BBM’s community already has over 35 million members.
It’s social platform has just been released to the BlackBerry developer community.
One of the newer social forums to join the pack promises to “revolutionise social interactions” and isn’t just a messaging service despite its name, say its creators Research In Motion.
BBM social platform includes a whole new breed of apps, location-based services, multimedia, gaming, VoIP, video and commerce, helping users share content across the forum, first announced at the BlackBerry DEVCON 2010.
The fledgling forum, which RIM says will be built into “one of the largest mobile-centric communities in the industry”, is not the only mobile platform looking to move further into Facebook style social territory.
Google is rumoured to be launching its very own social network for its Android platform, said to be called ‘Circle’, tipped for a May launch date.
“What was previously a solitary experience becomes now a social experience,” BlackBerry said today.
“Users gain the ability to discover new apps with friends and share real-time experiences and content with their inner circle.”
And it wont just help users, BBM is also an important for developers on the platform, allowing Java developers access to APIs and features helping to build important functions into apps.
They are user permission based and include accessing and updating fields in the user’s profile, creating custom areas within the user’s profile, initiating and embedding chats with friends, initiating file transfers and sharing applications virally with friends in their contact list.
Developers also have the ability to test the exact workflow and BBM integration made possible by special simulators for BlackBerry smartphone OS 5.0 and 6.0, RIM have said.
BBM comes pre-loaded on new BlackBerry Smartphones.
