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Since March of 2009, app developer Pinger (News - Alert) has been providing Apple users with free phone numbers and text messaging services through the startup company’s increasingly popular Textfree application. Over the last 18 months, the app has been downloaded more than 4 million times, making Pinger a top 10 U.S. carrier and one of the world’s most successful application developers, Tech Crunch reports.

In an effort to parlay its success in the telecom space, Pinger on Tuesday introduced a new voice calling solution for the iPod Touch and the iPhone (News - Alert). The beta service will enable those who download the app to not only send unlimited text messages, but also place and receive phone calls through voice over Internet protocol “VoIP” technology.

Industry experts expect the service to be primarily utilized by iPod Touch users, who don’t have the ability to connect with cellular networks.

Pinger has set up the renovated application in a very innovative way that should allow the startup to generate even more revenue. When a user downloads the app they will be given a certain number of free minutes each month. Once those minutes are used up, they will have the option of either purchasing more using a credit card or earning more by downloading other applications through the App Store, according to the news source.

Each time a different app is downloaded through the program, the user gets more free minutes and Pinger gets paid by the other developer.

“The media age for our customers is 18, and that demographic, they don’t pay for anything,” said Pinger co-founder Joe Sipher. Apple’s (News - Alert) online store contains several hundred applications that will offer users free Pinger minutes in exchange for a download, he added.

Sipher expects the service to nearly double Pinger’s revenue in just a few months.

Beecher Tuttle is a Web Editor for TMCnet. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi