BlackBerry Announces BBM iOS And Android App to Be Released This Summer

Today at the BlackBerry Live event, CEO Thorsten Heins announced BBM will be released for Android and iOS in the near future. The messaging app will launch globally this summer. This is an important move for BlackBerry since it will bring BB10′s strongest feature to literally billions of potential users.

“It's really a state of confidence,” Heins explained. “The BB10 platform is very strong the response continues to be excellent so now is the right time for BBM to turn into a completely independent mobile messaging platform.”

The app is going to be free for both Android and iOS. Similar to other messaging apps, it will certainly be a standalone application. iOS 6 or Ice Cream Sandwich are going to be a requirement.

Initially, only messaging and group features are going to be available. But Heins promised that the remainder of BBM will ultimately be made available on the Android and iOS versions including screen sharing, BBM voice as well as the just-disclosed BBM channels.

We're also making the BBM platform more robust than ever”, Heins proudly stated. Together with this very uncharacteristic move from BlackBerry, it's difficult to argue against his statement.

It's clear BlackBerry is finally rising up. They shall no longer be the important company from the mobile war. Should they be, to thrive, the firm ought to forge new partnerships and figure out how to deal with both Android and iOS, reigning platforms. This move to place BBM on Android and iOS is a massive step forward. BlackBerry might definetly have a chance.

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