BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS?

According to a report from BGR, who claim to have reliable sources on the issue, RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger might be headed to Android and iOS platforms, starting with Android later this year. Apparently RIM plans to expand their BlackBerry Messenger service to turn it into a cross-platform messenger by making it an app available on other operating systems. It hasn’t been confirmed if RIM will be charging for the app or they will be giving it away, but the BBM app for other operating systems will be a stripped down version of the one found on BlackBerry devices. It’s interesting to see how RIM will fare against other cross platform messengers like WhatsApp and Pingchat – both well established apps that have been around for some time now. And with BlackBerry finally freeing BBM – it sure takes away the reason why most BlackBerry users are staying with their devices. What could RIM be possibly up to?