A former co-general manager of instant messenger company ICQ has formed a new company, Fring, to deliver VoIP services on 3GSM phones. The Fring service, based on the Skype API, is currently available on any 3GSM phone--as long as the phone is a Nokia Series 60 device. Fring says that it plans to have software available for other devices, including Windows Mobile phones, in the future. The service allows users to have address books based on Skype, to call Skype and other VoIP services and to call land-line phones through Skype Out. One huge question mark in Fring's plans: carriers' willingness to let an application cut them out of call-based revenues.

For more on Fring's future:
- read the article at Network World