Thumbs Up - Music & Ringtones Blog - Thumbplay.com

Billy Joel Re-Releases "The Stranger"

2008-07-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

Billy Joel takes fans back with the 30 year anniversary edition of his breakthrough album "The Stranger," originally released in the summer of 1977. Four songs off this album, "Just the Way You Are," "Movin' Out," "She's Always a Woman" and "Only the Good Die Young", became a hit.

Read more at CNN.com

Download Billy Joel Ringtones here.

JAY-Z EXCLUSIVES DEBUT FOR FIRST TIME ON THUMBPLAY

2008-07-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Never Before Available Mobile Content from Rap/Hip-Hop Legend Takes Center Stage:

Starting today, only Thumbplay customers can personalize their mobile phones with a collection of ten chart-shattering singles that have never been made available in the mobile marketplace. Encompassing some of the greatest hits from the past ten years from,this cultural icon Thumbplay's customers will enjoy exclusive access to Jay-Z's biggest hits, including:
o 1-900-Hustler, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
o Can I Get A, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998)
o Encore, The Black Album (2003)
o Excuse Me Miss, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)
o Girls, Girls, Girls, The Blueprint (2001)
o Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love), The Blueprint (2001)
o Izzo (H.O.V.A.), The Blueprint (2001)
o Jigga What, Jigga Who (Unplugged), Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998)
o Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)..., American Gangster (2007)
o S. Carter, Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)

"The availability of exclusive content from Jay-Z marks the continuation of Thumbplay's leadership and commitment to delivering excellence to its consumers in the mobile music arena," said Are Traasdahl, Thumbplay’s CEO and founder. "We are pleased that Universal Music Group has chosen Thumbplay to be the first to launch this exclusive collection of Jay-Z’s chart-topping hits and look forward to sharing more exclusive UMG content with our consumers in the future."

The 4th of July

2008-07-03T07:44:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure if you knew this, but tomorrow is the 4th of July! It happens on July 4th of every year ;)

Americans celebrate their country and it's independence, memorializing the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed back in 1776.

Enjoy your weekends! Fireworks, BBQ magic, sunshine and backyards.

Celebrate the American spirit with these great 4th of July Ringtones, Wallpapers and more.

Tila Tequila's Shot At Love

2008-07-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

Tila Tequila, queen of myspace and reality star, has just tearfully concluded the second season of "Shot At Love." This time, Tila narrowed it down to female finalist, Kristy, and male finalist, Bo. Unfortunately there was no happy ending for Tila.

She turned down Bo, who seemed to really love her. "I've been calling Tila my girlfriend for a long time now," he said. "I really do love Tila.” He was heartbroken but gracious when he didn't get a key, telling her, "You always got your Bo-bear."

When Tila offered Kristy the key to her heart, Kristy responded saying, "You love that I'm honest and that I'm true to my feelings and true about who I am. If I take this key I'm not being true."

Yikes! "Why would you do that no?" Tila asked. "Why would you put me through all this process? ... I feel humiliated."

Kristy later explained that she was unsure of her feelings about being with women. Too Little Too Late, don't you think?

- Get Tila Tequila Ringtones and Mobile Videos and Tila Tequila wallpapers and cellphone graphics here

- Get Widget

Domo Kun Fun Wallpapers and Videos

2008-07-01T14:18:00.001-07:00

The sweet and silly character Domo has been the victim of Internet Meme. You may recognize him due to a Fark thread from July 28th, 2001 where the Domo monster threatens a kitten. Domo is an otherwise harmless fictional beast. He is officially described as "a strange creature that hatched from an egg." Domo's favorite food is Japanese-style meat and potato stew, and he has a strong dislike for apples, due to an unexplained mystery in his DNA. Domo-kun is known to pass gas repeatedly when nervous or upset. He is often regarded as being some sort of poo monster. Yes, I said poo.

Search "domo" at thumbplay.com for our full selection of Domo wallpapers and videos.

LG & Verizon's Chocolate Rhapsody

2008-06-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

No, that's not a wireless dessert. Verizon and Rhapsody just announced a joint venture to merge the popular Rhapsody subscription music service with Verizon's V CAST music service. Since everyone in the popular media is covering this partnership, we'll deal with the hardware side. Verizon said that nine of its current V CAST phones can be used with the new service.

