**UPDATED With New Info** [EDITORIAL] Is RIM Shooting Itself In The Foot?

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Blackberry has been rumored for months now to be releasing its much loved and copied(I’m looking at you here Apple. iMessage? You can’t be this blatant, can you?) Blackberry Messenger(BBM for the cool kids) to rival platforms Android and iOS for some time now(though with the coming of the aforementioned iMessage coming with iOS 5, would Apple even need or want BBM). Now we see with the coming of a couple of leaked shots of an unknown Android handset courtesy of tech blog T3, that BBM is indeed coming to, at the very least, Android by 2012. And therein lies the problem.

Blackberry Messenger is RIM’s bread and butter right now. It’s literally the only thing distinguishing its smartphone’s from the plethora of Android super phone’s and Apple’s iPhone. Every phone does e-mail and exchange syncing now. Even the regular old joe-schmoe feature phones. So RIM can’t count on that. And Android devices and the iPhone have superior web browsers. So does Windows Phone 7, Web OS, BADA, MeeGo, Maemo and Symbian. So RIM can’t count on that either. Don’t even get me started on app selection. So why would RIM give away its only saving grace to date?

One suggestion as to why could be that, since Blackberry users are switching over to competing platforms anyway, why not put BBM on them? It could stem the tide users leaving Blackberry because then Blackberry users could BBM their friends who have Android devices and iPhones. Of course, that could have the reverse effect, causing Blackberry users to leave faster because with the latest and greatest Android devices and iPhones having BBM, why stick Blackberry? The latest and greatest devices by market or dollar share would have the best messaging client out there in BBM. Good for the competition, but bad for RIM.

So what say you HHD readers? Is RIM indeed shooting itself in the foot by giving away its only saving grace? Please let us know what you’re opinions are on this matter and sound off in the comments.

 

BBM for Android

 

***UPDATE***

The purported images of BBM running on Android have been proven to be false! Though there are indeed rumors of RIM putting BBM on other devices beside their own, these images shown and “leaked” by T3 are photoshopped. The original image can be seen here.

Photoshopped images aren’t uncommon in the tech world. It’s usually just some clown getting his jollies with PhotoShop. No fire here people. Move along… Move along… As to the ass hats who did the PhotoShop stunt… Get a job or something… A hobby or a girlfriend… For real.

About The Author

Kamil M Abdullah has been a self proclaimed techie and bonafide smart phone expert nearly half of his life. Starting with the very first Sidekick(not necessarily a smart phone but close enough) to Blackberry to Symbian to Windows(Mobile & Phone 7) to Web OS to Android, he has used virtually every smart phone operating system. Kamil has also worked with computer programming in Bloomberg's Data Center and Backup Operations on their proprietary software. In his quest for further knowledge in mobile operating systems, Kamil voraciously devours any reading material on the subject he can find. Kamil is also a hip hop head to the fullest, having fallen in love with the art form from the very first "a hip hop the hibby to the hibby the hip hip the hop" and tr808 beat. He promises to use his vast powers and knowledge only for the good of mankind.