Ring In the New Year

Staying on the cutting edge of the digerati these days means more than owning a slick cell phone or a hi-res digital camera. It means having a zippy cell-phone ring tone as well. Research firm IDC estimates that Americans spent more than $57 million on ring tones in 2003, up from $16 million in 2002. Hip-hop songs like 50 Cent's In Da Club are among the most popular tunes, but there are thousands to choose from. You can even get prepaid cards at Wal-Mart and 7-Eleven stores just for buying ring tones. So how can you make your jingle stand out from the crowd?

Since not every ring tone works with every phone, it's best to start by checking the menus on your phone for downloadable tunes or visiting the website of your carrier or handset maker. Most sounds cost between $1 and $2.50 each and are added to your monthly service bill. Search beyond the Top 10 lists, and you'll find lots of oldies but goodies like Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing (on SprintPCS Vision phones), a selection of Bollywood hits (on Verizon's Get It Now service) and 100 college fight songs (on nokia.com and other sites).

Next, check out some independent sites on the Web that let you browse and preview tones before you buy. Zingy.com has more than 3,000, ranging from the ever popular burps to a peppy rendition of dancehall star Elephant Man's Pon de River, Pon De Bank, for $1.99 each or five for $4.99. Once you pay for the song, Zingy sends it wirelessly to your phone. Other sites worth checking out include ringtonejukebox.com, midiringtones.com and mobile craze.com. Sound quality varies from tone to tone, so be sure to preview the clips before you buy.

The best way to get a ring tone that nobody else has is to create your own. Xingtone.com has a Windows application you can download onto your computer and use to create a 30-second snippet of any MP3, WAV or MIDI file. It works on most AT&T, Cingular, Sprint and T-Mobile phones, and it's free until Jan. 1, when the company will start charging $15. MotoMixer, available on some Motorola phones, lets you create your own mix of one of several songs by adjusting the drums, brass and other instruments directly on the phone. It costs $2 a song.

Of course, sometimes the best ring tone is no sound at all. That is why Modtones, which is available on several Verizon handsets, lets you download a silent ringer that you can then assign to certain incoming callers. You know — people like that ex-boyfriend who just won't stop calling. The caller will be none the wiser, and you can enjoy a bit more peace and quiet.