Gmail Mobile 2.0 for Java & Blackberry

Google has released the new v2.0 of its Gmail Mobile client. The update comes for Java based and Blackberry phones. The Gmail Mobile client has received a complete performance improvement making the client quite quick. The other improvements come as multiple accounts management, multiple mobile email drafts, and new shortcuts. Now some of these new improvements/ added features aren’t available to all phone models, which is not really a sad case as the phone may not be allowing the app.

You can download the new version of the Gmail Client from the official website m.google.com/mail via your mobile web browser.

Reliance Communication: Notebook FREE with an Internet Connection

Reliance Communication has announced its collaboration with Acer, Asus, HCL, Intel, and Lenovo to offer Intel’s Atom-based laptops (Netbooks) free with RCom Internet connectivity to its customers.

Isn’t that something really odd now, getting a Netbook (Asus Eee PC type laptops as you may call them) for free along with something as small as an internet connection. Well be surprised because its true. Its a new scheme from RCom & lets check out the details.

Details of the scheme are as follows:

• The free laptop offer is valid only on the purchase of a 12 or 24 month unlimited Reliance NetConnect package, for which monthly charges are Rs. 1,500.
• Users can pay for the 12/24 months package either on a monthly basis (various payment options) but wherein additional interest rates on the Rs.1,500 would be charged OR you could pay the whole amount and as an added bonus get a Reliance Mobile Phone/Big TV Connection for free (Free doesn’t seem to be stopping at all)
• There will be no additional charges for the NetConnect USB Modem
• An Unlimited NetConnect Plan will be offered to the customers (Speed CDMA 1x = 144kbps)
• And finally the list of netbooks being provided:-

Asus EeePC 9-inch XP (904HD 160G) - Rs.22,000

Acer Aspire One 9-inch Linux - Rs.23,000

Acer Aspire One 9-inch XP - Rs.25,000

Asus EeePC 9-inch XP (904 HA 160G) - Rs.25,000

HCL MiLeap MH04 10-inch XP - Rs.26,000

Asus EeePC 10-inch XP (1000HXP 160G) - Rs.26,000

Lenovo S10 XP 10-inch - Rs.26,000

HCL Ultra Portable Tablet PC - Rs.36,000

So here is a cool way to comfortably get basic and portable computing and connectivity.

iPhone bug fix - long live the dot!

Hi to all you new iPhone fringsters out there (all half a million of you!)

As promised last week, we have just released a new version (1.0.1.5) that addresses the annoying “dot in the Email” bug.

To download the fixed version, simply go to the App store just as before and download fring as normal.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for all your feedback and comments. The fring family is growing and it’s great to see all of your responses. So thank you!

Have fun!

fring team

New fring version 3.36 (Symbian) just arrived

Hi guys

Big excitement here at fring - we’ve just released fring’s latest version 3.36, with some v cool new upgrades (available for all Symbian 9 devices)

Having upgraded the GUI (the way it looks to you and me) fring is now better looking (as if that were possible) and more user friendly with an upgraded menu structure, and all of your favorite online communities and cool new fring Add-ons available in one easy place, making it simpler than ever to find what you need.

And the new version now supports FAXL 3 Add-on development language 1st (if you’re a developer you’ll be excited – if not this will sound like a foreign lingo!) so that any Add-ons developed can now go live.

We’ve also fixed a few bugs you’ve reported to us, to make fringing even more fun!

Get it now here, or from your phone (close your current version of fring, point your phone browser to www.fring.com and click Download to be taken through the simple process)

Let us know what you think and have a great day!

fring team

Update: There seems to be a few bugs in the latest Ver 3.36.15 and our technicians are working around the clock to find them and squish them. Please report any bugs you may find in the forum so we can find them quickly�

fring and mobilkom austria A1 announce world first

Hi guys,

We don’t usually use the blog for fring’s industry news, but this story (and another world first for fring) is just too cool to keep to ourselves or for the hard core industry portals and blogs and we wanted to share it with you too!

fring and leading mobile network operator mobilkom austria today announced the joint launch of a special version of fring’s award winning mobile internet communication (MVoIP) and community service.

This is the first time a leading mobile network operator has integrated an open mobile VoIP communication and mobile internet community into their business, and represents a sea change in traditional mobile carriers and companies such as fring working together. It also provides a glimpse into the future of what fring believes in: a world of truly open mobile communications & community, with loads of choice for you guys, the mobile users. Well done mobilkom austria for sharing this vision!

So, today’s announcement provides a clear statement and answer to all of the media and industry speculation, cynicism and questions regarding the relationship between mobile VoIP and traditional operators. It demonstrates the willingness and ability of MNO’s to embrace mobile internet communication, build it into their future eco systems and provide a new level of rich and compelling mobile internet experience to its users. Read the full press release here.

Finally, we want to say a big hi and welcome to all of the new mobilkom austria A1 fringsters. It’s great to have you join the worldwide fring family.

