Is this a sign that RIM (oh it's Blackberry now) is phasing out the consumer hardware market and is going to desperately try and claw back the high security business market.
BlackBerry and Apple pie this summer. Or BBM-onna-Droid
BlackBerry's hugely popular social-network-in-hardware BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be available on iPhone and Android for free from this summer. BBM is one of the defining features of the BlackBerry, a brilliantly designed social network that has earned the firm a compulsive following. For BBM's "members", the messenger is …
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Tuesday 14th May 2013 19:36 GMT mickey mouse the fith
One problem they face....
On a Blackberry device, it was free to use on a Blackberry tarrif. I imagine thats why it was so popular in the first place. Are they going to negotiate with the providers to make it free on non-blackberry tarrifs? If their not, then it offers nothing over the established android/ios clients apart from communicating with their ever diminishing userbase. I doubt many people will switch tbh.
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Tuesday 14th May 2013 19:36 GMT IMVHO
Opening to the network?
Might it be:
1) Give BBM for free (look at the birdie!)
2) Sell the secure stuffs (give us a mo' to port)
I'd call that a good hedging strategy. Keep the moneymaker shaking while hoping and praying that the hardware biz keeps a toe in another door.
When your real competition for four-ish-ness is Nokia, go with your strengths (being anyone but Nokia, to start).
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Wednesday 15th May 2013 08:14 GMT Anonymous Coward
A few years too late
Had they done this early enough that it caught on before iMessage came out, maybe it would have had a chance of becoming a cross platform standard. But now? There are how many ways available to send text messages without using SMS? What is the draw for one more?
Seems like the only market is for that small number of people who want to switch from Blackberry to iOS/Android but can't bear the thought of giving up BBM. All those who abandoned Blackberry long ago have no reason to turn back the clock and start using BBM again.