Fring claims to have launched the world?s first mobile video-calls-over-Internet protocol.

Fring lets users conduct video calls with other Fring users and Skype contacts over their mobile device?s WiFi or 3G Internet connection. The video feature is embedded in the Fring application.

?Fring has always been a market leader as far as innovation,? said Gil Regev, marketing communications manager at Fring, London. ?This recent release is yet another world's first for us, as no other player out there has been able to develop two-way Skype video calls over VoIP, up until now.?

Fring bills itself as the only mobile application that gives users a full social mobile Internet communication experience, with full VoIP capabilities across platforms, two-way video calls over VoIP and live chat.

Harnessing the power of mobile
The company claims to have been behind the the first VoIP calls over the mobile Internet on the Symbian platform in 2007.

Fring also said that it had the first VoIP for iPhone, the first Twitter mobile client and only a week ago the first true VoIP for Android devices.

Multiple platforms such as Nokia?s Symbian S60, Apple?s iPhone and iPod touch, Google?s Android, Microsoft?s Windows Mobile, J2ME and Linux devices, support Fring.

The new Fring version with video calls support is currently available to users with Nokia X6, N97 mini, N97, 5800, N95 8G, N95 and N82 devices.

Mr. Regev said that the video feature is simple.

Most Nokia Symbian S60 phones, as do other mobile devices, come with a front-end camera, which was originally intended to be used for a two-way call over 3G.

Mr. Regev said that the two-way calls were costly for the end user, but that Fring uses that exact same camera for a free two-way video call using VoIP.

According to Fring, the company adds approximately 500,000 new active users to its community every month.

Fring wants to capitalize on the popularity of video calls and take them mobile. Skype reported that about 30 percent of its users make video calls from their PCs.

Mr. Regev said that there have been some challenges when it comes to cameras.

?Some mobile devices lack the front-end camera, in which case a user cannot view the other side and broadcast at the same time,? Mr. Regev said. ?When this feature ends up being offered to on [additional devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch], Fring will offer the users one-way video calls, that's until Apple adds the front-end camera, of course, to its mobile devices.?