(Picture courtesy of Andy Abramson at VoIP Watch)

I will admit something to you: I don't exactly get video ringtones. It's hard enough for me to pull up my phone and figure out who's calling me, let alone look at a screen to see what video they might be sending. I'm just not in the demographic.

That being said, video ringtone pioneer Vringo is in the news yet again: this time for winning the "Best Mobile Service for Social Community & User Generated Content" award at MIPCOM's Mobile & Internet TV Awards.

Why is this a big deal? According to Oliver Starr at BlogNation, it's because of who they beat out in the process. It's not just other startups, it's established media companies. For a young company like Vringo, that's quiet an achievement!

Press release after the jump.

Vringo Wins MIPCOM'S Mobile TV & Internet Award

Video Ringtone Pioneer Selected From Among 280 Entries

Vringo has built an impressive collection of video clips including content from movies, music videos, animated avatars, TV programming, advertising and original content produced by subscribers. Subscribers to the Vringo service use their buddy lists to deliver 2- to 20-second personalized video clips announcing the caller to the person being called-or to identify an incoming caller. Users select their personal Vringo clips through their mobile handsets or online. Vringos can also be shared with any subscriber in the Vringo community with a compatible wireless phone.

"This award recognizes the fact that we've successfully adapted and delivered great content to the mobile platform, and consumer demand continues to grow," said Jon Medved, Vringo CEO. "Ringtones, like mobile handsets, have become more functional and play a major role in our social lives. This is just the beginning of mobile personalization as more and more consumers rely on mobile phones as a tool to not only communicate, but express themselves."

According to MIPCOM, a record 280 entries from 180 companies in 38 countries applied for this third edition of the Mobile TV & Internet Awards, confirming its position as the leading international mobile content event.

A full list of MIPCOM winners can be found
here
. For further details about Vringo, to preview video ringtones or to see a list of supported handsets, please visit
www.vringo.com
.

About Vringo

Vringo is the world's first video ringtone sharing community. The company is making Personalization 2.0 a reality by enabling users to experience rich media no matter which mobile device they're using-and for the first time to share that media with others within a community.

Vringo was co-founded in 2006 by venture capitalist Jon Medved, now chief executive officer, and mobile software expert David Goldfarb, now chief technology officer. Vringo's management team comes from leading companies as diverse as Comverse, NMS Communications, Siemens, IDT, Earthlink and Shopping.com. Vringo Chairman of the Board Dan Ciporin was CEO and chairman of Shopping.com, until it was sold to eBay. Vringo is backed by private investors.

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