BlackBerry Messenger users have a nice new perk headed their way: free voice calls over Wi-Fi.
Research In Motion launched on Wednesday a beta version of BBM Voice, allowing customers to chat with contacts for free worldwide. It also lets customers switch between texting and talking or doing both at the same time via a split-screen feature.
“The new BBM Voice feature is for when you’re traveling and you want to call home without worrying about phone charges," said T.A. McCann, vice president of BBM, in a statement. "It’s for when you have news you can’t wait to share, for quickly explaining complicated details, and collaborating with colleagues. Whenever your ideas are too big for text, there’s BBM Voice.”
The feature is a part of the company's new BBM version 7.0 software, which is available for free on BlackBerry smartphones with BlackBerry 6 OS or higher. BlackBerry 5 is expected to get BBM Voice in the near future.
Do you think features such as BBM Voice and the new 7.0 software will help better retain BlackBerry customers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, serts