Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, First Look
First Look: PocketMac Ringtone Studio 2.0 for BlackBerry
PocketMac has been in the business of connecting Macs and handheld devices for quite some time, so it's not surprising that they have decided to start working on other ways to make our mobile devices more useful. Since our readers include Mac owners who use RIM BlackBerry devices, I jumped on the opportunity to give PocketMac's new Ringtone Studio for BlackBerry a try.In case you're wondering if I've dropped out of the iPhone world, I didn't. I do a lot of work in the mobile world, so I have a lot of different devices, including a BlackBerry Pearl 8100. The built-in ring tones aren't exactly the type of thing you'd want to listen to more than once, so having a BlackBerry ringtone editor that runs on a Mac is a good thing.
I have just one gripe about RIngtone Studio; it's a single-function application, and the price tag -- US$29.95 -- is really quite high for something that just creates ringtones. PocketMac defends the price by noting that many BlackBerry users get into subscription ringtone plans that can cost as much as US$9.99 every month.
Firing up Ringtone Studio displays a unique user interface that looks like the outline of a BlackBerry (see below). To start creating a ringtone, you drag a sound, video, or iTunes file and drop it onto the mock BlackBerry. Within a few moments, the file is transferred to the application and you see a visual representation of the sound on the mock screen. Trim a portion of the sound (up to 40 seconds long), and optionally have the application fade the music in at the beginning of the ring and out at the end, and when it sounds good, click the Create button.
All in all, the application does exactly what it's supposed to do, and it does it easily and quickly. For anyone who doesn't have the patience to create their own ringtones using iTunes and GarageBand, it's a perfect program.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cmeadows15 said 2:41PM on 7-30-2009
Dear PocketMac.
Hire a graphic designer, please. Even a first year art student could crank out something better looking.
Also, dial up internet just called and they want their clipart for icons and scrolling text back. (http://www.pocketmac.net/)
Chris, technicallysimple.net
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bikeham said 12:10AM on 7-31-2009
I think it is a crime that people scam $9.99 per month for ring tones out of the mentally challenged. It also happens here in Australia. I'd like to make the point that the sort of person who gets caught in the pay-every-month scam for a bunch of ringtones, is not the sort that would clever enough to use a ringtone maker app.
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Nikki Higgins said 3:15PM on 8-04-2009
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the great article! As far as a monthly fee.... this program is a one time fee, not monthly. :)
Barry Jacobson said 8:56PM on 9-06-2009
@ Nikki,
Unless something has been edited in Steve's article since you posted this puzzling comment, how could he have possibly done a clearer job of differentiating between your company's one-time-purchase product and the monthly-fee-based alternative?
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