wraggster
November 25th, 2009, 09:12
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/11/fring-video-calling.jpg
Considering the proliferation of 3G, WiFi, in-home broadband, and front-facing cameras on phones, you'd think that there'd be far more obvious ways to bridge video calls between phones and PCs -- but alas, it's virtually impossible, particularly in the States where carriers have a complete aversion to the topic. Enter Fring -- one of the mobile industry's VoIP pioneers that has spread its love from Symbian to almost every smartphone platform worth mentioning over the years -- which is stepping out today with a new build for S60 handsets that offers video support through Skype. The way we see it, this is great news for a couple of reasons: one, Skype is one of the few videoconferencing systems with widespread traction, and two, this suddenly makes front-facing cams useful to a whole swath of Nokia users on networks (ahem, AT&T and T-Mobile) that don't offer video calling themselves. Whether we actually use it is another story altogether, but hey, it's cool to have it if we absolutely must see your beautiful face right now in stunning low fidelity. Follow the break for a video demo.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/24/fring-adds-skype-video-support-on-s60-threatens-to-make-front-c/
Considering the proliferation of 3G, WiFi, in-home broadband, and front-facing cameras on phones, you'd think that there'd be far more obvious ways to bridge video calls between phones and PCs -- but alas, it's virtually impossible, particularly in the States where carriers have a complete aversion to the topic. Enter Fring -- one of the mobile industry's VoIP pioneers that has spread its love from Symbian to almost every smartphone platform worth mentioning over the years -- which is stepping out today with a new build for S60 handsets that offers video support through Skype. The way we see it, this is great news for a couple of reasons: one, Skype is one of the few videoconferencing systems with widespread traction, and two, this suddenly makes front-facing cams useful to a whole swath of Nokia users on networks (ahem, AT&T and T-Mobile) that don't offer video calling themselves. Whether we actually use it is another story altogether, but hey, it's cool to have it if we absolutely must see your beautiful face right now in stunning low fidelity. Follow the break for a video demo.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/24/fring-adds-skype-video-support-on-s60-threatens-to-make-front-c/