BlackBerry confirmed that its popular messaging platform will soon be updated with new and bold stickers to make chats more fun and interactive.
BlackBerry is trying its best to hold on to its popular messaging platform, BBM. The service got several recent tweaks and the latest announcement builds on the ever-growing mobile app. The Canadian company is improving the chat experience within the BBM platform by integrating funny and bold stickers in a latest update announced Friday.
The sticker integration to BBM has already hit limited external beta testing, but there is no information on availability to a wider audience. Sean Hungerford, head of product management for BBM, wrote in a company blog post that there will be more information on the sticker shortly.
Stickers are entirely different from traditional emoticons. The integration will put BBM ahead in the race with WhatsApp, which lacks the feature currently, and at par with apps like Line and Facebook Messenger. Stickers, which will be available in packs of 20 or 25 in the new BBM Shop, offer a fun way to communicate with friends. BBM Stickers will feature characters like CosCat, Gilbert's Tales, Bubble Bot and more, Hungerford wrote.
Facebook Messenger offers a variety of stickers ranging from characters depicting Despicable Me 2, Candy Crush, Pusheen and lots more. Line offers stickers from most recent releases or trends, such as stickers for Gangnam Style.
BlackBerry plans to charge users for some special packs, but details on the type of stickers that will be up for sale remain scanty.
BBM has been a top priority for the Canadian phone maker while it struggles with sales of its high-end devices. Last week, BlackBerry CEO John Chen bashed the wireless network provider T-Mobile for launching a "Switch to iPhone 5S" campaign, which in turn attracted CEO John Legere's sarcastic tweets aimed at Chen. Though the dust seems to have settled down, both BlackBerry and its fans were furious with T-Mobile's devious attempt to people switch brands. The carrier managed to cool off the fans by offering new offers to BlackBerry users such as free expedite shipping and $200 credit for old handsets.
The news of adding stickers to its chatting system comes after BBM was updated with the most-awaited features, including BBM Voice, Channels, location sharing, Dropbox integration, new emoticons and lot more.
Users can download BBM app for free for Android and iOS devices here. BBM is also supported for Android 2.3 Gingerbread devices after an update rolled out Wednesday.