Samsung INNOV8 i8510 Launched - India

The heavy duty Pixon Camera phone from Samsung christened i8510 INNOV8 has been launched in India. The phone has been developed for users to get the best Multimedia experience from their mobile device. Its Samsung’s 8MP Symbian OS v9.3 Series60 3rd Edition FP2 device for great application support. There is a lot to the handset other than its 8MP. I provide you with a link to the detailed specs. Unfortunately the Samsung India site hasn’t been updated since quite sometime now, so I’ve posted a link of Samsung Singapore.

A quick briefing of the INNOV8 features include an 8MP camera with functions like smile shot, blink shot, and face recognition. It also has image stabilization, Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), and Auto-Panorama. Videos can be recorded at either QVGA 120fps or VGA 30fps. The i8510 on the visual entertainment front has a 2.8-inch 16M color TFT screen and supports various video formats including DivX, H.263, H.264, WMV and MP4. Audio for the INNOV8 comes with high end DNSe 2.0, it has an FM Tuner as well. The phone will come pre-loaded with two movies and games on its 16GB of internal memory. Connectivity sees no shortcomings with Wi-Fi, High Speed 7.2 MBps HSDPA support, and Class 12 GPRS & EDGE. It has A-GPS and supports geo-tagging as well. The specified talktime with the i8510 with its 1200 mAh battery is 8.5 hours. This innovative package from Samsung is available in India for a whopping Rs. 45,999 MRP.

fring for iPhone updated: Bugs taken care off!

It’s been a busy weekend at the fring HQ. We would like to thank you all for your inputs, feedbacks, kind words and bug reports, Keep them coming.

After reading hundreds of mails, here’s a few things I thought we should point out:

1. The annoying “dot in the Email” bug -
So this is now a known bug that prevented some users from registering. We are working on it and will issue a solution ASAP.
In the meantime you have a few options:
- If you’re using gmail you can drop the dot and register as abcd@gmail.com instead of ab.cd@gmail.com - gmail supports this kind of modification to the user name.
- If you’re not using gmail you can leave this field empty and register with no Email address. Please write down your user ID and password since you won’t have an option to retrieve your password at a later stage.

We are already working on a fix to this bug - it should be available on the App Store in the next few days.

2. “Call terminated” on Skype and SIP
In most cases you’ll get this error when trying to make a call to a not recognized number. In order to make a successful call you should enter the number in its international format, for example:

For the US dial +1XXXXXXXX or 001XXXXXXXX
For the UK dial +44XXXXXX or 0044XXXXXXXX

But the best way to make an ‘Out’ call is by choosing a contact from the address book (Apple inc. in this example) –> Choose the type of call (SIP or Skype Out) –> Here you’ll have a chance to edit the number so it will fit the international format –> Click ‘OK’ and you’re done.

Please make sure you’re fully loggen in to Skype when trying to make the call, during the peek time this might take 2-3 min.

I’ll get back to my Emails now, we’ll be back here with more tips and tricks. Keep the feedback coming and thanks for your support.

Asus launches the G71 Gaming NoteBook

One Book To Rule Them All, Asus has just launched its new G Series NoteBook namely the G71. Its out to take on the likes of the Alienware & the Dell XPS. It’s the world’s first QX9300 Quad Core processor enabled notebook.

Keeping the Gamer in mind the G71 has an 17-inch 8ms Crystal Shine display, an NVIDIA 9700 GT 512MB DDR3 powering its graphics, 4 gigs of RAM and 1TB of storage space. The rest of the specs can be checked below. A special feature Direct Console 2.0 is something we will have to check out for ourselves. Its an all-in-one gaming control interface.

fring for the iPhone & its official!

We’ve been listening really closely to your input, suggestions & insights on the pre-release version and together with some supportive recommendations like “please code faster !!!” we are happy to release fring for iPhone on the App Store (Supporting the iPhone and the new iPod touch devices).

We’ve added many new features to this version including ‘history tab’, ‘privacy settings’, ‘easy dialing from the main buddy list’ and many bug fixes.

This is a brand new, straight from the oven fring version (V1.0.1.4) The pre-release version is no longer available.

Have a great day

p.s We highly appreciate your feedback and insights, so as always, keep them coming!

The fring team

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Finally the Tube is out

The codenamed “Tube” handset is finally out and as suspected its in the XpressMusic series. Well nothing new because all of this news has been circulating for quite a while now. The phone finally made its retail appearance in London and Singapore. Its the first full-touch operated Series 60 handset from Nokia.

It’s not only going to be hot among the Symbian community but everyone wants to know what its capable of. And please for those who are still looking to compare this with an iPhone look else where. Even though I’m saying this it ain’t going to change much as we will surely see the comparison happening in every media.

Well it’ll never end but I’m hopping to get a feel of this handset soon. No idea about its exact launch date but expected price is around 20K.