Exclusive - Mobile communications startup fring, fresh off the heels of launching group video calls for smartphones, has raised a Series C round of financing from existing investors, TechCrunch has learned.
The amount that was raised is actually not being disclosed, but sources close to the company tell us that fring secured another $10 million in venture capital, bringing its total of funding raised to well north of $30 million. → Read More
Exclusive: Nimbuzz, a popular mobile communication service provider, has been asked by Skype to remove support for all Skype services, effective October 31st. The startup will be announcing the news to its 30 million or so registered users later today.
Nimbuzz sees the decision to ask for the removal of support for Skype services in line with the communication software giant’s “mandate to disconnect with all third-party VoIP services ahead of its impending IPO“. Skype, in turn, calls bullshit and claims Nimbuzz simply stopped communicating with them quite recently, following several months of discussions about Nimbuzz’ compliance with its API Terms of Use and End User Licence Agreement. → Read More
Late last week, mobile communication services provider fring released an updated iPhone app that enabled iPhone 4 owners to engage in unrestricted 2-way video calling over Wi-Fi or 3G internet with other iPhone, Android or Symbian devices. This garnered a lot of attention, mainly because Apple’s native FaceTime application works only over Wi-Fi and between iPhone users.
Hours after its release, the company said it saw a huge spike in video calling that it was forced to “temporarily reduce support” to Skype, a third-party provider it has long supported. Now, they no longer have to worry about that extra network strain, as Skype has apparently outright blocked fring and threatened legal action against the startup. → Read More
Late last week, mobile communication services provider fring released an updated iPhone app that enabled iPhone 4 owners to engage in unrestricted 2-way video calling over Wi-Fi or 3G internet with other iPhone, Android or Symbian devices. This garnered a lot of attention, mainly because Apple’s native FaceTime application works only over Wi-Fi and between iPhone users.
Hours after its release, the company said it saw a huge spike in video calling that it was forced to “temporarily reduce support” to Skype, a third-party provider it has long supported. Now, they no longer have to worry about that extra network strain, as fring says Skype has apparently blocked fring and threatened legal action against the startup. → Read More
Last week, Fring took their first step into the video calling space by bringing Fring/Skype video support to a handful of Nokias. Not looking to let the momentum fizzle, Fring has already released their next video-enabled app — this time for the iPhone. → Read More
Apple has long been rumored to integrate video conferencing capabilities in the iPhone, and most expected Skype to incorporate such a feature in its free application for iPhone and iPod Touch devices sooner or later, but Israel’s fring is first to actually do it.
Big caveat for starters: the camera on the iPhone 3GS is located on the back, which is handy for recording videos of people and locations in front of you but of course makes it impossible for you to point the camera at your own face while still being able to see the screen (unlike Nokia N Series phones for instance). → Read More
Fring, a tool for social communication through mobile phones, has (finally) landed on the Android platform, enabling users who own one of the many phones that run Google’s free open source system to download and install the application onto their devices for free.
With fring, users can make free VoIP calls over Skype, MSN, Google Talk and via hundreds of SIP providers. The app also supports live chatting through ICQ, Yahoo, and more, and also boasts support for Twitter.
Fring on Android works over 3G, GPRS or WiFi connection. → Read More
The Netherlands-based eBuddy, which markets a comprehensive application that lets users handle multiple instant messaging accounts from the web or their mobile phones, is today releasing an application for the Android platform a couple months after Meebo made its similar product available on there (November 2008).
The eBuddy application for Google’s open mobile OS is now available for free on the Android Market, and users can thus benefit from a single ID to chat with their friends on third-party communication platforms such as Facebook, Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ and more. → Read More
Fring, the Israel-based mobile call and chat application provider, has closed a Series C round of financing on top of the $13 million it has raised since its inception in 2006. The capital comes from its entire list of previous backers: North Bridge Venture Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Veritas Venture Partners and VenFin Limited all participated in the round.
The actual amount raised was not shared, but we’re told that the third round is pretty much on par with the Series B round the company closed in August 2007 (estimated at $12 million when we reported it, but more in the vicinity of $10 million according to information we received later) and that it’s “most definitely not a downround”. → Read More
Skype is (finally) teaming up with mobile handset maker Nokia to get their VoIP and IM software program pre-installed on some of its devices, as announced at the Mobile World Congress and reported by MobileCrunch. The eBay-owned company had 405 million registered users in total at the end of last year, and Nokia is still the largest handset maker in the world until further notice, so this is a significant deal.
Of course, the operators won’t be jumping up and down from joy over the news.
The first Nokia device to get the Skype integration will be the N97, beginning in Q3 of 2009, followed by (unnamed but reportedly high-end) Nseries devices. Leveraging N97’s WiFi and HSDPA connectivity, users will be able to communicate with Skype-to-Skype voice calls, as well as make mobile and landline Skype calls at reasonable prices.
But what does this mean for mobile VoIP startups for which supporting Skype functionality on mobile handsets is a prime reason of existence in the first place, like fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone? → Read More
Mobile VoIP and IM service fring, one of the more popular mobile communication services around, is experimenting with porting a bunch of third-party apps to the fring client and will be announcing a number of those in the course of this year. Today, fring is launching a custom mobile-optimized Last.fm music radio add-on that brings a lot of the music recommendation service to the fring client but also integrates with the latter’s social and communication features.
Fring users (also referred to as fringsters) are now able to fire up streamed music radio channels, including their own Last.fm library, tag favourites, ban disliked tracks, view album artwork and basically take their Last.fm music account mobile. In addition to getting those features into the client, fringsters can also opt to view in real-time what their contacts are currently listening to, with the help of a friends list embedded into the Last.fm add-on. → Read More
Israel-based mobile VoIP startup Fring joins the layoff parade by letting 10 people, or around 20% of total staff, go. Company CEO Avi Shechter says the company is doing well, though, and the layoffs were to ensure that the company had enough capital to get them past 2009.
