BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) used to just be for BlackBerry smartphones. Then it came to the Apple iOS and Google Android platforms. And now, it’s coming to Windows.
Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry announced Monday that BBM will be made available to Windows Phone and Nokia X users in the coming months. In addition to the messaging service and BBM Groups, Windows users will also get BBM Voice and BBM Channels, which were initially only available to BlackBerry BBM users but was recently expanded to iOS and Android.
“BBM continues to grow in popularity as millions of people use our mobile platform for chatting and connecting with friends or colleagues, and we are very excited that we will soon welcome Windows Phone and Nokia X users to the BBM community,” said John Sims, president of global enterprise solutions at BlackBerry, in a statement.
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BBM will be a free download from the Windows Phone Store this summer, and will be available in the Nokia X store when the Nokia X platform launches.
“Today marks an exciting moment for Nokia,” said Bryan Biniak, vice-president and general manager of developer relations at Nokia, in a statement. “By bringing BBM to the Windows Phone and Nokia X communities, our customers will be able to experience this popular global messaging app.”
BlackBerry’s expansion to iOS and Android was a success in bringing new users to the platform, with 20 million users coming onboard in the first week of availability last fall. The new users don’t bring BlackBerry more money – the app is free – but expect monetization to come down the road around BBM Channels, the social marketing platform, once a critical mass of users has been obtained.