On Saturday, the company paused the rollout of the iPhone and Android apps for its popular BBM mobile social messaging service after an unreleased version of the Android app was posted online.
That version saw 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours, the company said, but the unofficial version caused issues, which the company continues to address.
The unreleased, older version was posted on numerous file sharing sites, the company said Monday. That resulted in data traffic issues that affected the system in abnormal ways, according to a blog post by Andrew Bocking, head of BBM at BlackBerry.
As the company worked to address the problems over the weekend, "it became clear that the only way to address the issue was to pause the rollout for both Android and iPhone," he said.
Anyone interested in the official Android app can visit the BBM.com site to register for updates on availability or follow @BBM on Twitter.
In May, the struggling firm announced that it would be rolling out BBM, perhaps the company's most popular service, to other mobile platforms. It had been exclusive to BlackBerry smartphones. The service features BBM Chat for instant messaging with other users. Additionally, each user has a unique PIN, so you don't have to give out your phone number to use the service - a privacy feature.
The struggling Canadian company on Monday announced that it is working on a $4.7 billion deal to be acquired by a group of investors led by Prem Watsa, who is sometimes known as Canada's Warren Buffett.
On Friday, BlackBerry said it would slash 4,500 jobs as part of its efforts to recharge the troubled company. BlackBerry has failed to invigorate its business despite unveiling a new smartphone line and software in January.
Comments
Post a Comment