Mobile-services company Exactmobile on Wednesday became the first to launch video ringtones and voice messaging via multimedia messaging service (MMS) in South Africa.
Exactmobile has licensed software that enables it to convert music videos into a mobile format.
A video ringtone shows 30 seconds of a music video clip and repeats those 30 seconds until someone answers the ringing cellphone. At the same time, the phone plays the video’s music in so-called “true” format.
Exactmobile has licensed more than 100 videos from record labels and plans to add new videos every month.
Users will pay R20 for each video ringtone.
“We have to pay the record labels for the licensing. Therefore, we decided to also make animated video ringtones, which are produced in-house and will cost R10,” explained Gavin Penkin, director of portals and mobile entertainment at Exactmobile.
Penkin believes the new video ringtones will be a big hit.
“We are the first to offer it; we believe it will go down pretty well because it is cool, new, and unique to have.”
Besides the new video ringtones, Exactmobile also launched Yoyap. Cellphone users can record a voice message, select a face from seven different characters and a type of emotion (a happy or a sad character) and then send the message as an MMS. When the recipient opens the message, the character speaks the voice message, which can’t be longer than 30 seconds.
The video ringtones will, for now, only be available for the newest Nokia cellphones and the Panasonic X700.