Mar 7, 2011 12:34 GMT  ·  By

It has been revealed that Research In Motion (RIM) is attempting to capitalize on the popularity of its Blackberry Messenger (BBM) app by releasing it on Android and iOS platforms.

As its name suggests, BlackBerry Messenger is an instant messaging app.

It was built exclusively for BlackBerry smart-phone owners and features a chat style layout, unlimited characters, and other great features.

Users can choose a BBM display picture, they get real-time confirmations when messages are delivered and read, have the ability to share photos, videos and more with multiple contacts at once, and can even add contacts by scanning barcodes or sharing PINs.

The Boy Genius Report now claims to have learned from numerous sources which it trusts that RIM will initially deploy BBM on Android, with the iOS release soon to follow.

According to these knowledgeable sources, RIM has not yet finalized the deals with Goggle and Apple which leaves the launch date and pricing unknown for now.

BGR does note that RIM is likely to distribute BlackBerry Messenger for free, as it may be a stripped-down version which won’t do file transfers, and other advanced functions.

Although many would be reluctant to believe RIM has nothing to gain by launching its messenger applications on platforms other than its own Blackberry smart-phones, it is believed that applications like WhatsApp and Kik have started to get the worst out of RIM, forcing it to aggressively compete against their knock-off nature.

It is also believed that sales of the highly-acclaimed messenger application will also drive more customers to the Blackberry, this being one reason why Apple might not even want the software on iOS devices.

But by rejecting it from the iTunes App Store, Apple could also face an antitrust lawsuit, which is something Apple itself doesn’t want.

Whichever the scenario, BGR upholds that Android is already on track to get it, leaving iOS for a tad later.