I've been looking for a replacement of Agile Messenger for quite sometimes. Oh i like Agile Messenger. It's just we have to pay for it. Bad huh? So, early February 2007, i found "fring" from one of the forums for mobile phone. Then, i installed it, and voila, i made my first call to skype user.
What is fring? Excerpt from www.fring.com, "fring™ uses your mobile internet connection to make peer-to-peer VoIP calls, send instant messages and talk with VoIP applications such as Skype, Google Talk and MSN Messenger at no extra cost." Sounds great, isn't?
I configured my Skype and Google Talk account. It's very straightforward. Just key-in your id and password, and there you go. Fring will download all your contacts from the configured account. You can also include your phone contacts in Fring. Sounds cool? But i prefer not. Kinda messy.
The sound quality is acceptable. Both can hear each other clearly. But i think it depends on the network connection. Did i say that it can works over 3G, GPRS and wifi? Fring utilises the data connection. Basically, using Fring, the calls that you made to Skype, Google Talk or MSN Messenger over 3G or GPRS is free. But you have to pay for the data rate charged by your telco. So, be careful. It might cost you a bomb. Make sure you subscribe to the unlimited data plan package. Unless if you use a wifi connection, then, it's free. Just go to any free hotspot, and get connected. Cheapskate!
Chatting using Fring is easy and straightforward. However, it still didn't support the smiley face that you use in Yahoo Messenger. No big deal. And it works fine when i flip-open my Nokia E70 keyboard.
Fring is still in BETA. So, don't expect to have everything. These are my complaints:
1. Unable to assign which tone for the incoming call and chat.
2. Unable to put Fring in vibration mode.
3. It takes quite sometimes to connect to the registered services.
4. It takes quite a while to download all your contacts from the registered services.
5. Settings menu is too simple.
6. You are unable to download the installer from Fring's website. You need to download it via SMS.
Hopefully, they will keep Fring as a freeware, and become one of Agile Messenger's rival. Fring is a great VoIP application. Try it yourself, and you won't regret it. Just google for Fring's website.
1 comment:
Hi G- Joe,
We here at fring would like to thank you for your review of our application and the feedback you provided.
If I may, I would like to address some of the complaints you mentioned:
1 & 2 Unable to assign which tone for the incoming call and chat unable to put Fring in vibration mode.
- These features will be available on a future version.
3 & 4 It takes quite sometimes to connect to the registered services, and it takes quite a while to download all your contacts from the registered services.
-We know these processes are sometimes slow and are working on improving their speed.
5. Settings menu is too simple.
-We are happy about this one - we want our app to be simple and easy to use! (But feel free to let me know which additions you would add to this menu)
6. You are unable to download the installer from Fring's website.
- We are currently considering adding additional download methods.
Thanks again and we hope you’ll continue fringing!
Best regards,
Rachel Fefer, fring
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