Ringo's three views
Ringo has three main views, accessible from the bottom of each screen. In the Ring Tones view, you can set the default ring tone, tone for SMS messages, and picture. These defaults will be used for any contact that hasn't been specially assigned another tone or picture. Figure A shows the Tones view, in which I've assigned the standard Treo ring, a recording of my cat's purr, and a picture of the cat.

FIGURE A


Ringo's Ring Tones screen lets you set defaults that will be used for all uncategorized calls and messages. Roll over picture for a larger image.

You can play the ring tone you've selected from this screen, which is helpful if you're not sure which one you want. The ring tones and text message tones that I chose were played properly, but I was never able to see the picture when a call came through.

In the earlier version, there was an option to use a voice synthesizer program (accessible from the Electric Pocket web site) to announce the names of your callers. It did work, although I found it difficult to understand the voice. It has been removed from the newest version.

Contacts view
The second Ringo view shows individual contacts that you have added. If, for example, you want your sister's calls to have their own ring, but her text messages to have the same sound as everyone else, you would add your sister as a contact, set her ring tone, and leave her SMS messages set to default. Figure B shows this.

FIGURE B


The Contacts view, where you can specify details for a particular person's calls and/or messages. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The earlier version of Ringo allowed me to create multiple ring tones for a given person, by selecting their number in the Contacts database and then setting Ringo to not use the same ring tone for all numbers associated with that contact. This was a useful feature, permitting, for example, different ring tones for calls from your sister's work and cell numbers. The new version does not have this feature. I'd been impressed by it, and am disappointed at its removal.

There is a menu item on the Contacts screen called "Import Contacts". When I select this menu item, nothing happens. The "Sort Contacts" menu item sorts contacts appropriately.

Groups view
In the Treo's Contacts application, contacts can be categorized. Ringo allows you to set a ring tone, SMS message tone, and picture for each category in your Contacts application. In addition, you can set these things for all unknown numbers, so that you can tell immediately that a particular call is coming from someone you don't know.

I'd originally assumed that I could create groups myself in Ringo, but that is not the case. Ringo draws its groups from the categories in the Contact application.

Overall
Ringo consistently played the correct ring tone for each test call I made to my Treo, and being able to set ring tones all in one place rather than on each individual contact in the Contacts application is definitely a plus.

However, Ringo has a ways to go before it is a completely solid product. Having to use the beginning of an MP3 is frustrating, the menu item that does nothing needs to be repaired, and a few more error/informational messages would be helpful when Ringo is unable to create a ring tone.

Still, with the exception of the loss of functionality from the previous version, Ringo is good at what it does. Ringo's rating is 3.

OUR RATING: 3 of 5

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.