Blackberry Messenger (BBM) app was released this week and there were over 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours. They are hoping to be one of the leading private social networks for people who need immediate communication and IM with privacy. You have the ability to share videos, images, and text in real time. You can also chat with groups as large as 30 people at once. That is definitely a nice feature. Other competitive apps would be WhatsApp which claim to have 350 million active users and also Kik Messenger with 80 million.
The features provided within the app include:
- BBM Chat – Lets you know that your messages have been delivered and read. Also shows when someone is responding.
- Multi-Person Chat – Invite up to 30 friends to chat together and also share files, calendars, and photo albums.
- File Sharing – Share files such as photos and voice notes.
- Personal Status – Post a personal message, current status, and have a profile picture.
- Unique PIN – You can maintain privacy by not sharing your phone number or email address, just share your unique BBN PIN.
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Voice and Video Calling – This will work for both Android and iPhone/iOS users.
This is the first time that the canadian company decides to offer their solutions so they can be used in other devices different than Blackberry. The responsiveness of demand shows the interest of other users to try the Blackberry technology, and in turn launches new business model that poses the canadian firm in the market.
The mobile messaging market is full of opportunities and depends on the ingenuity of developers to leverage the comings and goings of cellular telephony. I didn’t download the application, but I’ll try it in a couple of days. Thank you very much for bringing us the latest news about technology. 🙂
I’m not too sure why this is a good strategy for Blackberry. Are they hoping that people will switch to Blackberry OS just because of BBM? Or are they going to software route, and this foreshadows their future decision? I guess people who still are nostalgic about their old Blackberries would download the app but in this day and age where there are dozens of messaging apps already out there, competing for new users will be difficult.
I would agree, it’s a very interesting choice that may foreshadow the shape of the company in the future. Blackberry has recently been trying everything to stay profitable, and while it’s a great company with great products, it seems to be having a hard time gaining any ground. While it seems difficult to imagine Blackberry surviving as a software business, I won’t write them off just yet.
thats really great information
I think Blackberry should likely focus on their present strengths and this includes BBM. Recent headsets haven’t really taken off and consumers have lost faith in their products with every stock decrease. This is likely their only way at gaining some confidence back into their brand. Unfortunately, a large majority of the world is using whatsapp and this will be their main competition.
I agree that Blackberry appears to be gaining with this move. The competition is fierce with mobile technology and apps, and if they don’t have a strong following they should invest some in building that. As you observed, many are using other competitor apps.
I think it is way too late for RIM to release this. Most people don’t even care about Blackberry anymore. The AppStore is filled with messaging apps already. What makes BBM any better than the rest of them?
I tired searching “BBM” and it was about the 10th result. RIM must do better if they want their Messaging App to be a success.
This is so little so late. If this came out even 3 or 4 years ago, it might keep some of the people from leaving Blackberry hardware. I for one was one of those people that jumped ship from my BB to an Android and while I really dearly miss the physical keyboard, the experience on the device is infinitely better than what BB could provide. Beyond that, I don’t miss BBM that much and won’t bother installing this app now. There are simply to few people left on BBM that I would speak with among my friends.
This is a bit good to hear but it is too late for this Canadian company to launch its messenger because there are many popular messengers already available to the users so far. Frankly, people are completely accustomed to those and no matter what Blackberry releases newly into the market now. People pay least attention towards Blackberry and they don’t even feel like having a trial of it because all the leading messengers which are on demand now satisfied its users the most. The thing that is appreciable here is Blackberry is trying to make out its profits and are still trying to be profitable. Anyways there is a great sharing of the latest information in this site. Thanks for all this.
I agree with others here who have observed that this BBM app is coming too late from the company. Blackberry has long been eclipsed by the iPhone and the Android. I often go many days and literally do not see or hear anything about Blackberry. That was not the case three or four years ago. But the Blackberry is just not in public view as it once was. It is not a frontrunner or even a player at all these days.
That said, I am intrigued by BBM and I might download it and check it out. I wonder about its future though. Despite the initial flurry of interest, I still wonder what happens in the months to come. It will be very telling, I think.
I have a friend who told me about it too. I’m definitely going to look stupid, I may not understand the usefulness of this application. I often hear about BBm, but it gives something more compared to other messaging services?
Personally, it does not interest me too much at the moment, but I’m glad that Android is not left out. I was told that there are still some bugs, but other than that, I think it works perfectly.
