BlackBerry’s BBM Service Goes to Samsung Galaxy,(huduma ya bbm sasa kupatikana kwenye simu za Samsung Galaxy)

For quite some time now, there has been
anticipation over BlackBerry’s plans to finally
share its popular BlackBerry Messaging or
BBM with Android smartphones. The long wait
may finally be over, but not quite. That is
because BBM will finally be accessed through
Samsung Galaxy devices, but only in Africa.
BlackBerry has started conducting trials for a
cross-platform version of the popular
messaging service. For its part, Samsung has
already announced the availability of BBM
through the company’s own app store and the
Google Play Store in the continent.
This means that African smartphone users
may be the first ones to download BBM
software to their Samsung Galaxy phones. This
will be facilitated through Samsung’s app
store and Google Inc’s Google Play store.
African users
BBM on Samsung Galaxy phones will provide
African users access to popular services like
BBM chats. Moreover, it supports BBM
Groups, which facilitates creation of groups
consisting up to 30 people/members and
enable sharing of photographs and voice
notes.
The main functions of BBM will be
strategically integrated into Samsung devices
through the company’s messaging hub. It is
not yet known if Samsung will adopt a system
similar to the popular and highly useful
BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry’s own app store.
Samsung efforts
Samsung has agreed to cooperate in
marketing initiatives to showcase BBM
specifically to Android device users across the
continent. Upon launch, the popular app will
be made available for free downloading not
just through Samsung app store but also
through Google Play Store.
There was no official announcement about it,
but it is logical that Samsung and BlackBerry
may have signed an agreement to bring the
service exclusively on the African platform of
the South Korea smartphone maker. Thus, it
has not been clarified if BBM from Play Store
will also be extended to non-Samsung devices.
There is also no word yet about the
possibility of the BBM service for Samsung
Galaxy being rolled out to other international
markets.
BBM is one of the most popular services that
are exclusive to BlackBerry. It has become a
staple in one-to-one communication on
smartphones. In some key markets, including
Africa, the service has underpinned the
universal communication means. BBM has
already proven that it can be more affordable,
more reliable, and more trustworthy than the
typical SMS service. The move will certainly
beneficial to both parties for logical and
deeper reasons.