These days, there are more methods to interconnect with friends and family on mobile handsets apart from the usual voice calls and text messaging. One of these is mobile instant messaging services. Presently, the most widespread IM in the mobile biosphere is the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).
‘Research in Motion may release Blackberry Messenger, or BBM, for iPhones and Androids.’ This gossip has sailed around the internet for months but has yet to come to fruition or be affirmed by RIM. On the contrary, at the Blackberry World 2011 Q&A Session for Developers, RIM has affirmed that they are not in the process of developing their BBM to be used on the iPhone or the Android. Although they did not rule out the possibility of an interface to enable the BBM for iPhone or Android customers in the future, it seems that they have a very good reason not to pursue this route.
It wasn’t a complete shock this morning when BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins proclaimed that the well-liked BlackBerry Messenger, one of the few outstanding apps chaining BlackBerry users to the platform, would be approaching to iPhone and Android in the form of a free app this summer.
Apple has now entered into the mobile IM arena. This means that you can now chat on your iPhone 4.
When BlackBerry architect Gary Klassen first came up with the idea for what became BlackBerry Messenger, his coworkers at what was then Research In Motion didn’t appreciated why someone would need anything except mobile email. Even his wife wasn’t impressed.
Even though many critics say that RIM is missing out on a large percentage of the market by limiting the Blackberry Messenger to their own devices, RIM seems inclined to stay with their current marketing direction. Despite the many rumors to the contrary, at the present RIM is indicating that the only BBM interface for other devices will be in the Enterprise area, which is designed for the business sector.
Deepak Patel
CEO & an entrepreneur at iMOBDEV Technologies
Mr. Deepak Patel is an entrepreneur & founder of iMOBDEV Technologies - A leading web & mobile app development company. He is having 8+ years of experience in offering the splendid IT services to the worldwide clients. The informative articles he shares, reflect his skills in technical terms, project management and business development for the website & mobility solutions.