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BlackBerry Messenger Coming to iOS This Summer
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I Dont think iMessage and Face time are the keeping iOS users in that ecosystem iPhones have a lot more benefits than this two services, I have never heard any person switching ti iOS so he or she can use imessage or FaceTime.
They did that... YEARS AGO... before they had any sort of market dominance in any category. They had to... To ensure the success of the iTunes Music Store and open the sales of iPod to windows users. It was a smart financial business decision.
I fail to see a business plan for putting BBM onto competing platforms.
FaceTime perhaps as it is quite slick; iMessage not so much since there are plenty of alternatives (WhatsApp, SMS, E-mail, etc.).
However, even with FaceTime, less and less people are switching since there are viable alternatives on other platforms such as Skype.
I predicted this move by RIM last year on this forum (or maybe even in 2011). Now only time will tell if BBM for iOS/Android will be enough to save RIM. I'm sure Nintendo will be looking closely at this.
BBS is still widely used in parts of the developing world. I have friends in places like Indonesia, Thailand, and India where BBM is still the communication method of choice. This will make communicating with them easier since international texts are expensive and not all of them use whatsapp.
When you have 50 contacts in your phone on iOS. FaceTime and iMessage I just can't give up. I'm using FaceTime at least a hour a day.
Apple didn't HAVE to do anything. Apple didn't HAVE to invite MS to bring Office to the Mac platform, either.
I think you try to simplify things too much and brush things aside when the overall message is this: consumers seem to appreciate cross-platform compatibility...and it's not a sign of an ailing company to create cross-platform products. Apple succeeded in the past by doing and has only recently shut it doors to other services (i.e. backing off Safari support for Windows). It's a bad long-term business model, just ask Sony how their support for 'Memory Sticks' is coming along. Consumers don't like it.
ok- to everyone who thinks it is a bad idea for Blackberry to do this:
think again.
Before:
"No, I'll rather get the iphone, so I can communicate with my friends who have iPhones"
Now:
"Cool, blackberry let's me communicate with a service that I love with all my friends who have iPhones"
And how do explain their wish to have a phone from a company who is closing in a matter of months? lol
Blackberry has been obsolete for years, and their most recent hardware is their last ditch effort, but some of the wireless carriers are not even going to carry them because they know they are a failure. In addition, some companies are not even making their Apps available to BB because there is no profit margin.
So other than now being able to talk to people with iPhones (which they could do w text anyway) why would they want a Blackberry phone?
As a student, I can confidently say that - in my school in the UK - we all prefer iPhones, but many get BBs not just for the cheaper price, but mainly for BBM. They will lose a lot of customers here... 
Google IS a software company, not a hardware company. Even the google branded phones were manufactured by various other companies already using Android (HTC, Samsung, etc.) Thus it makes sense for BB to push their software to all sorts of other hardware companies when their hardware is still struggling to even stay afloat. Considering that BB hasn't mentioned that they are converting to a software only company, and disassembling their hardware brand, it still makes no sense for a hardware company to release their software on other hardware companies phones.
There is virtually no positive impact this can have on their hardware business.
I personally have not switched because of those two apps. I need to easily communicate with family members who have only an Ipad or an Ipod Touch as their Apple device. Simplest way to do that is by those two apps.
It if weren't for that, I would have an HTC One right now.
Great strategy for BB. It didn't make sense when they were the market leader in the smart phone market but it will help sway those who are interested in getting a new BB but don't want to give up all there iphone contacts with an app like imessage. Plus BBM doesn't exclude people with Android deviced either and its free. Make a mac and pc app and I'm in! I like to message from a real computer when I can.
SMS is still king as its a universal as it gets though and with all the android apps that let me send sms messages through a computer it gives Android the edge for messaging still. Though a lot of those apps are glitchy and you can't do group messaging with sms so everyone sees a response to the original group message.
BBM could be great. Repeat just bring it to PC and MAC as well!
SMS is still king as its a universal as it gets though and with all the android apps that let me send sms messages through a computer it gives Android the edge for messaging still. Though a lot of those apps are glitchy and you can't do group messaging with sms so everyone sees a response to the original group message.
BBM could be great. Repeat just bring it to PC and MAC as well!
3-4 years ago - BB could have done this and actually charged for the app. I know tons of people who wouldn't switch off of a Blackberry because of BBM. But since WhatsApp and other platform agnostic messaging apps have been created and widely adopted, BBM (at least for those die hards I know) has little value/holding power over them.
My vote is - it's a good move - but late.
My vote is - it's a good move - but late.
Again, Microsoft is also NOT a hardware company. The most hardware they make is keyboards and mice, etc, but they do not have a Microsoft branded PC. They are 99.9% a software company, therefore their intent is to put Microsoft Windows on any and every machine possible.
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However, even most corporations are switching to Apple, lol.
Not sure about you, but I can iMessage from my Mac to any iMessage user using their email address, and it goes to their Mac, iPad, or iPhone.