But the first true Rhapsody-optimized phone, due later this summer, will be the LG Chocolate 3. No pricing has been announced yet.

This year's Chocolate will be a flip phone rather than a slider, with the music control wheel on the outside flap. You'll also get an FM transmitter to beam your Rhapsody tunes through your car's stereo system. For slightly more private listening, the C3 has dual speakers and for even more private listening, stereo Bluetooth.

For storing your songs, C3 has a GB of internal memory and a high capacity micro SD card slot. The specs say you can add up to 4 GB this way, but the high-capacity SD spec says you should be able to slide in up to a 32 GB card, when they become available.

Aside from Rhapsody, the C3 is also an ESPN MVP phone and sports a 2 MP camera.

Motorola E8 ROKR Rocks

2008-06-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

T-Mobile subscribers will get access to arguably the carrier's best music phone and a phone with the most unusual touchscreen interface ever, the Motorola E8 ROKR, next Monday, July 7. It'll be priced at $199 with a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate, $249 with a one-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate, or $349 sans contract.

On the face of the candybar E8 is a unique touchscreen. In normal mode, backlights display the usual dialpad . When in music mode, the screen shows only music controls (left). In 2 MP camera mode, you get imaging controls (right). When asleep, the E8's glass face is glossy black with only tiny raised dots indicating where backlit controls will be.

And when you press a backlit button, you get localized haptics, squishy tactile feedback that lets you know you sucessfully pushed the virtual button.

While the quasi-touchscreen and haptic sensation is unusual, the ROKR's real purpose is as a music player. Inside the E8 is 2 GB of built-in memory, which can be supplemented via the high capacity microSD card slot. 8 GB cards just became available, so the E8 can boast up to 10 GB in music and photo memory. E8 also supports a wide variety of non-DRM music formats including MP3, AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC+, WMA and Real Audio v10. Cleverly, any track you load in can be assigned as a ringtone.

Music continues to play regardless of whatever application you navigate to. E8 is equipped with a 3.5 headphone jack and comes with a stereo earphones, or you can take advantage of its stereo Bluetooth capability. Unfortunately, T-Mobile has no music services, so you'll have to supply your own tunes.

Speaking of navigation, you navigate through all the E8's menus via what Motorola calls a FastScroll arc, a sort-of scroll wheel. A ModeShift button on the side gets you instantly to the camera, and a music icon on the front touchscreen gets you instantly to the music player.

As a phone, E8's conversational abilities are enhanced by Motorola's ClearTalk technology. E8 is only an EDGE phone – T-Mobile doesn't yet offer a high-speed network, but you also get an FM radio in case your own music bores you.

Tay Zonday's Chocolate Rain Ringtone!

2008-06-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Tay Zonday is a People's Voice Award-Nominated, Youtube Award-Winning, Webby Award-Winning singer-songwriter with more than 40 million video views on Youtube.

He blasted into the worldwide spotlight with his viral hit "Chocolate Rain". "Chocolate Rain" is arguably one of the most successful youtube hits ever. The catchy song has left an indelible mark on youth culture.

Zonday joined mainstream-music legends Weezer in the video for their 2008 "Pork & Beans" single. With a baritone voice that is often compared to Paul Robeson, Barry White, and Brad Roberts of the Crash Test Dummies. What will he do next? I don't know but those lyrics sure are somethin' ...

Chocolate Rain
Some stay dry and others feel the pain

- Download Tay Zonday Ringtones

- Get the Widget

Motley Crue: Back as Saints

2008-06-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

If Motley Crue made you "Feelgood" in the 80s, you're in luck, because these rockers are actually back again. This time, their single is called "Saints of Los Angeles" off of their new album "Saints of Los Angeles." They sound pretty much the same in all of their energetic hair band glory. Glad they returned to share their talents with the current generation ...

Enjoy Motley Crue's "Saints of Los Angeles" ringtone

All I Want to Do is Listen to Sugarland

2008-06-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

There's not many country music duos in the top 40 these days, but Sugarland's single "All I Want to Do" has really taken off. Sugarland was founded in 2003 by Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, along with original member Kristen Hall, who left in 2005 for a solo career. Looks like these two are doing awfully well on their own!

