IT News from
Enterprise Product Reviews from
Enterprise Software News from
IT Security News from
Enterprise Storage News From
VoIP News from
IT Management Insights from
Business News from
SEARCH

December 22, 2005 (2:59 PM EST)

E-Carols For Cellular Phones In The Works

By Laurie Sullivan , TechWeb Technology News

Music In Your Own Words (Miyow) Pty Ltd. is planning to develop a cellular phone application where consumers can purchase personalized tunes and send them as e-carol audio files to friends, the company said Thursday.

Requests from executives at the company's distributors, such as Arena Mobile in the U.K. and Mobile Media in Asia-Pacific, prompted the decision to create the platform, said Lars Harold, co-founder and chief executive officer at Miyow. ""It could take between 10 and 16 months to develop the platform, but work should begin shortly,"" Harold said. ""Perhaps, we'll have it ready by next Christmas.""

Miyow, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, already offers ringtones for cellular phones where the name is sung as a personal message in the tune. The company also launched Singaname.com to deliver personalized Christmas e-carols in early December. There also is a plan to expand the selection to love ballads for Valentines Day.

Today, the site offers four category of Christmas song: classic, funny, naughty and romantic. Once on the site, customers type in a name they want to insert in the song. A click of the mouse personalizes the lyrics with audio slices and text.

LyriMix is the software that customizes the songs. The proprietary application from Miyow contains thousands name recordings and background tracks. The software platform is comprised of recording software that plugs into studio software for musicians, a MySQL database running on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system, and assembly algorithms where the songs are assembled.

The files are stored in the MySQL database as uncompressed wave files. Thousands of names have been prerecorded. The platform uses a Web-based application programming interface (API) to easy assemble the song with the name audio clip. The technology automatically assembles the song in about half a second. It took Miyow 18 months to develop the LyriMix software. The platform sits on a server hosted by GoDaddy.com, Harold said.

For now, the songs are recorded by Miyow, but Harold said the company is in discussions with several music labels to also offer copyrighted tunes.

Research firm IDC Corp. estimates four in 10 wireless subscribers will have purchased at least one ringtone by 2009, forecasting the market to reach nearly 100 million.

Research firm Yankee Group puts the ringtone market in the United States this year at $458.3 million, up from $221.4 million in 2004.

Those looking for Miyow's personalized ringtones can find them through content provider MediaPlazza; or Arena Mobile, which is powered by the telecommunications carrier Orange U.K.; as well as several in Asia-Pacific, Harold said. ""We've began to sell the personalized ringtones earlier this year and have sold about 10,000 through our carriers,"" he said. ""In the U.K. they sell for between $3 and $4 for a 30-second ringtone. Pricing varies because it's set by the carrier.""


   Try TechWeb's RSS Feed!
(Note: The feed delivers stories from TechWeb.com only, not the entire TechWeb Network.)
MOBILE WHITE PAPERS AND REPORTS
Mobile Wireless Communications Management and Enterprise Telecom Expense Management - An Industry White Paper on Mobile Wireless Communications Management
For many organizations, addressing mobile communications management as a set of point solutions may be acceptable. But for organizations whose business models and processes are enhanced by using the network, the network-centric organization, it must be part of the overall enterprise telecommunications expense management strategy.

Insurance Industry - Benefiting From Secure Mobile Wireless Access
Read how the power of Sprint Mobile Broadband allowed one company to process claims faster and easier, resulting in increased productivity and improved customer service.

Good Mobile Messaging For Executives and Professional Field Forces
No longer just a luxury for top executives, mobile technology has become a necessity for field forces. This paper explains how handheld and mobile application technologies are changing the way companies and customers conduct business, and how these technologies can improve business processes in such areas as sales, service, marketing and logistics.

Smartphone and Handheld Security for Mobile Business
Security risks for mobile computing are similar to those for other computing platforms. There are the usual concerns of protecting data, authenticating users, and shielding against viruses and other malicious code. This paper examines some of the key issues in mobile security and discusses security solutions for Palm handhelds and smartphones.

Top ten search terms from the TechWeb TechEncyclopedia

The Performance Manager: Turning Information into Higher Business Performance

Best practices for deploying wireless messaging in global companies

Managing Energy Use in the Data Center

bMighty: IT Services

Related White Papers

CAREER CENTER
Ready to take that job and shove it?
SEARCH
Function:

Keyword(s):

State:
SPONSOR

RECENT JOB POSTINGS
CAREER NEWS
If you're thinking about establishing yourself in Second Life -- or are wondering whether you should -- we've got five rules that will help your new venture be a success.

The global defense and tech company is seeking tech professionals skilled in Web site development, general software development, database administration, digital manufacturing, SAP/ABAP, complex CAD/CAM and PLM activities.

Advertisement






Specialty Resources

Featured Microsite

Related Links


Microsites

Featured Topic

Additional Topics

Crush The Competition

TechWeb's FREE e-mail newsletters deliver the news you need to come out on top.

Techencyclopedia

Get definitions for more than 20,000 IT terms.