Skype vs fring - Fight!
A war of words is a brewing between fring and Skype on both company's respective blogs. It was just last week Fring updated their application to include 2-way video calling so that all of you iPhone 4 owners out there could video chat with your cross-platform buddies. According to the official fring blog users can no longer communicate with their Skype friends and fring is encouraging users to invite their Skype friends to join fring.
“We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users” said Avi Shechter, fring’s Co-Founder and CEO “We apologize to our users for the impact of Skype’s bullying and we will be happy to reconnect with Skype once Skype reverses their decision.” Avi continued, “We believe in communication openness and know that users will continue to vote with their mobile phones – opting for fring’s innovation, clarity, honesty and openness”.
Not long after fring released their statement Skype posted one of their own on their blog firing back and blaming fring for damaging their brand and reputation.
"Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn’t designed to be used – and in a way which is in breach of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We’ve been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably. However, over time, Fring’s mis-use of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers. On Friday, for example, Fring withdrew support for video calls over Skype on iOS 4 without warning, again damaging our brand and disappointing our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience."
We will be watching this one very closely, until then who's side are you on? Sound off in the comments!
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Good, go Fring. I will personally never use it, but I hope they put pain to Skype. Why?
Because when companies fight, the consumers (usually) win.
I'm hoping that this will get Skype off their @$$ and input video chat, and also background support.
I was expecting to see it next year, as Skype's PROMISED TO BE COMING SOON calls over 3G took almost a year (or maybe more, wasn't paying too much attention). However, with Fring putting Skype on the competing edge, Skype will either have to compete or be left behind.
And I don't think Skype wants to just give up.
And Skype's response, in my opinion, is crap.
Because Fring doesn't allow video calling with Skype users, but all else, doesn't damage Skype at all. What they DID do was called competition.
Are you going to yell at SONY for being able to play DVDs, BluRays and music CDs, but not be able to play XBox 360 games? No. Same concept. Fring is THEIR software. If they want to allow AIM and Yahoo! Messenger, but not MSN, there's really not much that can be done. It's not YOUR software, you can't tell them what to put in it.
If you have a loyal Skype fanbase (like me), then they will just wait for you to update YOUR product. And if you don't, in a timely manner, well, maybe you should have been more worried about satisfying your customers.
Well without skype fring is useless, at least to me, but it's true that fring has bring more to the table than skype hashatEhat a shame that consumers like us have to suffer for their on going battle.
This blows! I wish Skype would what Fring was doing which was out of spec, so that Fring could respond/or change. It was a great option(for a few days). This He said/She said stuff just makes it worse for everyone
Since Fring is multitask aware, and MSN messenger is not, I will stick with them for awhile.
Ok, Skype... How about you get off your butts and pay some attention to upgrading your iPhone app? It is utterly useless without background notifications, and has not been properly updated to utilize the features of iOS4. What are you waiting for?
Ummm....Video chat over 3G plus free multitasking or pay for it with Skype and have no video chatting....this is a hard one...
I use Skype all the time (not for video chat) but to use as an alternate to calling people without using my AT&T minutes. I have used Skype (on my iPhone) exclusively for business for the past 4 months when making calls and have changed my AT&T wireless plan to 700min Family plan which has saved me money per month. Plus Skype is only $2.99/month (at the moment, who knows what they'll do). The one thing I do wish Skype would do is utilize the background VoIP API so when I get Text messages, other phone calls, notifications, etc. it doesn't cut out my phone call temporarily. If they implemented Video chat that would just be another plus. As for Fring, I tried using it a couple times and the delay is so high it's impossible to have a normal conversation with someone.
The Skype over 3g connection took so long I got rid of this useless app on my computer and phone!
Fring app is absolutely useless to me without Skype, Skype app is crap. Either need to get Skype back on Fring WITH video chat OR Skype get off your 4sses and update your app with video chat.
I'm with Fring, for the same reason as everyone else here is.
Skype has a monopoly right now and that's very bad for us. Here we are well into the iPhone's release and there is still no attempt by Skype to add Video chat via WiFi to the Skype app. They don't care about giving us something we want because there's when there's no competition there's no hurry. Well, with Fring, now Skype will have to get off its behind and do something.
Competition is good! Now they might lower prices, increase features, etc!
So bandwidth being the resason for the switch off of Skype happened was complete crap then?
This genius move will hurt Fring much more than Skype. Yes, Skype is big and evil, but if Fring wants to use Skype's service, and huge user base, they need to play by their rules.
i downloaded fring with the hopes of connecting to my skype friends but now i see no point of keeping it. what i want to know is Apple not making an iChat app??? it would be so much easier! Wi-Fi for now and 3G later, fine! It would definitely give me a handful of people instantly to connect to using video camera on their macs at least!
lol Jeremy, watch out for a lawsuit from engadget.
