When it first announced that BlackBerry Messenger would be coming to Android and iOS, BlackBerry said that the apps would arrive sometime this summer. The company has remained silent on the matter since, and as I'm sure many have noticed, summer is very nearly over. It looks like cross-platform BBM may still make it before fall, though, as Samsung claims that it's coming later this week.
The official Twitter account for Samsung Mobile's Nigerian division (@SamsungMobileNG) today sent out a tweet saying that BBM for Android will officially arrive this Friday, Sept. 20. Interestingly, the company also claims to have secured a three-month exclusivity period on the app.
BlackBerry itself hasn't shown much of its BBM for Android and iOS apps yet, but recent leaks have revealed that they sport a very BlackBerry 10-esque design. That's not entirely surprising, as I'm sure that Thorsten Heins and Co. wouldn't mind convincing a consumer or two to jump to BlackBerry 10 after getting a taste of it through the BBM apps. Whether or not that taste is coming on Friday isn't confirmed quite yet, but with the recent leaks that we've seen and the end of summer approaching fast, it certainly could happen.
UPDATE: There's some good news tonight for owners of non-Samsung Android hardware, as BBM Communications Director Victoria Berry has told CrackBerry that "no one will have an exclusive on offering BBM." Berry didn't comment on the app's supposed Friday launch, though, saying only that the release is coming soon. The full statement:
"The excitement around the upcoming BBM launch on iPhone and Android devices seems to know no bounds. Although I’m a big fan of this passion, I want to clarify that no one will have an exclusive on offering BBM. We’ll be bringing the app to Android and iPhone users across the globe soon."
YES WE DID!!!! Available frm Friday RT @supersanusi: If Samsung really did get the 3 month exclusive like I heard, that would be something
— Samsung Mobile NG (@samsungmobileng) September 16, 2013
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