BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion is hoping to stem the negative backlash from last week’s worldwide service outages by offering users free apps.
The company’s service went into meltdown last week, when a switch failure saw the service fail for three days. Various opinion surveys suggested the failure could see users switching to other platforms, such as Android or Apple.
To compensate for the inconvenience, the company is promising apps to the value of $100, “as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions”.
One survey, from price comparison site Kelkoo, claimed as many as six out of ten users were considering switching to an iPhone.
The apps will be made available through BlackBerry App World over the coming weeks and will continue to be offered until the end of December.
We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again
The company hopes the gesture will restore trust in its network.
“Our global network supports the communications needs of more than 70 million customers,” said RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.
“We’ve worked hard to earn their trust over the past 12 years, and we’re committed to providing the high standard of reliability they expect. We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again.”
Offer warning
However, RIM placed a caveat on the announcement, stating: “The availability of this offer will depend on the type of device, operating-system version, access to BlackBerry App World and local conditions and/or restrictions.”
We’re waiting to hear back from RIM for more details of how the restrictions will impact UK customers.
The company said 12 apps would be offered initially, with more to follow.
The original dozen are: SIMS 3, Bejeweled, N.O.V.A, Texas Hold’em Poker 2, Bubble Bash 2, Photo Editor Ultimate, DriveSafe.ly Pro, iSpeech Translator Pro, Drive Safe.ly Enterprise, Nobex Radio Premium, Shazam Encore, and Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant.
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