Fring thing comes to Windows Mobile

Symbian VoIP and messaging client Fring has launched a version for Windows Mobile 5 and 6, connecting them to multiple VoIP and messaging services from a single client for free.

Fring has been providing connections to Skype from Symbian handsets, over 3G or Wi-Fi connections for a while now, and more recently added GoogleTalk and MSN Messenger, as well as the sub-blogging service Twitter.

But the killer application for Fring on Symbian was Skype connectivity, and there is already a Skype client for Windows Mobile, so it'll have to sell the product on its cross-VoIP-service capability.

Not that it really has to sell Fring; it's free to download and the company still has no paying customers, or income of any kind. Its plan is to sell a service to network operators; detecting when an outgoing call is heading to someone with Fring installed and then routing the call over VoIP to avoid paying the termination fee, but Fring admits that so far it's got no customers for that service.

To get networks to sign up they need Fring on as many devices as possible, and making the service available on Windows Mobile is a much-needed step in that direction. ®