Facebook is discontinuing support for the Beluga messaging app it acquired earlier this year, with the company now prompting customers to use its Facebook Messenger app, which “has all the great features of Beluga,” and is available for Android, BlackBerry and iOS.

Facebook is planning to phase-out support for Beluga on 11 November 2011, with customers then unable to send new messages. Users will have until 15 December 2011 to access old messages, and to download an archive of “pods” – private groups of friends.

Facebook announced its Messenger app in August 2011, as a rival to services such as BlackBerry Messenger and Apple’s iMessage. The company had previously offered messaging capabilities through its core Facebook app, but these were extended with the introduction of its standalone product.

Unlike BlackBerry Messenger and iMessage, Facebook Messenger is also supported cross-platform, enabling users to communicate with friends that own different types of devices.