BBM To Come Preinstalled On LG G Pro Lite

It’s been an exciting week for BlackBerry. The company’s stock surged more than 12 percent on news that it struck a deal with Foxconn to manufacture new devices and now, BlackBerry is announcing a partnership with LG that will see the BBM app come preinstalled on select handsets.

While the fate of any future BlackBerry device is far from assured, the BBM app has been able to find a degree of traction on the iOS and Android platforms. The company says it has added more than 40 million new users in recent months and that the app is on track for continued growth.

The first LG device to feature BBM out of the box will be the G Pro Lite.

"BBM is widely used throughout the Middle East, Africa and Indonesia where smartphone users tend to engage heavily in social networking," said Kevin Shin, vice president of marketing for Asia, the Middle East and CIS countries of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company in a press statement. "The LG G Pro Lite offers an optimized BBM experience with its large, high quality display and embedded Stylus Pen."

While LG promises an “optimized” experience for BBM users on the G Pro Lite, it looks like the phone will ship with the standard version of BBM available on most iOS and Android devices. It’s not yet known precisely how the phone’s stylus is intended to enhance a messaging app, but hopefully this will become clearer when the device begins rolling out.

"People across the globe are using BBM to connect with each other and the enthusiasm has been phenomenal," said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry. "We're extremely pleased that LG Electronics will help bring their customers a more seamless experience with BBM by preloading the app, starting with the G Pro Lite in key markets."