Numerous rumours had previously indicated that BlackBerry was looking to bring its popular BlackBerry Messaging (BBM) service to other platforms and on Tuesday, May 14th the Waterloo-based company officially made it known that it is rolling out BBM for both Android and iOS sometime during this summer. However, the availability of BBM is subject to the approval of both Google Play and Apple’s App Store, but once available users for both Android and iOS platforms will be able to add their family members and friends, which are using BlackBerry smartphones. The popular mobile messaging service of BlackBerry currently sees over 60 million active users during each month and over 51 million active users daily get in touch with their family, friends and colleagues for an average time of one and a half hours through BBM. Users of this service send and receive over 10 billion messages through BBM that is almost twice than any other platform.
Those, who are running Android 4.0 or above and iOS 6 will be able to download BBM from their relevant app stores without paying any charges. BlackBerry said that in the future it would add groups functionality and messaging to new platforms, as CEO Thorsten Heins said they are “committed to making the BBM experience on other platforms as fully featured” as possible. In its official announcement over its website Blackberry has listed features of BBM for other platforms, below are the extracts:
“In the first version of multi-platform BBM, iOS and Android users are expected to be able to experience the following BBM features:
– The immediacy of BBM chats
– Multi-person chats
– Voice note sharing
– BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more
The team here at BlackBerry has definitely been working hard to bring the much-adored BBM experience to a wider group of mobile users. In a recent press release at BlackBerry Live 2013, Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President, Software Product Management and Ecosystem, at BlackBerry had this to say:”
“For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service. BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community.”
Source: 9to5Google, InsideBlackBerry
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