BlackBerry has announced that it is rolling out video calling for Android BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) users. A recent update confirmed that the feature would also arrive on iOS devices, allowing cross-platform video chat capabilities for BBM users.
BBM video is currently in beta and is being released in the United States and Canada to allow gradual performance testing and bug fixes prior to a global launch. According to BBM Senior Vice President Matthew Talbot, BlackBerry plans to launch the feature globally in July 2016.
The new video calling feature will work on Android OS 4.4 (KitKat) and higher, as well as iOS 8 and higher. Users who install the new update will be able to use the new video calling feature by selecting a contact and tapping the option to "try a Beta Video Call." If the contact does not have the new beta video calling feature enabled, then BBM will default to the standard voice call option.
Mobile video calling has been available so far via services like Apple FaceTime, which only supported iOS devices. Cross-platform video calling has been supported through apps like Skype, Google Hangouts, and Snapchat, among others.
"What's driving the enthusiasm? Simple: mobile video conferencing is now a reality," Talbot explained. "Video is taking over as our number 1 communication technolog."
Mobile video calling is quickly rising in popularity in the United States, reaching 47 percent of adults who use video calling technology, Pew Research Center reported. This rise can be attributed to younger generations adopting the technology and new infrastructure being introduced to support smartphones, such as 4G wireless networks and high definition front-facing cameras.
BlackBerry is unsurprisingly targeting its core customers in business for this announcement, saying in a blog post that the technology enables companies to "put faces to names, virtually meet job candidates, make decisions in real time, and save tremendously on travel expenses."
While video teleconferencing is nothing new in business, being supported by enterprise applications including Skype for Business and Google Apps for Work, BlackBerry hopes that its business centric, mobile, and easy to use platform will see a resurgence in the business communication platform.
