Fring - Skype to Skype & SkypeOut!! on iPhone

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Fring - Skype to Skype & SkypeOut!! on iPhone

sproyd

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#23029 16-Jun-2008 00:57

So I just installed the latest Fring pre-release on my iPhone using these simple steps. This means I can do things such as, I don't know... use Skype calling AND SkypeOut on my iPhone.

THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE EVENT.

I have been thinking about how VOIP would revolutionize the mobile communications world for years but I could always see the near impenatrable roadblock that is the eradication of corporate profits. Mobile provider '3/Three' in Aus offers a special partnership 'Skype' mobile phone with 2 hours of free Skype to Skype calling each day as long as you are within a 3G coverage zone and have an active SIM. However they realized that if they offered SkypeOut (calling landline and mobile numbers direct) this would kill the industry.

Now as mobile internet is becoming more accessible through wi-fi @ home, and hot-spots and with the development of powerful Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) as well as not-for-profit 3rd party developers it seems as if this has finally come to fruition.

Interconnectivity is here folks.

note: current version is a little buggy but I highly recommend you install on iPhone as you can update versions through installer as they come available. Currently my Skype contacts aren't available when i logout and back into fring... and i can't get access to my phonebook through fring which is a bit of a pain in the A. But hell its a pre-release and I'm definitely not complaining.

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sbiddle

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#138272 16-Jun-2008 06:46

3's Skype service isn't an IP based service. Call setup is but the actual voice traffic is carried over a regular circuit switched voice channel. That is the main reason there is no Skype Out.

As for this being an incredible event I think you're a bit behind the times! :-)

What was incredible was Nokia incorporating a SIP stack in all their WiFi phones, something they have been doing for well over 18 months. There is no need for 3rd party software and the VoIP calling is fully integrated into the handset UI. SIP is far more useful than Skype and while Fring can do SIP as well it's not as tightly integrated into the handset.

freitasm

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#138279 16-Jun-2008 08:18

I think it is just catching up really - Fring has been available for Symbian and Windows Mobile for more than an year now . And while Skype uses TCP you will find voice quality and consistency is not as near a SIP-based solution. Also remember Skype is proprietary, owned by eBay, while SIP is a standard implementation with many implementations around deployed networks.

I personally use Fring on my Pocket PC and Smartphones - but mostly to Twitter, even though I have an 028 number on its SIP configuration.

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sproyd

79 posts

Master Geek

#138345 16-Jun-2008 12:45

Well, I actually really anticipated this response to my obviously dramatized post!

Acknowledge and recognize SIP has been around in phones for a while and even Fring has been available on other handsets for some time. Was going to allude to this but didn't deem it neccessary, this is the iPhone thread right? Also don't forget Fring supports SIP as well as GTalk, SKype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo, and AIM integrated.

Practically I understand SIP is a superior system but the key thing here is that Metcalfe's Law is what really dictates a marketplace such as this, and having both multiple messaging and VOIP functionality (and SIP) in one application is really the kicker here. Fring for iPhone is currently obviously a pre-release (although it appears well programmed and designed) so obviously better handset integration is to come such as searching your contacts list etc.

Having an app such as this available in a soon-to-be ubiquitous handset such as the iPhone is the real incredible event - not the hardly publicized or used SIP functionality of the Nokias.

And although IP to physical phones is a great thing, if we are all using free Skype to Skype there is no cost other than data which trends down in cost over time. In my travels I have used many different IP to IP and IP to physical line software and find that Skype to Skype voice quality and consistency (even with video) is just great. I spent 64 minutes in a Skype to Skype video convo yesterday evening between Melbourne and Auckland and it ran flawlessly.

By no means am I saying this is a technological breakthrough - its not - this is a big step in the direction of boundless internet communications.

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rocktap

44 posts

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#138346 16-Jun-2008 12:50

Even if you have SIP or Skype on your 3G phone - I don't see the benefit. I believe Skype uses about 1 meg a minute so unless you have unlimited data - its an expensive option - or am I missing something?

Peter

sproyd

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Master Geek

#138351 16-Jun-2008 13:01

Free Wi-Fi anyone? Or unlimited 3G plans ($30/mo on AT&T in the states upon 3G iPhone release).

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gehenna

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#138359 16-Jun-2008 13:19

rocktap: Even if you have SIP or Skype on your 3G phone - I don't see the benefit. I believe Skype uses about 1 meg a minute so unless you have unlimited data - its an expensive option - or am I missing something?

Peter

its a very good option for wifi, i use fring regularly to speak with friends overseas while I'm at home and work. the quality fluctuates but it's no worse than using skype on the pc

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djpaubes

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#142996 4-Jul-2008 17:01

ok here is a faarrr fetched question guys,

Could I route my cellphone number over skype or fring so calls could come in via home wifi on my iphone? As I have little reception at home. I also have 2talk so thats maybe another option???

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freitasm

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#143033 4-Jul-2008 19:30

djpaubes: Could I route my cellphone number over skype or fring so calls could come in via home wifi on my iphone? As I have little reception at home. I also have 2talk so thats maybe another option???

You mean to receive calls? You can. But it will cost you a lot. You would have to configure the 2talk number on Fring, and then forward calls from your mobile number to this number. You realise you pay for forward calls, don't you? It means anyone calling you would cost you.

Why do this if you don't pay anything to receive calls today?

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