After expanding BBM Protected to BlackBerry Balance devices, it appears as though the company’s plans to expand the messaging platform are just getting started.
In fact, it looks like Android, iOS, and Windows Phone users could be enjoying BBM Protected soon enough, with a rollout that echoes that of the consumer edition of BBM. Android and iOS will likely be first, with Windows Phone to follow. Windows Phone will also soon be getting BBM Channels and more. With BBM Protected, the Canadian smartphone maker is looking to charge $30 per year.
“No date has been fixed, but it will happen soon”
“No date has been fixed, but it will happen soon,” BlackBerry India MD, Sunil Lalwani told HT.
While it’s no confirmation of a date, documents have been obtained that show BES 5 and BES 10 users are getting a free 30 day trial of BBM Protected valid between July 30 and October 31, 2014.
BlackBerry has also recently launched eBBM Suite, which is essentially BBM with enterprise grade security and compliance and will also be launching its Passport and Classic handsets within the next two months according to Lalwani.
It’s not clear how much these new devices will help BlackBerry improve on its 1 percent claim of the smartphone market while competing with Google, Microsoft and Apple, but one step and device at a time.