BBM for Android – Believe it!

The long-awaited cross-platform offering is now being rolled out in a phased manner. It was delayed after there were various issues that came up following last month’s initial launch. The Canadian company is continuing the rollout of Android and iOS apps for its popular BlackBerry Messenger service. BlackBerry had reported that it will be officially re-launching its BBM app in the Google Play store, App Store and a few select Samsung app marketplaces.

The company had previously planned on releasing the app last month, but those plans were pushed back abruptly, with the earlier version of the Android app being leaked publicly. The announcement was made on the corporate blog of the company, and stated that the initial rollout would be bound to the millions of users that took the time to sign up at BBM.com. For those who have already signed up to use the app on bbm.com will avail its services, but for those who have not registered, will have to download the app, enter your email address and wait in line.

The struggling Canadian firm had earlier announced in May that they would be rolling out BBM to other platforms. The fast messaging capabilities led to the rising popularity among the BlackBerry faithful, but now it faces stiff competition from other cross-platform chatting services. The BBM however, remains wildly popular, despite BlackBerry’s recent misfortunes. BlackBerry said that the service counts more than 60 million monthly active users, with a good number of them using it up to 90 minutes a day.

This move was made to improve the relevance of the company, with consumers fleeing from its handsets. BlackBerry had also accepted a $4.7 billion buyout offer from Fairfax Financial Holdings, another Canadian firm renowned for taking on troubled local companies. There are other bidders that have also come forward, including two founders of BlackBerry, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and PC maker Lenovo.