Pinoys favor Blackberry
Messenger super application
The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is a super application which 70 percent of Filipino BB users of Globe Telecom Inc. favor, according to Menchi Orlina, chief marketing officer.
Globe is in fact the local market leader in BlackBerry users, as the first telco to bring the recent Blackberry Bold 9700 smartphone and the variety of colored Blackberry Curve 8520 smartphones to the Philippines, and today with the most BlackBerry-toting subscribers in the country.
Not surprisingly, worldwide, BBM is the "best mobile social network out there with over 20 million regular users," according to Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM), the manufacturers of BlackBerry.
Using BBM is fast and easy, Orlina stressed. Unlike Instant Messaging (IM) services, people do not need to register or set up a BBM account. The application is already pre-installed in their BlackBerry device, so they can get their personal BBM PIN code and start putting together their BBM friends list to send personal or group messages with a single click or even group-chat from different locations.
Aside from BBM, Filipinos also favor other super apps, she noted. These include Facebook for BlackBerry and Twitter for BlackBerry and free applications available at BlackBerry App World cover a broad spectrum of interest.
BlackBerry App World, which allows users to download apps for their phones, became available to Filipinos in March this year. RIM also launched BlackBerry Device Software as well as BlackBerry Desktop Software for application downloads which include BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook for BlackBerry, Flickr for BlackBerry, Bloomberg Mobile, Flixster, Chum Radio, Kaglom, Three Squared Demo, WorldMate Live, Travel Like a Pro and Goal.com.
In other parts of the world, public and private sectors have already harnessed BlackBerry phones for a wide range of purposes, beyond managing their daily schedule, tasks, meetings and conferences, booking flights, making purchases and providing entertainment via games, radio and music.
In North America, where BB is the number one handset, salesmen favor using a BlackBerry handheld over their laptops while travelling to enter their sales data into their company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Healthcare professionals use their Blackberry smartphones to capture and update information about children in foster care via Remote Data Capture (RDC). Policemen use BlackBerry smartphones to run warrants, check license plates and review mug shots of individuals from secure police databases as well as track down their officers in the field.