So you've got a new phone, and now you're ready to load it with a couple of ringtones that will truly make it yours. So you head for the web, where you know you'll find millions of options. Maybe, you think, you'll get a few Beatles songs, a classical waltz, Taylor Hicks? latest single, and a quirky Star Wars message alert. Yeah, you think, this will be great?and, you hope, relatively straightforward.



So you run a Google search, and find yourself?overwhelmed. The options are so many, they're actually confusing. Not only can you choose from several categories, but there seem to be various ?ringtone variants? that apparently don't work for all models. It can be both exciting and frustrating. Even if you pick a ringtone, how can you be sure that it's in the appropriate format for your phone?

Like all growing technologies, ringtones have created their own terminologies. While downloading a ringtone is still very straightforward, you do need to know your way through the jargon. Otherwise, you'll waste your time extracting a file that's incompatible with your phone, and get your hopes up for nothing.

So here's the Newbie's Guide to Ringtones. You have several formats: monophonic, polyphonic, mp3, mastertones, megatones, and real sounds.

Monophonic ringtones, as the name implies, just places one (mono) note at a time. The music can sound a little flat and tinny, like a kid picking out a tune on a piano. Polyphonic ringtones play several notes simultaneously. The sound is richer, and more pleasing to the ear. There are two types of polyphonic ringtones: 16 tone and 40 tone. You have to check your cell phone model which type of polyphonic ringtone it can support.

Mp3 ringtones use actual excerpts from the song, and thus have some copyright issues. Not all phones support Mp3 formats, so you have to check your phone handbook. You will also need special software, which you can either download from the Internet. Some phones will also be bundled with a CD containing the needed program.

Mastertones are also called ringtone masters, true tones, real tones, music tones, real ringtones or musitones. They all mean one thing: excerpts from studio recordings.

Real sound ringtones use actual songs from everyday life. They're not considered ?music? but are nevertheless very popular especially among those who want something a little quirkier than the latest pop ballad. According to research done by Business Week magazine, jarring sounds like police sirens and cars rolling around the race track, and bodily functions like burping or farting, are some of the most frequently downloaded ringtones in the market.

Animal ringtones are actually a sub category of real sound ringtones, but because of their variety, deserve special mention. These include a male gorilla beating his chest, or even bird calls. Some organizations donate a percentage of the revenue from animal ringtones to Fauna and Flora International, a wildlife protection group.