Rumors about Blackberry making their BBM service available to iOS and Android users were dismissed by Blackberry itself.
The rumor was said to come from a T-Mobile Twitter account announcing the availability of the service beginning June 27. The tweet had been deleted already but it says:
Great news- BlackBerry Messsenger will be available to download on to iOS and Android from June 27th! #BBM - @T-MOBILE UK
The Twitter account is a verified and official account of the carrier so everyone assumed that the news is true even if Blackberry had not made any announcement about it.
Today, Blackberry released its official statement in Crackberry. The statement says,
On May 14th, BlackBerry announced plans to make its ground-breaking mobile social network, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), available to iOS and Android users this summer, subject to approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play. While there have been reports that BBM will be available to iOS and Android on June 27th, this is not accurate. We will communicate an update as soon as we have an availability date to share.
It seemed that T-Mobile got too excited and disclosed something too early. However, users will not need to worry since Blackberry confirmed that negotiations are already in place. BBM’s availability to users may be possible but the official date is not yet finalized.
The BBM, or Blackberry Messenger, is an exclusive instant messaging and video calling service for Blackberry users. It requires a PIN that can only be generated by a Blackberry device which makes the service exclusive. When BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins announced on May 14 that they were planning to extend the service to other platforms, it sparked hope to others as that means they wouldn’t need to buy a Blackberry just to experience BBM.
