“If you’re already a fan of BlackBerry Messenger, we’ve got some exciting news designed to make it easier for you to connect with your entire mobile social network. BlackBerry plans to make BBM, our wildly popular mobile messaging service, available for the first time to iOS and Android users this summer (subject to approval by Google Play and the Apple App Store, as applicable). This means that, once available, you can welcome your friends and family using these other mobile platforms to connect over BBM and share in the Team BlackBerry love.” Another inevitability. Love the note about the application stores.
Most of my blackberry messenger buddies all got iPhones or Android based phones. I don’t know of any friends that still use BB – though just a few co-workers do, and even then, that list is two people. I am not sure why they are doing this, especially now, but I found it so bizarre the messenger was the only reason why any of my friends even got the BB or kept the BB for as long as they did. Since majority of friends use iPhone, Apple Messenger is all we need. It will be interesting to see how it works with other devices and how many digits these PINs will become with so many more people inevitably getting on board with this.
Another closed client for another walled garden IM? No thanks. No one needs 10 clients for 10 incompatible services, when there is XMPP.
Edited 2013-05-14 20:51 UTC
With XMPP, you can go to 11!
PS. But seriously, this might be too late for BBM – now that there are other entrenched IM networks, on the new (for BBM) target platforms.
Edited 2013-05-15 17:23 UTC
BBM : carried by blackberies flagbearer, has just been thrown in the ring. Sometimes giving it up is a way forward!
Some people seem to think its way too late to have any effect. I think its perfectly timed. Its aimed at former users of Blackberry. Once they log back in, Blackberry has a great opportunity to lure them back into the fold. They had to wait to do this until Bob 10 and new hardware was out. If they did it in the long wait for bb10, it would have been a reason to leave instead the carrot back it is now.
So, now there is no reason to buy a BB phone at all….