The other day when we posted about the RIM built instant messaging clients being updated, a few people asked about AIM and why it never received the same treatment. Well, reason is because the RIM built AIM client for BlackBerry smartphones is being replaced by one built specifically by AOL themselves. It's actually been available for quite a while but now -- RIM has sent out notifications letting users know the RIM built version will indeed stop working soon:
Beginning October 28, 2011, the AOL® Instant Messenger™ (AIM) for BlackBerry® smartphones application which you may currently be using is being discontinued and will no longer be supported. You may continue to access AIM service for your BlackBerry smartphone through a new AIM for BlackBerry® application built by AOL, which includes new capabilities such as letting you stay connected with your AIM Buddies and Facebook Chat friends while on the go.
To update to AIM for BlackBerry® built by AOL, please visit: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/13833/?countrycode=US&lang=en and follow the on-screen instructions. To remove your current version of the AOL Instant Messenger for BlackBerry application, please refer to the support article at http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/KB26171
Please remember to install the new AIM for BlackBerry® application built by AOL before October 28, 2011 in order to continue sending and receiving AIM instant messages on your BlackBerry smartphone.
Thank you,
Research In Motion Limited
If you're making use of the RIMbuilt client, make sure you go ahead and grab the AOL built version as soon as possible to avoid any problems further on down the road. Thanks, Jessica!
Read more
BlackBerry Native IM apps updated to version 2.5.63
The native BlackBerry IM clients got another round of updates earlier this week. Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo!, MSN Messenger and ICQ all now sit at version 2.5.63. These were all tested in the Beta Zone for a few weeks so should be good to go all around with some minor updates and even a new icon or two. Nothing major from what I can tell, but an update is an update. You can grab all the...
IM+ Pro now available to download for BlackBerry 10
The popular cross platform messaging app; IM+ Pro is now in BlackBerry World ready for you instant messaging addicts to grab. If you have not used it before it is essentially a cross platform messaging client with support for Gtalk, Facebook chat, Skype, just to name a few. The application is actually a port of their Android app which works beautifully. I reviewed it a while ago for our...
Whatsapp confirms they will not be supporting BlackBerry 10
*UPDATE* - Scratch all of this - WhatsApp is coming in March and will be a native BlackBerry 10 app! With the launch of BlackBerry 10 imminent the big question that most people want to know is which of the big, popular apps will be supported. I'm a huge fan of the cross platform instant messaging client Whatsapp and the other day I suddenly had a panic when I wondered if it would be...
Keep an eye on your SMS allowance with Text Count Alert for BlackBerry smartphones
Text Count Alert is a very simple application designed to keep a tally of your outgoing text messages to prevent incurring additional charges. However, it has plenty of customisation included. I can't speak for other countries, but here in the UK most folk have a certain SMS allowance whether on a contract or using pay-as-you-go. The problem is that once the allowance has been used...