Methods and systems for ringtone definition sharing

Abstract

A system comprises a ringtone originator, a ringtone sharing device, and a ringtone receiver. The ringtone originator (e.g., one or more of a personal computer, a mobile telephone, a PDA, or other computing device) allows a user to generate ringtone content using audio content stored locally. A ringtone definition, describing characteristics of the audio content and manipulations used to transform the audio content to the ringtone content, is generated and is sent to the ringtone sharing device. The ringtone sharing device (e.g., a server operated by a commercial service provider or a mobile telephone service provider) stores a plurality of ringtone definitions that can be accessed by the ringtone receiver. The ringtone receiver (e.g., one or more of a personal computer, a mobile telephone, a PDA, or other computing device) can download the ringtone definition and recreate the ringtone content.

1 . A method for sharing ringtone content independent of audio content used to generate the ringtone content, comprising:
 receiving a ringtone definition wherein the ringtone definition describes characteristics of and manipulations used to transform a first instance of audio content on a first device into a ringtone content, wherein the manipulations define one or more effects to be applied to an audio recording of the first instance of audio content;   sending the ringtone definition to a second device; and   generating the ringtone content from a second instance of the audio content on the second device using the ringtone definition, wherein the second instance of the audio content is separate from the first instance of audio content and the second instance of the audio content is received separately from the ringtone definition.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more users associated with the one or more devices have licensed the audio content. 
   
   
       3 . A method for providing ringtone definitions and ringtone content independent of audio content used to generate the ringtone content, comprising:
 generating a ringtone definition that describes characteristics of, and the manipulations used to transform a first instance of audio content into a ringtone content, wherein the manipulations define one or more effects to be applied to an audio recording of the first instance of audio content;   sending the ringtone definition to a separate device; and   generating the ringtone content by manipulating a second instance of audio content on the separate device, wherein the second instance of the audio content is separate from the first instance of audio content and the second instance of the audio content is received separately from the ringtone definition.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the device has access to a second instance of the audio content. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the device is a communication device. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the ringtone definition is sent to the device via a network. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the ringtone definition is sent to the device responsive to a query including an audio content identifier. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the ringtone definition is defined by a first user and sent to a second user accessing the device. 
   
   
       9 . A method for providing ringtone content independent of audio content used to generate the ringtone content, comprising:
 receiving a ringtone definition at a user device that describes characteristics of, and manipulations to, a first instance of audio content, wherein the manipulations define one or more effects to be applied to an audio recording of the first instance of audio content; and   generating ringtone content at the user device by applying the manipulations defined by the ringtone definition to a second instance of the audio content, wherein the second instance of the audio content is separate from the first instance of audio content and the second instance of the audio content is received separately from the ringtone definition.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the step of identifying a second instance of the audio content using the characteristics described in the ringtone definition. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the step of playing back the ringtone content in response to an event 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the event is an incoming telephone call. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the ringtone definition is received responsive to a transmitted query including an audio content identifier. 
   
   
       14 . A system for sharing ringtone definitions independent of audio content used to generate the ringtone definition, comprising:
 a ringtone originator that generates a ringtone definition, wherein the ringtone definition describes characteristics of, and manipulations to a first instance of audio content on a first device, wherein the manipulations define one or more effects to be applied to an audio recording of the first instance of audio content;   a ringtone receiver that receives the ringtone definition on a second device; and   a ringtone module that derives ringtone content from the ringtone definition and a second instance of the audio content on the second device using the characteristics described by the ringtone definition, wherein the second instance of the audio content is separate from the first instance of audio content and the second instance of the audio content is received separately from the ringtone definition.   
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a network wherein the ringtone originator and the ringtone receiver are coupled through the network. 
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the ringtone originator further comprises a first content database for storing a first group of one or more instances of audio content. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the ringtone originator further comprises a first ringtone module coupled to the first content database and wherein the first ringtone module receives a first instance of audio content from the first group of one or more instances of audio content stored in the first content database, and manipulates the first instance of audio content to generate ringtone content. 
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the ringtone originator further comprises a first communication device. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the first communication device further comprises a first playback module. 
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the ringtone receiver further comprises a second content database for storing a second group of one or more instances of audio content. 
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the ringtone receiver further comprises a second ringtone module coupled to the second content database and wherein the second ringtone module receives a ringtone definition from the ringtone originator, queries the second content database for an instance of audio content matching the characteristics of the ringtone definition, and applies the manipulations associated with the ringtone definition to the matching instance of audio content. 
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the ringtone receiver further comprises a second communication device. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the second communication device further comprises a second playback module. 
   
   
       24 . A user device comprising:
 a ringtone definition stored on a computer-readable storage medium describing characteristics of and manipulations used to transform an audio file into a ringtone, wherein the manipulations define one or more effects to be applied to an audio recording of the first instance of audio content;   said audio file; and   a ringtone generator software executing on the user device operable to use the ringtone definition and the audio file to create the ringtone suitable for use on a mobile telephone, wherein the audio file is received separately from the ringtone definition.   
   
   
       25 . The user device of  claim 21  further comprising:
 audio editing software enabling a user to generate the ringtone definition at the user device.   
   
   
       26 . The user device of  claim 21  further comprising:
 ringtone sharing software for sharing the definition with other users.   
   
   
       27 . The user device of  claim 21 , wherein the user device is operated by a first user and the mobile telephone is used by a second user. 
   
   
       28 . The user device of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 an interface module, the interface module configured to retrieve the ringtone definition from a server responsive to a query, wherein the query includes an audio file identifier.   
   
   
       29 . The user device of  claim 28 , wherein the ringtone definition was created by another user.