BBM to legitimize Android 's social skills?

So far 2011 has been eventful for Android since it has slowly been chipping away at shoring up its weaknesses. Earlier this year Sony announced the Playstation Suite, which will give Android a swift boost in terms of gaming legitimacy and today Android's social aspect could be getting a shot in the arm as BGR is reporting that according to multiple trusted sources RIM will be porting Blackberry messenger to both Android and iOS.

According to the sources, Android will be the first to receive access, sometime this year, to the exclusive "BBM" club that Blackberry user have been so accustomed to followed by iOS later. The sources say the the openess of Android allows it to be first given the approval process and development hurdles on iOS.

This move while surprising at first glance, makes some sense given how RIM has handled the situation with similar services offered by Kik. It's expected that the Android and iOS versions of BBM will be stripped down of certain features like photo/video sharing which will be exclusive to Blackberries.

BGR has been informed that the service could potentially be offered for free, but is not finalized therefor could end up having a one-time fee or possibly recurring fees.

Source: BGR