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.

Frankly, I’m surprised it took fring so long to come out with an app for Android. Rivals Meebo, Nimbuzz and eBuddy have long been available for the platform, so that gave its main competitors quite a head start and makes it way harder for them to acquire new users.

When I asked about the apparent delay, fring CEO Avi Shechter responded with:

Fring is the first [app on Android] to do free VoIP with Skype. We didn’t want to post a limited version with messaging only like all others but to provide full fring experience. Until now, Symbian and iPhone are the leading platforms and we’re focusing on higher-end devices where the experience is better, not like on low-end J2ME devices.

Israel-based fring has raised $23 million from multiple venture capital firms, most recently securing a Series C round of financing from North Bridge Venture Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Veritas Venture Partners and VenFin Limited.

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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.

No Skype chat yet, which is a bit of a bummer, but apparently the startup is looking to add that functionality in their mobile clients in addition to all the other ones currently supported. I wonder which startup will be the first to bring Skype chat to Android, since neither Meebo nor eBuddy currently support it and both Nimbuzz and fring, competitors that do support Skype IM through their mobile clients, have yet to make their way to the open platform.

What I like about the eBuddy application is that it has the ability to run in the background, so when you receive a phone call the IM service will keep running and even reconnect you automatically when the internet connection is lost. If you maintain multiple friend lists on instant messaging tools, eBuddy neatly organizes all your contacts in one list so you don’t even need to think about which third-party service you should be connecting to, and lets you seamlessly jump from one chat conversation to the next.

On a sidenote: I can’t grasp why Android Market doesn’t offer a search function on its regular website – only on mobile – but if you ever want to look for applications that are available on Android you might want to check out Cyrket.com. The eBuddy app is listed here.

I got eBuddy, which is backed by a healthy €11.5 million (which currently converts to approximately $15.6 million), to share some numbers to get a feel of the traction it’s getting in the market, and came away fairly impressed.

These are the numbers they pitched me: 20 million mobile downloads of the J2ME mobile client since its launch in June 2007, 5+ million unique monthly mobile users on eBuddy Mobile, and with almost 14 million downloads of eBuddy Mobile Messenger on GetJar the top ranked mobile program on the platform.

Stellar upwards-pointing trends indeed, but this type of hockey stick growth is of course no guarantee that all these new users will be efficiently monetized over the long run. Only time will tell if eBuddy finds a way to turn its successful product into a profitable business.

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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”.

Fring markets an entirely free, ad-supported mobile application that allows users to engage in Web-based social activities, including VoIP calling, instant messaging and social networking. The startup says it intends to use the extra funding to make the app compatible with more mobile environments (Android, anyone?), support more Web-based community services, introduce a couple of new features and make some usability improvements across the board.

When the economy started crumbling last Fall, fring let go 20% of its workforce, although at the time it stated revenues were actually on the upside but it needed to cut costs to extend its runway through 2009.

The company is up against a slew of well-funded startup rivals, including Nimbuzz, Truphone and eBuddy, but also increasingly against Skype, which is eyeing the mobile handset market more and more.

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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) N-series devices. Leveraging N97’s WiFi and 3G 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. We should note that Sony Ericsson already has some sort of solution for Skype by offering a ‘panel’ for the app on its Xperia X1 device (which runs Windows Mobile 6.1), and Skype already had a mobile ‘lite’ version in beta which works fine on compatible LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones.

Bringing Skype’s internet calling app on-board is one thing, but I am more excited about the presence management. The fact that the application will tap into your contact list to see who else is online or not, and enable you to chat with your friends and co-workers either by voice or text instantly, is a powerful feature.

But what does this mean for those mobile VoIP startups for whom one of the prime reasons of existence in the first place is supporting Skype functionality on mobile handsets, like fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone?

I got in touch with executives at all three startups to get a reaction on the news. Unsurprisingly, they call the move a validation of their services and are confident they won’t be pushed aside any time soon.

Tobias Kemper, Head of Communications at Nimbuzz, says the fact that Skype will come pre-installed on mobile devices is actually going to help normalize the use of VoIP applications (and particularly Skype) and thus boost their own growth. He also added that the integrated approach of Nimbuzz, which combines a variety of voice and text chat services into one app, is still in demand.

Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone, says much of the same by declaring that this will only increase the awareness and uptake of these kinds of VoIP applications on mobile, which is good for Truphone too. She also cites the interoperability with Skype in combination with support for other communication services to be a big advantage for their users.

I’ll update this post with fring’s view as soon as it gets in, but you should also read up on what iSkoot is doing by moving beyond Skype for mobile phones with the release of a more general application.

I agree that bringing Skype to a select number of Nokia devices isn’t going to ‘kill’ any of the service providers I mentioned, and the aggregation of communication services is still a very good selling point in a world were people are connected through multiple social networks and instant messaging clients. That said, for the VoIP part it won’t get any better than having Skype pre-installed on a phone that links up your contacts to the application instantly. While companies like fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone are scrambling to turn their fast-growing legion of users into a profitable business, Skype has more runtime and more leverage to push free internet calling to mobile phone users.

