Gadget Adviser: Ringboxx Offers Tunes for Your Landline Phone

The new Ringboxx brings ring tones to your landline phone. Now instead of ringing, your phone will repeatedly play a short music clip that you choose. So, during my review, I had “Sweet Home Alabama” play when my mom called, or Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” play when a telemarketer with a 1-800 number called (When I heard that song, I knew not to pick up the phone). My Caller ID service told the Ringboxx what phone number was calling me.

Ring tone sales to cell phone users have been booming the last couple of years but are expected to slow down to $600 million this year. That’s a lot of people spending $2 to $6 for a 10-second clip of music.

HomePhoneTunes, makers of the Ringboxx, hopes to capture some of that excitement — and money.

Scheduled to start shipping later this month, the $79.95 device connects to your computer (running Windows 2000 and later; not Mac-compatible) so you can use your broadband connection to download ring tones.

Each of these 15-second music or spoken-word snippets costs about $2 or $3 (actually, 2 or 3 Ringboxx credits each, and a credit costs 99 cents).

Pick from classic rock, hip-hop, impersonations of famous people and more. You can listen to the ring tone before you buy it, using your PC’s speakers.

Once you’ve made your choice, you can download eight to 12 ring tones to the Ringboxx. Connect that box to your phone jack and connect your phone handset to the Ringboxx and you’re ready to go. Use the software to tell the Ringboxx what ring tone to play when a certain number calls.

You don’t have to buy ring tones. Download free software called Audacity from audacity.sourceforge.net, and use it to choose a six- to 15-second segment of music as your ring tone. Save it as an MP3 file, and use the Internet to let HomePhoneTunes convert the MP3 file into something the Ringboxx can understand. It’s a little bit of work, but it’s fast and you can use the music you already own.

I’m not sure who’ll love the Ringboxx. Even with the expected launch-day discount price of $69.95 plus 10 free ring tone credits, I think it’s too much.

Maybe if phone companies bought these and gave them to their customers that would be worth it, because the Ringboxx is fun and easy to use.

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