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BBM Coming to the iPhone!

I guess they're looking to get out of the handset business?

I don't get it.....the main reason most of the people I know stay with Blackberry is because of the network they've built up with BBM. Without it, they'd bolt.
 
This is awesome news (well, not news... rumours). Blackberrys are getting given away free with a new contract on some of the carriers here so they are increasing in popularity. BBM on the iPhone would be excellent.

Ams.
 
I don't get the excitement over BBM. I mean how different is it to other instant messenger apps, like yahoo?

Why would this be better then txting especially when you don't know if the receiver will have BBM.
 
Just use whatsapp. It is available on all 3 platforms and pretty much everyone that I know, even with a BB, has it.
 
maflynn said:
I don't get the excitement over BBM. I mean how different is it to other instant messenger apps, like yahoo?

Why would this be better then txting especially when you don't know if the receiver will have BBM.
Click to expand...

This has been done over and and over again, on this forum and others. Suffice it to say that BBM has *MANY* advantages over texting. I had an iPhone for a year and did not use texting the way I use BBM currently. It's an entirely different breed.

Anyway, WRT this news... not sure how I feel about it. RIM will have to have a lot of tricks up its sleeve to keep people buying BB hardware, because as it is, many people have it only for BBM.
 
Compile 'em all said:
Just use whatsapp. It is available on all 3 platforms and pretty much everyone that I know, even with a BB, has it.
Click to expand...

These third party solutions work great until they go down. I got all of my friends using kik messenger. All it took was one time of kik's servers going down for all my friends to quit using it.
 
Why are people so obsessed with BBM? If you read the article you won't be able to send pictures/video/location so basically you're back to an Original iPhone/3G for messaging? In any case, I know 4 people that have an iPhone, but I don't think I know someone who doesn't have unlimited messaging. BBM seems like something of the past.
 
CrzyCanuck72 said:
This has been done over and and over again, on this forum and others. Suffice it to say that BBM has *MANY* advantages over texting. I.
Click to expand...

Well evidently not here. What are some of the *MANY* advantages BBM has over texting or other instant messaging apps available for the iPhone.
 
Maybe I'm crazy but I just text my friends with blackberry's. What makes BBM so cool? The status symbol of having an outdated piece of technology? I'll stick to my iPhone and texting.
 
maflynn said:
Well evidently not here. What are some of the *MANY* advantages BBM has over texting or other instant messaging apps available for the iPhone.
Click to expand...

  • Delivered & read receipts
  • Faster than texting (at least on Blackberry)
  • Buddy list
  • Ability to allow someone to message you without giving them your mobile number. Also able to block that person later on if necessary.
  • Messages over data instead of cellular network
  • Location tagging
  • Ability to send files that you can't send over SMS (if it's made available on iOS version)
  • Status messages
  • Availability preferences (ex: in a meeting prevents BBM from disturbing you)
  • Much more reliable than 3rd party solutions
  • Ability to group contacts into categories

Just to name a few.
 
maflynn said:
Well evidently not here. What are some of the *MANY* advantages BBM has over texting or other instant messaging apps available for the iPhone.
Click to expand...
I really don't have time to list them out (should be studying legal ethics), if you search this forum you'll find many discussions on the topic. Besides, I doubt I'd convince you or anyone else here about the advantages. BBM is something you need to use for a while before you understand how much better it is. It doesn't have flashy specs on paper, but its real-life usability is unmatched.

It's also somewhat of a function of age/demographic. A soccer mom/dad sending a handful of texts a month won't know the difference, but give BBM to some of the kids who send tens of thousands of texts a month and they'll never go back.
 
jw nyc said:
  • Delivered & read receipts
  • Faster than texting (at least on Blackberry)
  • Buddy list
  • Ability to allow someone to message you without giving them your mobile number. Also able to block that person later on if necessary.
  • Messages over data instead of cellular network
  • Location tagging
  • Ability to send files that you can't send over SMS (if it's made available on iOS version)
  • Status messages
  • Availability preferences (ex: in a meeting prevents BBM from disturbing you)
  • Much more reliable than 3rd party solutions
  • Ability to group contacts into categories

Just to name a few.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's helpful and what I was asking. I still don't get the love affair with BBM but for people who've used it on their BB, I can see why they'd want it on the iPhone. I'm not convinced that non ex-blackberry users will flock to it though.
 
