BBM for Android and iOS to launch this weekend
BlackBerry has announced that its popular instant messaging service BBM will
be available on Android from 21 September and iOS from 22 September.
Research in Motion had dominated the
corporate smartphone market but regular consumers have been drawn to
phones with big touchscreens Photo: ALAMY
BBM runs in the background and is always on, meaning that messages on BBM are
typically delivered and read within seconds. It also keeps a record of
messages that have been delivered and read, and uses a PIN to keep contacts
and information secure.
“BBM is a very engaging messaging service that is simple to use, easy to
personalise and has an immediacy that is necessary for mobile
communications,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at
BlackBerry.
“With more than a billion Android, iOS, and BlackBerry smartphones in the
market, and no dominant mobile messaging platform, this is absolutely the
right time to bring BBM to Android and iPhone customers.”
Android and iPhone users who download the BBM app will be able to carry out
both one-on-one and group text chats, and share files such as photos and
voice notes instantly. They will also be able to send a message to all of
their BBM contacts in one go using the 'Broadcast Message' function.
BBM will be available as a free download for Android smartphones running Ice
Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.x) beginning at 12.00 Midday BST on
September 21. BBM for iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 7 will become available
for each market on the App Store schedule of 12.01 local time on September
22.
The news comes amid rumours that it is planning to cut up to 40 per cent of its workforce by the end of the year in a bid to save costs. The Wall Street Journal said people "familiar with the matter" had revealed the planned cuts which are expected to affect all departments and be implemented in waves.
BlackBerry is also reportedly considering spinning off its popular messaging service BBM to form a new company. This would allow the new business to operate with greater independence, but it would also pitch it against much larger services such as Skype, owned by Microsoft, standalone messaging apps such as WhatsApp and increasingly popular in-house options owned by other manufacturers, including Samsung’s ChatOn.
In the UK, BlackBerry's share of the smartphone market has shrunk from 11 per cent to 3.5 per cent in the last year, as consumers opt for rival devices running Andriod, iOS and Windows Phone OS. The company announced last month that it has put itself up for sale in the hope a new owner might help it turn around its struggling smartphone business.
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