BlackBerry Messenger expands to Android, iOS

ORLANDO, Fla. -- More news rolled out of BlackBerry Live 2013 today, including the company's plans to offer BlackBerry Messenger to Android and iOS devices.

The BBM platform will hit these products by summer, but best of all, the service will be offered as a free download. The BlackBerry CEO sounded very excited about the move, a first for the service. He said, "It's a statement of confidence. We are confident time is right for BBM to be independent."

Those are bold words indeed and certainly a great tactic to lure users back to BBM. The messaging platform has been hurting of late if a casual perusal of my BBM contacts is any indication. Frankly it's a veritable ghost town in there. Check back soon, as we hope to give the new app a spin.