Oh and I forgot one of the best features...GROUPS. There is nothing better than the group messaging feature on BBM. And don't compare it to iPhone group texting which is literally horrible.

Another feature which is useful when chatting is being able to see when the other person is typing a response. The best way to compare BBM vs. SMS is to think about Email vs. SMS. Emailing and SMS technically do the same thing but SMS is less formal and faster. Well go one step further with BBM vs. SMS and BBM is faster and more like an instant message conversation where you go back and forth quickly b/c you can see when the person receives your message and whether they are responding right away. Add on the extra features mentioned above including the group conversations and you can see why it's SOOOO much better than SMS.
 
a lot of you just dont get it or just refuse to accept that there is a thriving world outside of iOS, BBM is the single reason why most BB users will not give up their blackberrys, and i am sure they are aware that text messages and im programs exist.
I have a work BB and as much as i love my iphone i recognise the unique experience that bbm provides.
 
Does BBM allow a setting where you can stop its auto-notifying of the sender of the message that the recipient has read the message (i.e. they actually looked at it)? I don't like this feature, sometimes you are tired or just don't want to reply right away and don't want others to know you are ignoring the message :p

It is the reason I still think ebuddy > BBM. I just like to be in control of my gadgets :)
 
That's like saying Apple is going to start marketing their multi-touch technology to other companies. This smells fishy...
 
sentinelsx said:
Does BBM allow a setting where you can stop its auto-notifying of the sender of the message that the recipient has read the message (i.e. they actually looked at it)? I don't like this feature, sometimes you are tired or just don't want to reply right away and don't want others to know you are ignoring the message :p

It is the reason I still think ebuddy > BBM. I just like to be in control of my gadgets :)
Click to expand...

No, you can't prevent it. But with iOS you will be able to see the first few words of the message in the popup notification and will choose to open the message or not. The read receipt doesn't get sent until you actually open the message.
 
sentinelsx said:
It is the reason I still think ebuddy > BBM. I just like to be in control of my gadgets :)
Click to expand...

A standard instant messaging app is nothing like BBM. One of the best things about BBM is the user cannot log out and you KNOW you can always contact them via this method. With standard IM apps you can open them and not know whether the person you want to contact will be logged in or not. If they're not, you then have to go back and SMS them instead. With BBM it's always on IM which is the best of all worlds.
 
Either Apple steps up its game or it let's somebody, who can do it better, do it better. I'm fine with BBM coming to the iPhone, if it is true.
 
jw nyc said:
A standard instant messaging app is nothing like BBM. One of the best things about BBM is the user cannot log out and you KNOW you can always contact them via this method. With standard IM apps you can open them and not know whether the person you want to contact will be logged in or not. If they're not, you then have to go back and SMS them instead. With BBM it's always on IM which is the best of all worlds.
Click to expand...

Well that depends. About half of my friends like to stay on "appear offline" on MSN and we usually message each other on ebuddy and if you get a reply it means they are online. If not we can always chat using the phone anyways.

I guess it is another reason BBM won't be helpful for me. With almost every person using iPhone or a few using Androids we are pretty comfortable with connecting when we feel like. I have tried BBM in the past and didn't find it too "revolutionary". But to each their own :)
 
sentinelsx said:
Well that depends. About half of my friends like to stay on "appear offline" on MSN and we usually message each other on ebuddy and if you get a reply it means they are online. If not we can always chat using the phone anyways.

I guess it is another reason BBM won't be helpful for me. With almost every person using iPhone or a few using Androids we are pretty comfortable with connecting when we feel like. I have tried BBM in the past and didn't find it too "revolutionary". But to each their own :)
Click to expand...

The only time I've heard someone who actually TRIED BBM not think it was great is when they had very few friends who had it. Once you use it to it's potential, there is nothing else even comparable and that isn't debatable.
 
Compile 'em all said:
Just use whatsapp. It is available on all 3 platforms and pretty much everyone that I know, even with a BB, has it.
Click to expand...


exactly whatsapp is everything BBM did when i had a berry, and for those theat say 3rd party apps can have server issues, well when i had a berry RIM had server issues too so its pointless to arguee BBM is better or different then whatsapp
 
iisforiphone said:
exactly whatsapp is everything BBM did when i had a berry, and for those theat say 3rd party apps can have server issues, well when i had a berry RIM had server issues too so its pointless to arguee BBM is better or different then whatsapp
Click to expand...

Huh? Whatsapp doesn't have read receipts or group conversations. Not the same thing.
 
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