BBM gets free voice chats over Wi-Fi

If you go down to the BlackBerry Beta Zone today, you're in for a very nice surprise. RIM has just announced that a beta of BlackBerry Messenger, also known as BBM has been released and is available to download now, with the key addition being support for free voice calls over Wi-Fi.

The BBM service has been a key selling point for RIM's now ailing mobile OS since BlackBerrys first hit the scene. In recent years though, other services like Google, Talk, iMessage and Whatsapp to name a few have tarnished BlackBerry’s instant messaging appeal. In particular, Whatsapp has been on the rise with its extremely comparable feature set and cross platform penetration.

Voice calls over Wi-Fi however is something that Whatsapp can’t do. Google may have Google Voice, but even that is only available in North America and with iMessage not sporting the functionality, RIM could have a winner on their hands in the run up to BB10. What’s more, their service promised split screen voice and messaging, access to the rest of your smartphone while in a voice call and the ability to use it with either a wired or wireless headset.

Available for BlackBerry devices running BB6 OS and higher, the service can be downloaded now. It will make its way to BB5 OS 'at a future date' and will also be compatible with BB10. With no word as to when it will be out of beta, you’ll need to sign up for free over at the BlackBerry Beta Zone to get your copy, so gather your friends and get downloading.