BBM app to be on other platforms other than Blackberry

Yes, it sounds too good to be true, but pinging would no longer be exclusive to BlackBerry smartphones. This is not because of some technological breakthrough, nor is it due to any government regulation; the makers, formerly called Research in Motion, now BlackBerry, have decided to make the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) a multi-platform application.

BlackBerry said it would initially offer texts, photo messages and group sharing functions on devices running Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems from “the summer”, adding that it planned to roll out screen sharing, voice and video calls - all without charge - later in the year.

The move could prove disruptive to Skype, Whatsapp and other rivals.

The company added that for the app to work iPhone users would need at least iOS 6 and Android users the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google’s software. There was no mention of Windows Phone, the software which runs the Nokia Lumia series and some HTC phones.

According to a BBC report, the BlackBerry chief executive, Thorsten Heins, revealed the surprise news at the end of his presentation at the firm’s annual developers conference in Orlando, Florida, early last week.

I just hope RIM know what they are doing!