BBM for Windows Phone Now Available for Download; Only for Beta Testers

The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service, which recently made its way to the Windows Phone Store as a private beta app, is now finally available to people who had joined the BBM Beta program.

Earlier this month, BlackBerry, after announcing the BBM for Windows Phone in private beta, had opened registration for the closed beta test, with the list closing in less than 24 hours with quick entries.

The instant messenger app from BlackBerry can now be downloaded by closed beta testers, and since the app is in a beta stage BlackBerry has also noted some limitations or errors that might occur in the BBM app for Windows Phone.

As per a BlackBerry email sent to testers, the following are known issues to the company.

Invites and acceptances don't send when Windows Phone goes out of WiFi coverage

A few newer emoticons are not rendering properly (i.e brrrr, and flex and @-@)

Windows Phone shows as available for BBM Voice call although feature is not supported (seen on Android and iOS, not BlackBerry 10)

Error popup appears when using "Find Friends" and the "OK" button is selected

Suggested Contacts tab only shows users already using BBM, but lists them as potential contacts when BBM is initially launched.

The BlackBerry Messenger app for Windows Phone has been long-awaited since the company had launched the BBM app on Android and iOS in October last year.

Last month, BlackBerry had also announced the availability of BBM Protected, the first solution in the eBBM Suite for secure enterprise-class messaging.

The current release of BBM Protected can be used for BlackBerry smartphones running BB0S 6.0 or later or BlackBerry 10 in Regulated mode. Versions of BBM Protected for BlackBerry 10 smartphones using BlackBerry Balance and iOS and Android devices are expected later this year.