[djlin]

RIM will be putting pre-installed IM software (to hook into AIM and Yahoo!) on their devices. How do people think this will affect the third party software vendors such as PDAapps (Verichat?)

http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=4676

[Mark Rejhon]

It's great! It will introduce people to basic IM on BlackBerry, and be a stepping stone to superior IM software too;

I think it won't hurt PDAapps in the long term -- and actually help them, because sometimes people may be looking for superior alternatives.

"Dangit, why can't I just hit Enter to send IM's"
"Why can't I be logged onto both AIM and Yahoo simultaneously?"
"MSN is missing!"
"Notifications are not as configurable as I want them to be!"
"I want to multitask 2 conversations simultaneously at one hotkey!"
etc.

Verichat solves all the above problems, for example...
(I am comparing to the instant messaging client installed on 7100t's)

[briandor]

I think it will force Verichat and others to offer better pricing. $30.00 annually on top of buying the client for $40 is steep for an IM client. Especially since they all seem to be quite buggy. There is no way in the world that it costs $30.00 per customer a year to run a gateway server. If IM+ can afford to charge a one time fee they why can't everyone else? I think having a built in option will force these guys to be much more competive otherwise people will just run the clients that are built in. I'm guessing they will all run simultaneously since it is likely that AOL will write their client for RIM and Yahoo will write theirs. It will just be as simple as running two applications.

[Steve]

The first thing that comes to my mind is, if it comes pre-installed then it's likely to be included in the carrier's "unlimited" data plan. Who knows?!

Steve

[Mark Rejhon]

Originally Posted by briandor

I'm guessing they will all run simultaneously since it is likely that AOL will write their client for RIM and Yahoo will write theirs. It will just be as simple as running two applications.

This is not the best way to run IM on a BlackBerry -- This gobbles up a lot of data.

The ideal way to do this is the single-socket method, ala WebMessenger. Or the slower SMS method, like in the 7100t instant messaging.

There will be performance issues if running multiple IM software as separate applications running in the background, unless running on faster-CPU-based BlackBerries such as 7250. Also, there are socket-blocking issues with multiple open sockets, and keepalive issues on some carriers (once-a-minute keepalive pings can gobble over 1 megabyte per day if keeping 4 sockets alive)

That's why the Verichat people are rewriting their instant messenger to use one socket for all four networks.

My bet is that RIM is just doing a SMS-based instant messager such as the 7100t based instant messaging software. This is easiest to do, and uses the least data, as not all carriers are truly on unlimited plans.

Although it is entirely possible that the blackberry.net APN could be used for instant messaging, then it could be even more reliable that way. Time will tell...

RIM is doing a great thing by making BlackBerries more popular and consumer-friendly, however, I don't view it as the demise of third party instant messaging software. That's why some of us pay $30 to buy Trillian (For Desktop PC's) from www.trillian.cc to replace MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, into one software program. Unless RIM does a miracle of making the software 100 times better than the 7100t instant messaging software, I'm one of those heavy users who still need to use third party software...

[djlin]

Mark,

Can you elaborate on what the "SMS based instant messenger method" is? I had thought the 7100t software was simply a port of the OZ IM client (without looking into this). Does the OZ server send SMS messages to the phone that consist of the IM text messages?

[sempai]

T-Mobile deployed their Oz server to use SMS as the bearer for messages.

The IM's still show up in the "Instant Messaging" application. Usually.

If it crashes or hangs, which happens frequently to occasionally, they will end up in your Messaging inbox too, which is irritating and lame.

IIRC, the T-Mobile (OZ) Instant Messaging application watches for SMS traffic matching an expression and dumps them into Instant Messaging. "Yay".

[Mark Rejhon]

Originally Posted by djlin

Does the OZ server send SMS messages to the phone that consist of the IM text messages?

Correct.

[briandor]

RIM is doing a great thing by making BlackBerries more popular and consumer-friendly, however, I don't view it as the demise of third party instant messaging software. That's why some of us pay $30 to buy Trillian (For Desktop PC's) from www.trillian.cc to replace MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, into one software program. Unless RIM does a miracle of making the software 100 times better than the 7100t instant messaging software, I'm one of those heavy users who still need to use third party software...

I understand that the solution that RIM provides is likely to not be the best solution. My point was really that by RIM providing a built in solution it would put pricing pressure on the third party providers like VeriChat. Right now those guys are really the only game in town and they are pricing like it. I also paid to purchase Trillian for my PC. It was $20-$30 and provided additional benefit over having 3 different IM clients running. Were it to cost me $30/yr it's cost would out-weight it's value and I would use the 3 seperate clients. I certainly wouldn't like using 3 clients but I would be $30/yr richer and I could deal with the inconvenience. Once the third party companies fall into the role of adding value they will have to adjust their prices according as people like myself deal with the inconvience rather than pay $30/yr.

[sharpycl]

I for one am counting on it being included in the unlimited plan. Personally I don't need a lot of the advanced features such as always on instant messengers, and definately don't need multiple Instant messenger clients on my BB since I only use one client (AIM). So this benifits a person like me.

[Jak Crow]

There was an article in the SJ Merc about the new IM software RIM will be including, and it said it will only be available for future devices, not existing ones.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Jak Crow

There was an article in the SJ Merc about the new IM software RIM will be including, and it said it will only be available for future devices, not existing ones.

I still get the feeling it'll show up on mobile.blackberry.com someday. They've already surprised us with available there.

Steve

[robhawley]

I would bet that RIM is setting up an IM to PIN messaging gateway.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Jak Crow

There was an article in the SJ Merc about the new IM software RIM will be including, and it said it will only be available for future devices, not existing ones.

I met with RIM on Monday at the CTIA tradeshow. I was told the IM client would probably be available for existing devices as part of a system software upgrade. That makes sense, as it shouldn't require a bump up in hardware specs (T-Mobile's IM program runs fine on my previous-generation 7230).

DavidE
www.davidenglish.com

[stevec_ny]

Originally Posted by Mark Rejhon

That's why some of us pay $30 to buy Trillian (For Desktop PC's) from www.trillian.cc to replace MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, into one software program.

For your desktop, also check out Gaim at Sourceforge.net.