At about the same time that SKYPE has decided to go premium, Pinger is now offering smartphone users with free calling and texting.
Smartphone users can now drastically reduce their phone bills with Pinger's Textfree with Voice, an application-based communication suite for smartphones with free phone numbers for texting and calling functions.
The current version of Textfree, version 3.4, is the leading texting app in the iTunes App Store, according to company sources. Textfree with Voice, available later this summer, includes free voice services over 3G and WiFi (
News -
Alert). The new service will drastically alter traditional fee structures for mobile phones by monetizing text and voice traffic with advertising.
"Smartphones are rapidly becoming the norm for mobile consumers, but they are tied to an antiquated billing framework," said Greg Woock (
News -
Alert), CEO and Co-Founder of Pinger. "Our ultimate goal is to offer free calling and texting to the four billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide."
Traditional carriers charge mobile consumers hundreds of dollars per year for texting plans alone. Unlimited messaging plans for individuals can cost as much as $240 a year, while unlimited family messaging plans cost up to $360 per year. Textfree with Voice combines real phone numbers for messaging and calling via data channels, resulting in consumer savings of hundreds of dollars per year on texting and voice charges. Pinger plans to offer Textfree with Voice directly to its 20 million iPhone (
News -
Alert) OS customers.
Joe Sipher, Chief Product and Marketing Officer of Pinger said, "Once communication services unshackle from their analog roots, they will be free. Free happened with email and IM, and Pinger will make it happen with texting and calling. The hard part was figuring out how to monetize the free services. We've done that with our unique advertising model."
Pinger makes Textfree with Voice free to consumers by offsetting costs with mobile advertising. Already profitable, Pinger is in partnership with leading mobile advertising networks including Google, Admob, Quattro Wireless (
News -
Alert), and Millennial Media, and plans to fully support Apple's recently announced iAd platform.
Textfree with Voice will also revolutionize connected devices like iPod touch and iPad. These devices access the Internet through nearly ubiquitous WiFi connections and can route text and voice traffic directly to Pinger. This means consumers can have free, rich texting and voice services without a relationship or contract with traditional mobile carriers.
Read here about how Google has an offer to buy Global IP Solutions, for $68.2 million. Global IP Solutions was the company that powered Skype's (
News -
Alert) adaptive codec to handle packet loss, jitter, etc. until Skype decided to develop their own codec. Google Talk uses GIPS, so certainly Google will save on the licensing fees if they pick up GIPS.
Hans Lewis is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Marisa Torrieri
