Things just got real, rumors are circulating that RIM’s new BBM 7 will have BBM Chat in which users will be able to make phone calls to their BBM contacts for free anywhere in the world via Wifi. I’m sure mobile carriers are about to rip the their hairs out if this is true (I’m talking to you At&t). I’m glad the folks over RIM are thinking out of the box.
The beta version of BBM 7 works on BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS version 6 or higher. RIM also plans to support smartphones running BlackBerry OS 5 at a future date, the company said.
With the Voice feature users can talk with BBM contacts across the globe for free over a Wi-Fi connection.
Users can initiate a call directly, or switch from a BBM text chat to voice, and back again. There is a presence feature that shows who is available to receive calls, RIM said.
A split-screen feature also allows users to talk and text at the same time. They can send a picture to their contact while talking with them, check other chats, email, or navigate to other applications while engaged on a voice call.
