Seeking to bolster BlackBerry’s flagging smartphone position, Research In Motion has expanded its popular BlackBerry Messenger IM offering, integrating it into third and first party apps. The new version of BBM, or BlackBerry Messenger 6, which supports the integration is available online at the BlackBerry App World, along with a few ‘BBM-connected‘ apps.
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The feature will let BBM users interact with their contacts from within the new BBM-connected applications, chatting with them during a game, while roaming location networks like Four Square, or sharing news like sports scores. The team has also enhanced the BBM Social Platform, allowing users to “invite friends, update user profiles, chat and share content from within other applications.”
Bringing the much-loved BBM connectivity to apps will certainly present a lot of interesting possibilities, and while BlackBerry owners the world over are probably delighted, some optimism is in order. BBM is inherently a platform-bound IM network – we wonder how long it will take for WhatsApp or some such cross-platform IM network to offer this level of integration and an ecosystem of connected partner apps. Of course, there’ve been some rumours about Android and iOS receiving BBM ports, allowing it to garner adoption from two of its biggest competitors.