[jesse_h]

i truly believe that RIM would lose many customers to other phones if they make BBM multi platform

If you think BBM is the reason why customers aren't jumping ship then I have a bridge for sale that you might be interested in.

[randall2580]

WhatsApp is a security breach just waiting to happen any how.

That would have more crediblity in this instance if RIM were advising everyone to remove it from the BB phones it works on now. Instead it rings of the same sour grapes line. The reports of the vulnerabilities are out there and folks are still using it. There are alternatives and folks are still using it. If you have an overseas customer in a different time zone and you need to confirm to him a shipment has gone out, an order is received blah blah blah this works really well as thats what I use it for.

Alec's first answer was that he assumed they would be there owing to past support. Now that he's heard that they won't be I would bet/hope that he does something proactive about it including showing them that the Android port works just fine. Let's take a positive stance on this and tweet, email, message Alec that this is something BB users see as important and could he do something about it. He's been very responsive in cases like this even offering to send RIM personnel to help

[nyplaya610]

In the US BBM isn't stopping anyone from leaving BB but in other parts of the world peoplee only have BB due to BBM because texting is so expensive.

[Knightcrawler]

I had a pretty cool idea. I am not 100% sure BBM should be made available to other platform phones but I did think it would be really cool if it were integrated into a future version of Desktop Manager. Having the ability to chat via BBM straight from desktops would be pretty awesome and if this enticed people to download the software to use BBM then it would create a unique opportunity for RIM to demonstrate and market to non BB Phone users in a up close and personal way. The more in their face it would be and if the addicting nature of BBM was consistent on a desktop experience perhaps this would translate to more people willing to give it a try or change their opinion of BlackBerry once they actually realize how much you can do. Non believers need to experience for themselves the power of BlackBerry Devices. Just a thought I had that seems pretty cool. No???

If they make it available on desktop though, wouldn't that effectively make it available for wp8?

[SparkyBC]

Google releasing maps on IOS just makes all the apple users gather more data for google. Do you really think it's free. They can track anything they want on any user, after all you agreed to the eula no one ever reads...

[Roo Zilla]

If they make it available on desktop though, wouldn't that effectively make it available for wp8?

Not really. WP8 is closer to RT than regular Win8 because both WP8 and RT run on ARM chips. In the same way regular Win8 apps won't run on RT, they won't run on WP8.

[12Danny123]

dude. Win 8 Metro apps run on Win RT. only the desktop apps don't. Win 8 and Win RT Metro apps. share almost the same code.

[Roo Zilla]

dude. Win 8 Metro apps run on Win RT. only the desktop apps don't. Win 8 and Win RT Metro apps. share almost the same code.

Yep. But you still can't get a Win8 app to run on RT. It has to have it's 64 bit code removed (if it's a 64 bit app) and recompiled for ARM.

[Bobert_123]

This whole thing is dumb, how many times does RIM need to prove that they're #1 in social media? I personally don't use the app, nor do I know anyone who does, but this is still be BS

[Skeevecr]

If you think BBM is the reason why customers aren't jumping ship then I have a bridge for sale that you might be interested in.

While not the only reason for hardly anyone, it is clearly one of those things that would factor in somebody's decision on what platform to use.

[Bobert_123]

While not the only reason for hardly anyone, it is clearly one of those things that would factor in somebody's decision on what platform to use.

you'd be surprised how many people buy a blackberry solely for bbm...

[annon91221]

RIM should give whatsapp the middle finger.... By making BBM a cross platform app for a fee similar to whatsapp and keep it free for all blackberry users.

IMHO, if BBM is what RIM is counting on to keep the blackberry users than they failed miserably in doing so in the past and they will again too if they tried it. However, BB10 as a whole package and with leading innovations coming out steadily will attract real customers. They need to play the game fairly, and the name of the game is "innovation" not "hostage taking".
BTW..IMO...once the BB10 is released and more people have BBs I think the exclusivity and versatility of BBM would attract more people over to the platform.

[BB10BelieveIt]

There are already tons of cross platform messaging apps, they are called facebook, twitter, linkedin, crackberry messages, forum messages.....the only reason people don't use them much is because it is a pain to use so many different apps to communicate. The BB10 Hub changes all that; you can use any one of those mentioned messaging apps cross platform and get the associated relevant network data as a bonus. BBM will be there if you both have a BB.

[bp3dots]

i truly believe that RIM would lose many customers to other phones if they make BBM multi platform

Yes. My store is near two colleges, and we get a ton of international students in who will only get BB's because they can BBM to friends and family back home for free. With the option on Android or iOS, many of them would go that route.

[Superfly_FR]

BBM is for Blackberry users. Period.
Whatsapp is a security breach.
Alternatives (FaceBook Chat ?) will pop.

Don't waste time, go forward.