The Canadian company confirmed that the popular BlackBerry Messenger instant chat application will be preloaded on a variety of Android based smartphones from leading OEMs across Africa, Indonesia, Latin America and the Middle East apart from India. Some of the other smartphone brands that would preinstall the BBM app include Be, Brightstar, EVERCOSS, IMO, Mito, Snexian, TECNO, and TiPhone.
In addition, BlackBerry also confirmed that the popular BBM app will continue to be available as a free download from Google Play store.
It's worth pointing out that the Micromax Canvas smartphone range in India already comes preinstalled with BBM app, which the company announced in September this year.
Commenting on the announcement Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry said, "It is clear that smartphone customers see BBM as a must have app for active conversations. The uptake we have seen for BBM since the launch on Android and iPhone is amazing. We're thrilled to be working with leading Android smartphone manufacturers from across the globe to help bring their customers the best out-of-the-box experience with BBM preinstalled."
BlackBerry finally released the much-awaited BlackBerry Messenger service to users of Android and iPhone devices in October, after the initial rollout hit a roadblock due to a leaked Android build of BBM that went viral ahead of the official launch.
BBM was downloaded more than 10 million times on iOS and Android within the first 24 hours, bringing in over 20 million new users to the BlackBerry Messenger platform in the first week.
Recently, BlackBerry released an update for BBM for Android and iOS that brought bug fixes as well as new features to the client for both platforms. Additionally, the iOS version of BBM added support for iPad and iPod touch (the app was iPhone-only on launch).
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