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  • Rumors of BlackBerry Messenger on iOS and Android

BGR has learned from multiple trusted sources that Research In Motion is planning to bring its beloved BlackBerry Messenger app and service to Android, and eventually to iOS as well.
http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/03/exclusive-blackberry-messenger-will-launch-on-android-and-ios/

BGR are behind these rumors that were all over the Internet today.

Is RIM moving to being a service provider after it's relative hardware/Mobile OS failures ?

I am not interested in BBM, but I'd love to see the implications on the whole smartphone world.
i really hope they dont do it. I cant imagine people buying android to chat on bbm all the time, that would be a huge waste of os capabilities.
There are two sides really to BlackBerry. One is the corporate business tool that enhances mobile communication and information transfer like crazy. BlackBerry has the most powerful devices in that matter. The reason is twofold: Oldest player on the market, and also enhanced emailing/messaging (to this day, I have seen no device provides better service than my 2008 Bold 9000. Maybe newer BlackBerries).

The other side is the entertainment, mainstream and all-purpose. Quite frankly, anyone who has ever owned a BlackBerry would admit that it fails short when it comes to playing media, surfing the internet and such.

It's my belief that RIM should focus on the first "niche" (if you can call this a niche - it's huge!) market, and drop the second one (where quite frankly it cannot compete with people like Apple or Google). From this point of view, the question of interoperability with other devices becomes interesting. What if your client owns an iPhone or an Android? This could lead to loss of sales.

In that sense, I think that opening up BBM would be a nice move for RIM to keep its stronghold in the corporate market.

On another (more technical) note: Can RIM afford the infrastructure to recieve the load of new devices? How much more resources should they allocate to prepare for such a move? The investment seem huge!