There used to be a time when mobile phones were used just for making calls. Let’s face it, those days are long gone. Even our parents have cottoned on to the fact. Today there’s plenty we can do with our mobiles. Here are some tips on what you can do to make your phone funkier than what it looked like out of the box.

1. Wallpapers and Backgrounds

First off, and this is important – the wallpaper. You can customize even your old monochrome phones. For newer phones you can of course make your own. Simply crop the images you want using software like Photoshop or Fireworks to an appropriate size for your screen and send it to the phone. For entry level phones you will have to get them through SMS, so it will cost you. But hey, having a picture of your girlfriend on your phone screen is worth it, right?

2. Screensavers

Let me say this first: having a screensaver has a downside. Depending on how vibrant and animated they are, they could run down your battery quickly. But they do give your phone a funky look. You can have a 'watch screensaver' that shows you the time and date. It's preferable to use animated images like .GIF files, provided your phone can read them.

3. Themes

A theme truly does make your phone come alive with colors and designs. In newer phones, themes are replacing the need for separate wallpapers and screensavers as most have them embedded into the file. There seem to be more themes designed for Symbian software i.e. Nokia models and a few for Sony Ericsson phones as well. Sites like OwnSkin.com allow you to make your own themes from scratch. You can upload an image of your choice and choose icons for specific purposes. Or you can simply download them from sites like Zedge or Mobile 9, to name just two.

4. Ringtones

What can make your mobile come alive more than a sometimes funny, sometimes corny, always annoying ringtone? If you have a phone that has enough space and plays MP3s, you are spoilt for choice. If your phone plays MP3 files but don’t allot enough space for full songs, you can edit the file using software like Audacity and keep a selected portion to use as a tone. Try and minimize the bitrate as well. There are also plenty of sites that allow you to download polyphonic or monophonic ringtones. If you don’t have WAP or GPRS, see if your phone has a composer; sites like Free-Ringtones.UK give you the codes and keys to the tunes you want.

5. Games

Games are the best way to pass the time when you’re traveling or commuting. Depending on what phone you have, the level of gaming changes. But I don’t think there’s a single phone that doesn’t have any games. Except if you still happen to be using an old Ericsson phones with a single line display. In which case please do upgrade!

6. Applications

There a quite a few applications you can install in your mobile (provided they support them) that would help enhance the device. Aside from themes and games, there are applications such as photo and video editors for the camera, and even video players like Smart Movie Player. These may not be freeware, but they do help you have a whale of a time with your mobile device.