If you’ve been patiently waiting for BlackBerry to give you access to its BBM service on iOS or Android then you’re in luck, because the Canadian firm has now opened its instant messaging system up to anyone, allowing existing users to invite their friends to join them on what was once the world’s up and coming instant messaging service.
When BlackBerry, nee RIM finally got around to launching its BBM service on non-BlackBerry hardware it was met with mild indifference. That swiftly turned to derision when it was made clear that users wanting to sign up to BBM would have to form an orderly queue while BlackBerry got all its ducks in a row. Now though, BBM is being opened up to all.
Those currently signed up to BBM are now being encouraged to invite their friends to join them on BlackBerry’s servers after emails began to arrive in the inboxes of those lucky enough to already have an account.
“The line-up to use BBM™ is gone. Now you can invite your friends to join you on BBM right away. Tell your friends about BBM and then invite them to your BBM contact list.”
Whether launching BBM on devices other than BlackBerry’s own is enough to save the company will be one of the more interesting narratives of the next few months, and the BBM app did shoot to the top of the App Store charts soon after its release. We’re not sure whether that will translate to real users, though.
BlackBerry is currently at the center of all kinds of speculation surrounding possible sales and the like, but there have been no announcements or even concrete rumors so far, with many wondering whether the company will simply end up being stripped for parts. For a once proud Canadian powerhouse of the smartphone world, such a possibility was once unthinkable. Perhaps just another sign of how Android and the iPhone have changed the smartphone landscape over the last six years.
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