Research in Motion (RIM) has declared very good news for the Blackberry lovers and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) fans. The BBM lovers can actually enjoy the voice calling with the help of version 7 of the BBM app which is in beta phase. That voice calling can be done with the support of Wi-Fi access.
When you will be doing a voice call, you will still be able to continue with text chat facility in BBM. Make sure that this voice calling feature won’t work on 3G or cellular networking, so I am sure that many cell companies will feel relax about know this fact.
RIM informed about the following features using BBM:
- Customers can initiate a BBM Voice call directly, or instantly switch from a BBM text chat to talk, and back again.
- The split-screen feature allows customers to talk and text at the same time, so for example, they can send a picture to their contact while talking with them. They can also check other BBM text chats, check email, or navigate to other apps while engaged on a BBM Voice call.
- BBM provides a visual indicator that shows when contacts are available for a voice call.
- BBM Voice is compatible with any accessories a customer has now for making voice calls on their BlackBerry smartphone, such as a Bluetooth or wired headset. Customers can also use BBM Voice over their BlackBerry smartphone’s speakerphone.
- If it’s not an ideal time to talk, customers can simply choose to respond by texting back.
If a user will switched to any other BlackBerry mobile phone, even then the contacts and groups can be saved. It is because the version 7 of BMM will incorporate the user’s BlackBerry ID, which actually saves the BBM profile, groups and all contacts.
Mr. T.A. McCann, Vice President of BBM and Social Communities at RIM commented that,
“BBM is the quick, easy way to stay connected to the people that matter to you, and with today’s announcement we’re expanding the capabilities of the service for deeper social engagement and even greater collaboration, beginning with voice functionality,” The new BBM Voice feature is for when you’re travelling and you want to call home without worrying about phone charges. It’s for when you have news you can’t wait to share, for quickly explaining complicated details, and collaborating with colleagues. Whenever your ideas are too big for text, there’s BBM Voice.”
This feature of Voice ability comes with beta version 7 of BBM version 7 for all those smartphones which are using BlackBerry 6 OS or higher. It is also planned by the company that they will be bringing support of the feature for smartphones running the BlackBerry 5 OS in future. Download the Beta Version from BlackBerry Beta Zone.
