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BlackBerry is bringing the popular BBM message service to iOS and Android devices this summer, and will add Skype to the operating system for its Z10 smartphone.
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Today’s Mobile Minute:
- BlackBerry is holding its BlackBerry Live event in Orlando today and the Canadian company seems determined to prove it’s down but not out. Today CEO Thorstein Heins said the popular BBM message service is coming to iOS and Android this summer. He said BBM will be a free app, and will work with iOS 6 or better and Android 4.0 or better.
- Heins said that initially BBM for iOS and Android will allow users to chat and join BBM groups, but that they will not be able to share screens or join video chats until some later date. Those features will remain available only to users of BlackBerry devices for now.
- The company is also adding Skype to the operating system for its new Z10 smartphone. The new version is called BB 10.1 and will also include the Moog music service.
- The Z10 smartphone needs all the help it can get – analysts say sales are sluggish, and the outlook for BlackBerry got worse earlier this month when the US Defense Department said it plans to allow iPhones and some Samsung smartphones onto its high security network. In the past, almost all government employees with smartphones have used BlackBerries, at least at work.
Other top stories for today:
Verizon Wireless set for $7B dividend payment to parent companies
Sonus continues to expand session border controller portfolio
Video startup powers mobile app for streaming live TV
