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BBM app coming for Windows, possibly OSX?


BlackBerry is readying a Messenger app not only to mobile platforms like iOS and Android, but also to desktop, a tech site reported Friday.

The Next Web reported BlackBerry showed off BBM for Windows at BlackBerry Jam Asia 2013 in Hong Kong, and hinted at a possible BBM for OS X.

"Unsurprisingly, the Canadian company wouldn’t give a release date for either platform. Nevertheless, it’s clear that BlackBerry doesn’t want to just expand to mobile platforms Android and iOS; it also wants BBM on your desktop in one form or another," it said.

Enthusiast site BBin.in said the app appeared to feature instant communication that allowed file attachments from the desktop PC.

But The Next Web also noted the app may not be a true desktop messaging client because "it will require the smartphone app to function."

"BBM for Desktop will thus work similarly to how BBM works on the BlackBerry PlayBook via BlackBerry Bridge. You’ll have to link your smartphone with your computer over Wi-Fi so that messages (as well as files and photos) are routed through your mobile device. In other words, you’ll still only be able to login to BBM on just one device," it said.

Yet, it said a desktop option may give BlackBerry an advantage in the cross-platform messaging space.

Presently, it said competitors like WhatsApp and WeChat are mobile-only, though Facebook Messenger is available on the Web and on Windows.  - ELR, GMA News

Tags: blackberry