It looks like with the recent acquisition of Beluga, Facebook today has gone ahead and launched the official Facebook Messenger app for iPhone and Android. The app works in a similar fashion compared to competitors such as Blackberry Messenger (BBM), Whatsapp, and Apple’s upcoming iMessage; you can instantly send and receive messages with your Facebook friends.
Already, the Internet is abuzz with criticism of Facebook’s decision to make a separate app rather than integrating it within the existing Facebook app. However, I actually like the idea. The separate app is quite simple to use and accesses messages much faster than the existing full Facebook app. Even though the market for mobile instant messaging is already crowded with competitors, Facebook’s behemoth user-base should give the company an edge.
You can check out the official page, Android market download, and iTunes download. See you on Facebook Messenger!