BBM 5.0 is a work of art. It has most of the main features of other device chat clients but adds the level of sophistication and swagger one can only get from Research In Motion. Not only can you sport an avatar from your phone's memory and create groups of your contacts, you can also send out a conference message to that group, or to all of your contacts, and so much more. Below I will outline some of the major new features on BBM 5.0
Avatar
When you first open up BBM 5.0 you will see a screen like the one to your right. (Many thanks to CrackBerry for the screenshots through this article.) At the top of your screen is your profile name, your status, and to the left, your avatar. When you click on your profile bar, it will pull up your full profile. From here you can add or edit your avatar by selecting a picture from your phone's memory and change your availability status. You can also glance at your PIN and copy it if necessary and pull up your barcode (more on that later).
Updates
Under your profile / status bar is a section called "Updates." This works very similar to the feeds on Facebook. When selecting Updates, it takes you to a screen that shows all the activity of your contacts. If they have uploaded a photo, changed their availability status, or anything of that nature, it will be displayed in this section.
Groups
Currently opened chats and contacts are underneath the groups; we'll discuss those changes in a minute. Below them is the new section called, "Groups." In Groups you can select some of your contacts and link them together under a common title, such as friends, family, coworkers, etc. (I'm planning on starting a group of people I will meet from Examiner, so if you're interested in swapping PINs, shoot me an email or DM on Twitter.) You can share media such as photos or audio files, lists, and calendar events
Conference
One of the best features to come out with BBM 5.0 is the conference feature. Not only can you send out a conference message to multiple contacts, but you can also open up a conference chat similar to a chat room This has all kinds of great uses in both a business and personal aspect. This feature alone makes me want to move BBM 5.0 to my home screen.
Chat
The look and feel of BBM 5.0 is new and different. We have a whole new slew of emoticons and icons to display, a brand new layout that can be displayed in either stripes or bubbles, share larger files with contacts, and so many other small little integracies that make using BBM 5.0 a truly fun experience.