BlackBerry Announces BBM for Android Wear at CES 2015

At CES 2015 Canadian firm BlackBerry showed off its first step to support cross-platform wearable messaging technology with the introduction of BBM for Android Wear.

While there is no release time-frame defined, BlackBerry only assures that BBM for Android Wear will be available soon.

BBM for Android Wear isn't entirely the same BBM app as for other mobile platforms, with the company only taking the "most common BBM activities" to Android Wear, which we hope will increase with the final rollout or subsequent updates.

So far, BlackBerry says that the BBM app for Android Wear devices will allow users to see and read new BBM messages, apart from the ability to flip through old BBM messages. Replying to a message can either be a pre-defined quick response from the app or through voice/ Google Now, which is a common practice for Android Wear smartwatches. Lastly, users will also be able to review and accept BBM invites directly on their Android Wear device.

The widely-appreciated BlackBerry Messenger, which was limited to BlackBerry devices, was launched for Android and iOS devices in October 2013. The BBM app for Windows Phone, after being in closed preview beta and then beta, was finally made available to users in August last year.

Since then the company had shipped several updates and new features for the apps.

In November, we heard about BlackBerry's plans to monetise its BBM service for a while, and the company has finally given BBM Channel owners and advertisers ways to promote their content, as it had promised in March, 2014. To further that cause, the company had announced new partnerships to expand its ad sales network.