Check out more Sugarland Ringtones.

Sony Ericsson Announced 8.1 MP Cellcam

2008-06-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Remember yesterday when we touted cellphones with 5 MP digital cameras? 5 MP? Piffle!

Sony-Ericsson has upped the megapixel ante with its slider-style Cyber-shot C905, which contains an 8.1 MP digital camera, which will be available in the fall for $499.99.

Since Sony has affixed its Cyber-shot name to the C905, you can be assured that its camera meets Sony's exacting optics and image capture standards. Behind the sliding shutter guard are Sony lenses, a Xenon flash and video light. Like the company's standalone digicams, the C905 includes "smile shutter," a software sensor that detects a subject's smiles and automatically snaps the picture, "smart contrast" that compensates for varying lighting situations from one part of the picture to another and, of course, the ever-present face detection.

Your viewfinder is a bright 2.4-inch, 240 x 320 scratch-resistant glass LCD screen. To get the high-res photos off the phone, the C905 includes DLNA-compatible WiFi to transmit photos or video to a DLNA-compatible HDTV or upload to your blog site, a USB adapter, and will ship with a 2 GB Memory Stick micro (M2) that slides into an M2 slot that accepts up to an 8 GB card.

On the phone side, the 7.2 Mbps HSPA network compatible C905 includes A-GPS, which combines cell tower triangulation with traditional satellite GPS to speed location detection and also geo-tags images, a media player and stereo Bluetooth. For the fashion-conscious, it'll be available in Night Black (pictured), Ice Silver and Copper Gold.

Robin Thicke Evolves Again

2008-06-25T08:55:00.001-07:00

The voice behind the 2006 hit Lost Without You is getting attention again.

R&B singer Robin Thicke was honored at Monday’s ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. He is also featured on a new single by Eve called "Fantasy." His new album is due out in September of this year.

Robin's father, former Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, is also turning heads. Alan can be seen driving around in an all-electric Mini Cooper. The Emmy and Golden Globe nominee is becoming the new spokesperson for Hybrid Technologies, a firm that develops and markets lithium-powered products. Way to go green Mr Seaver!

Download Robin Thicke Ringtones

Moto and Kodak Partner on 5 MP Cellcam

2008-06-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Two of the oldest American technology brands have partnered to create the highest megapixel camera phone available in the U.S. (along with the Nokia N96 and N82). The Motorola Motozine ZN5 is a candybar cellphone up front and a 5 MP Kodak camera behind.

Unlike other camera phones, the ZN5 acts like a real camera. You slide down the lens cover to activate the camera. The shutter release button is right on the top right where you'd expect. Press the shutter halfway and the autofocus swings into action. And pressing the shutter all the way instantly snaps the scene – none of the usual slow second-or-so shutter delay between press and capture on other camera phones.

The ZN5 includes other digicam-like features such as multi-shot and panorama photo stitching, which patches together multiple consecutive exposures to create a extreme wide view. There's also an unusually powerful (for a cellcam) Xenon flash.

There's 350 MB of memory inside the phone to save photos to, or you can slide in a roomier 4 GB micro SD card. Once saved, you can upload your shots to Kodak's Kodak Gallery site, use ShoZu to upload them to varying social networking service, or off-load them via more traditional Bluetooth or wired connections. You can also print prints on Kodak's Bluetooth-compatible printers or Kodak Picture Kiosks.

Like Moto's pending E8, the ZN5 features the company's innovative haptic keypad that provides local tactile feedback when you hit a button. The touch sensitive keypad also displays backlit icons for functions specific to whatever application the phone is in.

As a phone, the ZN5 functions on GSM networks and offers Motorola's CrystalTalk technology which makes voices sound more landline-like. Instead of locating the phone's address book and looking up a name, you can just start tapping the name you're looking for and the appropriate name and number pops up on the screen. There's also a music player with stereo Bluetooth.

The ZN5 will first be available in China in time for the Beijing Olympics. Everyone else will have to wait until the games are over.

