Tag: app-subdomain-redirection:fring

fring has launched a new service for people to video chat with complete strangers on their mobile phone.

The mobile chat app’s new feature is called Playgrounds and lets fring users create group video chats based around their areas of interest, with friends as well as like-minded strangers. The new social service is designed to help users expand their fring contacts by meeting people they might get along with face-to-face.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N7nP668y_Q[/youtube]

Playgrounds sounds like a great idea in principle, and could be a fun way of bringing people together. However, you only have to look at what happened to Chat Roulette to see how well-meaning video chat meet-up services can quickly attract the darker, seedier side of society. It will be interesting to see how fring manages to police this kind of potential abuse.

Playgrounds is now available as an in-app feature if you download the latest versions of fring for iOS and Android. Let’s hope the world’s smartphone users are able to keep their pants on…

fring is launching the first ever group video call service for mobile devices – and you can try it out now. The new free service will allow up to four friends to video chat together at the same time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIcJHqYpktA[/youtube]

If you fancy trying out the Group Video Calls feature and have an Android or iPhone device then head over to the fring blog and sign up for the beta program. It’s a bit of a long-winded setup process as you need to enter the details of your phone, plus those of three of your friends (including the handset type, the OS and IMEI number).

However, it’s a small price to pay for testing a piece of technology that will surely become ubiquitous within a year or so.

There are a limited number of places available for the closed beta, so don’t dally.

Nokia users can now make international calls for just 1 cent per minute, thanks to the launch of a new mobile service from fring. fringOut allows you to call any mobile and landline number worldwide, regardless of whether the person you’re calling has fring installed.

Rates for the service, released today for Nokia but coming soon to iPhone and Android, are incredibly cheap. fringOut users can call Canada for just 0.44 cents per minute, the UK for just 0.66 cents per minute, and India for 1 cent per minute – from any country in the world. You can check the full rates list here.

Of course, you’ll need a flat rate data plan for fringOut to be of any benefit, but if you call internationally and have a Symbian phone, it’s well worth downloading fring for free today.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfE36BqSfGE[/youtube]

fring has released an update of its popular iPhone chat service, allowing iOS 4 users to make two-way video calls. The new version also adds multitasking, meaning you can keep the app open in the background and get notifications of when your buddies come online.

Other enhancements include a new Social Stream, which lets you view Twitter feeds and status updates from Facebook in a neat chronological list view. You can even use fring to post an update to Facebook and Twitter simultaneously. Version 3.2.0.5 of fring makes improvements to the address book too, allowing you to manage your buddy list more effectively, including the ability to merge contacts.

If you haven’t tried fring yet, I recommend you check it out as it offers a neat way to assimilate your contacts from Skype, Facebook, MSN, Google Talk, and the like. You can instantly who is online regardless of which social network you’re friends with them on, then chat via IM, make free calls, or perform video calls.

Read my full review of the latest version of fring here.