1. Image. To everyone in earshot, your ringtone broadcasts a little bit about who you are . . . or who you'd like them to think you are.



2. Instant identification. If you have ever been in a meeting or with a group of friends and had to play the "Whose Cell Phone Is It?" scramble, you can appreciate the advantage of playing "Name That Tune" instead.

3. Caller ID. If your cell phone has multiple memory slots, you can immediately know which of your friends, co-workers, or family members is after you by programming specific tones to denote each caller.

The mobile market has been booming these past few years. All over the world, millions of people have embraced the mobile world into their life. The cell phone and their various ringtones have become status symbols. Ringtones show that you're up to date and happening. You can even take a test that defines which ringtone best suits your personality. You can truly display your lifestyle and certainly your musical taste on your sleeve.

A quick Google search will produce countless articles trying to understand the popularity of 'ringtones'; hundreds of bloggers waxing lyrical on the benefits of personalizing their cell phones. The figures are pretty serious too, in the U.S.A. alone, the Yankee Group predicts, ringtones will be worth $500 million. That's roughly the GDP of Fiji.

Obviously our cell phones need a voice, but does that voice need to be a polyphonic adaptation of 'Living on a Prayer'?

Ringtones are melodic sounds a cellular or cell phone makes when an incoming call or message arrives. Since cellular phones are significantly more sophisticated than landline phones, ringtones can be personalized to suit the owner's personal taste. A variety of ringtones have appealed to consumers, increasing handsets sale ability.

Types of Ringtones

There are typically three different types of ringtones: monophonic ringtones, polyphonic ringtones and realtones.

Monophonic Ringtones

Monophonic tones are simple tunes, most commonly compatible with today's cell phones. The majority of cell phones can only make a single tone at a time. The monophonic ringtone tune is comprised of a series of sequential tones at different frequencies.

Polyphonic Ringtones

Polyphonic tones are played on cellular phones that have the capability of playing up to 64 separate tones at once. The combination of tones creates a harmonic melody. Polyphonic ringtones are more musical than a monophonic ringtone. Newer phones support polyphonic ringtones. It is likely that future cell phones will be capable of producing musical ringtones of CD quality.

Realtones

Real Music ringtones or MP3 Ringtones, are ringtones that came from "real" or actual songs. They use original pieces of music along with lyrics, exactly as the original recording. The format is usually MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. This feature and support for real music ringtones is being built into most new models of almost all mobile phone manufacturers. Real Music Ringtones are also called true tones, real tones, voice tones, full music or MP3 ringtones.