BBM cross-platform alternatives for Android and iOS

BBM alternatives for Android and iOS are hard to come by and are needed for business users after their switch from the untimely and old Blackberry platform. These are in no particular order of BBM greatness.

1. Cnectd- Cross platform messaging, very similar functionality and experience to BBM, except on iOS and Android as well as Blackberry and Symbian, truly joining up all of your friends. Plus it is free, only downside is that no emoticons are available with this platform
2. Beluga- Recently bought by Facebook this beast offers facebook sync but lacks features such as whether a message has been read or not. This is when any positive aspects end, with the developer leaving ship after the buy out, the platform seems to be collapsing, not to mention its not available on anything but iOS and Android.
3. iMessage, Apple’s up and coming BBM alternative, basically BBM which looks like  Apple’s Message SMS app, unfortunately it doesn’t exist yet and is limited to the iOS platform.
4. LiveProfile- Basically a really good looking UI, with all the features of BBM plus more, cross platform, a solid choice.
5. Google Talk, Originally a  IM application, some people have found a new use for it  as a BBM alternative.
6. WhatsApp Messenger A great featured cross platform messenger, but lacking in whether your message has been read.
7. Kik Messenger- Maybe the most featured and most complete service, on a variety of platforms and the UI is excellent, definetely, one of the most popular alternatives

If I had to pick a winner it would definitely would be Kik Messenger, it offers a vast amount of features and supports multiple platforms, and more importantly it works. However if some of your friends still use Blackberrys and you want to talk to them, you can choose between Groups on WhatsApp or seeing whether posts are read on LiveProfile. But most importantly none of these will be successful unless your colleagues or friends start using it as well!