Reasearch in Motion today announced that AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo Instant Messenger, and ICQ will be available on new handheld units and that Yahoo will be available as a free download for exsting units. These services, and others are now available via thrid party applications but the new aggreement will be for actual client software installed on the handheld units that use the networks push email technology for communication.

The Messenger services on the BlackBerry platform will allow consumers to see which friends are online, send and receive instant messages, have multiple conversations at once, participate in online conferences and even send and view emoticons.