Facebook Messenger for BlackBerry Launched

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Facebook has announced a new standalone application for BlackBerry devices, and it has a few extra features that the iOS and Android versions don’t have yet.

Even amid the worldwide BlackBerry outages that have left messenger, email and web browsing services down for at least three days last week, BlackBerry is undoubtedly still a major smartphone platform. As such, Facebook has released a new standalone messenger application for BlackBerry devices that will let users chat with their friends from both BlackBerry and other platforms, including desktop comupters, Android, iOS and virtually any device that supports the Facebook web interface.

The app is considered to be a big competitor to RIM’s own BlackBerry Messaging service. For one, the Facebook app is platform-agnostic, and will route messages through the best available network. For instance, contacts currently online on Facebook get their messages through Facebook, regardless of whether they’re online via web or mobile interfaces. Friends with BBM get their messages through BBM. Meanwhile, contacts without these online services receive the message through SMS.

The Facebook messenger will also prioritize friends according to your Top Friends, and according to online status. This makes it easy for users to engage in chats and conversations with available friends, but still search one’s contact list for intended recipients who may be offline.

The messenger app is available for download via the BlackBerry App World and is a free download. The Facebook messenger app also has versions available for different platforms: iOS, Android and now BlackBerry.