BlackBerry Announces BBM Support for Wearable Technology

Source: BlackBerry - Press Releases - January 7, 2015 

BlackBerry Announces BBM Support for Wearable Technology

Las Vegas, 2015 International CES – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in mobile communications, today announced at the 2015 International CES that BBM™ will be available on wearable technologies for a wide range of Android Wear™ smartwatches to enable BBM users to communicate faster and more discreetly on-the-go.

According to research firm Canalys1, annual smartwatch shipments are estimated to grow to more than 28 million units by 2015 and more than 60 million by 2017. BBM’s large and engaged user base spends more than nine hours a week within the BBM application. Through Android smartwatches, this active BBM community will be able to access their BBM messages directly on their smartwatch without the need to reach for their smartphone.

“BlackBerry is committed to listening to our customers and integrating new features and partners to improve the BBM Chat experience,” said Herman Li, Senior Vice President, BBM Engineering and Product Management, BlackBerry. “The integration of BBM to support wearable technology is just one way we’re expanding the capabilities of our portfolio and delivering exciting options for customers to easily access BlackBerry’s cross-platform technologies.”

BBM for Android Wear will enable BBM users to seamlessly:

• Receive alerts on the watch when new BBM messages come in, see the sender and discreetly preview messages.
• Read BBM messages in their entirety, navigate among messages and dismiss notifications with a simple swipe.
• Respond to messages hands-free with Google Now or choose from pre-defined messages to quickly send a response.
• Accept BBM invites from the watch without the need to access their smartphone.

BBM for Android Wear will be supported by a wide variety of watches that support Android Wear, available from a range of manufacturers. With BBM installed on an Android smartphone, BBM for Android Wear features will become available on the watch automatically.  Visit g.co/WearCheck on your Android smartphone to see if your phone is compatible for Android Wear.

BBM support for Google Android Wear Platform will be available in early 2015.

1Canalys Research Report September 2014

About BlackBerry

A global leader in mobile communications, 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, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

About BBM

Introduced in 2005, BBM set the standard for mobile instant messaging and continues to drive innovation in messaging and private social networking. Today, BBM is one of the largest private social mobile networks, driving real, active conversations. Customers love BBM for its privacy, controls and immediacy with Delivered and Read statuses and message-in-progress notices.