Bling Bling

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday November 26, 2007

Helen Bradley

There's no need to have a phone with one ring tone and dull wallpaper, writes Helen Bradley.

What's on your mobile phone? Does it have crystals attached, something hanging from it, a photo of your kids as its wallpaper and your favourite song as the ring tone? Options for customising and personalising your mobile phone - inside and out -are plentiful. However, what is available on my mobile phone won't necessarily be available for yours.

Every mobile phone is different, so the first place to start when you want to customise your phone is with its manual. Here you'll learn what your phone is capable of. Phones with a camera generally allow you to configure a photo as a wallpaper to display behind the main screen. If you can hook up your phone to your PC you may be able to download a small photo from your computer to use as wallpaper.

Most phones let you select a custom ring tone (the sound you hear when the phone rings). Start looking for these in your phone's sounds or audio settings. If your phone is capable of it, you can set up ring tones for different callers so you'll know who is calling by the tune you hear. Look for this option in your contacts list - the person and the number they are calling from must be in your contacts list for this feature to work.

Another customisation is configuring an image to appear on your phone when a contact calls. If you have a camera in your phone, you can photograph the person - or something that reminds you of them - and set it so you'll see this when they call. This option is generally configured from your contacts list.

If your phone can download MP3s from your computer to use as ring tones, use a program such as Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net/download) to create your own short MP3 clips and use these as ring tones.

In addition to creating your own content for your phone, there are plenty of sites which sell things to personalise your phone, from ring tones to screen savers. Make sure what you purchase is compatible with your phone - most sites list compatible phones to make this easy.

If you check for content on your phone manufacturer's own website, or use the options on your phone, you'll be sure your purchases are compatible.

Caller tones are big overseas and starting to appear here. These are sounds your callers hear when they ring you - they are provided by your phone service and aren't specific to your phone. To use these your service provider will have to offer them and you need to sign up with your phone service to use them.

The best place to find out if your service has them is to check the help or products page on your phone service web site, or speak to support.

On the outside there are lots of options for customising your phone, from changing its faceplate to fixing crystals to it. Some phones have a small hole or loop through which you can hang a string of beads or attach a chain with charms on it. There are also phone tattoos you can stick on your phone.

There's no excuse for having a boring phone, inside or out.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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