BBM Beta goes live in Windows Phone Store

If you've joined the BBM Beta program for Windows Phone, there's good news. The BlackBerry Messenger app is now live and ready to be downloaded in the Windows Phone Store, allowing Windows Phone customers to message friends on the BBM service. Of course, most folks here won't care as everyone already has BBM on their BlackBerry but hey, you can tell any Windows Phone folks you know it's being tested and put through its paces.

To download the app, you must be part of the BlackBerry Beta Zone program, which filled up quickly. In addition to the Windows Phone-centric ability to pin to the Start screen, here are some of the features that the app brings to Windows Phone:

  • BBID Setup and Log-in (for Whitelisted BBIDs)
  • Create BBM Profile
  • Invite a contact and suggested contacts (people you know)
  • 1-to-1 & Multi-person Chat
  • Contact Categories
  • Manage Settings
  • BBM Groups
  • Notifications and in-app "splats" for new content. See them in Feeds, Contacts when they've sent you a message, etc.

Additionally, BlackBerry is also reporting the following known issues:

  • Invites and acceptances don't send when Windows Phone goes out of WiFi coverage
  • A few newer emoticons are not rendering properly (i.e brrrr, and flex and @-@)
  • Windows Phone shows as available for BBM Voice call although feature is not supported (seen on Android and iOS, not BlackBerry 10)
  • Error popup appears when using "Find Friends" and the "OK" button is selected
  • Suggested Contacts tab only shows users already using BBM, but lists them as potential contacts when BBM is initially launched

Are you part of the beta program? Let us know what you think of it if you're giving it a run. It'll be interesting to see how many active monthly users Windows Phone users will account for when it's fully released. You can head on over to WPCentral if you're wanting to welcome Windows Phone users to the mix or see the reactions to the app thus far.

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