Tag: fring

  • fring Brings Mobile Group Video to iPad

    fring, the mobile communication service that pioneered mobile video over internet calls across smartphone platforms, now brings the world’s first dedicated group video chat service to the iPad.

    fring’s iPad Group Video chat enables four friends to simultaneously video chat one another, & see friends across a host of devices including iPhone, Android & Nokia, over any internet connectivity (Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G).

    "With fring on the iPad, users enjoy full-size 9.7-inch LED, glossy widescreen Video chat, with Multi-Touch display and optimized picture quality using fring’s proprietary DVQ™ technology," the company said.

    The fring iPad Group Video chat experience is wrapped in an intuitive, natural gesture- navigation where users drag & drop friends into Group Video chat, move their video chat stream & seamlessly augment video chat with parallel communication like tandem text chatting.

    “fring is empowering tablet users to unleash the power of their 9.7 inch screens beyond movie watching and gaming to rich, fun personal video communication,” says Avi Shechter, CEO and Co-founder of fring. “With Group Video on the iPad, we are changing face to face video chat. Users will now be able to video socialize on big screen tablets enjoying seeing their friends wherever they are- as they commute, sunbathe at the beach or wait for coffee at a café.”

    In addition to free Group Video chat, fring enables users to make free two-way video chat, voice calls and live chat with friends on Android, iPhone/iPod touch & Nokia Smartphones.

    fring’s iPad Group Video is available from Apple’s App Store.

    Here is the demo video:

  • Fring Launches Dynamic Video Quality Mobile Calling

    fring announced the rollout of its network-optimized DVQ mobile video calling technology. The company’s proprietary DVQ (dynamic video quality) technology adjusts video bit rate and frame rate according to the specific device to match current network bandwidth during a call, delivering the best possible video picture quality for available bandwidth between call peers.

    Where network capacity is constrained, fring’s DVQ technology dynamically adapts the video picture quality, rather than losing the video call while providing the best possible audio quality. In addition, with an integrated DVQ indicator, fring intelligently notifies users of changes in their network strength in real time.

    According to fring, mobile eco-system resources are "core" to the company’s product’s design and its use: DVQ technology adjusts to match bandwidth at every point of every call. This adaptive nature allows for changing call conditions and network availability which translates into more connected calls and fewer dropped calls. Importantly, users enjoy rich video calling according to network congestion and in step with operator’s bandwidth availability – at all traffic hours.

    “In the year since pioneering mobile video calls, we’ve seen that users network conditions change dramatically during and between video calls. That’s the nature of mobile experiences in heterogeneous networks,” said Alex Nerst, Co-Founder & CTO of fring.

    "DVQ lets users make the best use of the peer- to- peer network capacity available at any moment during a video call, regardless of if they’re stepping into an elevator, commuting on a train or simply walking away from their WiFi hub," he added.

    DVQ technology is compatible with all mobile data bearers: 3G, 4G, WIMax and WiFi and is currently available from the iPhone App Store and the Android market.

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  • fringOut’s “Almost-Free Calls” Coming to Android

    Two weeks after releasing fringOut that enables users to make cheap calls to any regular landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world, with rates as low as 1¢ a minute, fring announced the service is now available for Android phones.

    fring’s new service is currently available also for Nokia S60 (Symbian) devices and will soon be available on iPhone.

    fringOut’s rates for Germany, US, UK and India starts at 1¢.

    A list of rates is available at fring.com/fringOut/rates

    fring users will still be able to use other SIP service through fring (“We are sure you’ll love fringOut’s simplicity and its low prices. If for some reason, you still want to use other SIP providers, you are welcome too,” the company said).

    All the other fring features, like fring to fring calls (audio and video) are still available for free. The option to send an sms using fringOut credit is currently not available.

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  • fringOut Offers Worldwide Mobile Calls From 1c/Minute

    fring has just introduced fringOut, a new service that enables users to make cheap calls to any regular landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world, with rates as low as 1¢ a minute.

