Google Planning an Android Rival to BBM, iMessage?

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Posted June 10, 2011 at 2:53pm by iClarified

Google is reportedly working on a messaging app that will rival BlackBerry's BBM and Apple's iMessage apps, according to the WSJ.

Text traffic will come under more pressure in the months ahead. This week, Apple Inc. showed off an application that will allow iPhone and iPad owners to bypass carriers and send text messages over the Internet to other people with Apple devices. Google Inc., whose Android software is the most popular operating system on smartphones, has also recently worked on a messaging application, a person familiar with the matter said.

Apple surprised carriers with its announcement of iMessage during WWDC; however, the transition from SMS messaging to Internet messaging may have already begun. In the second half of 2010, U.S. cellphone users sent more than 1 trillion texts, an 8.7% increase from the first half of the year. While still growth, it was the slimmest gain since SMS exploded last decade. As smartphones become more popular, users are increasingly turning to much more versatile online messaging systems. It may not be long before carriers will have to look elsewhere for profits and that elsewhere will likely be data charges.

Google Planning an Android Rival to BBM, iMessage?

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NeHoMaR - June 10, 2011 at 7:02pm

Worst part is they insist in new messenger systems, exclusive for the devices, that is 100% crap. Blackberry with Blackberry, Apple with Apple, come on! Everybody should use something to communicate with everybody, with every platform.

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Dave - June 10, 2011 at 8:16pm

That's not how it works. Apple and RIM want people to join their platforms, so they offer exclusive chat for users of it. If RIM made the BBM API public, they wouldn't sell any phones.

gentster - June 10, 2011 at 9:20pm

Well, the Whatsapp app that the "reporter" mentioned works across all platforms, iOS, Android, Blackberry and Symbian, and it supports texts and photos. That's what you really need. I use it extensively to communicate with my friends overseas too.

Dave - June 10, 2011 at 9:42pm

People don't want to pay for apps (especially BB users). I've tried to convert friends to multi-platform messengers, to no avail. The system has to be pushed to consumers, not pulled by them. The iMessage solution is genius, since people will be using it automatically without even realizing it.

Dave - June 10, 2011 at 3:39pm

They already have it, Google Talk...

vdesai - June 10, 2011 at 3:12pm

they already have that gtalk. i use gtalk when i used android, and when switch to blackberry bbm. they just need to improve gtalk

gentster - June 10, 2011 at 5:26pm

This guy is a WSJ reporter??? Wow, they're really hurting these days, I guess. Whatsapp works on all smartphone platforms: iOS, Android, Blackbarry and Symbian OS, and best of all, identifies users by their phone number, which means it's really easy to see who's using it and who's not. Carriers are clearly overcharging for the minuscule amount of data that messaging requires, so it's time for users to wake up and use such messaging apps instead. After all, pretty much all smart phone users have a data plan and there is no reason why they should pay for SMS on top of that. It was good while it lasted for greedy carriers...