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3GSM - First cut of Fring VoIP/chat links Skype, MSN, Googletalk into chat networks

"They've got until June, really," was the verdict of Symbian pundit Rafe Blandford, after trying out a really new idea in VoIP on mobiles - Fring - which was demonstrating presence, chat, VoIP over 3G, and chat-integration. Roy Timor-Rousso, VP Product Marketing, showed it to NewsWireless.

That June deadline is Blandford's view about a program which several people have said they really like; and his disappointment is based mostly on the fact that Nokia/Symbian has not made it easy for the Israeli developer. The result is that the power management leaves a lot to be desired.

"Where something like Truphone turns a Nokia E60 or E1 into a one-day charge, Fring means it runs down before the day is over," summarised Blandford, publisher of AllAboutSymbian, a specialist web site.

Sources in the industry say that this is because of a deliberate policy by Symbian to find "almost any excuse" to avoid signing off third party software. "Some of the excuses were bizarre," said a developer, asking definitely not to be named. "The impression most developers are getting is that Symbian want to build all these new applications into their own API, rather than letting us hook into it with our own code. So they stall."

Fring is an interesting program because it's VoIP without a PC. "We don't and we won't have a PC client," said Timor-Rousso. "Our core competency is 3G and it works well; we have a very good performance there, with low data rates - approximately 4.5 MB of speech an hour."

The policy, he says, will always be to provide basic communications free. Partners will be allowed to generate revenue through extra features, on a payment sharing scheme with Fring.

Joining can be by an over-the-air invite from another Fring user, or by download from the Fring web site.

More details in the press release