BBM was a feature that used to be exclusive for BlackBerry devices, that is until BlackBerry decided to open the door to iOS and Android devices. The app itself was free which had many wondering how BlackBerry would make money from it.
It turns out that monetizing BBM Channels was BlackBerry’s strategy, and now it seems that BlackBerry could be looking for new avenues of income and could be interested in developing a VoIP application of their own.
This is according to BlackBerry’s Senior Director of BBM Business Development, David Proulx, who hinted that BlackBerry could be looking into a Skype-like service for BBM. According to Proulx, “We are still investing in the organic elements that drive users. Any monetisation is driven by large user base. Our idea is to take BBM to as many end-points as possible.”
In the process of announcing that, Proulx also mentioned that the Windows Phone version of BBM will be arriving in the next 3 months. We already knew that BBM would be arriving on Windows Phone but we only had a rough time frame of Q2 2014, so at least now we know we can expect it in the next few months.
Proulx did not mention when BlackBerry would launch their VoIP service for BBM, but what do you guys think? Is VoIP a feature that BlackBerry users are looking for, or would you just not bother since there are already alternatives out there?
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