BBM for Android coming

[TaeKwonDonkey]

If BBM comes to Android, RIM will lose one of their main selling points for their phones. What else does the platform offer? Intense levels of security for business purposes? People buying a phone for personal use don't care about that but I know young people my age who will go and buy a blackberry just because all their friends are on BBM. There would be no point in buying a BB device if BBM came to Android and RIM is going to have to learn that the hard way.

 

[Xopher]

If BBM comes to Android, RIM will lose one of their main selling points for their phones. What else does the platform offer? Intense levels of security for business purposes? People buying a phone for personal use don't care about that but I know young people my age who will go and buy a blackberry just because all their friends are on BBM. There would be no point in buying a BB device if BBM came to Android and RIM is going to have to learn that the hard way.

I think that is why the rumors are they plan on bringing the texting side of BBM, not all features of BBM (voice, pics, broadcasts, multi-person chat, groups, sharing). Plus there are several games in the works that will use BBM.

I don't know if it is the right gameplan or not, but I can see it going both ways: BB users telling their Android friend they can't send them a picture because they aren't on a BlackBerry (trying to lure people to BB for more features, or just p!ss!ng people off because they can do those things through other apps, making BBM look lame).

I do think that it is something that RIM needs to do to stay part of the cross-platform communication game. If they don't, how soon will people forget that most of these apps mimic BBM. You have to keep your product in front of people if you want to keep selling. BBM may not be a selling point to some, but by doing this, they do keep the BlackBerry name out there.

 

[john_v]

Personally I dont care either way...My wife and I used to use bbm with a family group like another person posted (calendar, groceries). But as far communication we just use our unlimited texting and i dont see thr need to run an IM program in the background.

As far as rim, I dont think they'll ever totally die; too many government and corporate tyoes relying on them. But is qnx going to be eniugh to save the consumer side of things...that remains to be seen.

 

[putney1477]

When I first switched over to andriod thanksgiving, I missed my BBIM a ton! Out of all my friends and co workers I was only the 2nd to get an andriod phone. We used BBIM ALOT for work and play. Now, more and more of us are getting andriod phones and even a few of my bb friends have downloaded Gtalk as well. I'm hoping that BB releases it to andriod.

 

[tony bag o donuts]

I'd rather have gtalk have group abilities and could care less about bbm and the groups crashing all the time lol

 

[NyStrongest]

I say just make gtalk like Bbm.......

 

[Oceanstar]

RIM as I see it are changing the way they think that's doe sure. What I suspect though is that they will use this "prized" feature to lure customers to BlackBerry using a limited or a lite version on android and iOS. They might not be able to enable such large scale integration before updating their OS and infrastructure to the one based on the QNX software.

 

[Duvi]

With LiveProfile, not sure it's going to matter. From the reports, it states Android & iOS. LiveProfile will be on BB, Symbian & WP7 and is already on Android and iOS. LP will be more universal than RIM with their BBM.

 

[li2327]

This is something I would love to see. While I do have a lot of my old bbm friends on gtalk, I would love to have the best of both worlds. Bring it on!

 

[Guamguy]

I say just make gtalk like Bbm.......

They should. Hello Google, are you listening?

Three ex Googlers did, and created an app called Beluga. Android and iOS versions included. Unfortunately, got bought out by Facebook so they are no longer an independent company and the fate of these apps remain to be seen.

There are others, many others:

Kik Messenger (being sued by RIM)
Live Profile (someone mentioned this already)
WhatsApp! (another famous one)
GroupMe (sounds good)

The most popular though seems to be KakaoTalk, which is Korean in origin, and its supremacy in the Android Market rankings comes with the heavy Korean Android phone invasion. But KakaoTalk is spreading out globally. And while I've seen the app in the Android Market, my daughter is quick to use it when I passed one of my Androids to her. And she's telling her friends with iPhones and Androids to use it, just as a friend introduced the app to her.

BTW, I never heard LiveProfile going into WP7. The platform has permission issues that makes it difficult for cross platform group messenging developers even if such apps are under consideration:

Chemical Irony :: No WhatsApp for WP7

 

[gordonzhao]

Here are my two cents for someone who uses both a BlackBerry and an Android. Both have their ups and downs.

BBM in itself is definitely the hands down winner when it comes to IM especially with the D/R, Broadcast, Multichat, Media. I can't possibly type as fast with my keyboard on the MyTouch as I can with my Bold, but that's another topic. BBM is coming to Android, but it's as stated a watered down version, which basically implies, straight forward SMS but with the D/R capabilities. (I assume) I would still use BBM over text just because on countless occasions have the SMS failed to be delivered.

Now the Android, I use all the apps on there, Google Talk, WhatsApp, Fring, Kik, Live Profile. The only one that is widely used for me is Google Talk, a few friends here and there use WhatsApp, but not enough. Google Talk has a really good advantage on android. It updates the chat history as soon as you sign in. Which is a feature I've yet to see RIM put on Google Talk, but I doubt that's going to happen, neither parties seem to care enough for development of the app.

But as far as BBM going to Android & iOS, it won't make much of an impact on the BB side because it's obviously not fully functioning as it would on a BlackBerry. It would just be a way for RIM easily connect their users to Android and iOS users, but with it's limitations obviously. I don't know how this will play out for any of the parties. May be RIM will lose users once BBM has been developed for Android or iOS, May be Android and iOS users will leave to get a BlackBerry. The ever endless rivalries and switching!

 

[jinda]

what is the latest on this? any news on when this is coming to android?

 

[ajonesma]

BBM is simply a waste! Just get texting or use LiveProfile or something like that

 

[brownhornet]

BBM is simply a waste! Just get texting or use LiveProfile or something like that

Its definitely not a waste when 60%+ of the people that you know use it. Its basically the reason why apps like pingchat and whatsapp are useless for me because when you have tons of contacts with blackberries they're not giving up bbm for a knockoff of what they already use just for one or two people.

 

[Preach2k]

I would love to have BBM on my Android on my New Android phone.

 

[thisisthefallen]

Whatsapp is better than BBM imo.

 

[Arelunde]

Never understood the value of BBM while I had it available. I had to pay Vz for texting and used that - still do. Android texting is fine for my use and BBM wouldn't be a draw.

 

[Ronindan]

Never understood the value of BBM while I had it available. I had to pay Vz for texting and used that - still do. Android texting is fine for my use and BBM wouldn't be a draw.

Bbm is very useful to keep in touch with people you know across the world. For example I use bbm to keep in touch with my friends and relatives across Canada and the US.





Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

 

[knoppe01]

It's also great to see that it has been delivered and read

 

[complexx]

further details needed!

Does anyone have a predicted or expected release date for this?

BBM on Android would be a very well received application. I've tried liveprofile on my BB and it's terrible (granted its in beta right now), but regardless, it lacks any customization, utilizes possibly the worst font I've seen on a phone, and simply doesn't come across as a refined UI for communication.

BBM would be a welcome addition to the Android market as it would be the chosen means for communication with BB users. It's really the only thing holding me back from switched to Android right now. I was hoping liveprofile would be a userful tool, but based on what I'm seeing in this beta, it's not.