Fring bends under the pressure of iPhone video calling, Skype temporarily locked down
By Chris Ziegler 
posted July 9th 2010 7:42PM
posted July 9th 2010 7:42PM
We guess this is a "good" thing in a roundabout way, but Fring has just dropped the knowledge that its video calling update for the iPhone 4 has been so wildly successful that they've been forced to temporarily restrict Skype access to "free up capacity" for direct Fring-to-Fring calls. Hopefully the company is hard at work beefing up its infrastructure to bring everything back to normal -- but in the meantime, at least you've got an easy way to look your EVO-toting friends square in the face without having to actually see them in the flesh. Perish the thought![Thanks, Roy]
iPhone always F****G up the good stuff...IM KIDDING.
Just talke to some of i phone buddies. They DO really need a kickstand like EVO.
@Seven2k
1 question..
Will FaceTime work with the new iPod Mini?
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7996/ipodmini.png
:P
@uckApple
Scratch that, The iPod Mini is probably not going to get a camera.
@Seven2k Maybe AT&T customers are going over there data cap?
@uckApple Wouldn't it be the iPhone mini? Or if it's not a phone itouch mini? Itouch mini 3G haha
@uckApple That "iPod mini" will not ever get a press release, or a price, or a public release, plus there is an actual iPod mini that came out like 8 years ago, and isn't mini, just smaller than the original ipod
@That guy 2
I'm not such an Apple fan but for some reason everytime I read "iTouch" in the comments I feel an urge to downrank,
You know what what would be really cool? If replies weren't expanded, just like mobile.engadget.com does.
@liftedngifted1
Most of us kept our unlimited plan.
Maybe Skype should update their app to use the service and it'll relax the strain on Fring.
@liftedngifted1 You know, just to make it clear, I could video chat like this years ago on my Nokia. And i could even video chat over 3G without all this.
@statickeith
*slow clap*
@uckApple that iMini had the charging icon, however, i saw no cables! - wi-pow?
@Seven2k
Fring needs to make a client for windows and mac. That way people can video chat with people who are on their computers who may not have a mobile device.
@statickeith
What using the low quality 64k stream that phone companies used and which never really caught on or via Fring which released this capability for S60 devices late last year, shortly before they released it for iPhones.
At first iPhones used Fring over wifi and then 3G in February, of course to make video calls as well as receive them the iPhone needed a front facing camera.
Ah yes history revisionists rewriting and downplaying without understanding.
@Seven2k : The only saddening thing is that on Google Reader, this article was liked by 21 people.... losers. Dis not happy moment.
@Seven2k "Just talke to some of i phone buddies. They DO really need a kickstand like EVO."
Kickstand or not, it's very unpleasant to watch a "movie" on the 3.5" screen. Evo is a different story.
@Seven2k I grabbed Fring after reading the engadget article, spent 2 hours on the phone walking my mother through downloading and installing Skype on her end, only to find out my Fring doesn't have Skype! So I hope they bring back Skype to Fring soon, so I can get some payoff for all the time spent getting my parents ready to video chat with.
I wish FaceTime would support Skype and other video chat mediums, and I wish Android had something like FaceTime (that is, something integrated into the phone's interface and phone 'app').
@HurricaneDC QIK lets you assosiate your Phone number with your username so you can get video calls through qik without using a username, But it doesnt integrate with the Phone app,
Qik Video Chatting (evo to evo) is awesome on android! Almost facetime quality!
My freind could tell his dogs what to do (sit, sit pretty, roll over) Over QIK video chat from vegas over wimax! While fring yielded a scared/confused dog
@HurricaneDC
Other way around. Facetime is an open spec, all Skype needs to do is incorporate it into Skype.
@HurricaneDC the fring service sucks so this isnt a surprise. if i had a dime for every time i couldnt login to fring becuase it cant see that wifi is internet id be freaken rich. and then after that if it cant connect to skype it gets a bug, and only way to fix it is to log into a different acount, then back into yours. and after that random connection problems, other ui bugs, and crashing are an issue. (my friends iphone4 crashes on exit with fring).
plus the program looks ugly as fuck on android, and only slightly better on iphone.
@Jack its not that simple. If you write an app with facetime you must first pay $5m to .264 guys, apple being one of them. Which sort of tells it all.
@Jack
Where's the spec?
@huskie fluff Hm you should try reinstalling the app? I'll try the app when I hopefully get my new iPod touch 4g with dual cameras, 64 gb entry model and retina display, and A4, and new flat design, not the old (but good) rounded
@huskie fluff For those that thought the iPhone was going to die starting with iPhone 4, clearly its demise has been greatly exaggerated. As have its antenna issues, by the way.
