fring on Windows Mobile Today/Home Screen
A new version of fring for Windows Mobile was released (3.20.21.96). It adds fring to the Windows Mobile Today or better known as Home Screen. It’s basically a shortcut and provides info. as well; such as missed chats or calls.
For more details on resolved issues head over to the official fring blog or just download the latest version (www.fring.com). Oh! and don’t forget to post us feedback and comments on what you thought of this addition to fring.
Nokia N81 arrived in India
Nokia N81 and the N81 8GB are available in global markets for sometime. Now they are available in India as well. These phones offer music and gaming features, along with the power and space to store and play. The phones feature the new Nokia Nseries UI with 3D Multimedia Menus. Music wise these handsets provide the Nokia Music. You can even attach your personal headphones to the 3.5mm connector. Previews of the N-Gage game service with playable demos of EA Sports FIFA 07, Asphalt 3: Street Rules, and Space Impact Light are offered with the phones. Soon to be launched N-Gage service can be downloaded for the two handsets.
The N81 will be for around Rs.22,500 while the N81 8GB is for Rs26,500.
fring now supports the Nokia 5700
“The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a 3G smartphone running on the S60 operating system. it features a twist design that switches easily between four operating modes: Phone, camera, music player and video calls. The 5700 can download and play music tracks from a variety of internet music stores.” UK mobile phone Blog
But what makes this phone a must have? It now supports fring!!!
Thats right, the hard working guys at fring.com have heard your calls for the all new Nokia 5700 to be supported and after a few months of blood, sweat and tears it is finally here.
Download it free and let the whole world know you are now fringable.
WISPr now for Symbian 9.2
A few days back we announced fring’s support for WISPr. As we mentioned that it’d soon come to Symbian 9.2; here it is.
For all those waiting for WISPr on their Symbian 9.2 handsets, wait no more.
Just head over to this link below and update fring.
3G Spectrum for Auction
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended auctioning of 3G spectrum. A different approach compared to the process for 2G, where the spectrum was allocated based on subscriber numbers. Given the growing subscriber numbers by almost 8million a month the Telecoms Secretary stated that it would be possible to accommodate about 3-4 3G operators. The TRAI have received as many as 300 applications from 30 firms to provide their services in the country. The list includes telecom giants such as AT&T, real estate firm DLF, Videocon Group and many more. Things seem to be looking bright for the Telecom growth in India with TRAI going ahead with the auctioning of spectrums and recommending a “No Cap” on the number of service providers in any zone.
BSNL to offer TV on GSM handsets
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has already begun its new service “TV on mobile handset”. The service so far is available in just few network circles in the country. BSNL is offering 12 channels for now, namely: NDTV, Aaj Tak, Times Now, CNBC, ETV, TV9, Zoom, and Bindaas. The network giant plans to add many more channels and take the total number of channels to 32. In-order to watch TV BSNL customers will have to visit mimobi.tv via their handsets. The service for now is compatible only with Nokia handsets and is soon expected to cover Sony Ericsson and Motorola handsets as well. As a promotion of the service BSNL will be offering the service for FREE for the next 30 days in Eastern & North Eastern Regions of the country.
fring introduces Wi-Fi WISPr
Back in August fring launched auto-roaming between 3G, Wi-Fi, and GPRS/EDGE. The fring development just wouldn’t stop at it there and heeded the whispers of its fringsters. To make auto-roaming transitions smoother they adopted WISPr.
Glossary: WISPr or Wireless Internet Service Provider is a protocol from the Wi-Fi Alliance that allows users to roam between wireless internet service providers, in a fashion similar to that used to allow cell-phone users to roam between carriers.
So for example if you are a regular at “Thirst Busters” and use the Tata Indicom Wi-Fi service you won’t need to sign-in every time nor will you have to manually switch from EDGE/GPRS to Wi-Fi. fring will do it naturally for you. This will in turn provide you a better quality call (reception) or could also curb expenses of the EDGE/GPRS usage which is still quite a premium in the country.
Just like in Auto-Roaming, the switch between Wi-Fi networks and EDGE/GPRS happens only when in Idle Mode and not when on a call.
Note: Right now fring only WISPrs on Symbian 9.1 phones. In the next few days for Symbian9.2 and we will keep you posted as and when it arrives on other mobile handset platforms.
Wi-Fi T-Shirt Detects Networks around You
This T-Shirt is more than the eye-catching Equalizer T-Shirt at a Pub. I’ve seen a couple of those as well around in the Mumbai discs. Well the Wi-Fi detector T-Shirt is one out of the box imagination. This idea has taken me aback not as in techy bit but the whole idea of freaking out the passer by. The animated Wi-Fi sign on the shirt detects various Wi-Fi networks and lights up the moment you walk into one. The T-shirt is powered by three AAA batteries and will work for hours together. You can get the shirt for about US$30 (Rs. 1,200) from ThinkGeek. Word is that they are running out of stock so book yours if you plan on sending people into lost thoughts.
Bharti Airtel Crosses the 50 Million Customer Mark
Bharti Airtel became the first private telecom company to achieve the 50Million milestone in just 143 months. And doing so has put it in the top 10 telecom companies in the world. The final 25 million was added in just the last 14 months; thus making it the fastest growing private telecom company worldwide. Airtel provides telecommunication as well as broadband services. With all going its way the telecom giant is going invest into expanding Network coverage and provide its services in the rural areas of the country which consists of over 500,000 villages. On the enterprise end the company is planning to launch IPTV and DHT (Direct-To-Home) service for homes in 94 towns.
All seems to be looking good for the telecom industry growth in India. I say 3G! It’s coming our way!!!
Microsoft’s Next-Gen “Zune”
Microsoft’s keeping it as simple as possible. Zune now has siblings the classic Zune will stay with a new name Zune 30. The siblings are Zune 80, Zune 8 and Zune 4. While the Zune 80 is an 80GB HDD based player the other two are flash based. The Zune 80 is smaller and lighter than the classic Zune. With a larger screen and a better interface clubbed with a four-way touch-sensitive D-pad the new Zune claims to offer a much better user experience. The H.264 and MP4 codec have been incorporated so there is no need to convert videos to WMV.
Also there is podcast support only for sync purposes and videos can be shared via Wi-Fi. To be released in international markets in November the Zune 80, Zune 8, and Zune 4 will be priced around US$250 (Rs. 10,000), US$200 (Rs. 8,000), and US$150 (Rs. 6,000).
