Samsung rivals BBM with ChatOn for Android instant messaging

Samsung has announced the launch of a mobile messaging service that aims to compete with the success of the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) tool by allowing instant communications across Android devices.

The ChatOn tool is a free application that will be made available on the Samsung Apps site and Android Market and will be preloaded onto Bada and select Android phones launched from October onwards.

The application will run on Android devices from version 2.2 and above while Samsung is also planning to release the app for iPhone and BlackBerry devices. The tool will also be accessible via desktop browsers.

No information was given on whether or not Windows Phone 7 users will be able to access the application, despite Samsung being one of the major manufacturing partners shipping the operating system.

Users can send text messages and multi-media content such as audio and video files over the service, while groups can also be set up so that messages can be sent to several contacts at once.

The tool could be particularly useful for regular overseas travellers by allowing users to send text, images and video information over Wi-Fi, rather than on a cellular network, to cut down on roaming costs.

Head of mobile for Samsung in the UK, Simon Stanford, said the tool would also give users the ability to manage the growing forms of mobile communication in a single system.

"ChatOn brings a communication service that encompasses multimedia, social media and instant messaging capabilities that will give our consumers another way to communicate and interact with our devices," he said.

The service will rival Apple's iMessage service, launched as part of the iOS 5 refresh, as manufacturers look to ape the popularity of BBM by providing a real-time chat function on their operating systems.

The BBM tool caused headaches for Research in Motion (RIM) during August, though, when it was used by rioters to organise disturbances across London and other cities in the UK.