@That guy 2 countless reinstalls, they dont help the skype login bug either.
@MayorBloomberg did i ever say anything about any reception/antenna problem? no. so leave it at the door.
@ivealwaysgotmail
LOL Qik calling is so bad compared to facetime... not even in the same league. Now that iPhones can make video calls over 3G too the game is over
@Christopher02
Are you serious? I have both, have made both calls, Right next to each other even, Facetime isnt much better, and the echo when the volume is at an audible level is stupid.
that + no 3g (and no 4g) + no Cell to computer etc, and im sorry, i like QIK better, and the quality is pretty good, 10x better than fring,
And although the video is a little better on facetime, calling it "another league" is optimistic fanboyism
@Christopher02 video calls over 3G using Fring.
@ivealwaysgotmail
If you had two phones right next to each other using speaker phone as used in videocalls, of course you are going to get echo as well as feedback, as the two phones would be picking each other up.
You expect us to believe your "story", right next to each other were they, at the same time?
@Jack
i dont know if facetime is "open" I highly doubt it. Youll need Qik for iphone, but they dont make it. Apple wont allow addons to their stuff. Maybe you are trying to say the API for the front camera?
I'm surprised people actually want to do video calling. I always thought of this as a kind-of gimmicky feature on phones.
@n8equalsd Everyone wants to see my face.
@n8equalsd Yes, because they weren't smartphones, they weren't good enough quality cameras, and the software wasn't good enough, now there's good hardware, good camera, good (and simple to use) software which makes it less of a chore, and also less of a gimmick like "hey my phone makes video calls, but they suck and nobody I know has the same phone" now it's "hey my phone makes video calls really well (over wifi :() and since it's the iPhone a few of my friends have it"
@That guy 2
Difficult software? What the heck has been so difficult in going to your contact list and selecting "make video call" instead of "make voice call"?
@machat
Exactly. That's what annoys me about the current "Apple makes it so much easier!" hype. It doesn't get easier than what was available for years.
the fring service sucks so this isnt a surprise. if i had a dime for every time i couldnt login to fring becuase it cant see that wifi is internet id be freaken rich. and then after that if it cant connect to skype it gets a bug, and only way to fix it is to log into a different acount, then back into yours. and after that random connection problems, other ui bugs, and crashing are an issue. (my friends iphone4 crashes on exit with fring).
plus the program looks ugly as fuck on android, and only slightly better on iphone.
@huskie fluff +1000 Terrible fring experiences.... worst... app... in existence.... cannot beleive that apple let this app through with their obsession with things working all the time......... Even the android version is TERRIBLE...
One of the 5 usernames i have had to creat to get it working was "fringisbad"
@ivealwaysgotmail iv had to make 2 different fring id's, constantly change my skype password, etc etc, and i still cant get it to work. and my friend on iphone4 only got it working once, because it kept showing random people as offline.
@ivealwaysgotmail
Obsession with things working? I know a slight problem with the iPhone 4 that begs to differ.
@rdv213 Hey that surprises me as well, But im talking about the gestabo like app approval process etc,
I know the antenna problem etc, Im FAR FROM an apple fanboy my friend, Dont start something that isnt there
Funny, I'm sitting here on my iPhone 4 with full reception, holding it anyway I damn well please and no issues whatsoever. So, what are these "issues" you seem to think are so obvious? That the phone works 100x better than my coworker's POS Evo?
@HAL2000 noone said anyting about reception here fanboy. so shove it and stfu.
@ivealwaysgotmail
"gestabo?" In addition to not knowing the spelling, it's clear you also don't know the definition of that word.
@ivealwaysgotmail It's not exactly there obsession, it's there smart choice to judge apps + updates on whether they work as advertised, and this makes customers not yell at there phones, except when apple approves a bad app, I actually think apple is too loose, maybe there's certain apps that are or popular services that they are desperate to have but don't have the time to say specifically to that developer "do this and fix that etc. Blah blah blah"
@HAL2000 Wait a second did i type that? That was literally exactly what I was thinking! And reception issues aside, every thing else about the iPhone 4 is better than android in every way except maps nav, but maps nav could still be better if it was made by apple like google naps for iPhone, and like you said, there really isn't much of a reception issue other than AT&T itself
@That guy 2 jesus christ you people. stay on topic. there was nothign discussed saying iphone was better so STFU ALREADY JESUS
@someToast so f*#@^ing sensitive, Please go sit on a railroad spike, 1 letter and you think its worth a comment? obviously your life is very interesting and time is worth alot..... Awesome.... super productive comment
@ivealwaysgotmail the Gestapo was an incredibly intense brutal force to be reckoned with and Himmler would have personally torn your face off and let you live for this insolence and foolhardiness.