Blackberry Messenger coming to Android and iOS this summer for Free.

BlackBerry has just announced that its hugely popular BBM messaging service is going multi-platform: it will be released for Android and iOS this summer. BBM will support iOS hardware running iOS 6 and above; the Android version will be compatible with version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above as a free app in the App Store and Google Play. "It's time to bring BBM to a greater audience," CEO Thorsten Heins said in announcing the expansion, "no matter what mobile device they carry."

The company said that it would be bringing messaging and groups functionality to new platforms first but also has plans to introduce voice features, screen sharing, and its just announced ”social engagement platform” dubbed ‘Channels’ in future releases. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said the company is “committed to making the BBM experience on other platforms as fully featured” as possible.

The app will be fully featured, with key ingredients like group messaging and screen sharing all coming to the rival platforms.

Android and iOS user what do you think? Let me know your mind in the comments below.

Follow me on twitter for more updates.

Google Reported to Acquire WhatsApp For $1 Billion

WhatsApp Messenger, the cross-platform instant messaging app serving iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone, is a life-saver to those looking for a hassle-free mode of communication, and according to a new report, the search giant is very interested in buying it.

According to the report from Gizmodo, WhatsApp founded by former Yahoo pioneers Brian Acton and Jan Koum, is said to be holding out for the $1 billion.

The news, if true, would be pretty significant, but also rather surprising. Google’s mobile messaging department could certainly do with bolstering, and drafting in WhatsApp would certainly be an easy way for the Mountain View-based company to achieve this. However, it has long since been reckoned that Google’s ‘Babel’ chat will be an all-encompassing communications service, and with GTalk already being a popular, strong feature of the GApps (at least, on Android), the immediate benefit would seem to be in the user base WhatsApp has amassed in its four years of existence.

Google has, on numerous occasions, acknowledged that the quality of its messaging services have fallen below par, and buying WhatsApp would be a big statement of intent. It would also, as many perceived as motive to Facebook’s Instagram purchase, eliminate one of the main competitors in this field, helping Google quickly place itself among the likes of Facebook Messenger and Apple iMessage.

Unless Google Babel is, contrary to reports, not culminating into the great service Google needs to make its presence known in the IM market, then this could also go a way to explaining why the company is rumored to be considering WhatsApp. After all, the service, which was founded only in 2009, handles tens of billions of messages a day, and if it were to provide the engine for the upcoming Babel service, Google would have one hell of a beast to unleash.

Via: RedmondPie

Follow us on twitter for more updates...

BlackBerry Z10 officially announced today

Today RIM which renamed itself to "BlackBerry" officially unveiled two new devices, one of which we’ve already heard about plenty of times the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry Q10.  The devices is said to be running on the new BlackBerry 10 OS.

The BlackBerry Z10 comes with a full touch display with a 4.2-inch display, with a pixel density of 356 ppi and a 1280 x 756 resolution. It’s a slightly smaller display than most other Android devices out on the market currently, but the impressive pixel density will surely please any BlackBerry user. The back of the device has a “textured surface” that makes it “really comfortable to hold.”

The device will come in both black and white models, It has overall rectangular shape with the rounded corners, as well as the camera and LED flash up in the top-left corner.It has what’s called Time Shift Mode, in which it allows users to take a photo, and then go back in time to find the exact moment of a particular facial reaction

The BlackBerry Z10 goes on sale January 31 in the U.K., February 5 in Canada ($149.99 on contract,) and February 10 in the UAE. Expect U.S. carriers to sell the smartphone for about $199 on contract (about $599 unlocked) in March, with official pricing announcements slated for the coming weeks.

Stay tuned for more BB10 news!

Follow Me
Follow The Team