On the heels of the long awaited announcement of the BlackBerry Tour, BGR has posted that the revamped BlackBerry Messenger we recently got a peak at will be rolling out on all devices with OS 5.0. Michael gave us a short run down of some of the finer improvements we will be seeing and has a great gallery of screenshots for everyone to drool over. Some of the highlights of the new BlackBerry messenger in addition to the ones already covered previously include:
- SMS support — Long awaited on BlackBerry devices, threaded SMS soon available.
- PIN barcode scanning — Forget a PIN? Not wanting to type out email addresses? Scan and save your friends "barcode" instead using integrated camera.
- Backup/Restore Messenger list to microSD card — It's not running apps off the SD Card but we'll take it.
We got a few screenshots of our own after the jump be sure to check them out as well as the ones posted on BGR for all the new messenger goodness. Check out the new data usage tracker, I like that.
Reader comments
New BlackBerry Messenger Coming To All 5.0 Devices
Call me crazy, but I like to try the leaks out, as long as you back up everything. I just downloaded the OTA version... and it works perfectly! I have an 8310 running 4.5 OS, and the only thing missing is the SMS threading. So, all you 83XX Curve owners out there, fret not. There's love for our OS too!! The new BBM is on point!
I have a BB Storm and I can't see what all the excitement is about this app. I can only wonder what I am missing (if anything).
So im new to the worl of blackberry but i have to say it is the best phone i have ever had. o have a blackberry 8900 for tmobile and im running V4.6.1.114. So will i beable to use thye new bbm and how would i go about downloading 5.0?
I'm pumped but does anyone know if you can perhaps click on a blackberry contact and then physically call them, b/c that would be awesome
FINALLY THREADED SMS!!!
Have all the bugs been fixed out of the leaked update of OS 5.0???
that they aren't releasing this for the Storm right away.
I guess there is no love for us 4.5 users huh.
Can't wait till this thing comes out. I will be upgrading from the Curve to the Tour. So I expect by the time Sprint releases the Tour, the 5.0 OS and the BBM upgrade will be right around the corner. I can wait. And would never leave BB or CB for a friggin IPhone. You guys that want to leave go right ahead. I bet you will be coming right back to Crackberry. Lol
RIM better get moving and make the Storm 5.0 ASAP! Or else theres gonna be a lot of mad people online here. :P
So I guess I wont be one of the lucky ones to use the new BBM :-( I got a Curve 8310 running OS v4.5
can we use the other smileys now for the names? current bbm you can't use most smiley icons...
an upgrade is an upgrade
Yeah!! we 4.6ers need the new bbm on our phones too!! hope it comes out!!!
Is it possible to have the new BBM on the OS 4.6.x that currently exists?
Will I be able to start a BBM conversation through the menue in contacts?
it took 6 months to go from.75 to .148. WTF! We need a Steve Jobs type at RIM to light a fire under the OS writers and get updates like the iPhone. You know, bells and confetti. A big Keynote. If it weren't for the roomers there wouldn't be any thing on this site to talk about.
Can't wait
I can't wait for it to be released and try it out!!!
Are we ever going to have 5.0 on the BlackBerry Storm?
Release date is scheduled for "later this year"
However, I've seen leaks of 5.0 if you have the Bold or 8900...use at your own risk of course
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/09/19/
blackberry-os-50-your-first-looky-looky/
Do we have an expected release date for an OS upgrade for storm users? I love hearing about all the new things coming out for 5.0 but when are WE getting it? also i can see in the near future the same things with bar code scanning like the G1 has. We'll be scanning stuff at the store and buying i online very soon with our BB
Now, if only we could get RIM to allow us to backup our Homepage setups and custom ring tones, so that we don't have to spend so long redoing everything to just the way we like it every time we do a hard reset!!!
For us early adopters who are always trying out the newest Beta OS or cool software, it is a major PITA! :-)
Oh....and while we are at it......can we install programs to our memory cards PLEEEEEEEEEEAAAASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate having to pick and choose what programs I have room for on my Bold.
Guess I'll just HAVE to upgrade to the Onyx when it is released....sigh... :-)
I think i may upgrade my OS just to try this out...and then when we get a device with 5.0 on Tmo, I'm so buying one...
I just hope it comes out before I ship out! lol I can't wait!!!
This is great I can't wait for the 5.0 release (or leaks). Now if they can only bring this kind of creativity, coolness, usefulness and innovation to the BB browser......
is going to be awesome for BB users!
That Looks Sick I cant wait to have it on my Bold...Any ETA on the Upgrade???
