BBM Coming to Android and iOS? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

silentsim · 03-03-2011, 08:54 AM

According to BGR, Yes it is.

Quote:

BGR has learned from multiple trusted sources that Research In Motion is planning to bring its beloved BlackBerry Messenger app and service to Android, and eventually to iOS as well.

http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/03/exclus...droid-and-ios/

DementedReality · 03-03-2011, 08:55 AM

well that will end any edge BB had for consumer purchases...

OilKiller · 03-03-2011, 09:01 AM

But I hear a lot of people are going with this now and it will soon be available for BB, is already available for Android and iPhone: http://www.liveprofile.com/

silentsim · 03-03-2011, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilKiller

But I hear a lot of people are going with this now and it will soon be available for BB, is already available for Android and iPhone: http://www.liveprofile.com/

Plenty of apps like that already exist with varying popularity (Ping, WhatsApp). People with Berries don't usually use em, since alot of people are still on the email+bbm only plan.

fundmark19 · 03-03-2011, 09:29 AM

So long RIM thanks for giving everyone a solid messaging platform on your way out!

Azure · 03-03-2011, 10:54 AM

This, plus rumors that RIM may allow Android apps to be installed on Blackberry phones.

I don't think this is the end of the Blackberry though. If anything it'll make them more popular.

Slava · 03-03-2011, 11:03 AM

I can't see many third party users jumping on board though if you can't send photos/video?

That might make sense for RIM to have features that only BB users get, but that is pretty limiting if true.

OilKiller · 03-03-2011, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slava

I can't see many third party users jumping on board though if you can't send photos/video?

That might make sense for RIM to have features that only BB users get, but that is pretty limiting if true.

Thing is though, since I've been using a BB, I never have once sent a photo or video via BBM. For me personally, it was always about text. So that really wouldn't be a concern if you don't need or want to send pics or videos. I would say the other thing they might limit is groups, which I never found very useful either personally.

Slava · 03-03-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Thing is though, since I've been using a BB, I never have once sent a photo or video via BBM. For me personally, it was always about text. So that really wouldn't be a concern if you don't need or want to send pics or videos. I would say the other thing they might limit is groups, which I never found very useful either personally.

I've sent photos and done the group thing. I can't say its essential (I agree its about the text), but I could see it being a bit of a sticking point. Lets face it....iPhone users seem to love having options on their phones that they'll never use!

fundmark19 · 03-03-2011, 12:55 PM

Fact! I have google translate and I used it once to tell my friend to f*** off in creole it has been sitting there unused ever since

sclitheroe · 03-03-2011, 12:58 PM

I posted at length about the need for RIM to do this in the perpetual BB thread and generally nobody accepted that this should, or would happen. I feel somewhat vindicated that there are rumors of this actually happening now

psicodude · 03-03-2011, 01:03 PM

Interesting. Hopefully this signifies a shift in thinking from RIM. Instead of desperately clinging to 2 or 3 things that BB does better than it's competitors (imo, anyway), maybe they are saying "Screw it. Make those technologies publicly available and let's focus on innovating again."

sclitheroe · 03-03-2011, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psicodude

Interesting. Hopefully this signifies a shift in thinking from RIM. Instead of desperately clinging to 2 or 3 things that BB does better than it's competitors (imo, anyway), maybe they are saying "Screw it. Make those technologies publicly available and let's focus on innovating again."

Or one could say they are focusing on their core competency, which has always been, and could likely remain, the best messaging platform around.

It will be interesting to see how they will monetize the BBM side. I think for a lot of people, BBM on their iPhone is probably worth $5-10 bucks at a minimum. Beejive is $10 I believe, and is quite popular.

Mazrim · 03-03-2011, 02:20 PM

I bought Beejive, and it was the best purchase I've made for my phone. I would spend more money to be able to use BBM as well.

Bill Bumface · 03-03-2011, 03:02 PM

Finally.

The spread between Blackberry's and iPhones is such that you rarely have someone weighing their options between the two.

I had a BB for work, and when I changed jobs and needed a new phone I knew I'd miss BBM, but not for one second was I about to make my phone choice based on that criteria.

The reason people get Blackberries for the most part is because of corporate trust of BES.

Making BBM available on all platforms just propogates their highly successful messaging platform to a much greater share of the market. Absolutely I'd pay for it.

J Diddy · 03-03-2011, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure

This, plus rumors that RIM may allow Android apps to be installed on Blackberry phones.

I don't think this is the end of the Blackberry though. If anything it'll make them more popular.

Not sure Android apps on the Blackberry is a good thing: http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...?taxonomyId=85

psicodude · 03-03-2011, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Or one could say they are focusing on their core competency, which has always been, and could likely remain, the best messaging platform around.

It will be interesting to see how they will monetize the BBM side. I think for a lot of people, BBM on their iPhone is probably worth $5-10 bucks at a minimum. Beejive is $10 I believe, and is quite popular.

I would argue that their core competency is their corporate solutions (BES, encryption, etc.), but I do agree with your point. The consumer market is massive in comparison and RIM needs more of that market share to remain competitive.

Selling BBM to other systems could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years.

sclitheroe · 03-03-2011, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psicodude

I would argue that their core competency is their corporate solutions (BES, encryption, etc.), but I do agree with your point. The consumer market is massive in comparison and RIM needs more of that market share to remain competitive.

Selling BBM to other systems could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years.

Yeah - BES, encryption, BBM, it's all a part of their messaging portfolio. Even BIS, as much as its sucks because its not BES, is reliable and works well. The whole RIM backend is pretty great.

TorqueDog · 03-04-2011, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Yeah - BES, encryption, BBM, it's all a part of their messaging portfolio. Even BIS, as much as its sucks because its not BES, is reliable and works well. The whole RIM backend is pretty great.

RIM's backend is very cool stuff. Knowing how it works, however, makes me believe that the idea they'll be allowing third-party devices access to it is a load of bollocks.

BBM works off the same idea as a PIN-to-PIN message (Peer to Peer message if you aren't familiar with BlackBerry). Each device has a unique PIN assigned to it at the factory, which is used to identify itself at the RIM infrastructure. These PINs also have linked to them encryption keys that reside on the handset, so that only messages intended for a specific handset can be read by it.

These third-party devices don't have PINs nor the appropriate encryption keys. To my mind, it would be an immensely huge undertaking to append the appropriate systems necessary to integrate third party devices into such a closed, secure system without compromising the security.