Fring for the Apple iPhone!
Fring is one indispensible software for people who use VoIP a lot. Previously available only for S60 and Windows Mobile users, Fring now is available for Jailbroken iPhones too!
I tried Skype with a friend of mine. He registered for a new Skype account from his Mac and added me as a buddy, but his name never appeared on my buddy list on Fring. It appears that I have to log on to the Skype desktop client to authenticate him. Another very strange thing both of us noticed was whenever I logged out of Fring from my iPhone, my friend was getting disconnected from his Google Talk account on iChat !! We confirmed this by trying it out several times! This must be one of the bizarre and nasty bugs I have ever encountered on a chat client. Clearly, they mean beta in big bold letters. We could not make a voice call after several attempts and called it a day. Will report back tomorrow if Skype works. Also, voice chat from Google Talk to Fring was also not happening. This was again through iChat that was running on the iMac.
Anyhow, this is an interesting development for Jailbroken iPhones. So far, the applications available through installer where either ports of popular open source software or some basic freeware applications. The scenario has not been very different from what we saw with the PSP homebrew scene for the last few years. But a major application like the Fring being available through the unofficial SDK route is an important breakhrough and establishes credibility for the jailbreak community. I think there will be lot more such applications in the future given the limitations of the official SDK.
You can download the Fring client for your jailbroken iPhone from the installer. More information on the official site.
