Fring goes head-to-head with FaceTime for video calling

Last week, Fring's iPhone 4 video calling app finally got approved by Apple. The new app directly competes with Apple's own FaceTime software for video calling dominance on the mobile platform. Who wins?

CNET originally compared Fring's one-way video calling app with FaceTime and obviously chose FaceTime as the winner, but now the fight's a little more fair with both apps offering 2-way video calling. Fring allows users to use the iPhone 4's user-facing camera to send video of you smiling face to friends when you make calls. The service allows calls over Skype, SIP and other chat services that offer video calling.

CNET reviewed Fring's new service in comparison to FaceTime and found that FaceTime still performed better than the new offering. Fring's (and Skype's) call quality was actually great and in real time, but there were some video hiccups and fails trying to connect. Fring does win in a few categories though. It works over 3G which might explain any connection or quality issues as FaceTime only allows WiFi which is a much faster and more reliable method of transporting data heavy video calling packets. Fring also trumps FaceTime in that it can connect calls to PCs, Android phones, Nokia and Symbian phones in addition to the iPhone 4. FaceTime only offers iPhone 4 calls.

For more:
- read the CNET review

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