MODTONES OUTFITS VERIZON WIRELESS HANDSETS WITH URBAN ICONS
OBEY GIANT, FRENCH KITTY, RUBY GLOOM, ZERO 7 & GRINDIN LAUNCH NEW MUSICAL ANIMATIONS FOR MOBILE PHONES INCLUDING FIRST MUSIC VIDEO FOR HANDSETS
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 18, 2003) Faith West Inc. outfits mobile phones with new musical animations with a downtown flavor through its Modtones ringtone service www.modtones.com for Verizon Wireless Get It NowSM customers. Animation and music are fused together by the CMX mobile entertainment format, already enabled on more than ten million phones worldwide.
"Every generation seeks to define itself with new images and sounds and these product offerings represent the most progressive mobile entertainment on the market," said Carolynne Schloeder, president of Faith West. "We're thrilled to bring to the market content that's more cool than common."
Modtones' licensing strategy brings contemporary urban tags and metropolitan fashion names to teens and young adults. The new releases also include the first music video for mobile phones, "In the Waiting Line" by Quango/Palm recording artist Zero 7.
Modtones now feature images and animations from legendary street artist Shepard Fairey and his Obey Giant campaign, the ever-sassy French Kitty line and the cute-but-fierce Ruby Gloom.
The up and coming Greg "Peanut" Galinsky, whose work can be found everywhere from skateboard decks to boutique walls, now extends his designs to color enabled mobile screens everywhere. Modtones is also offering the chart topping song "Grindin'", synchronized with super bling-bling dollar sign images created by Los Angeles-based apparel line Rad Art.
The new releases from Modtones give Verizon Wireless customers with Samsung SCH-A530 handsets richer, full-color content like animated ringtones, wallpaper and screensavers. The CMX® multimedia format has been developed by QUALCOMM Incorporated with Faith, Inc., Faith West's parent company, technology. The company (Faith West) also provides service to licensees of its parent company's software based mobile sound solutions worldwide, including authoring tools to create mobile content in the proprietary CMX multimedia format.
Animated ringtones may be purchased with two ringtone credits via the Get It Now virtual store in the getTONES aisle. Verizon Wireless customers can purchase Modtones for $1.99 for 1 download credit, $5.99 for 4 download ring tone credits or $9.99 for 8 download ring tone credits. Download charges for Get It Now applications vary and airtime charges apply when browsing, downloading and using certain applications. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.
Get It Now-enabled phones are available in more than 1,200 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, at participating Circuit City and RadioShack stores, or on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. Animations, screensavers, images, and ringtones can be previewed on www.modtones.com.
About Faith West's Multimedia Content Partners:
Zero 7 are London based producers that have done remixes for Radiohead, Lenny Kravitz, Lambchop and others. Their debut album, Simple Things (QMG 5007), was nominated for the UK's Mercury Prize for "Album of the Year," has sold over 750,000 copies worldwide and has been featured on CSI, Six Feet Under and the film Blue Crush. For the videos for the singles "Destiny" and "In The Waiting Line," Zero 7 worked with the innovative director Tommy Pallotta who uses rotoscoping and as well as the Quake video game engine to create one of a kind music videos.
After years of showings everywhere from the MOMA in New York to skateboard shops all over the world, Modtones is bringing the art of Shepard Fairey to the wireless world. Shepard initially started the OBEY GIANT campaign as a graffiti project, but grew with immense popularity and now walks the line between fine art and an apparel line sold everywhere from Urban Outfitters to Skate shops. Modtones is proud to be a part of OBEY GIANT world domination. Ruby Gloom is a doe-eyed redhead who lives in a mansion on the outskirts of town with a bunch of spooky and kooky ghouls and creatures. The Ruby Gloom collection of clothing and accessories is sold at select boutiques and at Hot Topic stores nationwide. This tween/teen heroine will also be the star of her first book, scheduled for 2004. Discover the strange and wonderful world of Ruby Gloom at www.rubygloom.com. French Kitty is a fashionable feline who gained fame and fans with her chic collection of clothing and accessories. The French Kitty collection is available at Urban Outfitters and at select boutiques nationwide. French Kitty is also the star of a best-selling book, "French Kitty in Kitty Goes to Paris." Now, with Faith West, French Kitty brings her jet-setting style to cell phones! Enter the stylish world of French Kitty at www.french-kitty.com. Grindin w/ Dollar Sign - More bling for the ring. Grindin' is a solid hip-hop performer for Modtones. We've teemed it with the image of a solid gold dollar sign that shimmers. There is no ringtone with more bling than this.
About Faith West Inc.
Faith West makes mobile phones rock. A wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded Japanese corporation Faith, Inc., Faith West delivers high-impact mobile content to consumers and wireless carriers under the Modtones brand. The CMX® multimedia format has been developed by QUALCOMM Incorporated with Faith, Inc., Faith West's parent company, technology. The company (Faith West) also provides service to licensees of its parent company's software based mobile sound solutions worldwide, including authoring tools to create mobile content in the proprietary CMX multimedia format. Faith West is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. www.faithwestinc.com.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the nation's leading provider of wireless communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice and data network and 34.6 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com.
About Get It Now
Get It Now from Verizon Wireless puts a virtual software store inside a wireless phone. Customers with Get It Now-capable phones can download applications over the air and purchase them from their phones. getTXT, getIM and getEMAIL help customers stay in touch and communicate with others. getGAMES keeps customers entertained, while getGOING applications, made for today's mobile lifestyle, offers restaurant location services with maps, directions and more. View and share digital photos with getPIX, check out Web cams with getFLIX or identify incoming callers by assigning a unique ring with getTONES. getALERTS keeps customers informed while getBROWSING lets them access the Web from their wireless phone.
CMX is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated.
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