Before many Blackberry users switched to the iPhone or Android platform, they enjoyed the use of BlackBerry Messenger. BlackBerry CEO Thornsten Heins said those who switched will soon be able to enjoy the popular Blackberry app once more, according to MacWorld.com.
During Heins’ speech at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Florida, he said the BMM software will debut as an app, free of charge, on iOS and Android devices before summer.
This could be a good business and PR move for the company as Apple and Samsung are garnering most of the smartphone attention. BlackBerry has touted its new Z10 in an effort to join the touch screen smartphone revolution but the phone, like many others, is miles away from catching up with the iPhones and Samsung Galaxys.
Heins was also in the news recently for his somewhat contradictory comments on the use of tablets. In April the BlackBerry CEO said he sees tablets going out of style in the near future.
“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” said Heins in an interview in April at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
He continued in the same frame of mind at the conference in Orlando. "We believe in a single element of mobile computing: one on your hip," Heins said in a Q&A session at the conference according to CNET.com.
However a few minutes later he announced the company was examining the future of tablets and investing R&D dollars into those projects.
Heins went on to say although his previous comments may have been negative he still sees a use for the touch screen devices. "The industry got stuck on the term tablets," he explained. “We want to create something that's easier to use."
Heins wants to have tablets forego the need for a separate operating system and operate on a BlackBerry operating system.
