New BBM 6 application goes live alongside first wave of API partners

RIM trumpets BBM Social apps from Foursquare, Huffington Post, Poynt and others.

Parents, tell your teenagers to check BlackBerry App World pronto. Research In Motion has released the latest version of its BlackBerry Messenger application: BBM 6.

The key new feature is the expansion of BBM into other apps, via RIM's BBM Social API - and what it's describing as 'BBM connected' apps. Among those taking advantage already are Foursquare, Huffington Post and Poynt.

The new features let people initiate BBM chats from within other apps, while also sharing links to apps and posting details to their profiles on the messaging service. For social games, it will let BlackBerry users invite friends to play, and message one another while playing.

"BBM 6 marks the beginning of an even greater social experience for BlackBerry smartphone users," says Alistair Mitchell, VP of the BBM platform and integrated services at RIM. "It also represents an incredible opportunity for developers to leverage the viral nature of the BBM service."

BBM Social could be a real plus for RIM as it looks to woo developers away from purely focusing on iOS and Android. In a blog post, RIM claims that 70% of BBM users are using the app every day, and earlier this month said that there are 45 million active users of the service.