Schechter also says Fring has recently raised a third round of financing, but declines to specify the amount or investors yet. Fring had raised $13 million over two previous rounds of financing. → Read More
Fring is trialing something it should have implemented long ago if it ever planned to make money: ads.
Fring is essentially a mobile VoIP / chat service provider that works on the iPhone and any device running Windows Mobile or Symbian, with platform-agnostic technology that enables users to make free calls using the Fring service itself, Skype, Live Messenger, Google Talk, and other communication services.
Up until now, the chat functionality was completely ad-free, but now Fring will gradually start rolling out banner display ads, beginning with a small number of randomly selected users. → Read More
After 6 months of not-quite-official availability for those of us with jailbroken iPhones, Fring, a free mobile Voice-over-IP service (VoIP), has made its way to the App Store. With that, a day that some said would never come has arrived: Skype calls can now be made on the iPhone, no hacks required. Beyond the Skype functionality (which I imagine would be its most popular use), Fring also lets you chat (and call, where appropriate) friends over MSN, GoogleTalk, AIM, Yahoo, Twitter, ICQ, and of course, Fring’s own service. → Read More
Fring has a thing for Nokia as of late, it seems. It wasn’t too long ago that they added N810 support; then two days ago, they added support for the Nokia E71. Now they’ve gone and added the Nokia E66 to the list. I’d point out that there are other handsets Fring can be adding support for, but it seems like they’ve already got most of them covered. If you’re looking for a way to Skype, MSN, ICQ, Google Talk, SIP, Twitter, AIM or Yahoo IM on your E66, head over to Fring’s download page. CrunchBase Information fring Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
While most iPhone users are stuck with an iBrick this morning as Apple’ servers can’t complete the last step of the upgrade process, those of us smart enough to take the unofficial upgrade route 24 hours ago are happily trying out new App Store Apps. This morning I turned my iPhone into a VoIP phone by installing the new Truphone iPhone app (Truphone company profile). One of the iPhone 2.0 restrictions that is unfortunate is the fact that VoIP applications aren’t allowed to use the cell/data connection – all that 3G bandwidth could be put to great use. But VoIP apps are allowed on the phone and can use Wifi when it’s available. While at first it seems that the fact these apps can’t tap into the 3G stream is a real problem, in fact even the allowed activity, VoIP over Wifi, is extremely useful. For example – AT&T mobile coverage at my house/office is very bad, so I rarely use my iPhone for calls there. Instead I just pick up my landline (which is a Vonage VoIP phone). With VoIP over Wifi I can still use my mobile phone to make calls. I installed the Truphone app this morning and registered online. Calls to any landline anywhere in the world are just 6 cents per minute, and you get a $4 credit to start when you first download the app. Truphone accesses your contact list to allow for one click calls in the same way as normal calls. The differences you’ll notice v. normal cell calls: you must have a Wifi connection to make calls, you can’t receive calls, if a normal voice call comes in your Truphone call is immediately terminated (this really sucks), you can’t use the speakerphone and your “favorite” numbers aren’t imported. One really excellent feature is the fact that when you call someone, they see your normal caller id. The video below shows the call process and I also play a voicemail I left through the app – the sound quality was excellent. http://qik.com/player2.swf?streamname=e76ade7e06b94a69a244cbbb0f1fd039&vid=127187&playback=false&polling=false&user=techcrunch&displayname=TechCrunch&safelink=techcrunch&userlock=true&islive=&username=anonymous CrunchBase Information iPhone App Store truphone Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
UK-based Truphone, a VoIP service provider for Wifi/data enabled handsets, announced a £16.5 million ($32.7 million) second round of financing today, adding to the £12.5 million ($24.5 million) they raised a little over a year ago. What’s that $50+ million being used for? Cheap calls! Like Fring and a slew of others, Truphone allows free calls initiated from between Wifi/data enabled handsets and/or computers, or cheap VoIP-to-anywhere calls. Truphone has a technology advantage that allows for better sound quality and longer battery life, but at the cost of easier carrier blocking relative to Fring. But they’re winning against carriers in court, so the blocking issue isn’t hurting them as much. Notably absent from the funding announcement was any mention of cofounder Alexander Straub or previous investor Straub Ventures (the venture fund still lists Truphone as an investment, however). I’m betting there’s an interesting story there. (Update: see comment below from Straub, although I find it odd neither he nor his fund were mentioned in the press release.) Update2: TechCrunch UK has more on the pricing structure Truphone is using to attack carriers. CrunchBase Information truphone Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
We’ve reported on Fring before at CG so there’s not much need to go into details about what they do, but if you’re new to the game then check here for details. Today, Fring launched an iPhone app that runs on jailbroken devices and seems to work pretty well based on the video provided by Fring. Free VoIP calls and IM on your iPhone. Sounds good to me. Grab it here. via TC → Read More
As Mike reported earlier today, Fring is launching a downloadable app for the iPhone that will allow people to make Skype and other VoIP calls over the data connection instead of using up talk minutes. Fring supports Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo and AIM services. It is now live. (Warning: You will need to Jailbreak your iPhone to make it work). The Fring blog has more details or you can download it at the Fringcubator. With so many minutes on most cell phone plans, most people won’t be using this to make local calls. But it could come in handy for international calls or simply keeping up with IM on the go. The latter is really the killer app. And here’s a video of how it works: CrunchBase Information fring Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
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