[1]California-based Pinger has announced a new iOS application for Canada. Pinger is a free phone app that turns iPads and iPods into mobile phones and adds a free phone line to iPhones. Pinger users can text and call for free to any phone in the U.S. and Canada, including smartphones, landlines and basic mobile phones.
Users get a local Canadian phone number from which they can send unlimited free texts to any phone in Canada, the U.S. and more than 35 countries. Users can also call any phone in Canada and the U.S. for free. Pinger works over 3G or WiFi. The app can be downloaded free from the iTunes App Store [2].
“Texting and calling plans are too expensive in every country on the planet, especially between Canada and the U.S. Today we’re one step closer to achieving our goal of making global communications free,” said Greg Woock, co-founder and CEO of Pinger. “What makes Pinger truly unique is its ability to make texting and calling free to any phone number, not just other smartphones.”
In the U.S. alone, Pinger’s eight million active users send more than two billion text messages and call for 75 million minutes a month. Pinger is the seventh largest U.S. carrier by SMS volume. According to comScore, the company’s apps are installed in 21% of U.S. iOS devices, putting Pinger among the Top 5 most installed U.S. apps of all time on iOS. Pinger’s apps are the most frequently launched on iOS, and users spend an average of 32 minutes a day using the apps.
Pinger is ad-supported, delivering standard mobile banners, in-conversation sponsorships, traditional 300×250 online display ads and rich-media opportunities to users. The asymmetrical consumer usage patterns during calling and texting provide moments that are ideally suited for presenting ads without significantly interfering with the user’s interaction.
Pinger simplifies the communications process, incorporating useful and intuitive features including:
- Text and call anyone on any phone or carrier—including smartphones, landlines and basic mobile phones in the U.S. and Canada
- Users can even turn their iPad or iPod touch into a working phone—complete with texting, calling, and voicemail.
- The photo-based interface means that there’s no need to swap between screens or apps to check missed calls, listen to a voicemail, or send a message. The Pinger phone app organizes communication with each contact – text, voice and picture messages – into a single screen.
- Read-receipt confirmation—instantly see when someone has read your text message
- Group addressing—communicate with groups faster and easier
- Login securely from any device—your iPod touch, iPad and iPhone are all synched with message history and contact information
- Communicate with friends and family in over 200 countries—for those outside Canada and the U.S. where local phone numbers are now available, users simply download Pinger for iOS to text and talk with others on the network