Blackberry has announced on their press conference held on May 14 that it is working on a Blackberry Messenger version for iOS and Android. Blackberry messenger is a text message/voice/video service which was only developed for Blackberry smartphones but will soon be available on iOS and Android allowing cross-platform texting.
The service is very similar to Whatsapp and Line which are the 2 main free texting apps currently on Android, iOS and Blackberry. The app was originally planned to appear on June 27, no new release date has been given.
For Android devices, BlackBerry Messenger will require the Jelly Bean 4.0 version or newer and for iOS devices you’ll need iOS 6 or up to be able to run the app. Opening the app up for Android and iOS is a risky move from the almost desperate Blackberry, the app and the QWERTY keyboard are 2 of the main things that distinguishes them from the competitor and they are now giving 1 away.
Blackberry (previously RIM) has had a rough time with over the last year more then 30% of its staff has been fired and shares have never been this low ($13 a share)
