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Fring Adds Two-Way Video Calling Over 3G to iPhone 4

Fring or not to Fring

By the way, Fring never works well. At least for me. Always slowly, confusing do to simple things and horrible interface.
Nice they get ahead skype team again with video conference and calls over 3G. This only shows how skype team is lazy or there is somebody else holding skype to fly high ?.. I'm starting to bet in this second one..:cool:
 
I want to strangle the guy in the video. I'd shoot myself if he were my co-worker.

As for the app, it took me 30+ minutes to register a username (all combinations were take- really?!). It connected to my skype account once in about 20 or so attempts. Video calling over WiFi was super choppy; basically unusable.

Deleted.
 
Why don't I get the video option when o try to call someone do they have to be online and signed into fring for me to see the video option??all I get Is the cellular sip or skype button???
 
pablo7 said:
Why don't I get the video option when o try to call someone do they have to be online and signed into fring for me to see the video option??all I get Is the cellular sip or skype button???
Click to expand...

Same issue here. However, I have a friend right next to me that's online and signed into Fring as well. Neither of us get a video option.
 
Am I the only person without problems? One way and two way video calling came pretty clear for both me and my friend over 3G. He was on his Mac and I was on my iPhone 4.
 
Seems like until these videos become the norm in the iOS lineup that things are just going to be choppy.

Is facetime as choppy over wifi as this?
 
muskratboy said:
This might be the only thing worse than the charisma-black hole they chose....

some cute girl who has no idea what she's talking about, stumbling through the teleprompter. ugh.

spokesmodels are just about completely useless 99% of the time. at least this guy is invested... if incredibly annoying.

i don't need some pretty face to bumble through tech specs for me. give me the geek who knows what's what, and get it done already.
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Not if you manage it right. In this market, I would suggest a classic "beauty and the beast" dual presentation. You have the cute girl for the aesthetic pull and the geek with the facts.

One very successful video I helped shoot a while ago had a spokes model from an agency work with one of the engineers who wrote the code. We ended up just shooting almost an entire afternoon worth of video with the engineer showing the model how to use the product. It was partly scripted but the best moments were impromptu. By the end of the shoot, she was using its basic features. We had a day or so of editing to get the time down but it all worked well.

Also, videos like this gives some ray of hope that using the product gives techies / Best Buy employee types hope in getting a girl like that. The funny / tragic thing about that video shoot is the engineer felt he had a chance with the model by the end of the day. That is 'til her she rode off on the back or her biker boyfriend's motorcycle who showed up at end of the day. Never saw a geek ego deflate so fast.
 
I say BRAVO to the fring team for this new version and I actually like it they give this presentation showing real performance (with stuttering and all!) and not some computer-animated communication to "show off" unreal capabilities.

They keep the expectations low, yes, but at least they deliver! :cool:
 
Apple dont want to make products that dont work (with exception of signal issues), so, its obvious why they didnt include the feature of 3g facetime, mobile networks cant support a video-calling service which works well and without lag.
 
tofa.nheu said:
Apple dont want to make products that dont work (with exception of signal issues), so, its obvious why they didnt include the feature of 3g facetime, mobile networks cant support a video-calling service which works well and without lag.
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True. But hamstringing FaceTime to only work between iPhone 4s and not iPhone to desktop/laptop over wifi is pretty lame.
 
GeoffShoulders said:
True. But hamstringing FaceTime to only work between iPhone 4s and not iPhone to desktop/laptop over wifi is pretty lame.
Click to expand...
No, its stereotypical Apple. As someone else said... if it doesn't look right, why do it? Apple is saying, "HERE is the best experience, and when we can offer more, we'll do it". I'm amazed at all the WEIRD articles that popped up after the iPhone 4 launch, with people "proving" they can do video chat with FaceTime over 3G networks. I'm thinking, "I don't believe Steve Jobs said you COULDn't do it... he said that they needed to work out the details with the carriers... and their network speeds". There are TWO problems.

