FollowThe Managing Director of BlackBerry India has stated the company is committed to the end of summer schedule for launching the BBM services on the Android and iOS platforms to make it available for iPhone. Such a move will introduce the BlackBerry instant messaging service on a much wider scale given the sheer number of Android and iOS based devices currently swamping the market. The revelation was made during the launch of the newest BlackBerry handset, the Q5 in India. So it’s the end of September that we can look forward to having BBM on Android and iOS devices, which comes to around the end of summer period for the North Americans or maybe even a few weeks after summer.
Earlier, it was none other than the CEO of BlackBerry, Thorsten Heins who had also sought to soothe consumer nerves at a recent earnings call stating the company is well on track to ensure BBM expands its presence to the iOS as well as Android devices. The CEO too could not commit to any specific dates but mentioned it would be available at the app store of the company by the end of summer. Worth mentioning here, BBM is a crucial part of the Canadian company’s business package with experts even pegging the app to have far greater earning potential than what the company can achieve by selling handsets.
However, BBM isn’t alone in the instant messaging segment. One of the most recognized rivals of BBM is WhatsApp. This application is a cross system messaging app and has recently been in the news for going from paid app to free app for the iOS. Earlier WhatsApp used to charge one dollar for downloads but will now be charging only after one year. The latest policy is same as is prevalent with the Android version of WhatsApp.
BlackBerry too is expected to follow a similar pricing strategy with its BBM service, and will be available free from the app store. This no doubt will ensure the service gets the maximum exposure that BlackBerry could have been expecting. The company could then be seen charging users for using premium features such as video calling, voice calling and BIS.
