BlackBerry Messenger 6 launches, integrates live presence, chat into apps

Feeling the heat from both Android and iOS in the global smartphone market share battle, Research in Motion on Thursday announced the availability of BlackBerry Messenger 6 (BBM 6) the latest version of the smartphone maker's trademark instant messaging application which integrates BBM functionality into other BlackBerry apps for a boost in social usability.

With the debut of the BBM Social Platform SDK earlier this year, BlackBerry app developers got the ability to embed BBM functionality into their apps. The platform is extremely promising, as it could put real time communication into any application. Users could, for example, see that one of their contacts is available to play games, and an invitation could be sent. Then, once the game has begun, users could have a live in-game BBM chat session.

The first game to utilize this functionality is SeaBattleSE, the classic Battleship board game, which lets users invite players on their BBM contact list, play, and chat during the game. Today, with the introduction of BBM 6, more of these apps will start to show up in BlackBerry App World.

Other BBM 6-enabled apps will be launched this week by Social media check-in service FourSquare, augmented reality browser Wikitude, media outlet The Huffington Post, and location-based search service Poynt.

BBM 6 can be downloaded today on the BlackBerry Messenger site, in BlackBerry App World, or as an update in existing BBM installs on devices running BlackBerry OS version 4.5 or later.