BlackBerry To Launch BBM For Windows [REPORT]

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BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) showed off a new piece of software today, BlackBerry Messenger for Windows. The company launched the new service at BlackBerry Jam Asia 2013 in Hong Kong and hinted that BBM for OSX is not outside of the realms of possibility. The company did not give a release date for the new software.

BlackBerry To Launch BBM For Windows [REPORT]

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is in real transition right now after a deal for Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (TSE:FFH) (OTCMKTS:FRFHF) to acquire the company was announced last Monday. The company has delayed the release of BBM for Android and iOS. That release was supposed to come through last week, but it was stalled after a failed launch and the revelation of the acquisition by Fairfax.

BBM for Windows

The new service will see BlackBerry Messenger, one of the company’s most enduringly popular products, take to the desktop for the first time ever. The product is billed to be called BlackBerry Messenger for Desktop, but without any official release information it’s difficult to know what the final product will be named.

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) showed off the product on a big screen at the show. The demonstration showed the client running on a Windows 7 desktop. The service will look and work like BBM did on the failed BlackBerry tablet, the Playbook, according to TheNextWeb.

The service is unlikely to launch any time soon, as BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is still trying to deal with the fiasco that was the launch of the service for iOS and Android. The company has no official plans to relaunch the service on those devices as of writing.

BlackBerry and the future of BBM

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is not going to be the same company for much longer. If the deal that will see it become a part of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (NYSE:FFH) (OTCMKTS:FRFHF) goes through, the company will stop trading on public exchanges and it will, if any success is hoped for, begin to operate in an entirely different manner.

There are lots of problems at BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) and none of them are likely to change with the release of BBM for any platform. With the failed release of BBM for Android and iOS behind it, it is unclear whether or not BBM will ever be released as an independent product. The company is under new management now, and priorities might be different.

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