I think this is the only thing that they really have to stay in the market. Other than patents they have of course. It’s really cool for a Canadian company to become this big and all but I don’t see them last long on this one either.
I still have a Blackberry Curve, and I must say that this shift seems to be a way to retrieve whatever modicum of hope the corporation wants to have with sustaining themselves. I guess this is taking the term “If you can’t beat them, join them” to a whole new extreme.
Maybe partnerships with other companies might give them an opportunity in the near future, and the fusion is probably just “filler,” in my honest opinion. As long as someone is still getting money, swallowing their pride and learning to be resourceful in their times of having less incentives from customers is the pragmatic way of surviving.
Is it really worth it ? For me I only need one chat service and I have been using whatsapp and this is what all my contacts are using. Unless all my contacts move to BBM I will stay on whatsapp. What is the use in having 2 or even more chat services.
All these service such as BBM , whatsapp, facebook chat ect just kill you battery and your data. I think for me 1 is fine and only if a large number of my contacts change will I change.
What new will BBM offer that will make me want to change ?
I figure that this was a last ditch effort by Blackberry to keep themselves relevant on the market. I mean their stock and business has been plummeting for quite awhile now. Heck, if you are brave enough to walk around with a Blackberry phone, be prepared to be ridiculed. I’ve always wanted to use BBM, but I never did want a Blackberry phone. My interest only tug of warred between iPhone and Android devices until I found Android was right for me.
The Multi-Person Chat option seems really useful for bigger groups of coworkers. I can see this being adopted in many larger companies because it seems relatively easy to use and has a lot of benefits for bigger groups and also smaller ones.
As BloomTech pointed out it is pretty obvious that Blackberry wanted to see how users would react to it making the Blackberry technology available for other devices. This shows that Blackberry is willing to expand into other areas.
I actually think this was a good strategy. I actually prefer using BBM rather than Whatsapp, Viber, Line, etc. The main thing I like about it is that since I’m using an android phone, I can’t hide my ‘last seen’. (You can hide your ‘last seen’ on iPhones’) And sometimes when I’m busy but just checking my messages and if people can see my last seen, then I’m obliged to reply. But BBM doesn’t have that so it’s just something I like. But I was using BB for about 4 years, so maybe I’m a little biased.
I personally think BBM is the most advanced instant messaging app for many Blackberry users. It is essential to keep each other updates using BBM. I am a Blackberry loyal fan, and u personally use BBM more than any of the popular social medias such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. BBM has a lot of features in which you can also help it is the easier instant message app that ever exists. You can also video chat using BBM is the sign up if super easy. I have been using it ever since my first Blackberry smartphone has released. I don’t think I want to use other instant message besides BBM because it is simple to use and very user-friendly.
I don’t really see the big deal. It’s basically just Skype with a different name. Skype even has free multi video calls now too.
Well, we already have many solutions for IM already and most of them like WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook chat, etc. are already cross-platform (iOS, BlackBerry OS, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian). I am personally happy with my basic SMS, Viber and Facebook Messenger and I reckon I do not need any more IM apps in my phone. Moreover, I do not think this is a good strategy for BlackBerry as people who use BlackBerry also use other solutions besides BBM.
How widely used is Blackberry nowadays? Just a few years ago I remember a lot of people using them. Nowadays it seems like the only group of people who have blackberry are the businessmen who care a lot about their privacy.
Honestly I don’t see why they haven’t done this much sooner. Once Blackberry went downhill they should have made BBM multi-platform and at least have scavenged whatever profit they could. Hopefully they can still climb back out of the hole they’re in with the new products they’re releasing. Thanks for another great post!
I think this is some sort of a last resort for them to just push through. BB is pretty much going downhill ever since and doing this is really the best option so far. But I still don’t understand why BB hasn’t come up with solid solutions on their part.
I had this with my blackberry and I enjoyed the feature. I recently downloaded the app for my iPhone and already deleted it. BBM for iPhones is nothing like it is for a blackberry. I do not like the app and I find it useless for me to use.
When I first learned of this news about Blackberry, I didn’t think it would catch on really quick. There were so many methods of communications and messenger services, I thought why would people want to convert to the one from Blackberry. There is no particular reason why it should be more superior, except that it Blackberry has a growing community of users and developers. It’s that subtle and complex territory that is the focus of the launch.