Facebook�s new Messenger app to challenge RIM�s BBM
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Not sure if Facebook's app is challenger or more complementary to BBM.
Facebook�s new Messenger app to challenge RIM�s BBM
Matt Hartley Aug 9, 2011 � 3:00 PM ET | Last Updated: Aug 9, 2011 5:27 PM ET
Having already established itself as the default social network on the Web, Facebook is now aiming to play a central role in mobile communications with a new instant messaging smartphone application designed to rival offerings from Research In Motion Ltd. and Apple Inc.
On Tuesday, the world�s largest social network unveiled Facebook Messenger, a free standalone messaging application that will allow users to send and receive Facebook messages from their mobile device.
The new service integrates with Facebook�s existing Web-based messaging platform and will enable users to access all of their Facebook messages, even when they�re away from their PC.
At launch, the Facebook Messenger will only be available for Apple Inc.�s iPhone and devices running on Google Inc.�s Android software.
However, Facebook users who don�t own an iPhone or Android device will be able to send and receive Facebook messages through existing SMS text-messaging technology.
Facebook officials said the Messenger application will initially only be available to users in the United States and Canada, but that the company plans to roll the apps out to other markets in the coming weeks.
For Facebook, the new Messenger application is designed to position the Palo Alto, California-based company as the default messaging application on smartphones for its 750 million global users, as the company seeks to expand its reach beyond the desktop and into the world of mobile computing.
While the application is similar to rival instant messaging platforms, including RIM�s BlackBerry Messenger and Apple�s forthcoming iMessage service, Facebook�s new Messenger app lacks several features offered by its competitors, including the ability to see when a message has been delivered and when it has been opened by the intended recipient.
�Facebook Messenger is the same system, it�s the same delivery mechanism in the Facebook app and in the separate [Messenger] app,� said Peter Deng, a product manager at Facebook who worked on the Messenger service.
�It�s just that the separate app has a few extra features. All your messages will still be in one place. Your conversation between you and your friends is now accessible anywhere you go.�
Much of the new messaging technology was built by former members of Beluga, a group messaging company Facebook acquired in March. Facebook Messenger will also enable users to send messages to a group of recipients, and attach photos and location details to messages.
�One of the biggest pain points with SMS today is that it�s a one-to-one experience,� Mr. Deng said.
�What we�re doing today is making it so that once conversations are started with Facebook Messenger, they can be started with people who are on Facebook, have Messenger, don�t have Messenger and even mobile phone numbers from your contact list.�
Mr. Deng said Facebook decided to build a standalone instant messaging application in order to give people faster access to their messages.
�This change was basically borne from looking at our data, and seeing how people use the application,� he said.
�Looking at Facebook messages itself, an astounding percentage of Facebook messages are sent via mobile � I won�t disclose exact numbers, but it was surprising to us how many people were using the iPhone and Android apps and our [mobile] site to send messages back and forth.�
RIM�s BlackBerry Messenger application � which boasts more than 45 million global users and is exclusive to the Waterloo company�s BlackBerry smartphones � is still one of the most popular instant messaging applications available on any mobile device and has proven to be a key differentiator for Canada�s largest tech company.
However, the increasing interest in messaging applications from two of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley shows how technology firms are anxious to place themselves at the centre of the mobile computing experience.
In June, Apple unveiled iMessage, a new service designed to enable users of Apple�s iOS devices � which include the Cupertino, California-based company�s iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices � to send messages to other iOS users, duplicating many of the same features available in RIM�s BBM technology.
iMessage users will be able to send text messages, photos and videos to other iMessage users over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Users will also be able to see when a message has been received by the intended recipient, all features available in BBM.
Facebook’s new Messenger app to challenge RIM’s BBM | FP Tech Desk | Financial Post08-09-11 09:01 PMLike 0 -
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I think the benefit here is user base and cross-platform. There are multiple cross-platform messaging apps; however, Facebook does have the numbers. Now will it be better than BBM? I don't think so....unfortunately Facebook does not offer the security (at all) that RIM has to offer.08-09-11 09:09 PMLike 0 -
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Don't see how this can compete with BBM. Are corporations and governments going to start signing up employees on corporate FB accounts? Doubtful. Or let them use their personal FB account for business... no way.
Plus, not everyone uses FB. I left over a year ago and yet-another-messaging-app isn't going to bring me back.
Surprising FB didn't expand the capabilities of Beluga messenger (which they acquired last year) outside of the FB infrastructure and use that as a competitive stepping stone instead.08-09-11 09:23 PMLike 0 -
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You're absolutely wrong, you obviously know nothing about it and have not even tried it. Lets try to stay away from opinion.
Last edited by JD914; 08-09-11 at 10:01 PM.
08-09-11 09:55 PMLike 0 -
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Read my bio, I have a 9700, OS 6.0.0.576. I could easily go back to 5.0.0.1014 or 5.0.0.938. I have a windows mobile 6.1 device that also boots android, I barely even use it, only to capture inverted photos for fun editing. This 9700 is GSM, the winmo is CDMA.
