Samsung’s messaging service ChatOn has taken another step to becoming truly multi-platform after the company launched a new client for BlackBerry devices, adding to its existing iOS, Android and Bada apps.
ChatOn was unveiled by Samsung in August last year, touting itself as a new multi-platform mobile messaging service capable of sending text, images and video clips between the company’s range of Android and Bada smartphone devices but also rival platforms.
Whilst it comes bundled with Samsung devices, smartphone owners have been able to download ChatOn from Google Play since October, with the iOS version of the app launching on the App Store at the beginning of the year. The Android app has seen mixed success, currently seeing between 500,000 and 1 million downloads since its launch, but that has tailed off in the past few months.
The launch of the BlackBerry app means that Samsung only needs to launch ChatOn for Windows Phone, something it committed to do when it first unveiled its plan for the cross-platform messaging service. Whilst Windows Phone is still flagging in terms of users, it is still one of the world’s most popular mobile operating systems and Samsung will need to ensure it offers the app in order to become truly multi-platform and connect users regardless of what software powers their mobile device.
There is no word on its Windows Phone availability but we will of course keep you updated.
Samsung has positioned the app as a competitor to BlackBerry’s BBM and Apple’s iMessage services. Once it hits all of the main mobile platforms, it truly has a chance of gaining some additional users as friends and family seek a way to communicate and send media for free, bypassing the carriers completely.
➤ ChatOn for BlackBerry (visit the link on your BlackBerry device to download the app)
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