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When Mom calls the cell phone, you might have a special ringtone just for her--like Squeezebox by the Who. When Dad calls, maybe it's Simple Man by Skynyrd. For your significant other, maybe it's a cheesy 80's power ballad. Ringtones are fun, and they've become a huge segment of business for the music industry. Of course, who's willing to settle for ringtones that employ just audio, when you can use video, too?

Vringo offers sharable video ringtones that work with smart phones from Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia (like the affable N73 in the picture). You can choose a "VringForward"--that is a video ringtone--to assign to each person in your phone's buddy list. The cool part is--they'll see the video when you call them. A "VringBack", on the other hand, is a video that one of your buddies has chosen for you to see when they give you a call.

What's even more nifty, you can record videos with your phone's camera and share those as VringForwards, too. So, if it's your best friend's birthday, you could create a special birthday greeting just for her. Plus, Vringo offers a slew of licensed video content from big-name music publishers.

The catch? Vringo's video ringtones work for buddies that are members of the service. You've got to join Vringo by entering your wireless number on their web site. They'll send their software to your phone via the Net, and you're in.