Dubai doesn’t seem to be able to get enough of the BlackBerry Messenger service. The Middle Eastern city is certainly at the forefront of finding innovative ways to use BBM beyond just a messaging service.
First the Dubai Policeannouncedtheir very own BBM pin number for communicating with Dubai residents and informing them of awareness campaigns. Now Simon Hudson and Amanda Hollinshead have decided to launch a start-up catering to that very demographic.
The service, aptly namedBBM Baby, announces daily deals to subscribers using the BlackBerry Messaging Service. Rather than use email, as local competitors likeCoboneandGoNabitare doing, they’ve opted for using BBM to communicate their deals.
By adding BBM Baby’s pin, customers will receive 4 daily deals straight to their phones. Rather than send out actual messages, however, BBM Baby will create a status update which contains the deal. Users can then open up the deal directly on their BlackBerry phones.
Calling all Scaleup founders! Join the Soonicorn Summit on November 28 in Amsterdam.
Meet with the leaders of Picnic, Miro, Carbon Equity and more during this exclusive event dedicated to Scaleup Founders!
The idea is to provide a completely non-invasive way of letting customers know about deals. You won’t receive any alerts and won’t see the deal unless you check your recent updates .
The idea of using BBM to communicate daily deals in an instantaneous manner is definitely a smart move, considering thepopularityof both the service and the method of communication in the region, but whether there’s a need for a non-intrusive method is up for debate – particularly where getting a discount or a good deal is involved.
Either way, it’s no surprise that BlackBerry innovation is taking off in Dubai of all places, since a recentsurveyrevealed that the BlackBerry is the most popular choice in the the UAE, snapping up 51% of smartphone users in the country.
Story byNancy Messieh
Lesotho-born and raised, Nancy Messieh, The Next Web’s Middle East Editor, is an Egyptian writer and photographer based in Cairo, Egypt. Fol(show all)Lesotho-born and raised, Nancy Messieh, The Next Web’s Middle East Editor, is an Egyptian writer and photographer based in Cairo, Egypt. Follow her onTwitter,her siteorGoogle+or get in touch at nancy@thenextweb.com
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
