Ringtone Tip of the Weekend

As a dear friend of mine once said, "all cellphone companies are out to get you. Once you realize that fact, you won't complain as much." It's true. Regardless of roaming, minutes, mobile-to-mobile, rollover and the like, all cellphone companies will screw you. But one thing that Verizon screws you with in particular is by not letting you use functionality built into your phone. But, we've found a way around that. With their new phones that play MP3s, they've locked them so that you can't simply add your own music to use as ringtones. They want you to BUY ringtones from them at $3 a pop. Here's how Verizon users can get an MP3 onto their phone to use as a ringtone for free, minus the cost of receiving a Pix N' Flix message. (Special thanks to Spunko on the Mobiledia forum site for this tip)

• First, edit your MP3 of choice into a 30-45 second rendition. Click here to download Audacity, free music editor.
• Next, export your shortened version as an MP3, compressed to 96Kb, Mono. Save the file as a 5-digit number with no spaces, and make sure your file has .mp3 at the end.


• Open your default mail program and in the "to" field, put "----------@vzwpix.com" where the dashes are your ten-digit mobile number.


• Attach your shortened MP3, and make sure it's less than 350kb


• Send the message, and it will show up on your handset as a Pix N' Flix message. Click "save" or "save as ringtone." and viola. You're good to go.

This may not work on all Verizon phones, but it's worth a shot. Keep in mind, it will charge you the standard media message rate if you don't already have a Pix N' Flix messaging plan. It's typically $0.25.