[official][discussions] leaked version of BBM"black berry messnger" /Update #2

Official Blackberry Blog said:

BBM for Android and iPhone Update – Note from the head of BBM
Hi Android and iPhone users,

This is Andrew Bocking, head of BBM at BlackBerry. As a follow up to our first blog post on Saturday, I want to take a moment to provide you with an update on the rollout of BBM on Android and iPhone.

Last week, an unreleased, older version of the BBM for Android app was posted on numerous file sharing sites. We were aware of an issue with this unreleased version of the BBM for Android app. This older version resulted in volumes of data traffic orders of magnitude higher than normal for each active user and impacted the system in abnormal ways. The version we were planning to release on Saturday addressed these issues, however we could not block users of the unreleased version if we went ahead with the launch.

We attempted to address the problems caused by the unreleased version throughout the day on Saturday, but as active users of the unreleased app neared a million – and accelerated – it became clear that the only way to address the issue was to pause the rollout for both Android and iPhone.

The team is now focused on adjusting the system to completely block this unreleased version of the Android app when we go live with the official BBM for Android app. We are also making sure that the system is reinforced to handle this kind of scenario in the future. While this may sound like a simple task – it’s not. This will take some time and I do not anticipate launching this week.

Thank you for your patience while we take the time needed to deliver the experience you expect from BBM. We will continue to provide you with updates here on InsideBlackBerry.com and through @BBM on Twitter. We will notify everyone who has pre-registered on BBM.com when BBM is available on Android and iPhone.

Andrew Bocking
EVP, BBM

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BBC News said:

Blackberry said in statement that Fairfax, its largest shareholder with about 10% of the stock, had offered $9 a share in cash to buy the company.

But Blackberry said it would continue to explore other options while negotiations with Fairfax continued.

On Friday, Blackberry announced 4,500 jobs cuts in a bid to stem losses.

The Canadian company said it expected to make a loss of up to $1bn after poor sales of its new handsets. In August, Blackberry said it was evaluating a possible sale.

On Monday, the company announced that it had "signed a letter of intent agreement under which a consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has offered to acquire the company subject to due diligence".

The statement continued: "Diligence is expected to be complete by November 4, 2013. The parties' intention is to negotiate and execute a definitive transaction agreement by such date."

However, Blackberry said it was not in exclusive talks with Fairfax and would continue to "actively solicit, receive, evaluate and potentially enter into negotiations" with other potential buyers.

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa, Fairfax's chairman and chief executive, said: "We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for Blackberry, its customers, carriers and employees.

"We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to Blackberry customers around the world."

'End game'
Brian Colello, analyst at Morningstar, said that taking Blackberry private would allow the company to reorganise without being under the glare of Wall Street investors.

He said: "Based on the company's disastrous earnings warning on Friday, I think a deal had to happen and the sooner the better. This is probably the only out for investors and the most likely outcome.

"The benefit to this sort of takeover is the ability for Blackberry and the consortium to reinvent the company without public scrutiny. It appears that the end game is going to be whether Blackberry can emerge as a niche supplier of highly-secured phones to enterprise customers and governments."

Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, also said that a deal with Fairfax would give Blackberry breathing space to assess its strategic options.

"Early indications suggest a retrenchment to the business market. Wider structural changes such as spinning off Blackberry Messenger and cutting back on hardware are also likely be carefully reviewed."

Blackberry's financial problems came to a head this year following disappointing sales of its new Z10 model smartphone.

Released in January - after many delays - the phone has failed to enthuse consumers.

Blackberry shares, which fell 17% on Friday after its jobs cut announcement, rose just over 1% on Monday.

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Matthew Apostolou said:

There are MANY fake BBM apps in the Play Store. Google keeps pulling them down but new ones are popping up and will keep on popping up. While there are always third-party knock-offs or similarly named apps listed in the Play Store, the situation with the BBM app highlights that the Play Store needs a better vetting, screening, and approval process for apps.

Quite a few of these fake BBM apps have been made by a single third-party developer and show up under multiple listings, often with different icons on the Play Store, both through Google’s browser web interface as well as on the Play Store accessed on an Android smartphone or tablet. Google will have to investigate further and see what can be done.

In the meantime, please stick to the OFFICIAL CHANNELS that can be found at the top of my post! Don't comment about new fake apps appearing- we know about them already! They're going to be pulled down by Google in time.

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80000037 said:

I never see it that way.. good point...

I always see it as: the leaked version was intentional because BBM Android still has bugs (unable to save edited setting for example) and BB already made promise to make BBM available before summer ends. So they fulfilled their promise but botched their own event... and now they have more time to polish the app...

But like I said, your point of view never across my mind before... good point...

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