Boy George Denied US Visa, Cancels NY Show

2008-06-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Boy George is back in the news again. This time he claims to be devastated because he has been denied entry into the United States where he was planning to perform a show in New York City. Boy George's management believes he was denied entry to the US because he was charged in London last November with false imprisonment following a complaint from a 28-year-old man. Interesting ...

The controversy makes our Boy George ringtone all the more silly. Whether or not you're a Boy George fan, this Boy George ringtone sure is fun:
Boy George - Alarmtone

Dragon Ball Z

2008-06-23T11:26:00.001-07:00

Dragon Ball Z is many things: a comic book manga series, an animated tv show, and a popular video game series. The series first hit the scene in the late 80's and new games are being released today. Fans can enjoy the American themes and soundtracks that were created by Bruce Faulconer.

Check out our Dragon Ball Z Ringtones.

Boyz to Men are Back Again

2008-06-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

The smooth sounds of Boyz II Men bring back fond memories of awkward teenage slow dancing. The legendary 90s R&B group performed for free in Bryant Park as part of the Good Morning America concert series this morning at 7 AM.

Grab these great old school Boyz II Men Ringtones!

iPhone-killer Instinct Goes on Sale

2008-06-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Getting a three-week jump on the second-generation of its inspiration, Instinct by Samsung goes on sale at Sprint stores nationwide Friday, June 20, for $129.99.

Samsung and Sprint think they have an iPhone-killer on their hands, for $70 less than the coming iPhone 3G. Samsung will be putting its money where its beliefs are, investing $100 million in marketing and advertising.

What's the big deal? While it closely resembles iPhone features-wise and physically – it's hard for any fully touchscreen phone not to – Instinct offers myriad bells and whistles not available on the current iPhone and some not even on the pending Apple 3G version. The biggest difference is Instinct's localized haptics – a tactile feedback under your finger after touching a screen icon simulating a physical button push.

Technically, Instinct has a 3.1-inch touchscreen and is Sprint's first EV-DO Rev. A phone, offering a slight data speed boost (2.4 mbps vs. 3.1 mbps) over plain old EV-DO. Because of the faster 3G Rev. A speeds, Samsung has eschewed WiFi in Instinct. Instinct's A-GPS adds directions to an address in your contact list from where you are and supplies weather conditions and forecasts based on your location, and provides vocal turn-by-turn directions. It also has an iPhone-like gyroscope that senses in what position you're holding the phone.

Instinct also will be the first Sprint phone with visual voicemail – choose the message you want to hear from a list rather than listening to all of them in sequence, as well as threaded chat and direct photo upload to Flickr or Facebook.

More pedantically, Instinct includes a 2 MP camera, full IMAP and POP3 email and supports Microsoft Exchange, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HTML browser from a company called Telica. And, of course, you have speedy access to all of Sprint's music and video services.

There's things missing from the Instinct, however. There's no integrated on-board memory, for instance – you'll have to spend more to get a high-capacity SD card, and you're limited to 8 GB. You get a pre-loaded 2 GB card, however, and a second battery and separate charger are included.

Instinct plan pricing starts at $69.99/month for 450 voice minutes or talk/message/data minutes, or Sprint's Simply Everything Plan, unlimited nationwide voice and data services for $99.99/month.

We're playing with an Instinct now and we'll have a full report before the iPhone goes on sale.

Modest Mouse Play Secret Show at Music Hall of Williamsburg Tonight

2008-06-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Indie band Modest Mouse is back on the scene tonight with a surprise secret show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn tonight. The doors open at 1am and the show starts at 1:30am. Do you dare to stay out so late on a school night to check out these darling emo folk rockers?

Check out Modest Mouse Ringtones here.

LG Piggybacks Bluetooth Earpiece onto Phone

2008-06-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

File this one under "Why didn't anyone think of this before?"

LG's new Decoy slider, available from Verizon for $179.99 after rebates and two-year contract, has a Bluetooth earpiece piggy-backed to it. Once paired, the pair remained paired thanks to the new Bluetooth 2.1 protocol. Plug in the Decoy and the attached earpiece charges as well, eliminating a charger.

DUH!

