Meez and Vringo Announce First-Ever Avatar Ringtones
Alliance Brings New Level of Personalization and Fun to Mobile Phones
Sep. 11, 2007 12:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 09/11/07 -- Meez(TM), the leading
consumer avatar service, and Vringo, the pioneer in video ringtone sharing,
today announced an alliance to fully integrate Meez 3D avatars into
Vringo's video ringtone service.
Using Vringo, mobile phone users can now seamlessly load their 3D Meez
avatars onto their mobile handsets for free. When a call is placed, the
animated Meez appears on the recipient's phone screen as a video ringtone,
or Vringo, graphically identifying the caller. Additionally, every time a
user updates his or her avatar on Meez.com, the Vringo will automatically
be updated. Users will also be able to personalize their mobile handsets by
selecting Meez avatars as wallpaper that appears on handset screens when
idle.
"Vringo's video ringtone technology helps fulfill the long-awaited promise
of avatars in the mobile world," said Sean Ryan, Meez CEO. "Meez avatars
make great wallpaper, but what our users really want is the ability to
share their animated avatars with friends. Now they'll be able to put their
Meez on display whenever they make a call."
With the Meez-Vringo alliance, users can now simply and easily deploy their
Meez on a wide variety of mobile handsets, including devices made by Nokia,
Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. This means that the Meez avatars that
users post as digital IDs on their favorite social media Web sites and
instant messenger services can now be shared on yet another "screen" -- the
highly portable mobile phone screen.
"When we developed Vringo, we knew there was extensive graphic content on
the Internet that wasn't being utilized to its fullest extent," said Vringo
CEO Jon Medved. "By taking Meez avatars and blending them with Vringo,
we're able to deliver additional value and widen the audience."
More than 2.8 million people have already created their own unique Meez
avatars, choosing from more than 4,500 digital assets on Meez.com,
including virtual clothing, accessories, hairstyles, tattoos, physical
attributes and 3D animations. It takes only minutes to create a Meez that
expresses each user's personal style and passions. Users can also gear up
with premium items and branded clothing, such as virtual jerseys from Major
League Baseball and the National Hockey League.
Current phone models that can be used with Vringo are listed in the FAQs
section of the Vringo Web site: www.vringo.com/corporate/faq.html.
About Meez
Meez provides sophisticated avatar services for the mainstream. At
Meez.com, users can create and animate highly-customized 3D avatars that
express their personal style and passions. Meez avatars can then be
exported and used all over the Internet as a 3D ID. The company has secured
strategic partnerships with leading consumer and social media sites who
have integrated Meez's avatar-building tools and services directly into
their sites, including Glam.com, CBS Sportsline, PalTalk and Photobucket.
Based in San Francisco and developed by Donnerwood Media, Meez is backed by
Battery Ventures, Transcosmos Partners, Allen & Co., and other individual
investors. For more information, please visit www.meez.com.
About Vringo
Vringo is creating the world's first video ringtone sharing community. The
company is making Personalization 2.0 a reality by enabling users to
experience rich media ringtones on a wide variety of mobile devices and for
the first time to share that media with others within a community. Vringo
is backed by Warburg Pincus and by private investors. More information can
be found at www.vringo.com.