outages

When a guy messes up in a relationship, he might resort to flowers and a necklace to get back into good graces. Research In Motion announced today that it's offering a big bouquet of free apps to its upset customers after several days of widespread network outages and slow service.

The $100 selection of premium apps includes Sims 3, Bejeweled, Texas Hold'em Poker 2, and Shazam Encore. Enterprise customers get a month of free tech support as well.… Read more

Research In Motion is turning to its BlackBerry App World to try to make things right with customers who were affected by last week's BlackBerry service outage.

According to the company, BlackBerry owners will soon be able to download over $100 in free "premium" applications, which will be available through the end of the year. The applications include Sims 3, iSpeech Translator Pro, and Shazam Encore, among others. Enterprise users will also be given one month of free technical support from RIM.

In a statement, RIM said that the free apps are a token of its appreciation for customer patience.

"We are grateful to our loyal BlackBerry customers for their patience," RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said in a statement today. "We have apologized 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."… Read more

New Facebook interaction added to eBay, Siri has some quirky answers, and BlackBerry service is restored, but will there be compensation for down time?

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Research In Motion's BlackBerry service, which had been out since Monday in some parts of the world, has been fully restored, executives at the company said Thursday morning.

Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie informed investors and reporters on a conference call that the service to all BlackBerry customers in all regions of the world had been restored as of the wee hours of Thursday morning.

Lazaridis explained in slightly more detail what caused the problem. And he once again apologized to customers. Earlier on Thursday the company released a taped video apology from Lazaridis.

"Our inability to … Read more

Research In Motion's BlackBerry service outages have prompted the company's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis to issue a video apology to customers.

"Since launching BlackBerry in 1999, it's been my goal to provide reliable real-time communications around the world," Lazaridis said in a video posted on his company's Web site today. "We did not deliver on that goal this week--not even close. I apologize for the service outages this week. We've let many of you down."

The trouble for RIM started earlier this week when the company's e-mail, messaging, and Web service … Read more

Research In Motion's recent network troubles could be a boon for Apple and Google as frustrated BlackBerry customers consider alternative smartphones.

The worldwide BlackBerry outage that has plagued Research In Motion this week has left millions of subscribers in dozens of countries without access to e-mail and other messaging services for days. And the outage, which is likely one of the biggest in RIM's history, could tempt some of the BlackBerry faithful to ditch their "crackberries" for competing products form Apple and Google.

Angry customers have already taken to social networking sites such as Twitter to vent their frustration. And more than a few have said they're ready to give up on the BlackBerry.

@Gemified Day 3 of #BlackberryOutage. I'm wondering if they have any customers left willing to get a Blackberry again. Dear Blackberry - SORT IT OUT!

@Lkhall buy an iPhone! "@ariannahuff: I'm traveling with AT&T BB, TMobile BB and Verizon BB. What else can a girl do? #blackberryoutage"

@SharonDuceyJam Thank you blackberry for giving yet another reason to shop for a new smart phone. #blackberryoutage

It's hard to say whether customers such as these will actually follow through on their threats to leave the BlackBerry, which is still very popular among corporate customers, government agencies, and other business customers.… Read more

Research In Motion has posted an update on its Web site listing the current status of service for its beleaguered worldwide e-mail and messaging service.

RIM Chief Information Officer Robin Bienfait noted that e-mail systems are working worldwide, though the company is continuing to clear backlogged messages. In the United States, Canada, and Latin America, the BlackBerry Messenger and browsing service are running as well, though there are still reports of delays. In Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa, the browsing service is still unavailable.… Read more

It's spreading like a bad rumor. The BlackBerry outage that hit Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, and parts of South America earlier this week today crept into North America--much to the chagrin of BlackBerry users who feel left in the dark.… Read more

Research In Motion offered an explanation for its BlackBerry e-mail and messaging outage that has affected customers throughout the world, including in the U.S. and Canada. But the company still hasn't said when service will be fully restored.

The outage, which knocked out e-mail and BlackBerry messaging service, initially affected customers starting Monday in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of South America. By today, customers in Asia as well as in the U.S. and Canada also started to see delays in e-mails and BBM messages.

During a conference call today with reporters, RIM's CTO … Read more