fontastic.org - FON and free WiFi blog

Free calls, Skype and SIP on an iPhone April 17, 2008

Earlier this week Fring, an Israeli VoIP startup launched a Fring client for the iPhone. Fring allows you to chat with or speak to buddies across multiple platforms such as Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, SIP, Twitter, AIM & Yahoo!. Installation is a breeze, you just add another source to your installer on a jailbroken iPhone and download the software. It took me only a couple of minutes to add my Skype and Gtalk account. You can make outgoing calls to any phone in the world with SkypeOut and a SIP account. I have tried it via Skype over WiFi and it works well. Attempts to use on T-Mobiles EDGE failed so far.

See video here:

Seriously, I thought my Nokia 770 offered the best mobile browsing experience ever and I still think the browser is great. Two things were not so great, though: mediocre storage (128 MB plus 64 MB MMC included, yes, I am not kidding) and no thumb board (virtual keyboard only works with pen). Ever since I first browsed the internet on an iPhone I became a big fan of it, but there was the prize tag and AT&T that hold me off for now.

Since yesterday the most powerful mobile WiFi device is there and it is called iPod Touch. It doesn't come with a lot of storage (like big brother 120 Gigs iPod Classic) but 8 or 16 gigs will do for most tasks. And it has the best mobile bowser ever plus build in WiFi for only $299. I don't see how Nokia is competing here with their Nokia N800 Internet Tablet PC at $360 (Amazon). Ok, Nokia has the bigger screen (4 inch vs. 3.5) and open source platform but if it is about mobile surfing and media, the Apple iPhone Touch is it.

iRiver announced a cell and VoIP phone that looks a bit like the iPhone (or a white version of it). It also features a portable music player of course. Some other extras comprise a FM radio and a positioning system based on WiFi not GPS. It seems that regardless of the success of the iPhone Apple defined a new design and set of functionalities for the cell phone 2.0 market.

via electronista.com

Now it's coming - only a few days left until the Apple iPhone hits the shelves on June 29th. It looks like the iPhone focusses a lot on web browsing and internet capabilities (amongst other things like trying to be an iPod). With it's WiFi option, big screen, virtual QWERTY keyboard, automatic switching between landscape and portrait view and a new kind of rendering of websites it might be the ideal portable web tablet in the sub-UMPC class. We asked our readers and it seems that the Cingular/ AT&T brothership might be contraproductive, though.