BlackBerry has officially confirmed the availability of BBM Channels on BlackBerry devices starting Wednesday. This allows people, brands and communities to interact with each other on its popular messaging platform.

Update your BlackBerry Messenger on BlackBerry OS 5+ and BB 10 smartphones to connect with your favorite brands seamlessly. After months of testing, BlackBerry has launched BBM Channels for its users to interact with people, brands and communities in a better way. The update rolled out for BlackBerry device owners starting Wednesday, adds a new tab to the instant messenger.

Although the latest feature is still in Beta phase, the difference from its previous testing is that only registered Beta Zone users could access BBM Channels. Now, all BlackBerry device owners can try out the new feature and its growing number of channels and build their own communities. The company did not specify a date for adding the feature on to Android and iOS platforms, but announcing the integration of BBM with leading OEMs' Android smartphones, the company said BBM Channels will arrive on other platforms in the "coming months."

BBM Channels give the users full liberty of joining or opting out of channels at any given time. Channel owners can promote their products and services by posting pictures, messages, animated GIFs or even starting discussions and live chats directly with subscribers.

Besides announcing the introduction of BBM Channels, the company also gave step-by-step information on how to create and manage a BBM Channel using BlackBerry 10 devices. Channel owners will also get their own PIN and Barcode so users can join them.

Users can update their BBM app to get the BBM Channel via My World in BlackBerry World. Create your own channel or follow leading brands.