    Rates for Canada and UK are even lower — 0,6¢ and 0,7¢, respectively, US calls starts at 1,2¢ per minute.

    fring users will still be able to use other SIP service through fring (“We are sure you’ll love fringOut’s simplicity and its low prices. If for some reason, you still want to use other SIP providers, you are welcome too,” the company says).

    All the other fring features, like fring to fring calls (audio and video) are still available for free. The option to send an sms using fringOut credit is currently not available.

    The company informed that its new service is currently available for Nokia S60 (Symbian) devices and will soon be available on iPhone and Android.

    “Hundreds of millions of people have tried low-cost internet calling on their PC or through restricted mobile offerings. With the launch of fringOut, fringsters can benefit from internet calling with the convenience of mobile without cumbersome wires and cables." said Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring.

    "The fringOut service joins our leading video service, to create a fun, internet-rich, cost-effective mobile experience for our thriving community of tens of millions of fringsters," he added.

    fring users can choose how they communicate with their friends including using fring internet calling to other fring users and other communities, fringOut, SIP or GSM.

    A list of rates is available at fring.com/fringOut/rates

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  • fring Gives Android Users the 1st Mobile 2-Way Video Calls

    fring just announced the release of the world’s first mobile video calls over internet on Android devices.

    “Now we know iPhone will push video calling with its new 2-camera phone. But before they do, fring is launching today 2-way video calling over IP, across a whole host of Android devices – old and new,” said Gil Regev, Director of Marketing Communications at fring.

    According to recent NPD’s wireless market research, the Android OS continued to shake up the U.S. mobile phone market in the Q1 of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems.

    Android device owners now join Nokia (Symbian S60) and iPhone/iPod touch users who are already making free mobile video over internet calls with fring.

    Regev said fring believes that mobile video calling will change the way people call and communicate with each other. “It will impact the way they shop or kiss their kids goodnight from the road,” he added.

    According to Avi Shechter, fring’s Co-Founder and CEO, the demand for this feature has been “overwhelming”.


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  • AXTEL Partners with fring to Extend Fixed VoIP Services to Mobile

    AXTEL, a Mexican telecommunications company, today launches its voice over internet service "AXTEL Conmigo" in partnership with fring.

    With fring, AXTEL Conmigo becomes the first Mexican telecommunication service enabling subscribers to receive fixed telephone line calls to mobile devices.

    AXTEL customers with fring will receive their home phone calls as well as personal computer correspondence with social networks (such as Skype, facebook, GoogleTalk, Twitter and others) directly from their mobile devices.

    fring also enables subscribers to share internet experiences including live chat, video calls, file transfer and more from mobile devices for free over Wi-Fi or 3G data packages.

    Tomas Milmo Santos, AXTEL’s Chairman and CEO stated, "fring is a natural extension for AXTEL’s offering… Partnering with fring helps us realize our vision to enable AXTEL subscribers to seamlessly stay in touch with their friends wherever they are at home and on the go, in Mexico or around the world."

    fring on AXTEL is supported on variety of smartphones including iPhone, iPod touch, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android devices.

  • Frings Brings Video Calls to Nokia Symbian 9.3 Devices

    A few weeks ago Fring announced the release of the world’s first mobile internet video calls on Symbian S60 and iPhone/iPod touch.

    Yestarday the company said on its blog that also Nokia E72 & E75 (and all other Symbian 9.3) users can now video call with their friends on fring and Skype for free.

    Fring recommends that all Nokia S60 users download the latest version, as it contains some quality improvements, bug fixes and better connectivity in some specific scenarios.

    The new version for all Symbian S60 devices is available here.

    According to Fring, video calls now account for about 60% of all VoIP traffic in Western Europe.

