The BBM for Android app has officially
launched today, with BlackBerry confirming
earlier the messaging service will hit the
Google Play Store at midday(GMT).
Formally confirmed at BlackBerry Live back
in May, the BBM for Android app has been a
long time coming, pushing its promised
summer arrival to its very limits in landing
today, September 21.
“BBM for Android will be available at 12 pm
on Saturday 21,” an official statement from
the company confirmed in the run up to the
launch.
The BBM Android app will be available as a
free download and allow users to chat for
free with follow BBM users across all
platforms. The first time BBM will have been
made available to none BlackBerry handset
users, the BBM Android app will precede the
BBM iOS app by a matter of hours, with the
iPhone bound iteration to be rolled out just
after midnight.
A launch that is likely to be clouded by other
goings on at the company, the BBM Android
app release comes in the wake of a fresh
round of losses and job cuts at the Canadian
based BlackBerry. Having reported
anticipated Q2 losses of almost $1 billion,
BlackBerry has confirmed that it is to cut
4,500 jobs globally, an announcement which
has seen a 17 per cent drop in its share
prices, in a single.
“We are implementing the difficult, but
necessary operational changes announced
today to address our position in a maturing
and more competitive industry, and to drive
the company toward profitability,” a
statement from BlackBerry CEO Thorstein
Heins stated yesterday. He added: “Going
forward, we plan to refocus our offering on
our end-to-end solution of hardware,
software and services for enterprises and the
productive, professional end user.”
Despite the hard times the Canadian company
is currently in, opinions in several quarters
have lauded its initiative at offering BBM on
other platforms, noting that chat applications
like Whatsapp were already phasing BBM out.
It’s emergence on the now reigning android
OS, they say, would mean Blackberry does
not lose out totally on its customers, and yet
still have a fair share of those who wouldn’t
use a Blackberry smartphone on a good day
but would use the BBM since it’s available at
no extra cost.
BBM can be downloaded from September 21
and September 22 for Android smartphones
and iPhones, respectively.
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