@iDutch
Why?
I just had a few folks (wife, some friends with iP4) join Fring. It was easy, and now video calling is just as simple as Skype. I only use Skype with my wife, so it doesn't really make that much of a difference...Go Fring!
I do hope that more competition is the result of this tift. However, given the ongoing ridiculousness that is the Apple/Google fight, I'm also mindful that this could yeild less flexibility for iPhone users in the interim, which is a shame. It seems to me that two good innovators who could be working together for our collective benefit are instead fighting a middle school minded turf war.
Skype has lost my respect (and me as a user) with the never-updated iPhone versions and lack of communication. From their blog response we now know they've at least heard of iOS4. Maybe in 6 months or so, they might even start to update their app so that it can run in the background and release it shortly before iOS5 comes out. Well done!!
Can someone tell me How to do video calls on fring?
Skype says:
I say the only thing damaging Skype's brand and reputation is Skype's failure to develop for mobile devices not sold by Verizon.
Fring just proved that Skype was misleading its customers about the time it would take to provide a similar feature to its smartphone users. Skype’s intention was keep everyone in the dark–and respond only when it had to. The fact the Skype denies any role in making Fring remove its API–is clear that they are a very deceitful company. Verizon Wireless taught them well.
WHO CARES if Skype or Fring is right. Right now Fring looks like the only one that will deliver a way to video chat with people on their computers or laptops. Skype can go pound sand, they're already behind the times and need a wake-up. Go Fring!
Skype needs to update their own app to iOS4. Skype has always been slow with updating their app. I remember Fring or was it Truphone made calls via 3G possible loooonnng before skype did. Skype I wish you would focus.
Skype blocks Fring for using their APIs in a way they disapprove, and people boo.
Apple blocks people for using APIs in a way they disapprove, and people cheer.
What's the difference?
Fring was necessary because the fact that skype had no competition was just ridiculous. This evens out the playing field a bit more lol
Skype has been damaging it's own reputation for a while with very slow development of its mobile platform. Fring was just giving everyone what they wanted and what Skype couldn't / wouldn't provide.
As much as it's saddens me that I imagine Fring will lose this fight, I must agree with the first post by EBSkater that this is good for us, the consumers, as we should now win.
I'm personally an Android user, and I am hoping that with will be the kick up the ass Skype needs to get a mobile application to us as many Android users will now be cursing Skype for loss of service on their phones. I must admit, I have started telling fellow Androiders to sign up for Fring. I hope people to so Skype can see the error of their ways.
Can fring video chat with other services such as AIM as well (I know it is supported for text chat)?
Fring's responses and actions during this PR battle have been amateur to borderline juvenile. I signed up with Fring the day I got my HTC EVO. I only got it because it was the only thorough Skype solution for EVO users. It was great, until...without warning, Skype disappeared from the Fring App. After hunting around on the internet, I found that FRING announced that THEY were dropping the Skype service to accomodate the demand caused by launching their new iPhone app. So nothing irks an Android user more than finding out their cool sh!t has been taken away because of Apple fan boyz. But I couldn't believe it when a few days later, Fring made a second anouncement blaming Skype! I guess they take all you folks for idiots. So Fring IMHO lacks any credibility. Skype on the other hand has gotten lazy...hopefully this will lead to a feature rich Skype Droid App so we don't have to deal with this sort of cr4p in the future. One can only hope.
I'm with fring. Fring allow me to talk with my brother and friends in europe from bangladesh by using my nokia n70 while i pay only bdt.345 per month for mobile internet (approx€4 or us$5) my internet bill also allow me to brows upto 1gb go ahead fring. I also suggest fring to develop a computer application to compete with skype.
I just made calls on both Fring and Skype in Airplane mode on my HTC EVO using each application. Phone quality was the same. I could care less about Video calling. In 10 years, I think it will be the same. Unless you have a baby, nobody wants others to look at them during a phone call. The idea is silly. Another thing to worry about in our society.........ooo I have to comb my hair, take a shower, go to a room in my house I do not look poor, etc. to make a video phone call. It ain't what (my people) want. Skype has Skype out and WAY MORE people I know are on Skype than Fring. Why bother when Skype is the standard and I already know how to use it.
The key difference between skype and fring for me is that skype has a PC based solution as well (Ok, that's where it started).
Without being able to interoperate with skype, fring looses all the desktop/laptop based population.
I wish fring was able to develop a desktop/laptop version of their software (if it works for Android, it should not be too hard to make it work for Linux, should it not?). That would make me move from skype to fring, or at least use both.
So long.