    Related articles
    MWC 2010: Interview with Gil Regev of Fring
    More and More iPhone Apps Support VoIP over 3G
    fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

  • MWC 2010: Interview with Gil Regev of Fring

    Smartphone.Biz-News.com had a chat with Gil Regev, Marketing Communications Manager for Fring.

    Gil gave us a live demonstration connecting from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the Fring Headquarters, the application works on all smartphones and is currently growing by half a million users every month.

    Since the video calling has been so successful they announced that they will be expanding it to 9.2 and 9.3 Symbian platforms. This year they will look to increase their deals with industry partners and work on making Fring even better and more exciting for users.

    Related articles
    Frings Brings Video Calls to Nokia Symbian 9.3 Devices
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    fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

  • More and More iPhone Apps Support VoIP over 3G

    It came out of nothing. Releasing a new version of iPhone SDK last week (along with the reveal of the iPad) Apple lifted 3G VoIP restrictions on the iPhone. Since then VoIP calls are not only available over Wi-Fi but also over cellular networks. 

    VoIP on the iPhone has been the source of many debates with companies such as Google being denied access to the platform and the FCC inquiring as to the restrictions in the Apple App Store. Apple didn’t want to allow the applications offering VoIP over 3G networks to operate on the iPhone platform.

    Everything changed last Wednesday. iCall was the first to announce that its iPhone and iPod touch app now supports VoIP over 3G and the app was available to download immediately. Confirmations of the great functionality of the iCall application came from various sources.

    "I applaud Apple’s decision! This heralds a new era for VoIP applications on mobile platforms,” said iCall CEO Arlo Gilbert.

    The next day both Fring and Acrobits added the ability to make calls over 3G to their iPhone applications. Fring quickly announced first free video calls over 3G, while Acrobits proudly announced that since its Push Notification service allows to receive calls when the softphone is closed, users can receive calls anywhere they have a 3G connection.

    On Monday, Agito, the company delivering solutions in enterprise mobility, announced enterprise VoIP over 3G. Its Global Enterprise solution enables enterprise business calls and UC applications – such as IM and presence – to use a smartphone’s low-cost 3G internet data connection and WiFi, in addition to the cellular network, to reduce international cellular charges

    Agito’s product is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and some Blackberry and Nokia devices as well.

    Finally, yestarday, Media5 announced that its Media5-fone application for the iPhone/iPod touch is VoIP over 3G ready. The company has applied to Apple to activate the VoIP over 3G feature for the Media5-fone Lite Edition. The application is expected to be approved within 1-2 weeks.

    Other main VoIP developers still haven’t upgraded their iPhone apps.

  • fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

    Just a week after fring brought world’s first video calls over IP to mobile, the company announced “the first ever” mobile video calls over internet for the iPhone.

    fring video enables users to conduct video calls with other users as well as with Skype contacts over their device’s Wi-Fi or 3G internet connection, with support for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-desktop calls.

    The company says this is the first video over internet service on the iPhone or iPod touch.

    The new fring version with video calls support is currently available to users with iPhone/ iPod touch OS 3.0 and selected Nokia Symbian S60 devices (Nokia X6, N97 mini, N97, 5800, N95 8G and N95).

    For the iPhone only incoming video-stream is available (due to the location of the camera). 2-way video streaming is available for Symbian devices.

    “We were the first to bring mobile voice over internet to mobile devices, the first to bring iPhone/ iPod touch users the choice to make free Internet calls, the first to enable cost-saving mobile twitter over internet, and now we’re proud to continue leading the field of rich mobile-internet communication by bringing users the world’s first fring video calls over internet for the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring.

    “As the mobile VoIP trail-blazers since this industry’s inception, we have a responsibility to continue breaking the mobile-internet barriers, and bringing users all the choices, richness and always-on connectivity that internet communications on mobile can deliver,” he added.

    The new video feature is embedded within the popular fring application that enables free voice calls to other fring, Skype and GTalk users as well as friends on regular phone lines via Skype-Out and SIP services.