The greatly struggling smartphone manufacturer has now unveiled its BBM for iPhone and Android users.
As the company had been indicating for some time, BlackBerry has now announced that its dedicated BBM messenger service apps are now available to Android and iPhone users very soon.
The BlackBerry Messenger service have now become available for sale on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
This means that the apps for BlackBerry Messenger will no longer be exclusively available to users of the devices from that manufacturer. They are now available for free for the devices based on the operating systems of the leaders of the smartphone market, Android and iOS.
These free apps becoming available for Android and iPhone are only one of many recent announcements from the company.
The unveiling of the apps for other smartphones came directly after the company launched yet another smartphone device into the marketplace. It also revealed that it would be laying off 4,500 employees, as the company flounders in losses from a lack of sales.
These messenger apps allow smartphone users to be able to share information and chat with up to 30 different users within a single conversation. It also uses a unique PIN to ensure that the users’ privacy will remain secure. That number is not just a password for signing into the program. Instead, it can be used to boost security when deciding whether or not contact information and other data should be shared with the other people who are involved within the conversations.
As BlackBerry takes these steps into the iOS and Android marketplaces, it is leading many people to speculate with regards to whether or not this is a last ditch effort from the company to attempt to compete in yet another marketplace. The messenger service apps market is already swamped with competition, with leaders that have already established themselves, including WeChat, WhatsApp, and Line.
The BBM apps became available to Android smartphones over Google Play download as of September 21, and iPhone users started downloading from the App Store starting on September 22. The number of downloaders and users has yet to be seen.
Wikitude now available for BlackBerry developers
Wikitude GmbH, one of the world’s leading augmented reality developers, has announced that a software development kit for its flagship platform is now available for BlackBerry 10. The Wikitude platform has been used extensively by developers interested in creating augmented reality applications, but this is the first time those attached to the BlackBerry operating system will get a chance to make use of the platform. The DSK will help BlackBerry developers create augmented reality applications for an often overlooked demographic that favors BlackBerry mobile devices over others.
SDK designed to be accessible to developers of varying experience levels
With the release of the SDK for BlackBerry 10, Wikitude is the first augmented reality platform to cater to developers of all kinds. The SDK allows developers to make use of Wikitude’s acclaimed Architect engine, which allows them to build digital worlds that make use of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Wikitude notes that the simplistic nature of the SDK makes it appealing to developers of varying experience levels and removes the need for people to learn new programming languages.
Demand for augmented reality growing amongst consumers
The demand for augmented reality applications is growing as more consumers become exposed to the capabilities of t he technology. These consumers are finding augmented reality appealing because of its dynamic nature. Thus, application developers have a promising opportunity to find some success by developing new apps that make use of the technology and meet the needs of consumers. The BlackBerry platform has long been neglected in this sense, but this has been changed by Wikitude.
Wikitude expected to boost number of apps available to BlackBerry platform
Beta testing for the Wikitude BlackBerry 10 SDK began in May of this month. Wikitide used feedback acquired through this testing phase to improve the platform and make it more accommodating to the needs of developers. Backed by the new SDK, developers are expected to bring more augmented reality applications to the BlackBerry platform, which has approximately 100,000 applications in all.