#1. CARRIER AGREEMENT. Apple doesn't ONLY have to deal with AT&T. They're trying to offer a uniform feature to the WORLD. Historically, video chatting has been a pricey upgrade feature on some carriers. Carriers could easily prioritize packets and ruin video chatting if they wanted (and felt Apple was circumventing something). One of the most troubling aspects of FaceTime isn't often pointed out. IT ALLOWS YOU TO HAND-OFF A CARRIER PHONE CALL TO A DATA CALL THAT CIRCUMVENTS CARRIER PER-MINUTE CHARGES. Apple is approaching this as an opportunity for video chatting to be mainstream, but carriers will need to understand how this affects their business. NO OTHER VIDEO CHAT TECHNOLOGY does this (that I know of).

#2. SPEED. Apple knows that perception is reality. The awful, choppy, laggy 3G videos some (not all) people are getting are truly barely "demo" worthy. They're capable of saying little more than, "See it can be done". FaceTime on the other hand, no only transmits smooth and useable video, but it does it consistently.

~ CB
 
pavelbure said:
skype will come out and say they have it in the works to be released very shortly, meanwhile it will not come out for another year.
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This.

It is ridiculous how much money they have yet they can't hire more devs to get stuff out faster. Still no iPad client and no support for iOS 4. effin lame!
 
Cleverboy said:
No, its stereotypical Apple. As someone else said... if it doesn't look right, why do it? Apple is saying, "HERE is the best experience, and when we can offer more, we'll do it". I'm amazed at all the WEIRD articles that popped up after the iPhone 4 launch, with people "proving" they can do video chat with FaceTime over 3G networks.

~ CB
Click to expand...

Agreed. But whilst 3G implementation may not have been up to Apple quality, my point was that not enabling FaceTime over wifi between iPhone 4 and desktop/laptop is lame. Understandable as they want it to be a USP for the iPhone, but lame all the same.
 
I have not had a chance to try this out yet. Would anyone happen to know if you can switch from the front cam to the back cam during a call like you can on Facetime?
 
Dammit Cubs said:
its cool but CHOPPY AS HECK!!!

yeah, i'll stick with the WIFI standard facetime. Talked to my buddys from 2,000 miles away.

ZERO LAG.
Click to expand...

There is an obvious 2-5 second lag on a lot of video chat standards.

Lets not get exaggerated.
 
wow it works!

Just did iPhone 4 to Skype on a Mac over o2's 3G network. It works really well! Anyone know if it will notifty you of an incoming Skype call? I havn't been able to try this yet....
 
I think the only thing good we got from this is that developers have access to the front cam and can create 3rd party video chats. This isn't usable even on wifi. It's all choppy and stuttery and the framerate is horrid. I can't imagine it even staying connected on 3G. Hopefully Skype or someone else does this justice.
 
coasterider said:
So I tried to make a fring account and every single damn username I put in is already used apparently, even my name, which I know of only one other person, my uncle, who has the same name. I think something's wrong?
Click to expand...

I had the same problem. It looks like a but in the program. Check the email you registered with fring and you will likely find that the first username you entered was accepted.
 
I deleted the app for now. Can't log in, and if I do, then I can't log out. Just spins and hangs. Nothing seems to be working.
 
jbennardo said:
I deleted the app for now. Can't log in, and if I do, then I can't log out. Just spins and hangs. Nothing seems to be working.
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It IS pretty useless right now.

My account works on their website, but not on the iPhone app.
 
ey i just downloaded this app and im trying to connect to skype and i went to add ons but i dont see the skype option..did fring pull it from the app?
 
Does anyone know if Facetime is peer to peer? - ie: direct from one Iphone to the other and not through an intermediary server?

Far as I know Fring does go through a server to convert from one format to the other. This could account for the excessive lag.

I suspect Skype (whenever it gets upgraded) will also be peer to peer.
 
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