Fans of BlackBerry will be pleased to learn that the company has today announced that not only is BBM Video calling on its way to both iOS and Android this July, but that those who live in the United States or Canada can get their hands on the feature right now, albeit in beta form.
Once a dominant force in the smartphone industry, BlackBerry has lost its way in recent years, and having fallen way behind the Apple iPhone in the pecking order, the Canadian outfit has called out its Cupertino rival in the battle of the IM services. Having opened BBM up to iOS, Android and Windows Phone recently, the company is now busy trying to sell the once-popular instant-messaging service to the masses, and as is the case with most tech companies nowadays, BlackBerry has gone on the offensive against its fierce rival's corresponding iMessage.
BlackBerry may well be scrambling for some sort of relevancy in the smartphone world, but it seems that some people just wont let their BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM accounts die. Announcing its first beta release of BBM for Windows Phone, BlackBerry took to its blog in order to claim that it had received an "incredible number of requests for BBM to come to Windows Phone."
It took far too long in the eyes of many, but when BlackBerry first brought BBM to both Android and iOS, the app and associated service was met with a tepid response at best. While it's true that BBM has, or at least had a core user base that was propping BlackBerry up despite its many failings, alternatives like WhatsApp left Android and iOS users wondering what all the fuss was about. It didn't help that the apps weren't great, either.
BlackBerry's OS and brand in general may be tanking right now, but the Canadian company seems determined to turn things around, and following the recent release of its prized BBM app for iOS and Android, it looks as though users of the latter ecosystem may begin to see the instant messaging app installed as standard on some future devices. If there's one thing consumers tend to loathe, it's the pre-installation of unnecessary bloatware that cannot be removed, but the good news - at least, for much of the western world - is that it's unlikely to be finding its way to your favorite Android brand of handset any time soon.
BBM for iOS has just received an update over at the App Store, bringing with it support for the iPod touch and the Wi-Fi only iPad. More details as well as direct download link can be found right here.
The practice of paying for fake reviews, otherwise known as "astroturfing," seems to be growing in prevalence in the digital industry, and on a day that has seen Samsung fined a hefty some for engaging in such behavior, it looks as though the ever-desperate BlackBerry has been doing some astroturfing of its own. The Google Play Store review page of the newly-released BlackBerry Messenger has been inundated with suspiciously similar looking reviews from a number of "consumers," and although we already knew how much was at stake for BlackBerry with regards to the release of BBM, this move seems a little excessive.
When you're on the way down it can often feel like events somehow transpire against you. It can almost feel like the world is against you, and that you just can't catch a break. We can't help but think that's exactly what the people at BlackBerry are feeling like right now.
BlackBerry finally rolled out BBM for iOS and Android earlier today. But there is a catch. It requires iOS and Android users to sign up for a waiting list before using it. In short, if you don’t have the invite for BBM from BlackBerry, you cant use it on your Android or iPhone just yet.
After quite some delay and uncertainty surrounding the launch of BBM, or BlackBerry Messenger for both iOS and Android, BlackBerry has just released a press statement revealing that both versions will manifest at their respective stores in the coming hours. Such is the way things have been for BlackBerry over the past couple of years, this is arguably the most exciting thing the company has announced since BB10, and with six million consumers having signed up to the progress update feed of BBM's wider launch, it looks as though the wait is now finally, almost over.