It
was late last year that Canadian smartphone manufacturer
BlackBerry
released its
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) on
Android and
iOS platforms for
free. Now the latest version of BBM (version 2.2) is available for
download on Google Play, with the iOS version all set to hit the App
Store in the coming days.
On the official BlackBerry blog, Inside
BlackBerry, Jeff
Gadway, head of product and brand marketing writes about the new version
which has hit the Google Play store on Wednesday, "This next release
(v.2.2) is focused on streamlining key aspects of the BBM experience.
Our goal was to make it simpler for new users to join the BBM community
and to make it faster and easier to add new BBM contacts."
The new
features on BBM v2.2 for Android include an easier way to add contacts
via email, wherein a user who receives a BBM invite by email can just
become a contact by clicking on the link provided, rather than sending a
PIN invite back, as is the current method. Even signing up for BBM is
easier. All that new users require are an email ID, name and password,
and they can start using it.
On the cosmetic side there are 16 new
emoticons that will be added to the new version. These include a
hotdog, hacker, a pair of hot lips amongst others. The 'Updates' tab has
been renamed to 'Feeds', to represent a user better. It will include
latest statuses and profile photos from BBM contacts and newer posts
from the BBM channels that users follow. The latest version also brings a
range of bug fixes and performance improvements.
The updated BBM
v2.2 app Android version can be downloaded from Google Play. In addition to
that the blog also makes a mention of the fact that there is something
new in store for BlackBerry users. While Gadway has not given away much
details in the post, he does write that the special release of the BBM
for BlackBerry smartphones will be for the BBOS and BlackBerry 10
smartphones. "This special release of BBM for BlackBerry smartphones
will include many of the things we've talked about here...and a few
special things added for good measure," he writes.
It is also
important to note that the previous update
which had come to BBM (for Android, BB10 and iOS) around two months ago
offered larger and bolder images, brought sticker support, as well as
the ability to share photos in multi-person chats. It also increased the
file sharing limit from 6MB to 16MB.
Windows Phone is still the
only major smartphone ecosystem BBM has not yet made a foray into. It
was however confirmed
by BlackBerry that it is looking for a Q2 2014 release of BBM for
Windows Phone.
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Further reading:
Android,
BBM,
BBOS,
BlackBerry,
BlackBerry 10 Smartphone,
BlackBerry Messenger,
BlackBerry Messenger Version 2.2,
BlackBerry Operating System,
Google,
Windows Phone,
iOS
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