5 ms·

BBM for Android and iPhone Update

51 points by noarchy 13y ago

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
aaronbrethorst 13y ago
...more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app – is incredible. Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day. "[C]onsequently" is an odd word to use here. 1.1 million unexpected users overwhelmed the BBM service? I would've expected BBM, given its enterprise-ready status, to be more than capable of handling that kind of extra load. So, what's the real story? Is it that BBM simply isn't capable of handling bursty load?
- ovoxo 13y ago
  Not sure why you think there's more to the story. It's extremely common for "unreleased" versions of various apps/services to have bottlenecks that the production-ready versions would not. That's typically why they're "unreleased".
  - macspoofing 13y ago
    Maybe because Blackberry just halted a worldwide rollout of their Android AND iPhone BBM product without saying why? If this isn't a service-overload issue, I'm having a hard time imagining what kind of problems this unreleased Android version could have caused.
    - ovoxo 13y ago
      They themselves said "..this unreleased version caused issues". That could be referring to anything - including service-overload issues but I don't know why that would be that surprising. This is exactly why companies like to have tight control of the roll-out of new products. They want to find these types of bottle-necks and glitches in rather controlled environments.
    - untog 13y ago
      worldwide rollout But there was no such rollout. An unreleased version leaked.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- hrasyid 13y ago
  My guess is that these 1.1. million active users found a problem in the service that the beta tester could not. Probably related to its integration with Android / iPhone. If anything BB should be thankful to the leaker. It would be a lot worse if the issue was found when it's used by millions of legitimate user
- sudomal 13y ago
  If 1.1 million users are so desperate to sign up without you actually launching, then there's potentially a heck of a lot more waiting for a proper launch. Their business will be used to dealing with one user = one phone, so the growth of the service will be predictable. Now they have to deal with a virtually unlimited number of users while also supporting actual customers.
eddieroger 13y ago
> Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it’s ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM. No rush, guys. The good news is it already lives up to my current expectation of BlackBerry - late to the game.
- officemonkey 13y ago
  Well, they better hurry and get this out before they go bankrupt.
jevinskie 13y ago
Ouch, I feel for these guys. A false start, unauthorized launch right when BB announces the bad news. I'm sure they have had a very long week!
dotmanish 13y ago
I'm speculating another issue at hand (not that this one caused issues for BBM itself) that a substantial number of users downloaded fake BBM apps that were made to look like from "BBM Inc" or "BlackBerry Inc" (BB itself is registered in Google Play store as "BlackBerry Limited"). These apps had full access permissions to Phone Logs, SD Card, and Network Communications. Users were forced to provide a rating for the apps before the app "allowed" them to login and then crashed. A related article here: http://trak.in/tags/business/2013/09/21/fake-bbm-apps-fools-thousands-android-users/ http://trak.in/tags/business/2013/09/21/fake-bbm-apps-fools-...
- selimthegrim 13y ago
  Yeah, if you refuse it installs some spam apps called "App Search" or some such BS.
- AJ007 13y ago
  The Google Play store has significant trademark issues. It reminds me of all the years fake iPhone chargers were being sold as by "Apple" on Amazon.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
tuananh 13y ago
2 years ago, 8 out of 10 ungrads in my college i saw use BB or at least own a BB (along with other phone). these days? probably less than 1 out of 10. People already settled down with other messaging apps I guess. At least, it's the situation here in THailand.
devx 13y ago
BBM is at a dead end. The company behind it is getting bankrupt, and will soon probably try to sell its assets anyway (if they can), which means the survival of BBM will be on the hands of whoever buys it. Since Google failed to buy Whatsapp, it might be a good idea for them to buy BBM. They should at least get some pretty significant user base in both North American countries, and in some emerging ones. They'll have to kill the branding, though, as they fold it into Hangouts, but they could probably do that slowly, to get people through a smooth transition, and in the meantime just make Hangouts and BBM interoperable.
- untog 13y ago
  I don't think Google needs it. Once they finally get around to integrating Hangouts with SMS, they'll have a pretty competitive platform.
taspeotis 13y ago
I suspect their servers are overwhelmed. They're probably not used to managing the traffic that comes from a successful smartphone platform.
- officemonkey 13y ago
  I doubt this is a tech issue, I think this is a fiduciary issue. Leadership is trying to figure out how to extract the most money from this thing in a rapidly changing landscape. Mark my words, the official BBM software, when released, will not be free.
  - noarchy 13y ago
    Those who were able to download the app before the rollout was paused, are still able to use it. The app is fully-functioning[1], and they didn't pay for it. Looks like this initial offering of the app is indeed free. 1. It is missing some features that the BB10 version has. Those will apparently be appearing within a few months. Maybe that will require money to use.
michaelmartin 13y ago
Surely there was a better way to handle this? 1.1 million users in 8 hours on an un-official version? That's brilliant enthusiasm, which Blackberry don't often get these days. Simply shutting that down and telling them to register for some email updates is a bit of a dampener. Couldn't they have become some massive trial group etc.? A giant set of early adopters to keep rolling out improved versions too (All with a big "alpha" caveat if that's what it takes), that can get people not yet in the group excited. I think the little bit of hype and excitement from interested users is just the sort of thing BlackBerry needs, and putting a plug on that is crazy.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
pinaceae 13y ago
the walking dead in action - no good engineer, developer, whatever is still with BB. of course they all left already. left behind is the B and C league, stuck in their jobs for various reasons, incl. Mr. Heins, the accidental CEO.