I'm not going to feed into an argument or have somebody telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, because I do. I have owned a blackberry for 2.4 years now and don't see myself jumping ship... Ever. Not even using that app either, because facebook 2.0 has the chat feature already. PS. Everybody has a right to their own opinions. Nobody tells me to stop talking, or anybody else. There isn't any duct tape covering my mouth, or this device's keypad.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.comLast edited by Rootbrian; 08-09-11 at 10:02 PM.
08-09-11 09:59 PMLike 0 -
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NoRead my bio, I have a 9700, OS 6.0.0.576. I could easily go back to 5.0.0.1014 or 5.0.0.938. I have a windows mobile 6.1 device that also boots android, I barely even use it, only to capture inverted photos for fun editing. This 9700 is GSM, the winmo is CDMA.
I'm not going to feed into an argument or have somebody telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, because I do. I have owned a blackberry for 2.4 years now and don't see myself jumping ship... Ever. Not even using that app either, because facebook 2.0 has the chat feature already.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
10 char08-09-11 10:02 PMLike 0 -
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The author doesn't seem to know that BB Phones already have Facebook chat.
"The new service integrates with Facebook’s existing Web-based messaging platform and will enable users to access all of their Facebook messages, even when they’re away from their PC."
I have been chatting on FB from my 9650 for sometime now.
Either via the Facebook app, IM+ or the other FB chat apps in App World.
I can even do it on my Playbook.
It would be a hoot if RIM would integrate FB chat into, as an option, BBM, but then who needs the static there.
Tim08-09-11 10:44 PMLike 0 -
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It won't have an impact on bbm usage I'm sure, though I expect it will have an impact on imessage being adopted as the app caters to the same market. Has the same "almost always on" communication method because it connects to PC's and is not exclusive to mobile devices that have to be off to be logged out,
It lacks integration with Enterprise systems, and Enterprises are known to ban facebook use. So can't touch that market either,
Facebook certainly has never been in the market of data compression so again they will surely follow suit and be a data hog for a simple message application, RIM's BBM is best for the developing high data cost worlds as well.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com08-09-11 10:49 PMLike 0 -
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Not everyone uses BBM. In fact, there isn't a single thing out there that "everyone" uses, so I'm not sure how that's a drawback for anything, at least in terms of comparing one thing to another.Last edited by Economist101; 08-09-11 at 11:54 PM.
08-09-11 11:49 PMLike 0 -
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I'm 99% sure it isn't encrypted, or encrypted worth a damn, and probably wouldn't work in some countries I visit because of restrictions from those governments (although I guess for a BB user it would if it proxied through BIS, other platforms SOL). I'll stick with BBM, don't need to be getting any Farmville based spam IM's.08-10-11 06:44 AMLike 0 -
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sleepngbearRetired ModeratorSecurity and privacy. For these two reasons, I will never trust anything from Facebook for any kind of personal messaging.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com08-10-11 08:38 AMLike 0 -
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I leave my Facebook Chat off, seems that anyone I would be interested in contacting for emergency purpose tends to be offline anyways.08-10-11 08:51 AMLike 0 -
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BBM is more direct AND 1 on 1. I can BBM with my wife, quicker, faster and cheaper through BBM than I could using Facebook, text or AOL IM.
Plus I do not have facebook and probably never will so it is one less program/user ID I have to keep track of.08-10-11 08:53 AMLike 0 -
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So they've created an app that does something an existing app already does, and that existing app was created to do something the browser already does.
Call me old school, but this app craze is just ********.08-10-11 09:26 AMLike 0 -
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I would prefer that if one of my FB friends needs to contact me that they just shoot me a message. I rarely go online on FB chat even on my computer. So I would not use this, however, I can see how many people would.08-10-11 09:32 AMLike 0 -
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whats the differance between this and the built in chat app that is with FB 2.0??? i just dont see the reason for a FB messenger unless you can msg people even when they are not logged in... again why would you need this when you have bbm or sms.... guess fb just wants to be special like rim lol.08-10-11 10:56 AMLike 0 -
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Tre LawrenceBetween RealitiesOne poster mentioned something that is of huge benefit that most of us seem to be overlooking: cross-platform.
Not my cup of tea (I use FB but NEVER chat on it because of the demographics of most friends on it), but I think it may be successful, and it already has a built-in advantage over BBM.08-10-11 11:15 AMLike 0 -
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08-11-11 07:45 AMLike 0 -
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It competes with BBM for personal use of course. BTW not all enterprises allow BBM to be used on their devices.Don't see how this can compete with BBM. Are corporations and governments going to start signing up employees on corporate FB accounts? Doubtful. Or let them use their personal FB account for business... no way.
Plus, not everyone uses FB. I left over a year ago and yet-another-messaging-app isn't going to bring me back.
Surprising FB didn't expand the capabilities of Beluga messenger (which they acquired last year) outside of the FB infrastructure and use that as a competitive stepping stone instead.08-11-11 07:47 AMLike 0
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Facebook�s new Messenger app to challenge RIM�s BBM
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