LG didn't just tack on a Bluetooth earpiece and skimp on the rest of this EV-DO multimedia phone. Decoy is fully V CAST compatible, able to access all of Verizon's music, application and game downloads, VZ Navigator and streaming video services, sports a 2 MP digital camera, and is compatible with Hotmail, AOL and Yahoo! email and instant messaging. Its music player can play back MP3, WMA, AAC and iTunes new AAC+ non-DRM tracks.

On the outside, Decoy sports a 2.2-inch mirror-like LCD screen, a two-tone silver and black glossy front, and a blue satin back where its Bluetooth earpiece dock is located.

But what kind of name is "Decoy"? What does that have to do with the innovation of a piggybacked Bluetooth earpiece?

Dark Knight Returns from Nokia

2008-06-18T13:42:00.001-07:00

Here's a phone Bruce Wayne would be proud to carry, whether he's wearing a cowl or not. Technically known as the Nokia 6205, this black beauty is the Dark Knight edition, specially designed to coincide with the opening of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, on July 18. It's now available for super heroes and super hero fans from Verizon for $69.99 after the usual rebates and contract stipulations.

Inside the box is a Joker card with a code to link to the www.fightforgothamcity.com Web site. Once on the Web site, you can find out if you've won The Joker’s "bag of cash" containing $10,000 and other games to win more The Dark
Knight-themed prizes.

Inside the phone is a 1.3 MP camera, 58 MB of memory that can be supplemented by a microSD card of up to 4 GB, access to Verizon's V CAST music service and exclusive access to special The Dark Knight content and Verizon's VZ Navigator navigation application.

If you're not into comic books – er, we mean graphic novels – there'll be a metallic blue and silver version of the 6205 available next month.

Celtics WIN!

2008-06-18T11:04:00.001-07:00

Last night in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Basketball Championship Playoffs, the Boston Celtics took home the big win in their greatest game of the season.

Show of your Boston Celtics Pride with these great Celtics Wallpapers:

Pussycat Dolls Grow Up

2008-06-17T09:05:00.001-07:00

What do Pussycat Dolls become when they grow up? Other kinds of older cats? I'm not sure, but according to their new single, the Pussycat Dolls want the following:

1) To be famous
2) To be a star
3) To be in movies
4) See the world
5) Drive nice cars
6) Have groupies

Sounds nice. I think the dolls have pretty much all of those things ... so I guess they're grown up already?

The Pussycat Dolls are back with their hot new single When I Grow Up.

Check it out here:
The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up

PS - Did you hear the rumor that Britney Spears' cameo got cut from the "When I Grow Up" video? OMG!

Metro Station Shakes It Up

2008-06-16T11:16:00.001-07:00

Shake It is easily one of the hottest new summer songs. Metro Station is comprised of Trace Cyrus, Blake Healy, Mason Musso, and Anthony Improgo. Two members of the electro-pop band have a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus connection. Trace Cyrus is Billy Ray Cyrus' stepson, and Mason Musso's younger brother plays the role of Oliver on Hannah Montana.

No doubt Metro Station is loved by Hannah Montana fans. Their high energy and positive vibe resonates youth and fun.

Shake It Ringtone - Metro Station

Negreanu Wins Again at the World Series of Poker Championships

2008-06-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Daniel Negreanu won the $2,000 FL Hold'em Event, taking in a nice prize of $204,434. Daniel Negreanu was the only competitor who’d ever been to a WSOP final table, not to mention the fact that he had already won three of them. This is Daniels' fourth World Series of Poker bracelet, drawing a crowd of fans to watch him dominate.

You got game? Like, Negreanu game?
We do. The Daniel Negreanu Texas Hold 'em Poker game:

also available For Blackberry.

NBA Playoffs: Lakers vs Celtics

2008-06-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs came and went this week with the Lakers winning over a tight game against the Celtics. Check out these great Celtics and Lakers Graphics and videos for your cell phone!

Celtics:
Paul Pierce

Rajon Rondo

Kevin Garnett

Ray Allen

Lakers:
Jordan Farmar

Luke Walton

Lamar Odom

Kobe Bryant

Derek Fisher

Andrew Bynum

Trevor Ariza

Check out more of our NBA graphics here.

And how about a ringtone from former Laker's girl Paula Abdul!
- Cold Hearted Snake