in the phone via WAP and download it to the phone

Some providers and phones let you download straight to the phone but if you don't have a data package, you'll pay for the data transmission (usually per kb). Sprint's different though...I think their WAP service restricts what you can and cannot download.

Again - what carrier and phone does this person have? Are you sure it's a Razr/Cingular?
Check if the phone supports mp3 files and if she has a data plan. I had a Motorola v300 with T-Mobile and it supported mp3s, so I'm assuming the Razr does too. I'm more questioning whether or not she'd be able to download straight to the phone with WAP or if they'd have to go through an uploader/text message.

[wileycraig]

This is one of those rare cases where having a mac makes it super easy.
Before you do it get a program like

http://www.deepniner.net/mp3trimmer

You can take just the bit of the mp3 you like then follow the instructions below to get it on your phone.

How to use your Bluetooth enabled Mac to transfer Mp3s to your Motorola V3 Razr:

1. Get the Moto ready to say hello to your Mac

In the your phone's Main Menu, go to Settings, then select Connection, then Bluetooth Link, then Setup. Change Power to On, and then go up to Find Me and select. You can name your phone while you're here, too, but unless you've got another unnamed phone vying for a connection, it isn't necessary. Keep your phone open.

2. Get your Mac to think different about your Moto

In your Mac's System Preferences, select the Bluetooth pane (under hardware), toggle to Devices, and click Set up new device... The Bluetooth Setup Assistant will pop up. Click Continue to get to Select Device Type, and toggle Mobile Phone (not trying to be insulting, but some people prefer not to think while they follow instructions). Click Continue. Your Mac should then find the phone. When it does, click on it -- the name, if you named it, or a bunch of numbers. Hit Continue.

3. Get the Moto paired with your Mac

On your Mac, a pin code will appear in the Bluetooth Assistant. Check out your phone. It will ask you if you want to bond with your Mac. Tell it yes, then enter the pin number. If for some reason something goes awry, it's likely because it took too long -- go back to Find Me and select it again.

4. If you're like me, decide not to decide

Your phone and Mac are paired, now, so you're about ready to put mp3s on it, but your Mac wants to know if you want it to sync your address book and calendar with your phone, and if you want to use your phone to access the internet. If you do, go for it. I did not, so I just unchecked the boxes and moved along. I mean, Continued and, quit the assistant.

5. And, finally, get a freaking mp3 ringtone on the phone

In your Mac's menu bar, click on the Bluetooth icon and select Browse Device. Click on your phone, and then on Browse. Double click on the audio folder, and then, once you're in, the Send... button. If you've had a Mac for longer than it took for you to read these idiotic instructions, you will know how to finish this part of the very rewarding task. Just know that your ringtone has to have the .mp3 extension. Moto no say hello without.

Your ringtone is now with all the other ringtones that came with your phone, so just go back to Audio in your phone's Settings menu and select it as your ring.

The whole process takes about an eight of the time it took to write down for you. Jesus. No wonder manuals are so awful.

Above directions taken from
http://www.two-twenty.net/archives/000387.html

[ramazank2]

You can find almost everything you need here:

http://www.howardforums.com/

Motorolla specific:

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=314