Looking forward to the fruition of certain rumors pointing to RIM pushing BlackBerry Messenger to non-BB devices like iPhones and Android phones? Don’t.
A new report by the WSJ claims CEO Thorsten Heins has pretty much killed the project that would see RIM release iOS and Android compatible version of BlackBerry Messenger. The original goal to opening up BlackBerry Messenger was to have it compete with the flood of other device and non-device specific chat apps like iMessage, Kik, WhatsApp, etc.
On top of that, the WSJ report also says the same sources claim that previous talk of licensing the BlackBerry OS to 3rd parties has also been effectively quashed (or more accurately, “put on the backburner”).
RIM’s entire future rests on how well BlackBerry 10 does in the marketplace, and said OS isn’t slated to ship until late this year, after Apple ships iOS 6 and a new iPhone and very possibly after Google unveils their next major OS, too. Still, what we’ve seen so far from the small number of public showings and leaked images suggests RIM does have a potential winner on their hands. As always, however, the statement “too little too late keeps coming to mind”. All that said, we’re pulling for RIM and hope they can get all of their ducks in a row and release something truly unique.
Source: WSJ | Via: ElectricPig
