Kik Messenger

So while on Facebook the last couple of days I began to notice that several of my friends' status updates had mentioned something about "Kik." I had never heard of this before reading it on here and I became curious, so naturally I went to Google and searched it. What I had found was that Kik or Kik Messenger is a new tool used for texting that had just been released to the public in April 2010.

If any of you have a BlackBerry such as myself, I found that it seems strangely similar to the BlackBerry Messenger feature that we are provided with. It enables its users to know when their texts to their friends have been sent, delivered, read and even when they are writing a message as long as they also have Kik messenger. It does not yet have the ability to upload profile pictures or send files. It does however utilize the ability to use data instead of text message allowance like the BlackBerry Messenger. Rather than having a pin like the BBM, it instead uses a username to add friends. It also scans your contacts and if it finds that one of your contacts also has a Kik account and also has you as a contact they will suggest you become friends and allow you to message that contact. I also noticed a difference within the setup of the chat. Unlike the BBM, it separates each person in the chat to their own side, similar to the Iphone.

There is also another major contrast between the BlackBerry Messenger and the Kik Messenger. The Kik Messenger is an App that can be downloaded onto any smartphone; Iphone/Ipod, Android or BlackBerry. By making it available to any smartphone it allows for an Iphone user to communicate with an Anroid or BlackBerry user and vice versa. This is a step above the BlackBerry Messenger because the BBM feature only allows you to communicate with other BlackBerry users.

Many people I know who have a BlackBerry say the only reason that they would not want to switch to another smartphone is because they would not want to lose the BBM feature. Some of them have many complaints about the BlackBerry but hold on to it just for the sole purpose of the BBM feature. It makes me wonder if this new application may have the ability to damage the growing popularity of the BlackBerry.

While researching this new application I also found that they are working on another big step. They are working to add free (legal) music sharing, something that I think will make their application skyrocket higher than it already has at this point in their early stages. Using different features from all of the latest technologies they are putting together the ideal commuication tool. While the application is still very young and still growing, I think that it has a lot of potential for the future!

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