I see advertisements day in and day out for BBM. Not for RIM's latest phone, not for a new RIM app, but specifically for BBM. Why? Because RIM has realized that one of the only things keeping a large % of their user base around is BBM. Their OS is horrible, their devices are nothing special, but BBM is arguably the best mobile messaging product out there (so good that Kik pretty much copied it exactly).
I have friends that won't replace their BBs solely because they feel as though they'll lose touch with their friends that use BBM (I know, SMS, email etc. all seem like fair replacements but in practice they aren't...BBM is superior for a # of reasons).
Now, what is Kik doing? It is offering a comparable messaging platform that allows BBM users to speak with their friends no matter what device they are using. If I tell my friends with BBs to get Kik and we all start to use it consistently, then eventually one of us can go get that iPhone we've always wanted. Then another one etc.
Kik is on the verge of breaking into the walled garden that is BBM and RIM is obviously not too happy about it.
Except for the plastic keyboard, I don't see any advantage. Use a decent Jabber client (I'm using Beem on Android) and you get all these features on gchat, with just your gmail address.
Plus, figure out the priority thing right, and you can have all the messages delivered to the right client. GTalk broadcasts to all clients by default, but the better IM clients give you an option to send and receive.
^^Agree. Kik is a BBM clone. Surprisingly badly done, actually, from what I can tell - but still, it's aiming straight for BBM.
If it gains traction, it might turn into a BBM competitor which is available on all platforms, thereby removing _the_ primary reason BBs sell like hotcakes here in Asia.
I guess I should backtrack - BB in SE Asia (and probably other regions world wide) is THE must have phone for every student, college or high school. You either have one, or you want one.
The reason for this is BBM. Clever marketing and the fact that most students already have BB make it a social must have. You either have a BB or you're out. They're selling them by the bucketloads, it's quite incredible.
Without BBM, there is no way BB would sell _any_ phones over here. So clearly they must protect it. If students somehow would get turned on to Kik, and you didn't need the - let's admit it rather ugly-looking - BB to use it, Blackberry sales in the region would die overnight.
Anyone else find it deliciously ironic that BB is now blatantly doing what Apple is usually accused of doing?
RIM already provides IM clients for Google Talk, Yahoo, and MSN, with pretty much the exact same UI and features as BBM. The quality of their Google Talk client is one of the things keeping me on BlackBerry.
The Google Talk client is horrible. It wastes tons of CPU when it's loading up the contact list, and still uses a bunch just while idling. If you have it on all the time, it will eat your battery away such that a Blackberry 9700 with no other apps running won't last a full day. I tested this on my own device a while ago, it might have gotten better, but I doubt it.
Blackberry Messenger (BBM) also has a typing indicator, delivered and read indicators, and it's faster than anything else out there.
Also, the fact that it's only on mobile devices and not desktop computers means that you know your message will get delivered to someone's pocket instead of the computer they may have left on. An odd side effect of its lack of portability.
Fair enough, and that's quite likely what RIM is thinking.
But do you think it's a smart strategy for RIM to try to stay relevant by blocking hot apps on their platform? would it not be a more sane strategy for them to make their devices better, and to open up their platform so that others can easily develop more great apps on it?
This just seems like such a dumb short-sighted move.
It's only dumb and short-sighted until you look at the amount of money at stake.
BBM truly is the only app holding a great many people back from ditching their blackberries for android or i-devices. The second we find a reliable way to transition away from the blackberry, today, we would. The blackberry has to keep a lock on it's last and only killer app while it finds a way to stay relevant.
I see advertisements day in and day out for BBM. Not for RIM's latest phone, not for a new RIM app, but specifically for BBM. Why? Because RIM has realized that one of the only things keeping a large % of their user base around is BBM. Their OS is horrible, their devices are nothing special, but BBM is arguably the best mobile messaging product out there (so good that Kik pretty much copied it exactly).
I have friends that won't replace their BBs solely because they feel as though they'll lose touch with their friends that use BBM (I know, SMS, email etc. all seem like fair replacements but in practice they aren't...BBM is superior for a # of reasons).
Now, what is Kik doing? It is offering a comparable messaging platform that allows BBM users to speak with their friends no matter what device they are using. If I tell my friends with BBs to get Kik and we all start to use it consistently, then eventually one of us can go get that iPhone we've always wanted. Then another one etc.
Kik is on the verge of breaking into the walled garden that is BBM and RIM is obviously not too happy about it.