BlackBerry has announced that its
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) apps for Android and iOS have already been
downloaded more than 20 million times.
It means it now has more than 80
million active users globally across BlackBerry, Android and iPhone devices.
BlackBerry re-launched the Android
and iOS apps last week, after problems with a rogue version of the Android app
forced BlackBerry to suspend the rollout for almost a month.
BBM quickly rose through the rankings
on the App Store to become the number one free app in 107 countries and top
free app in 35 countries in Google Play during its first week.
“It is great to see so many people
downloading BBM, but the true measurement for us is engagement – the
connections being made and the conversations in which our BBM community
engages," said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President of BBM at
BlackBerry.
"The power of BBM has always
been the active, real conversations and interaction that our customers enjoy.
From here on out, we will focus on active users of BBM and will no longer focus
on simple download numbers.”
Previously exclusive to BlackBerry
smartphones, BBM is now available as a free download in Google Play and the App
Store. Android smartphones must be running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean
(Android 4.x) and iPhones must be running iOS 6 and iOS 7.
Customers can download BBM by
visiting www.BBM.com from their smartphone browser.
Android and iPhone users who download
the BBM app will be able to carry out both one-on-one and group text chats, and
share files such as photos and voice notes instantly. They will also be able to
send a message to all of their BBM contacts in one go using the 'Broadcast
Message' function.
BBM is widely perceived as
BlackBerry’s most valuable asset aside from its corporate email, BlackBerry
Enterprise Server. However, its 80m users are already dwarved by the 200m
people who use the WhatsApp service, which currently works across platforms,
and has replaced text messages for many of its young users.
It also emerged this month that
micro-blogging site Twitter is also planning to launch a standalone
direct-messaging application to rival popular apps such as
WhatsApp and BBM.
The move is part of a broader revamp of Twitter's
direct-messaging product, which also includes the addition of a new setting
that allows users to send and receive direct messages from others without
needing to mutually follow one another, according to AllThingsD.
Source: Telegraph
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