We knew this day would come eventually when we learned more about why Kik was pulled from App World. RIM has filed a patent lawsuit against Kik, and while we don’t know the exact patents RIM is claiming Kik has infringed on, a good guess is that it has to do with a RIM patent on BBM’s sent, delivered, read, and typing indicators. Considering the CEO of Kik, Ted Livingston, used to work at RIM, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think he had insider knowledge about the patent details.
Here is a thought: maybe RIM wouldn’t have sued Kik if they didn’t use this patent on other devices. The fact that the company essentially brought BBM to other platforms in such a way is bad for RIM’s business. Carriers will often say that BBM is the number 1 customer retention tool for BlackBerry, and if this opens up to other platforms they lose a bit of competitive advantage.
The story of why Kik has been pulled from App World just got more complicated. Today, Kik posted an open letter to Kik users asking RIM to let Kik back in App World. Recently, RIM not only pulled Kik from App World, but they have removed Kik’s access to the BlackBerry Software Development Kit and Signing Keys, so any future development is frozen. So what exactly is going on here? It’s obvious not all the facts are on the table.
Kik is an instant messaging service much like BlackBerry Messenger, except it’s cross-platform. Downloads for the app have been pretty explosive, with the company reporting having exceeded 2M users due to viral growth. Recently, Kik downloads were suspended and there’s a lot of speculation going around as to why this may have happened.
Kik Messenger, a free cross-platform mobile instant messaging service, has reached 450,000 users and the growth rate has doubled. Usage has peaked yesterday at 1 million messages an hour. This is a huge amount of growth considering the app had only 30,000 users a week ago. If you’re trying to download Kik, the company wants you to know that they’ve suspended downloads temporarily so they can upgrade servers.
The app gives you 3 free plays of any song, and also lets you send it to a friend to hear as well. If you like the song, you can continue to listen to it after your 3 free plays, in exchange for listening to a brief ad. You can also purchase the song right from your BlackBerry.
Everyone who signed up at Dev Con have been getting notifications that Kik will launch in January for Canadians with the US soon to follow.
