Texting? That is just so 2010. The cool thing these days is instant message texting with applications like BlackBerry Messenger, or Apple’s upcoming iMessage, which use the Internet to send texts instead of service carriers.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the threat posed by IM apps, citing figures that show traditional texting is on the wane. Cellphone users sent and received more than a trillion texts in the second half of 2010, which is only an 8.7% increase over the previous six months. That marks the smallest gain in texting since it became de rigeur 10 years ago.

Apple announced their version of instant messaging this week, which will allow Apple users to send free messages to each other over the Internet. Google is said to be developing a messaging application for Android software as well, and RIM’s BlackBerry users are already fans of its messenger service.

Texting revenue reached $25 billion in the U.S. and Canada in 2010, with fees from around 20 cents per text or unlimited monthly plans for an additional fee. So without that, cellphone carriers are going to be pretty annoyed, considering many people would rather text than actually carry on a conversation.

Cellphone Carriers Face Pressure Over Texting [The Wall Street Journal]

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