Thoughts on BBM

Here’s the latest updates regarding BBM, its going cross platform, and there is a new service called BBM Channels. If you do not know about that yet, go read the links. Now the other question that I have, is that would BBM work cross platform?


I think convincing iOS and Android users onto BBM will be key. Which I think will be down to BlackBerry users convincing their friends to give it a shot, and to publicise when it is released. If anyone has used a BB before and used BBM, they will know how reliable it is. It has its downtime occasionally, but generally I still find it far more reliable than iMessage and WhatsApp, at least for me.

Security is another as these BBM messages will presumably still go through BB’s servers, meaning encryption, etc. These users will be easier to convince. But the problem is still those who have never used BBM extensively before and think its just another IM client.

WIth BB10, it now has video chat, voice calls, screen sharing. Group chats on BB10 is fantastic as well. A much better experience than on whatsapp. It is especially useful for project collaboration. Where a lot of images, ideas, etc are thrown around. Whatsapp are just too messy for these.

Providing these features for users of other platforms will be a great chance to showcase what BlackBerry is capable of. Having used plenty of IM clients myself on various platforms, BBM is still the yardstick for what a great IM client should be. Especially now with the new features, and BBM Channels.

Not to mention, the more friends you have on BBM the better your experience will be. I am not being a fanboy here by saying this, but BBM makes WhatsApp look like crap. This is coming from a guy that jumped onto iOS very early on, a guy that used WhatsApp since it was first launched on iOS. Honestly, when I got my first BlackBerry, and chatted with a few friends over BBM for a couple of days, I was BLOWN AWAY. iMessage isn’t even on the same page.

Here a great BBM stat for you, “Over 50% of BBM messages are read within 20 seconds.” That is how addictive and great BBM is.

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Here’s a real life scenario. At the recent Q10 media preview, I couldn’t make it there. A friend BBM video called me, live streamed the event to me. He even passed the phone to a few reps so I could ask them some question. Video and Audio quality was great, far better than I have ever seen on Skype.

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Furthermore, they demoed a Bentley running BB10/QNX making a BBM video call. Meaning BBM might play a bigger role in the future IF car manufacturers upgrade their infotainment systems to BB10. Which should be quite likely since a lot of companies are already running QNX on their cars. So it shouldn’t be hard to imagine them running customised versions of BB10 to suit their needs on cars with the basic services of BB10 still inside. So there is more possibilities there as well, so for that to work with iOS and Android would be great too.

BBM as a platform on its own has loads of potential. Potential that I think is worth the risks. In case you have not noticed, I am in favour of the idea, and I really think that this will work out well.

I apologies if I come across as a little incoherent. The headache is killing me.