All this eye candy is great and all but WHEN could we possibly start seeing all this come to us? Does anyone have any inkling as a possible rollout date? It kind of stinks that some much noise is being made by Apple these days with its new I phone and firmware and all "we" have is some beautifully done screen shots of what we could do with all these new things in 5.0 and BBM and so on. I am close to the point of giving up on RIM and jumping ship to get me a 3Gs. Frustrating, frustrating, and more frustrating....
Currently OS 5.0 is rumored to have a fall release date. Keep in mind that is just a rumor. Also once released, the OS will have to pass carrier testing which could take additional time (months).
Don't really matter. Doesn't seem like RIM does a good job of releasing software on a regular basis.
Will it work on clients that don't use a BES or BIS account?
I don't use BBM so I am unfamiliar with the current version, but it looks like this new one can add a contact by email, phone number, or PIN. Also the ability to send pictures and files. It sounds like this new BBM will be handling all of the messaging duties. I was close to buying a threaded SMS app, but now I'll just wait, and probably wait some more.
this feature will really rock.
its amazing that now with BB messenger u can do so many things.
cant wait to get one.
Cheerzzz to CB Community.
I wanted a middle finger smiley!!!
What an UGLY User Interface. RIM really sucks when it comes to its u.i. So amateur and low budget.
so i have a blackberry curve 8330M.. currently running 4.5.0.138 would the new bb messenger be available for me?
I second that emotion! I love my 8330 but it seems like the higher end devices are getting all of the attention! Please tell us it WILL work on our os 4.5 or that they will be releasing 5.0 for the Curves!
I've been told by rim not to bepecting 5.0 on the older devices (81xx/83xx/88xx) due to limited application flash space. I had to deal with this years ago with what devices could upgrade to the shiney 4.0 code
Looks like the majority of users WON'T be able to use the new BB messenger then. Most people who have blackberries that I see/know have a 83XX variation.
That's some weak sh!t but a fact of life. LOL
I have been holding off on a new phone purchase for awhile, waiting for the dust to settle on all these new devices. I am happy with my 8320 and use BBM all day long. I would think this would be a pretty easy setup, even if they didn't include the camera barcode option.
mypin anybody?
bbm already has threaded so will the sms be threaded like if a friend dosent have a bb will the sms be threaded?
Yeah, probably. BBM is completely seperate from SMS. It does not make sense that sms would be threaded only to people who have BBs.
I think i read that 5.0 will be available for any device that currently runs 4.6.x or higher
Any news on what devices will have 5.0 Os available?
since 4.5 was available for the 8700, i'd imagine 5.0 would be released for the 8100 and so on, any news regarding that?
so is this only for devices running on 5.0? I'm kinda confused.
omg omg omg omg omg omg omg
I am like 2 days away from deciding on pulling the trigger for an iPhone and they start with this info..
Why would you buy a toy when you can buy a big boy's toy?
I'm right there with you deathbyart, the iPhone is looking nicer and nicer these days. I mean the Tour looks nice but 256 memory, that's it? C'mon RIM
The iphone 3Gs only has 256 megs of ram too. The difference is you can install apps to the internal memory.
The 5.0 os is looking better and better. I wish BGR put up a few pics of the threaded sms.
Who called that it would have threaded SMS built in? Oh yea. Me.
http://crackberry.com/sneek-peak-new-blackberry-messenger#comment-206114
Hell yea! Can't wait for this. Looks frickin' awesome! :-D
Pin barcode scanning using the camera? What does dat mean
"PIN barcode scanning — Too lazy to add your friend to Messenger by entering in their PIN? Just have them click the Barcode option on their devices and, you guessed it, a barcode will show up letting the other party scan it with their BlackBerry camera and immediately add that contact to your list."
unless 5.0 allows me to save apps to sd card its an epic failure in my book they are so far behind everyone else i do love my storm now that its fixed for the most part though ^^ but saving apps to sd card would make it perfect
Seriously? epic failure? What about all of the other cool things in 5.0? Epic failure is a bit overkill. I do agree that apps on the SD card would enhance the blackberry platform though.
epic failure other stuff on 5.0 is just ok at best and 85% is just lame saving apps to sd card is most important that way our apps wont suck a** compared to other oses even windows mobile is ahead of rim so yeah 5.0 owuld be a fail because its supposed to be an overhaul this is just minor updates should be renamed os 4.8 with all this useless crap
In reference to saving apps to your SD Carad. The ( Aerize Card Loader ) will do just that.. Check it out in the crackberry app store.
how well does this work????
I was this ish now.
this looks great! Cannot wait for it to be released
Cant wait for this!
I just read where it will be on the 5.0 release. will I be able to get it for the .148 release on the storm???