But as I mentioned before, the carriers are not going to be happily standing on the sidelines as things progress.

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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.

Like Last.fm’s own Android application, which it introduced just last week, the add-on can be run in the background enabling users to listen to streamed music channels while they’re using other fring features.

Third parties can built add-ons on top of fring using its API, for which you can find more information here.

The Israeli company, which recently laid off 20% of its workforce but continues to surge with on average 400,000 new downloads per month, has made it public that they’ve raised 3 rounds of financing so far, although they’re only disclosing two rounds of funding amounting up to $13 million for now. Although they’ve recently started showing ads to mobile users, the jury is still out if there’s enough sustainability in the business model for the service to keep them alive.

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Shechter 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.

Fring recently inked a deal with a European mobile carrier, Mobilkom Austria, and says they’re seeing 400,000 new downloads and activations per month, up from 100,000/month a year ago. They’re also trying out advertisements in the service.

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Fring is essentially a mobile VoIP / chat service provider that works on the iPhone and any device running Windows Mobile or Symbian, with 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.

From the Fring blog:

We wanted to give you the heads-up, as you may soon see small clickable advertising banners in the fring chat window, beneath the chat itself. Clicking the ad will open your browser and take you to the advertiser’s site; you may even find extra special offers, cool promos & other nice surprises behind the click from time to time And, more clicks mean happy advertisers; and happy advertisers mean more resources for us to develop cool new stuff for you to play with in fring!

The beta version of Fring was made publicly available in January 2007, and is now being used by millions of users across the globe. With (at least) $10 million in venture funding, the company was bound to come up with a monetization effort for all those users soon. Unlike competitors such as Jajah and Truphone, Fring is committed to keeping the costs of calling as low as possible and will try to make up for that revenue by slapping ads on chat screens.

(Thanks to Harel Schattenstein for the tip)

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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.

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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.

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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:

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This is not a browser-based chat app like FlickIM or Mundu. It should be a fully functional downloadable version of the application that allows users to access the fring, Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo and AIM services.

That means they’ll be using the Jailbreak installer, which severely limits the number of iPhone users who will download and use it.

But Fring may also be the first really killer application that can get non-early adopter users to consider using Jailbreak. The ability to make VOIP calls over the data plan in itself is probably worth it (although it may only work over Wifi, not the Edge network).

This is most likely a test run in preparation for the official iPhone app store that will launch this summer. It’s also a risky strategy – some developers I’ve spoken with are avoiding Jailbreak because they don’t want to anger Apple and have their official applications banned down the road.

Fring is doing very well even without the iPhone. The service, which is about a year old, gets 100,000 new active users per month. We’ll update when Fring actually launches the application. Update: It launched. Read about it here. Download it here.

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The app is available in seven languages (English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French and Chinese), and works on any Nokia series 60, Windows Mobile, or Sony Ericsson smartphone. CEO Avi Schecter says he is adding about 100,000 registered users per month. Fring is based in Israel and raised $12 million last August in a B round from North Bridge Venture Partners, VenFin, Pitango, Veritas, and Yossi Vardi.

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All of them allow users to call normal, non-VOIP telephones at greatly reduced costs. These savings can be captured whether or not the parties to a phone conversation are using VOIP-enabled phones, since transmissions can jump from PSTN to VOIP and vice-versa at certain junctions. For example, a cellular call to your buddy across the country might start on PSTN, quickly jump to VOIP for long distance travel, and jump back to PSTN near its destination.

The key is to use VOIP to strip out some or most of the cost of the call, allowing these startups to offer very low cost calling to consumers. These aren’t free calls, though – any time a normal phone line is used for at least part of the call, particularly the termination, the teleco’s get a toll.

Making sense of all of the new VOIP startups is daunting, so we’re categorizing them by use cases. For a comparison of features, prices, and more companies, check out this chart.

I’m Cheap and I Have a Computer

By far the cheapest way to go with calling is to get a desktop client. VoIP clients on your desktop allow users to make calls from one computer to another across the VoIP network. For an added fee, you can connect to a standard phone on the PSTN phone network for calls to or from your computer. Most of you will know this as Skype-in and Skype-out.

The most well known desktop client has been Skype, with over 100 million users. The big guys – Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google – also have their own VoIP desktop clients. Since the VoIP offerings have been built into their IM clients, combined they comprise a potential market of over 340 million subscribers.

A younger startup, the Gizmo Project, launched in July of last year. They have a reported 2 million downloads of their application. The application functions like Skype, supporting IM and VoIP calls. The Gizmo Project has the unique distinction of not only offering IM and VoIP calls, but also free calls to the standard phone network if you promote their product to a friend and stay an “active user“.

Hullo and Nimbuzz are other desktop VOIP application we’ve covered.

