BlackBerry Launching BBM on Android and iOS this Week

BlackBerry will launch its popular messaging service to Android devices and iPhones, starting September 21.

Say what you will about the current state of BlackBerry smartphones, or the BlackBerry 10 OS, but BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is a well regarded social service. Previously,the company announced BBM would make its way to Android and iOS this summer, and according to a new blog post this morning, the app will hit both marketplaces this weekend.

"BBM gives you a private social network for active, real conversations and it has more than 60 million customers on BlackBerry alone," reads the blog post. "BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps."

The BBM app on iPhone and Android will offer chat with up to 30 users, file sharing, status updates, and message broadcasting using a private pin number. BlackBerry will incorporate BBM Channels "later this year," which allow brands and celebrities to create communities around their products.

The free download will land on Google Play September 21, available to Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. iPhones, running iOS 6 or later, can download BBM from the App Store starting September 22.