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BlackBerry's apps way to say sorry [Scotsman, The (Scotland)]
[October 18, 2011]

BlackBerry's apps way to say sorry [Scotsman, The (Scotland)]


(Scotsman, The (Scotland) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TENS of millions of BlackBerry users are being offered free apps and extra technical support as compensation for the widespread failure of their internet service for more than three days last week.Research in Motion (RIM) - the under-fire firm behind the smartphones - has acted swiftly to attempt to curb the damage caused by the faulty switch at a data centre in the UK, which left customers around the world unable to access e-mail, surf the web or use the messenger service.However, industry analysts have warned the move may not be enough to prevent a widespread shift of customers to rivals smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy, in the wake of the global blackout.A fresh apology has also been issued by Canada-based RIM, which has been besieged by criticism on social networking sites since the first problems emerged on Monday last week.The firm has declared that a selection of 12 premium apps, software programs that can be downloaded on to phones, including classic games and productivity tools, will be offered to subscribers as "an expression of appreciation for their patience" during the disruptions, with the promise of more to follow.The apps, worth around GBP63 (or dollars 100) will be available from tomorrow until 31 December.Business customers - who were affected across Europe, the Middle East and Africa - are being offered a free month of technical support, while those who already have a support contract will be offered a month of BlackBerry's enhanced support service.Mike Laziridis, chief executive of RIM, said: "We are grateful to our loyal BlackBerry customers for their patience."We have apologised to our customers and we will work tirelessly to restore their confidence. We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again."Our global network supports the communications needs of more than 70 million customers," said Mr Lazaridis."We truly appreciate and value our relationship with our customers. 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, today and in the future."Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS Insight, said: "RIM has responded swiftly, but this won't undo the damage done to its reputation."This may go some way to appeasing customers, but what's critical is that the problem does not repeat itself."Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC, said the decision was a clever move by RIM because it would help customers to discover the app service.He said the company was likely to have struck a deal with app developers to keep the cost down."For RIM, this is an interesting way to attract users to the app world and incentivise them to search and download apps," he said. "More important than the offer itself is that RIM is showing goodwill and being humble. They recognised the problem, apologised and now they are compensating their users."United States-based crisis management specialist Richard Levick said the company should have made the announcement last week. "They are always behind the curve," he added.Some mobile phone operators, such as Spanish group Telefonica, which owns O2, have already said they will compensate customers, although analysts believe they will also be looking at whether they can pass on some of those costs to RIM.



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