During a press conference that took place today, the Canadian company BlackBerry announced as the service BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be released on the platform iOS until the end of this summer. The system will be available on running iDevices iOS 6 or Android 4.0 and will only offer users the possibility to have text conversations within groups, but in the future the options to make VoIP calls, to make screenshare, etc., will be available through some updates.
""It's time to bring BBM to a greater audience," CEO Thorsten Heins said in announcing the expansion, "no matter what mobile device they carry." Although it's long been considered one of BlackBerry's strongest exclusive offerings, Heins said that his company aims to deliver a "fully featured" BBM experience on rival smartphone operating systems. "We're starting with messaging and groups, but we'll bring voice, screen share, and of course, channels later on," he said. "Why are we doing this now? It's a statement of confidence," Heins went on. He said that BlackBerry 10's prospects are "so strong that we are confident that BBM can become an independent messaging solution."
Until now, the BBM platform has been available exclusively on BlackBerry terminals, but the Canadians intend to expand the system to other platforms as well, probably with the idea of attracting more consumers of rival companies. iOS has its own text/video messaging systems through iMessage and FaceTime, in the App Store there is a whole suite of applications that offer similar functionality, but the integration of BBM will offer BlackBerry terminal owners a much simpler way to interact with BlackBerry owners. iPhones or Android terminals.
BBM sets the standard for mobile instant messaging with fast and reliable service and an added layer of engagement with delivered and read statuses. You've shared with us your stories about how BBM has kept you connected when it mattered most to you. Upon release of the multi-platform BBM service, you can broaden that real-time connection to friends and colleagues on other supported mobile platforms.
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
