Went with a friend to Verizon, where she got a VX 4400 handset.
“Oooh, this one does ringtones,” I exclaim. C laughs and says she’ll have to get a Kare Kano ringtone for it. Hah! It’s a challenge. We’ll need to:
- Find a source file.
- Convert the source file to a ringtone.
- Get the ringtone onto C’s phone.
Finding a Source File
First, searching Google for “Kare Kano ringtone” is a non-starter. Search terms like “ringtones” brings up a lot of absolute crud. I have a little more luck searching on “Tenshi no Yubikiri ringtone”. This brings up a site of MIDI files, including “Tenshi no Yubikiri”.
The LG phones can use MIDI files for ringtones. So we have the first two steps out of the way.
Getting the Ringtone onto the Phone
More googling brings up a page for the Sourceforge project Bitpim. This application lets you mount your phone’s file system and add/change wallpapers and ringtones. And there’s installers for Windows, Mac OS 10.3, and Linux.
As a bonus, Bitpim’s developer maintains a VX 4400 FAQ with useful information on getting around the ‘walled garden’ of MSN’s gateway on mobile browsers. The VX 4400 and my Motorola phone both use the Open Wave browser, so I was able to ‘update’ my phone. It’s not a secure link, but I’m in control. Of course, now I have to relearn WML.
Hardware
All we need now is a cable. Windows people can use the straight USB cable. On the Mac, I’d need the Serial to USB cable. Alan Pinstein already found the right cable for us at Radio Shack.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
