BlackBerry is set to expand the reach of its BBM messaging app to additional devices very shortly. Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President, BBM at BlackBerry, told SlashGear today that a new version of BBM for Wi-Fi-only iOS devices like the iPad and iPod touch will be available in the App Store “within 24 hours.”
Bocking pointed out that the rollout to Wi-Fi-only devices is possible because BBM is not tied to a device’s phone number.
BlackBerry launched BBM for iPhone last month (after an aborted earlier release due to issues caused by an incomplete leaked version). That version works on the iPad with cellular data but is not specifically tailored to tablets. Bocking confirmed that the new version will similarly be based on the iPhone version and will not be an iPad-specific one. Bocking also confirmed that an iPad version is not currently in development. Such a version has not been ruled out but BlackBerry would need to be satisfied that it would be beneficial to the platform before moving forward.
Opening BBM to other platforms has proved to be a smart move for BlackBerry. BBM for Android and iPhone was downloaded some 10 million times within the first 24 hours of availability. By the end of that first week, BlackBerry had added some 20 million new users to its BBM platform.
Source : SlashGear