Yes, back on the Blackberry chat platform but on an Android device. The best of two worlds you would say.

Finally, Blackberry resumed the rollout of the now cross platform BBM messaging services, opening up the much sought after service to the world.

Still a bit put off by the staggered rollout though. For reasons not very clear, Blackberry has created a virtual waiting line, adding subscribers only in batches – probably trying to test the impact of the deluge of subscribers on its servers. But, thankfully, i had pre-registered my email address on bbm.com and that did guarantee my being among the first set of people to try out the this chat platform on a non-Blackberry device.

Configuring the app on my Samsung S3 was a breeze. And by adding your email address, all your BBM chat contacts are migrated seamlessly to your new Android phone.

Not much of the chatty type though but it sure feels good to be on Sub Saharan Africa’s – and soon to be – the World’s most popular chat platform.

My choice of BBM on Android is majorly because of privacy concerns – I do not have to give out my phone number to chat with anyone. All i need do is to exchange PIN. Perfect!

Perhaps it is the best decision to unbundle the golden goose that is BBM from the dying Blackberry as, obviously, the service is quite popular. Even Blackberry did not anticipate the number of people willing to latch on to its chat services.

I do predict a steady decline in the number of active users on the other chat platforms because of the cult followership Blackberry chat has in Africa and Asia. And yes, we do have the numbers!