BlackBerry confirmed in a blog post that BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS will be available at the end of the week. The Android version will arrive first on September 20th, with the iOS version debuting one day later on September 21st.
With the arrival of these versions, BBM will not be a cross-platform messaging service that’ll allow BlackBerry owners to chat with their Android and iOS friends. According to BlackBerry, both the Android and iOS version will launch with the following features:
BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
Keep your group in the loop – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don’t have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.
BBM will go live in the Google Play Store starting at 7:00AM EDT on September 21. It will be available as a free download for Android smartphones running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.x) or higher. BBM for iPhone will debut in the App Store starting at 12:01 AM on September 22. It requires iOS 6 or iOS 7.
[Via BlackBerry]