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Blackberry has announced that their Blackberry Messenger popularly known as BBM will be launching across multiple platforms like Android and iOS. Now BBM fans using other mobile devices like Android phone and iPhones can now have the BBM feature on their mobile phone, you can now be able to enjoy the awesome BBM services. This is expected to happen this summer.

The BBM app will be made available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store for users of the various mobile platforms to talk with Blackberry users. The BBM app will support all iOS devices running on iOS 6 and higher, as well as Android devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and higher. Both apps will of course need to pass Google and Apple’s approval process first.

Blackberry Messenger BBM

In the first version of multi-platform BBM, iOS and Android users are expected to be able to experience the following BBM features:

• The immediacy of BBM chats
• Multi-person chats
• Voice note sharing
• BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more.

BBM Voice and Video chatting will not be included in the initial rollout, but will be introduced later through the app updates.

What does this mean for Blackberry?

In truth, most Blackberry phone users today are only using Blackberry because of BBM and when it has been made available on other platforms like Android and iOS, there will definitely be a shift in the number of Blackberry phones purchased but a massive increase in the number of people using their BBM services.

Already Blackberry is claiming to have over 60 million active users of the BBM and they share over 10 billion messages each day, the release of this app to other mobile phone platforms will see that figure triple.

What does this mean for Whatsapp and other alternatives?

Whatsapp became popular as the closest alternative to the BBM as a result of their non-support for other platforms, but when this app will be released for Android and iOS platforms, Whatsapp and other BBM alternatives will be hit a hard blow. I won’t be surprised to either see a healthy competition that will bring about massive changes and awesome innovations or the death of the alternatives.

Are you an enthusiast of the BBM on Android and iOS? What are your expectations? What is your view of this article? Do you think Blackberry is putting themselves at risk by supporting their biggest competitor’s platforms? Or do you think it’s a smart move? Let’s hear from you, use the comment form below to share what you think about this article with me. Remember to subscribe to my RSS feed.

Our first impression of iOS 7 may have left you loving (or hating) the new features included in the latest operating system for iPhones and iPads. But only after spending some time with it do you begin to appreciate the fun, secret features as well.

Or at least we did. Here are the best hidden features of iOS 7 that we found. We think they'll make you wonder aloud, "I didn't know my iPhone could do that?!"

1. Make Your iPhone Vibrate However You Want

Just like custom ring tones, you can now create custom vibrations for individual contacts with a few taps on the screen. Just go to "Settings" and then "Sounds." From there, hit "Ringtone," where you'll see "Vibration." Under "Vibration," scroll down to "Custom" and hit "Create New Vibration." To make a new vibration, you just tap the screen in the pattern you like.

2. Undo Email Delete With A Shake

Few things are more frustrating than accidentally deleting an important email. But iOS 7 gives you a simple way to undo it in the default Mail app. Just shake your iPhone to bring up the option of undoing an email deletion.

3. Control Your Device By Moving Your Head

You can now control your iPad or iPhone with your head. Not your brain (yet), but your head. iOS 7 can use your front-facing camera to detect head movements. This feature is likely meant for those with limited mobility in their hands, but it's impressive nonetheless.

Go to "Settings," then "General" and then "Accessibility." From there, find "Switch Control" and turn it on. There you can add different "Switches," or physical cues to control your phone.

For example, under "Switches," you can make your phone select something when you tilt your head to the right. A blue square will scroll over each line of apps on your home screen, and one row will be selected when you tilt your head. Then it will scroll through each individual apps, and you can select again.

4. Use Your Flashlight For Alerts

For those of us who have a hard time responding to alarms, this new feature could be crucial. You can make your flashlight flash on and off when you get an alert by going to "Settings," then "General" and then "Accessibility." From there, scroll down and turn on "LED Flash for Alerts." Now when an alarm goes off, your flashlight will flash.

5. Never Miss A Link Your Friends' Tweeted Out

Safari now syncs up with your Twitter feed to show you all the tweets in your stream with links in them. When you're in Safari, go to the bottom of the window and hit the Bookmarks button (the one that looks like a book). Then press the "@" symbol to see all of your Twitter feed's recent links.

When receiving zipped files on your iOS device, users who jailbreak their devices will use iFile to open the files within. Not only can it unzip files, but you can view files on iFile too. But, if you are one of the few who didn’t jailbreak your device and want an app that does what iFile does, check out FileApp.

Don’t like always being left out of a group photo? Well many smartphones have a front camera and a back camera. In the Samsung Galaxy S4 you can take photos simultaneously with the back and front camera in the same photo. We’ve found an app that lets you something similar to that with your iPhone.