What's New for IM on BlackBerry Smartphones
Instant messaging — also known as IM — has taken off for young professionals,
families on-the-go and coworkers everywhere who like the ability to have almost instant
conversations without having to use the phone or email. Whether it's making dinner
plans, getting a colleague to weigh in on a team decision, or arranging a play date for
the kids, this is a handy form of communication.
The next generation of IM services create a richer experience, offering more IM service choices, new features and personalization to enhance messaging and communication on BlackBerry® smartphones.
More IM Choices, Same Desktop Experience
BlackBerry smartphones now support Yahoo!® Messenger, Google Talk™, AOL's services for ICQ® or AIM® and Windows Live™ Messenger.
With so many IM service choices, whatever community a user belongs to, they can converse with their contacts wherever they are: supermarkets, airports, car dealerships or in a meeting.
IM even looks the same way on the BlackBerry smartphone as it does on your desktop. For example, Yahoo! Messenger on the BlackBerry smartphone has the same navigation, colors and features people are familiar with on a computer. This mirrored experience means there's virtually no learning curve to move from pc to smartphone and back.
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The IM screens now more closely resemble the desktop applications users are familiar with. |
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Share Pictures, Files and More
The next generation of IM services also includes picture sharing. Photos can either be shared from a picture gallery or sent directly from the camera on the BlackBerry smartphone — all from within the IM window.
Imagine you're at a store and you've seen a coat that's perfect for a friend. Take a picture of it with your BlackBerry smartphone, start an IM conversation, then click to include the picture in the conversation. It's an easy way to immediately share candid moments with people in your contact list.
The same is true of sharing files. From within the IM conversation, you can send documents to your contacts, including spreadsheets, reports, presentations, etc, for work, or event flyers, recipes or school schedules, for example, with friends and family.
Easy to Use, Easier to Make a Statement
Because the BlackBerry smartphone address book works seamlessly with IM, you can look up a contact in your address book and start a conversation in one click.
Or maybe you're already in a conversation, and it'd just be easier to speak to them. From the IM window, use the menu to place a call, or even send an email, and continue uninterrupted. You can look up dates on your calendar during the conversation and answer immediately about your availability.
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| Start an IM conversation from the address book. | Create an avatar or display image to go with your IM name. |
Also new is the ability to create avatars, or display pictures that go with your IM name. This lets you express your online personality to the world with a photo, caricature or whatever reflects your unique style. You can even make changes to your avatar, by uploading a new photo or picture, directly from your BlackBerry smartphone.
Other things you can do:
- save IM conversations for later reference
- include multiple users in the same conversation
- let people know your availability by setting your status to "Busy", "In a Meeting" or "Offline"
- communicate in up to five languages, including French, Italian, German, Chinese and Spanish (check the download links below for availability of IM service in your preferred language)
BlackBerry Enterprise Instant Messaging 
BlackBerry® Enterprise Instant Messaging allows your organization’s end users to take their messaging with them while they’re on the go – regardless of the email platform they use. If your organization is using Microsoft® Office Live Communications Server 2005™, IBM® Lotus® Sametime® or Novell® GroupWise® Messenger, your end users can exchange text messages with other users on their BlackBerry smartphone, whether those contacts are using a desktop computer or BlackBerry® smartphone. Visit our website for more information or to download the appropriate BlackBerry Enterprise Instant Messaging client.
IM service download links:
From your desktop computer:
From your BlackBerry browser, go to: www.blackberry.com/instantmessaging/
Note:
Features may vary depending on IM service. Check with your wireless service provider
to ensure your favorite IM service is supported.
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