BlackBerry has made it known for the first time that it is considering all options to help resolve its financial problems including sale of the entire firm and the launch of an IPO. However, rumours of an acquisition are swirling and the technology sector seems to believe that an acquisition is possible. South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has been repeatedly listed as a potential buyer. However, the top ranked Korean company has declined such claims publicly on a number of occasions, but when the Waterloo-based company announced that it is considering sale as an option, once again all eyes were on Samsung. Nevertheless, Samsung again shot down any claims of the Galaxy smartphone maker buying BlackBerry, and the executive vice president of the company’s mobile business, Lee Young-hee, said while talking to the Korea Times on Monday, August 26th that that “Samsung is not considering that opportunity.” By opportunity he meant BlackBerry. However, the executive did reveal that Samsung is going to launch the Galaxy Gear smartwatch on September 4 at IFA 2013 in Berlin.
However, this does not mean that Samsung is also not interested in getting BBM on its devices, and according to the latest report the Korean manufacturer has released the first teaser ads of the popular messaging app from BlackBerry in the African continent. These ads, however, did not reveal the exact launch date of BBM for Android devices, but it certainly divulged that it is coming to Galaxy smartphones.
So this means that Samsung and BlackBerry have jointly started promoting BBM and soon it will available on the devices of the Korean manufacturer.
But as far as the future of BBM is concerned, rumours suggest that “BlackBerry is considering spinning off its BlackBerry Messenger service into a separate unit, according to sources cited in the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reports that the subsidiary would be called BBM Inc. However, BlackBerry is refusing to comment “on rumour and speculation.”
Ahead of this potential spin off, BlackBerry will launch BBM for both Android and iOS, two competing software platforms. According to WSJ’s sources familiar with the matter, that should happen “in the next few weeks.” Following that, the Waterloo company may also bring BBM to the desktop, similar to how Apple did with iMessage on the iMac.
BBM currently has about 60 million users. Over the years its feature list has expanded to include such things as video calling over wifi and BBM channels,” according to TechVibes.
Source: TechVibes
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