CTIA: VZW, AT&T get social

While Facebook may not be integrated into SocialLife, Verizon Wireless certainly isn’t ignoring the revenue possibilities of Facebook. At CTIA, VZW also unveiled a new ringback tone platform it hopes will inject some life back into the stagnant content category. Called Ringback Buddies, the application isn’t a mobile app per se but rather a Facebook application that integrates back to VZW’s billing and content provisioning systems. It allows Facebook users to browse their friends’ favorite music and then buy ringback tones form those artists. The ringback server then applies those specific tones to the specific phone numbers of those friends.

Verizon didn’t ignore ringtones either, announcing deals with three vendors for audio applications that allow customers to make their own ringtones. For $3.50 a month, VZW is offering mSpot’s Make-UR-Tones service, a song editing service that can isolate individual 30-second snippets of 250,000 songs. Also added to the catalog are FunMobility and Sonic Boom’s ringtone production services, both of which allow users to layer their voices into pre-recorded and customized ringtone tracks.

In addition, Verizon Wireless announced it is offering a state and city caller ID service, initially on the LG Voyager. Supplied by Cequint, the service identifies the state and city a caller’s number is registered in, though not the city from which the actual call may be originating. Verizon will charge $2 a month for the service.