I like WiFi and Saving Money

If the idea of holding a laptop up to your ear to talk to your friends doesn’t sound appealing, Nokia’s WiFi phones may be for you. The Nokia N800 is a great example and takes advantage of the free in network calling of the desktop applications. Fring, which gives Skype-like functionality over 3G/GPRS and WiFi, is very Nokia friendly and just moved on to Windows Mobile. However, you still need to pay for calling standard phone lines and buy a real phone number so your friends on those dated PSTN phones can call you back. They recently raised another round of $12 million and have received a lot of praise from us in the past.

I Have a Social Life WiFi Can’t Contain

If you’re not in WiFi heaven (Mountain View) or perpetually hanging out at WiFi hotspots, there are some other semi VoIP solutions that can still save you some money, at least on long distance calls. Mobile VoIP providers don’t throw out the PSTN lines, but instead save customers money by bridging the connection between two calls the caller and callee make to local numbers with cheaper VoIP lines. However, these solutions work best for long distance where bridging local calls makes sense and still cost minutes on you mobile plan. The main advantage is that it works on that hot new phone you picked up after reading a CrunchGear review.

There are quite a few players in this category, including desktop VOIP client Skype’s own player, iSkoot. iSkoot is the mobile version of Skype, which allows you to place calls to your Skype contacts by calling their Skype servers to route the calls. Shape Services recently hacked together an iPhone version of Skype, but reports are that is suffers from AT&T’s low transfer rates. Another startup, EQO was competing in that category until they stepped out on their own with a VOIP, IM, and messaging mobile application that we’ve written about earlier.

The biggest kids on the block, with $28 million and $24.5 million in financing respectively, are Jajah and Truphone. The two startups allow you to easily make calls from your mobile phones. However, Jajah uses VOIP to bridge two standard phone lines, while Truphone can make truly free calls if your phone has a fast enough data connection. Their relationship has been further complicated with T-Mobile, a Jajah investor, kicking Truphone off their network. T-Mobile made their own venture into WiFi calling with “Hot Spot at Home“, which lets you add unlimited calling from your WiFi network for $9.95 extra a month.

Who’s Winning

While Skype is apparently making money for eBay, no other startups are profitable as far as we know. But the communications industry itself is hurting. There’s a shift is afoot particularly in the mobile industry as voice revenues drop from $51 a month in 2000 to $43 a month last year, carriers are looking for a ways to set themselves apart in the $118 billion U.S. cell-phone market. Data plans are widely heralded as the future for increasing telco annual revenue per user (ARPU).

However, this doesn’t mean an easy path for VOIP. VOIP on your mobile phone is facing quite a few challenges. The most basic problem is just distributing your application on the plethora of mobile platforms. Mobile carriers aren’t helping because they’re still reluctant to hasten the demise of their voice and content services. Verizon and their variety of subscription services (VCast, maps) are perfect example of the latter.

We’ve expressed a lot of dissatisfaction over the usability of a lot of these applications too. After it’s on your phone, VOIP services can add another rats nest of differing call rates and can sometimes only save you money on long distance calls while still costing minutes. With national long distance included in a lot of U.S cell plans, it may not make sense for a lot of users. Even still, that leaves dozens of VOIP carriers (just check our chart) competing to push down calling rates.

Then there’s the bandwidth requirements. Mobile data networks are generally not fast enough to ensure a high enough quality of service. The best way to deliver VOIP, over WiFi, still isn’t everywhere, no matter how hard Google tries. 3G provides better coverage and sufficient bandwidth, but is still controlled by carriers, who can throttle the upstream bandwidth to affect VOIP’s quality. Verizon reportedly plans to offer VOIP over 3G, but hasn’t come through on the promise since 2005.

Consequently, VOIP remains fragmented across the landline, desktop, and mobile platforms.

The crux of the matter is that winners in the this category will have to play nice with the carriers. Even startups that work purely off of data plans or your desktop need the carriers to provide the mobile networking infrastructure. Jajah is in the best position to work with carriers, by offering cheaper long distance calling while still using calling minutes that are carriers bread and butter. Services that operate over data networks, like Fring and the Gizmo Project may offer consumers better deals by circumventing the carrier’s voice plans over increasingly speedier data networks, but are directly competitive with the carriers. Undercutting the profits of these incumbents will eventually cause them to butt heads as TruPhone did with T-Mobile or some carriers have by disabling VOIP on N95s. Short of these startups changing their revolutionary rhetoric, it looks like an uphill battle.

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Fring is a mobile application for Windows and Symbian phones that uses VOIP to make cheap/free mobile calls and instant message. Unlike Jajah, but like Truphone, Fring sends calls and chats over Wi-Fi internet access or your 3G or GPRS Internet data plan. Like Skype, users are charged a nominal fee to call standard phone lines. However, calls made to other internet phones are free. Fring connects to standard phones, other SIP based VOIP clients, and chat applications (Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, and even Twitter).

Fring has received a lot of praise from Crunchgear and TechCrunch, mostly due to its multi chat integration and free calls. However, call quality was an issue and the 3G phones Fring works on can be expensive. You should also see our previous coverage of other VOIP carriers.

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