Cross-platform messenger Kik raises $8M and still going strong - Which message service do you use?

on 7 Mar 2011 12:39 PM

We haven't heard much from Kik lately aside from their ongoing court battle with RIM. The cross-platform messaging service was once the latest and greatest messenger for smartphone users, but it has since left the spotlight (at least on the BlackBerry end) while it sorts out things with RIM. In their first big break since getting things rolling, Kik has raised $8M in funding from RRE Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures. The latest additions to the iOS and Android versions of Kik include both photo sharing as well as group chat for up to ten people. It feels like Kik gets more like BBM with every update.

Poll: Do you use Kik or another cross-platform message service to chat with your non-BB friends? Vote in the poll above and leave a comment with your thoughts below.

Source: TechCrunch

Filed Under: News & Rumors, CrackBerry Polls; Tags: Kik

26 Comments

Posted by Machzy Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I personally think this is going to kill BBM.

RIM should've opened BBM to other smartphones sooner - hopefully they won't sit around all year and will release it on Android and iOS sooner rather than later.

Posted by shlammed Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

Are you being serious? KiK, on multiple platforms, only has a fraction of the users BBM does. BBM is somewhere in the range of 40-45 million users and growing.

Like the article states, all these IM companies "try" to be like BBM, but they're always a step behind.

New features like social platform, mobile gifting, etc. are all features that will keep these other wanna be's nothing more than wanna be's.

BBM is the future, it will NOT die.

Posted by bahandi Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

Good point. But if RIM really does want to port BBM over, they need to open it up enough that people will see the benefit of BBM. To what extent, I don't know. But if they limit functionality, or even keep it on par with other IM clients, then most consumers won't see the point of it.

Posted by g_patkar Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

Why is there no Whatsapp in this list? I'm sure there are a lot of Whatsapp users out there...

Posted by noTh1ng Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

Whatsapp is by far the best because it is avaiable on all platforms and you dont have to remember pins or codes etc, it just works with the phone number. Bbm is of course better, but most of my friends are on iphones ;)

Posted by Duvi Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

and that is why i dislike WhatsApp. bbm provides anonymous chat. you can choose to block their pin request or delete and block them if you already accepted them. someone would need to know your phone number in order to use WhatsApp.

LiveProfile is cool and works pretty good. my only gripe is no groups, at least not currently. i know a lot of people who would switch to LiveProfile from BBM, including companies if they had groups. once again, WhatsApp has the groups, but i do not want to give my phone number out to all.

Posted by ComputerWolf Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I actually am looking forward to the launch of LiveProfile on Blackberry, but for now I have to use PingChat since Kik is no longer an option and WhatsApp charges. I actually just wrote an article comparing all the services out there here: bit.ly/eldc5Y and updated it after Kik's group chat and picture sharing announcement :)

Posted by shimojunk Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

Well since I now use an VZW iPhone I use both LiveProfile and Whatsapp. I have Kik, but strangely I don't have anybody I care to chat with on it and it's too basic, so I'm deleting it.

Whatsapp is cool since you can install it on BB's locked down by corporate and you can also send photos, contacts, location etc.

LiveProfile is cool for the iPhone since it's free but it doesn't support landscape keyboard (at least not as of today) and you can't share your location.

If BBM does come to multiplatform, if it's cheap enough I'll buy it so I can BBM my few remaining friends on BBM.

Posted by deloreancowboy Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I use Trillian all the way. Its cross platform. (windows, mac, iOS, Android, BlackBerry) allows pic transfers and accesses all mediums I access (Astra, AIM, Yahoo IM, Windows Live, GTalk, Jabber, Facebook IM, MySpace IM, and more). And it syncs my conversations between devices.

Can't live without it.

Posted by The Consigliere Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I didn't vote in this poll because I use both BBM & SMS because those friends with Blackberries I BBM them & those without I SMS, where's the BBM AND SMS option???

Posted by joeldf Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

SMS only.

I only text to my wife, who has an iPhone. And even then, it's not that much as we still like to actually talk to each other.

Posted by Accio_BBandCoffee Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I voted BBM, but I also use SMS & fchat for facebook chat.

Posted by jevalladares Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

Trick question, for iPhone & Android users Whatsapp is what they have, for all other users I use MSN. But none of the equal BBM in performance and releability.

Posted by ThirteenGreen Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I use BBM for my friends and family that have Blackberries and SMS for everything else (iPhone, Android and non smartphone using friends/family).

Posted by rayjr13 Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

Nimbuzz might look into Trillian

Posted by Quisinberry Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

I'm waiting for the messaging app that's cross-platform that everyone already has. I'm not paying $5 for Trillian when I have unlimited SMS and unlimited data.

Posted by FirstsearchBlue Monday, Mar 07, 2011 444 days ago

My friends and I all had blackberries 2 years ago, but over that time we've all switched to android and iphone (about 15 of us or so - one still has a blackberry, but that's just because his job pays the bill) 90% of all my old BBM contacts are on Kik now - we all love it. I have what's app to talk to a few people from work.. but I'm not a big fan - not really into the interface (on android) and 5 person group chats were no good for our purposes. Today I'll get the work crew on kik so we can take advantage of 10 person chats.

Posted by dterio Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

BBM is not cross-platform, shouldn't be on the voting list

Posted by scottae316 Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

If BBM goes cross platform and is reasonable that will be my number one. The wife has an iPhone so for now its WhatsApp. It is the best of the BBM alternatives. We tried Kik but my wife get on getting texts and friend requests from total strangers, she didn't like it. So we switched to WhatsApp.

Posted by Lefty923 Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

Trillian.

Posted by don.new Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

I do Skype chat on my BB with IM+.

Posted by squire302 Monday, Mar 07, 2011 443 days ago

I tried Kik, but a new player has come to the arena. LiveProfile came out the gate with file sharing, Kik still doesn't have it. It's very BBM like with a pin and send, delivered and read notifications! It's free and a version of it for BlackBerry is right around the corner!

Posted by nootnacks Tuesday, Mar 08, 2011 443 days ago

BBM all the way!!!!!!

Posted by duckduke Tuesday, Mar 08, 2011 443 days ago

The poll asks "What cross-platform messenger do you use?"

I didn't think the IM messengers, BBM, or old school SMS were considered cross-platform messengers.

I would like to see a poll strickly listing the cross-platform messengers.

I'm just saying................