RIM has introduced the new BlackBerry Messenger called BBM 5.0 and as of yesterday it’s available for all BlackBerry smartphones users across the world. The BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 comes packed with exciting new features including Avatars, View Participants, Large Media File Transfer, Enhanced Group Functionality, Enhanced SMS, Bar-code Identity, Reliable Contact Backup and Restore, and stability enhancements.

A couple of the features of the new BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 require BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 therefore you should upgrade your phone’s OS if you want Enhanced SMS and Large Media File Transfer to be available for you. The former feature allows users to have a conversational experience with a single contact, while the latter allows users to send files of up to 6MB.

As a BlackBerry Storm user I can tell you that the new BBM 5.0 is great, but it pales in comparison with other IMs for RIM’s smartphones. The problem with the BlackBerry Messenger is that it’s very old, but the new version will be welcomed by all users because they won’t be too limited in functionality from now on. Well, if you want BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 to work properly then you should upgrade to a leaked BlackBerry OS 5.0 or later and for the Storm there are quite a few.

You can download the BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 OTA by visiting this page (blackberry.com/messenger) on your BlackBerry smartphone’s browser.

via CrackBerry