Blackberry is all set to win back some of its lost users by launching its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) on Android phones running version 2.3 Gingerbread OS.
BlackBerry is making a move to attract more users for its popular cross-platform instant messenger, BBM. Expanding to Android platform turned out to be a favorable move for the struggling company, so the phone maker is bringing more Android users under its coverage. BlackBerry announced Tuesday that it will bring BBM support for Android devices running the older 2.3 Gingerbread version.
The new launch will allow the pioneer of smartphones to create a strong market in developing countries where Android users are still using phones running on older versions of the operating system.
"We've got some exciting BBM news for Android Gingerbread users - you've been asking and we've heard you loud and clear. We're now pleased to announce that BBM will soon also be available on Android Devices running Gingerbread(v2.3.3+)," Jeff Gadway, product and brand marketing in charge for BBM, said in an official BlackBerry blog, Tuesday.
According to an earlier report, Google revealed that Gingerbread still accounts for 21.2 percent of all Android devices and BlackBerry's decision to bring support for the older OS version is not a bummer. However, BlackBerry also said that it currently has no plans to launch the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app on Windows Phone-based smartphones.
Earlier this month, reports had it that BlackBerry may introduce the missing BBM Voice and BBM Channels features on both the Android and iOS platforms as early as February.
BlackBerry announced a new software update for BlackBerry 10 smartphones (BlackBerry OS 10.2.1), which claims to allow users to user their BlackBerry devices in a faster and easier manner. The new update reportedly includes hundreds of new enhancements and refinements. This might be just another move to push the slowly moving corporate-favorite handsets off the shelves.
