RIM has announced free voice calls over wi-fi for its users as part of an update to BBM 7. BBM Voice enables Blackberry users to make voice calls directly or switch between BBM text and talk.
BBM 7 is available in Beta for phones running BlackBerry 6 OS or above. RIM says that it will be made available to the BlackBerry 5 OS ‘at a future date’.
Users can even talk with and text the same person at the same time with the split-screen function, so profuse chatterers can send pictures to their contact while on the phone. They can also check other BBM text chats, email or navigate to other apps while on a BBM Voice call.
BBM Voice shows an indicator when contacts are available and if it’s not a good time to talk, users can respond by texting back. It is compatible with existing Bluetooth or wired headsets and the service works on speakerphone.
BBM 7 also now integrates with a customer’s BlackBerry ID, so their BBM profile, groups and contacts are automatically restored if they switch to a new BlackBerry smartphone – even the upcoming BB 10 OS. 
Asked what will come of phones upgraded to BBM 7 when the BB 10 OS becomes available, a spokesperson for Blackberry said: “While our BlackBerry 7 devices will not transition to BlackBerry 10, the BlackBerry PlayBook will be compatible with BlackBerry 10.
“BlackBerry 10 is more than just a new iteration of our OS: it’s a new mobile computing platform that goes beyond smartphones and tablets to facilitate true embedded mobile communications across a diverse range of intelligent things such as cars, home electricity systems, security systems.”
Asked if the new BBM 7 wi-fi function would be found on the new OS, Blackberry said it could not comment at this stage.
