Canadian Mobile Handset Maker Blackberry has announced that its proprietary chat application Blackberry Messenger (BBM) shall be available for devices running on Android and iOS (iPhones) starting from today. Earlier it was available only on Blackberry handsets which run BlackBerry OS.
Update: After allowing the Download for iPhone and Android for few hours, Blackberry has paused the rollout citing technical reasons. So as of now, no new downloads of BBM on Android and iPhones is possible. Those who have downloaded it would continue to use it, however.
The Company says that BBM will be available as a free download for Android smartphones running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.x) beginning at 7AM EDT on September 21. BBM for iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 7 will become available for each market on the App Store schedule of 12:01 AM local time on September 22.
Earlier in May 2013, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins announced that BlackBerry Messenger will be available on iOS and Android soon.
On June 21, 2013, A BlackBerry Messenger application was spotted on the Play Store. However, it turned out to be a fake
In a recent press release, Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry said, “BBM is a very engaging messaging service that is simple to use, easy to personalize and has an immediacy that is necessary for mobile communications. With more than a billion Android, iOS, and BlackBerry smartphones in the market, and no dominant mobile instant messaging platform, this is absolutely the right time to bring BBM to Android and iPhone customers.â€
A Device running Blackberry Messenger (BBM)
The BBM for Android and iPhones would have following features:
BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
Group Chat – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don’t have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.
Private Social Network: BBM gives you a private social network for active, real conversations and it has more than 60 million customers on BlackBerry alone. The overwhelming majority use BBM an average of 90 minutes per day. BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps. Messages on BBM are typically read within seconds, reflecting how truly engaged BBM customers are.
It’s immediate. BBM is always on so you are always connected. And because messages on BBM are typically delivered and read within seconds, it’s the closest thing to a live conversation.
You trust it. BBM always tells you that messages are delivered and read. BBM conversations come alive on a private network you can count on.
You control it. BBM allows you to choose your contacts and how you share your information. BBM uses a PIN so you don’t have to give anyone your phone number or email address.
The Company plans to integrate other features of BBM to its app on Android and Iphones. Â Â Later this year, BBM Channels will provide a forum for active, real conversations between you and the people, brands, celebrities, artists, service providers, communities and more, that matter to you. By creating a Channel, individuals and brands can engage their friends and communities in conversations sparked by their thoughts, ideas and passions. Subscribing to a Channel will let you join conversations with people who share your interests.
In addition, BBM Video calling and BBM Voice calling are planned for availability for Android and iPhone in a future version.