Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:28 pm

It does suck that you can't do your own ringtones and 99c extra is bad too. I only have to look at the record labels to realize why this is so restrictive. Although Apple seems to be getting too used to charging for all the little media and add ons these days for my liking. Hopefully they resist the lure of the dark side.

iToner it is. I hope Apple does an update to allow different ringtones for different sounds on the iPhone.

Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:16 pm

	Anonymous wrote:
	I was anticipating ringtones at this keynote, I was expecting to make and install my own. Looks as if Steve is getting a little too greedy charging for song snippets once again giving us a handout instead of giving us the enchilada. I was waiting till after the keynote to decide on buying a ringtone installer....... Hello Ambrosia!

1. You can "make and install your own." Did you watch the talk? The new version of iTunes has a ringtone editor. You can choose up to 30 seconds of a song, with professional fade-in/fade-out, even loops. You can listen to it and mess around with it until it's what you want. Then, you buy it for $0.99.

2. iToner only installs ringtones; it does not make them. You will have to use some other application to make your ringtone. You could use GarageBand--it will do a nice job. Amadeus II or the new Amadeus Pro will do an even better job, but they're not free--$30 & $40, respectively. (They're worth it, if you do much sound editing.) There are other editors, but most are more expensive than Amadeus.

3. Suppose you want to use a song that's a protected AAC file--i.e., one you bought from the iTunes Store. You have three choices: iTunes' ringtone maker; burn it to CD, then import it into an editing program; or capture the audio while playing it, using Ambrosia's Wiretap Pro ($19) or, better (in my experience and based on ratings at VersionTracker) Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack ($16) or the more flexible Audio Hijack Pro ($32).

4. iToner costs $15. To justify that cost, I'd either want to make at least 16 ringones or use song(s) that are not among the 500,000 that are available through the iTunes ringtone maker.