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Once upon a time BlackBerry pretty much ruled the smartphone space in North America. Those days are long gone thanks to the rise of Android and iOS, but there are still some die-hard fans of at least one BlackBerry service: BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM.
What started out as an alternative to sending text messages eventually became a powerful, full-feature messaging platform. And soon it’ll be available to Android and iOS users as well. This week BlackBerry started inviting a small group of users to join a private beta, and the first photos of BBM for Android hit the web.
Here’s an assortment of tech news stories from around the web.
- This is what BlackBerry Messenger for Android looks like (still no release date)
BlackBerry is bringing its popular BlackBerry Messenger app to Android and iOS. A private beta opened up recently, and one of the participants apparently forgot the part about not sharing photos with the press. [BGR] - Google Chromecast doesn’t support public WiFi networks that require web login
And it’s probably not coming anytime soon. That’s because hotels and other semi-public networks where you might want to use a Chromecast tend to disable peer-to-peer networks, so the Google team has no plans to make it easier to login to sites using a browser window or app. [Android Police] - Paranoid Android build based on Android 4.3 available for the Nexus 4
Now that Google has released the source code for Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, custom ROM builders are starting to incorporate it into their custom firmware for Android phones and tablets. [+Paranoid Android] - CyanogenMod 10.2 to support “Global BlackList,” lets you block calls, messages
Not only is CyanogenMod already working on bringing Android 4.3 to its software, the team’s working on a series of additional features. One of the newest is a feature that lets you block calls and messages from specific people across all the apps on your device. [+CyanogenMod] - Google Calendar for Android now syncs dismissed notifications
An appointment comes due. You get a notification on your phone, and swipe to dismiss it. Then you pick up your tablet, and the notification is still there. Not anymore — Google Calendar now syncs dismissed notifications. [Google Play]
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I’m currently a BlackBerry user but I’m migrating to Android since BlackBerry killed the PlayBook. I love BBM on my 9810 but now that it’s not coming to the PlayBook, I’m not so sure I’ll care too much if it’s successful on Android. I am sure as hell not going to be another BlackBerry Beta tester. I already was with both the 9810 phone and the now dead end PlayBook. They’re going to have to release a full featured and well tested program before I go back to using BBM on my Android tablet. It is a very good program though and a joy to use on the 9810. If it deviates too much from that user experience then it will be a major mistake of BlackBerry to release another half baked idea.