With the BBM for Android and iOS apps having finally been rolled out last week, BlackBerry has revealed that it will bring BBM voice and video services to the apps “within months.
While the current BBM for Android and iOS apps offer the more basic text based functionality of the free messaging service, BlackBerry has revealed that it will continue to roll out the platform’s more advanced features, currently available only on BlackBerry branded smartphones, in the near future.
At present, BB10 powered handsets, such as the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 allow users to make free video and voice calls across either Wi-Fi or cellular networks, with this functionality having now been promised on both Android and iOS shortly.
According to Andrew Bocking, BlackBerry’s Executive Vice President of BBM, the BBM voice and video functionality will be introduced to Android and iOS users “within months.”
Speaking with Canadian news network CBC, he added: “We continue to plan to evolve the service and keep making it more engaging and have more reasons why people will come back to use the service.”
While the BBM for Android and iOS apps had originally been scheduled for release in September, a number of delays saw the services repeatedly pushed back, finally being rolled out to consumers last week.
Despite the lengthy delays, the cross platform BBM apps proved an instant hit, topping download charts on day one and achieving more than 10 million downloads in just 24 hours.
"It’s been 24 hours since we resumed the launch of BBM for Android and iPhone, and what a day it’s been!" Bocking wrote on the official Inside BlackBerry blog. He added: “We’ve already had more than 10 million downloads of BBM. I want to thank our customers – old and new – our employees, and our partners for their enthusiasm and commitment. BBM is looking great on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, and the team here is very excited about the success of this launch.”
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