51 points by noarchy 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

...more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app – is incredible. Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day. "[C]onsequently" is an odd word to use here. 1.1 million unexpected users overwhelmed the BBM service? I would've expected BBM, given its enterprise-ready status, to be more than capable of handling that kind of extra load. So, what's the real story? Is it that BBM simply isn't capable of handling bursty load?

ovoxo 13y ago
Not sure why you think there's more to the story. It's extremely common for "unreleased" versions of various apps/services to have bottlenecks that the production-ready versions would not. That's typically why they're "unreleased".
- macspoofing 13y ago
  Maybe because Blackberry just halted a worldwide rollout of their Android AND iPhone BBM product without saying why? If this isn't a service-overload issue, I'm having a hard time imagining what kind of problems this unreleased Android version could have caused.
  - ovoxo 13y ago
    They themselves said "..this unreleased version caused issues". That could be referring to anything - including service-overload issues but I don't know why that would be that surprising. This is exactly why companies like to have tight control of the roll-out of new products. They want to find these types of bottle-necks and glitches in rather controlled environments.
  - untog 13y ago
    worldwide rollout But there was no such rollout. An unreleased version leaked.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
hrasyid 13y ago
My guess is that these 1.1. million active users found a problem in the service that the beta tester could not. Probably related to its integration with Android / iPhone. If anything BB should be thankful to the leaker. It would be a lot worse if the issue was found when it's used by millions of legitimate user
sudomal 13y ago
If 1.1 million users are so desperate to sign up without you actually launching, then there's potentially a heck of a lot more waiting for a proper launch. Their business will be used to dealing with one user = one phone, so the growth of the service will be predictable. Now they have to deal with a virtually unlimited number of users while also supporting actual customers.

eddieroger 13y ago

> Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it’s ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM. No rush, guys. The good news is it already lives up to my current expectation of BlackBerry - late to the game.

officemonkey 13y ago
Well, they better hurry and get this out before they go bankrupt.

jevinskie 13y ago

Ouch, I feel for these guys. A false start, unauthorized launch right when BB announces the bad news. I'm sure they have had a very long week!

dotmanish 13y ago

I'm speculating another issue at hand (not that this one caused issues for BBM itself) that a substantial number of users downloaded fake BBM apps that were made to look like from "BBM Inc" or "BlackBerry Inc" (BB itself is registered in Google Play store as "BlackBerry Limited"). These apps had full access permissions to Phone Logs, SD Card, and Network Communications. Users were forced to provide a rating for the apps before the app "allowed" them to login and then crashed. A related article here: http://trak.in/tags/business/2013/09/21/fake-bbm-apps-fools-thousands-android-users/ http://trak.in/tags/business/2013/09/21/fake-bbm-apps-fools-...

selimthegrim 13y ago
Yeah, if you refuse it installs some spam apps called "App Search" or some such BS.
AJ007 13y ago
The Google Play store has significant trademark issues. It reminds me of all the years fake iPhone chargers were being sold as by "Apple" on Amazon.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

tuananh 13y ago

2 years ago, 8 out of 10 ungrads in my college i saw use BB or at least own a BB (along with other phone). these days? probably less than 1 out of 10. People already settled down with other messaging apps I guess. At least, it's the situation here in THailand.

devx 13y ago

BBM is at a dead end. The company behind it is getting bankrupt, and will soon probably try to sell its assets anyway (if they can), which means the survival of BBM will be on the hands of whoever buys it. Since Google failed to buy Whatsapp, it might be a good idea for them to buy BBM. They should at least get some pretty significant user base in both North American countries, and in some emerging ones. They'll have to kill the branding, though, as they fold it into Hangouts, but they could probably do that slowly, to get people through a smooth transition, and in the meantime just make Hangouts and BBM interoperable.

untog 13y ago
I don't think Google needs it. Once they finally get around to integrating Hangouts with SMS, they'll have a pretty competitive platform.

taspeotis 13y ago

I suspect their servers are overwhelmed. They're probably not used to managing the traffic that comes from a successful smartphone platform.

officemonkey 13y ago
I doubt this is a tech issue, I think this is a fiduciary issue. Leadership is trying to figure out how to extract the most money from this thing in a rapidly changing landscape. Mark my words, the official BBM software, when released, will not be free.
- noarchy 13y ago
  Those who were able to download the app before the rollout was paused, are still able to use it. The app is fully-functioning[1], and they didn't pay for it. Looks like this initial offering of the app is indeed free. 1. It is missing some features that the BB10 version has. Those will apparently be appearing within a few months. Maybe that will require money to use.

michaelmartin 13y ago

Surely there was a better way to handle this? 1.1 million users in 8 hours on an un-official version? That's brilliant enthusiasm, which Blackberry don't often get these days. Simply shutting that down and telling them to register for some email updates is a bit of a dampener. Couldn't they have become some massive trial group etc.? A giant set of early adopters to keep rolling out improved versions too (All with a big "alpha" caveat if that's what it takes), that can get people not yet in the group excited. I think the little bit of hype and excitement from interested users is just the sort of thing BlackBerry needs, and putting a plug on that is crazy.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

pinaceae 13y ago

the walking dead in action - no good engineer, developer, whatever is still with BB. of course they all left already. left behind is the B and C league, stuck in their jobs for various reasons, incl. Mr. Heins, the accidental CEO.