BlackBerry has announced its plans to make its groundbreaking mobile social network, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), available to iOS and Android users this summer, with support planned for iOS6, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher. Upon release, BBM customers would be able to broaden their connections to include friends, family and colleagues on other mobile platforms.
In the planned initial release, iOS and Android users would be able to experience the immediacy of BBM chats, including multi-person chats, as well as the ability to share photos and voice notes, and engage in BBM Groups, which allows BBM customers to create groups of up to 30 people.
"For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service. BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We are excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community," said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice- President, Software Product Management and Ecosystem, BlackBerry.
Presently, BBM has more than 60 million monthly active customers, with more than 51 million people using BBM an average of 90 minutes per day. BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps.
