According to a Wall Street Journal report, BlackBerry is weighing the benefits of spinning of its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) instant messaging service into a separate company.
The report also indicates that BlackBerry is moving some of its executives over to the BBM team before in an effort to expand BBM’s current offerings.
For years BBM has been, unofficially, more than just an abbreviation for BlackBerry Messenger. It’s been a noun: “Hit me up on BBM.” It’s been a verb: “BBM me when you get here”. It’s even been the title of a song…
What BBM is today, however, is an official term in the Collins English Dictionary…
The inclusion of BBM in the Collins English dictionary recognizes its status as one of the world’s most popular mobile social networks. In recent years, the term ‘BBM’ has transcended its technological origins to become a brand that is part of the everyday language of millions of people all over the world… We’re honoured that a word used daily by millions of our customers has been officially welcomed into the English language. – T.A. McCann, VP of BBM and Social Communities at Research in Motion
Despite the problems Research in Motion is having, BBM is not one of them. BlackBerry Messenger is one of the most popular mobile IM clients in existence with over 56 million users, 70% of whom use it on a daily basis.
[Via Mobile Syrup]
I personally have been calling for Research in Motion to take BBM cross platform since March of 2011.
Although rumors pointing to such a move are pretty easy to find, BlackBerry Messenger, what I believe to be the best mobile IM client of all time, is still only available on BlackBerry devices, and, sadly, has a shrinking potential user base.
Former BBMers, like myself, would return to using BBM on our non-BlackBerry OS smartphone operating systems in a heartbeat, if it were available, but the truth of the matter is that the longer you go without using BBM, the less you long for it.
My youngest brother just graduated from college this past Saturday, and, on Sunday had a graduation party / open house where I was able to see a lot of old friends and family that I don’t regularly see.
One of the more interesting conversations that I got into was if there was anyway that one could run BBM on Android or iOS.
There isn’t, of course, but, the meme that seemed to get started was that it would really be cool if there were.
My question to you is, “Should RIM take BlackBerry Messenger cross platform?”
We would love to hear what you think, so, drop us a comment and let us know how you feel…
Most BlackBerry users know that their smartphones are of the most effective communication devices ever conceived, and, when it comes to social media, BlackBerry devices are absolute powerhouses when it comes to checking in, tweeting, liking, and sharing, etc.
You’ve got to, however, make sure you have the right apps installed on your BlackBerry to stay connected socially while on the go, so, we’ve compiled a quick list of Social Networking Apps that every BlackBerry user should install.
It’s another Chicken Wings and Beer episode of the 123rd installment of the SMRpodcast. Rod is on vacation, but, Chris and Robb hold it down and discuss a lot of Windows Phone 8, Google I/O, and RIM possibly splitting into two divisions.
We also debate why or why not developers decide to create Windows Phone Apps, talk about SwiftKey 3, and, talk about the updated Facebook Messenger for both iOS and Android. We’ve got all this and more in episode #123 of the SMRpodcast…
Check out the show…
[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/simplemobilereview/smrpodcast-123_-chicken-wings-and-beer-part-5.mp3[/podcast]
Download the MP3, subscribe via RSS, or, check us out on iTunes…
It looks like Research in Motion is working on their LMFAO listenting, pony loving, Rube Goldberg Machine building demographic.
The BBM Challenge Council has clearly jumped the shark…
We’ve heard rumors that Research in Motion would license BlackBerry Messenger for use on non-BlackBerry platforms for some time.
A big part of former RIM co-CEO and board member, Jim Balsillie’s, plan for turning things around including licensing BBM and other proprietary services currently available only to BlackBerry users.
Even though RIM CEO Thorsten Heins is open to certain types of licensing deals with other hardware manufactures, it doesn’t look like BlackBerry Messenger is going cross platform anytime soon. [Read more…]
When it comes to communication with other BlackBerry users, BlackBerry Messenger is the default IM client.
When, however, you have contacts that use other smartphones, we know that you need a good cross platform IM client because you want to stay in touch with those contacts as well.
This is why you should check out WhatsApp Messenger…
At least a couple of times now I have mentioned on the SMRpodcast that Research in Motion should partner with Amazon to bring their ecosystem to the BlackBerry PlayBook and RIM’s next-generation BlackaBerry 10 operating system.
Here is a short list of 5 reasons why…