14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Canadian mobile phone maker BlackBerry has officially confirmed the near availability of its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for Android devices.
Starting with September 21, owners of handsets powered by the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean flavors of the Android platform will be able to download the application for free, BlackBerry announced.
Available exclusively for BlackBerry devices until now, BBM is finally making its way to other mobile operating systems out there, so as to become a cross-platform service and application.
Some of the main features that BBM will bring to Android include the option to engage into chats with friends on BBM, regardless of the platform they are using.
Furthermore, BBM enables users to share files with their friends, and also provides them with the possibility to engage into multi-person chats.
With BlackBerry Messenger, Android users will also have the opportunity to post personal messages, profile picture, and current status. The service also uses unique PINs for everyone, aimed at maintaining privacy.
“BBM gives you a private social network for active, real conversations and it has more than 60 million customers on BlackBerry alone. The overwhelming majority use BBM an average of 90 minutes per day,” BlackBerry notes in a blog post.
“BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps. Messages on BBM are typically read within seconds, reflecting how truly engaged BBM customers are.”
BBM is also capable of keeping users connected at all times, and promises immediate delivery of messages. The service also informs users on whether their messages have been delivered and read.
As mentioned above, the BBM for Android application will be offered for free to all compatible smartphones, so stay tuned for a download link.
“BBM is a very engaging messaging service that is simple to use, easy to personalize and has an immediacy that is necessary for mobile communications,” Andrew Bocking, executive vice president for BBM at BlackBerry, said.