AfterDawn: News

BlackBerry Messenger gets Android and iPhone landing page

BlackBerry Messenger is one step closer to making its way to Android and iOS.

The struggling smartphone maker has set up a landing page to help Android and iPhone users learn about what BBM is and what it offers.



At launch, which is set for next month, BBM will only include messaging, but it is expected to add video and voice chat later in the year.

The move is a necessary one for BlackBerry, which has almost disappeared from the market. However, BBM has 60 million active users and is still generally regarded as one of the best messaging services. WhatsApp and Line, which are available for rival platforms, have quickly amassed hundreds of millions of downloads, and have threatened to make BBM even more irrelevant.

Regardless, the company should have a hard time penetrating the market as Android and iPhone users already have native messaging clients, like iMessage and Hangouts, along with options like WhatsApp.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Aug 2013 21:51

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• 1 comment

• pmshah

  Here in India unlimited International BBM service costs around US$ 5/- per month. I personally do not subscribe to this service as I am a retired person and have Internet + wifi connectivity 24/7. I use my BB for use by my foreign visitors.
  
  I however have a feeling that it is likely to backfire. I have at least 6-7 persons in my circle who are stuck to their BBs simply because they have their own circle of BBM users and are currently reluctant to switch to Android platform. Once BBM is available on Android there is nothing to prevent them from switching where they will also have other additional options like Viber and Skype. BTW the latter sucks big time on iOS platform.
  
  So unless they are going to change from hardware to service providers I feel it is a bad move.

  8.9.2013 00:09 #1