Research in Motion is offering free smartphone apps and technical support to all those affected by last week’s worldwide service problems. In a statement, Monday, the company announced that it will offer a “selection of premium apps” worth more than $100 to BlackBerry users through the company’s app store starting starting Wednesday and ending Dec. 31. The apps include several games and some utilities for productivity, photo editing and one voice-recognition app — Vlingo Plus Virtual Assistant — that has functions similar to the Siri personal assistant in the iPhone 4S.
The company is also offering one month of free technical support to enterprise users. Customers who currently have technical support will get a complimentary one-month extension. Others will be granted a one-month trial period. Users will have to register for the service.
While the company has not released complete information on what caused the initial outages in Europe, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said in a Thursday conference call that a problem with system hardware caused a backlog of data to build up in the company’s European servers. The company’s backup systems also failed, resulting in a cascading failure that started in Europe and spread across the world. The company said Thursday that service levels had returned to normal for its customers.
Here is a full list of the apps the company is offering:
– SIMS 3 – Electronic Arts
– Bejeweled – Electronic Arts
– N.O.V.A. – Gameloft
– Texas Hold’em Poker 2 – Gameloft
– Bubble Bash 2 – Gameloft
– Photo Editor Ultimate – Ice Cold Apps
– DriveSafe.ly Pro – iSpeech.org
– iSpeech Translator Pro – iSpeech.org
– Drive Safe.ly Enterprise – iSpeech.org
– Nobex Radio™ Premium – Nobex
– Shazam Encore – Shazam
– Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant – Vlingo. Washington Post.
phone with internet?? in lakewood??? this definitly does not apply to anyone in lakewood
#1 i agree!!! chasssss vi shalom! everyone in lakewood only has kosher phones! whats internet? nibach! PLEASE THINK ABOUT OUR CHILDREN! how do u expect your child to get into school if u have such things!
Remember: ALL apps are spyware. Some say so just as you install, after you download!!! Others don’t tell you. If RIM can’t manage the risks in controlling their own WORLDWIDE Network, don’t expect the independent app writers (who are less “regulated”) to not take advantage of it. See my previous TLS article on “Hackberries”. Ever try to get support or customer service on an app? Non-existent. Forget about privacy, it doesn’t exist in this realm. It’s only going to get worse, trust me. Oh, I forgot to mention you don’t need the Internet on your phone to fry your brain, Blackberries are up near the top of the charts on Specific Absorbtion Rates of Radio Frequencies.. Blackberries adhere to Candian standards which is “capped” at 1.6 SAR. Blackberries are up there at around 1.56. Pregnant women should not keep their phone anywhere near their abdomen. Don’t leave it under your pillow either. Even your BlueTooth won’t save your gray matter and if you use your headset don’t keep your phone next to your pelvis. Keeping it in your shirt pocket can cause irregular heart rhythms, and if you have a Pacemaker it could be even worse. Think about why they tell you to turn your cell off in hospitals….