Mountain View, CA and Waterloo, ON – WhatsApp Inc., the company behind WhatsApp Messenger, and BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today announced that WhatsApp will bring a native version of its popular mobile messaging service to the BlackBerry® 10 platform.
BlackBerry 10 provides an ideal platform for social apps such as WhatsApp Messenger to fully leverage innovative new features like BlackBerry Flow, where apps work together, sharing information with each other to quickly lead the customer intuitively to the information they need and to give them the ability to immediately take action.
“BlackBerry has always been about bringing people together in a way that is fast, reliable and impactful,” said, Martyn Mallick, Vice President of Global Alliances and Business Development at BlackBerry. “WhatsApp is a leading mobile messaging app that connects people to their contacts on several platforms, and we are pleased to work with WhatsApp to bring their service to our customers.”
“BlackBerry has been a great platform for WhatsApp for many years,” said Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp. “Delivering WhatsApp on BlackBerry 10 devices is in line with our goals of ensuring that our customers around the world can continue to communicate with the most important people in their lives.”
In building a native application for the BlackBerry 10 platform, WhatsApp has been able to provide a fantastic user experience that leverages the true multi-tasking capabilities of BlackBerry 10. WhatsApp Messenger for BlackBerry 10 provides a high quality messaging experience that utilizes real-time push notifications to alert you when you receive messages- even when the screen is locked.
Fully integrated into BlackBerry Contacts, when the customer launches the app for the first time, WhatsApp can automatically scan existing phone numbers in the contact directory and extract the ones using WhatsApp, to help customers build out their contacts list and get started right away.
WhatsApp for BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry 4.6 and higher is available in BlackBerry World (www.blackberryworld.com).
About BlackBerry
A global leader in wireless innovation, BlackBerry® revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. BlackBerry is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: BBRY) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BB). For more information, visitwww.blackberry.com.
About WhatsApp Inc.
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Android and Nokia.
Media Contact:
Victoria Berry
BlackBerry Media Relations
mediarelations@blackberry.com
519-888-7465 x77273
Neeraj Arora
WhatsApp Inc.
press@whatsapp.com
Investor Contact:
RIM Investor Relations
investor_relations@blackberry.com
519-888-7465
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