BlackBerry freebies an attempt to mollify

TORONTO – The BlackBerry has left a bitter taste in the mouths of its users.

Trying to make amends for massive outages last week, Research In Motion on Monday promised BlackBerry users free premium apps and a month of technical support. But the apology is unlikely to placate miffed customers, many of whom are considering whether to part with the tarnished brand in favor of more popular devices such as Apple’s newest iPhone.

Jim Balsillie, one of the company’s two CEOs, acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press on Monday that his company has come under intense pressure. Even so, Balsillie defended RIM’s handling of the crisis, the company’s worst outage ever. He noted that RIM has survived through rough times before.

The Canadian company said it will give BlackBerry users free apps worth more than $100. The apps will be available over the coming weeks on BlackBerry App World. They include iSpeech Translator, Bejeweled and Texas Hold’em Poker 2. The offer runs until the end of the year.

For its enterprise customers, Research in Motion will offer a month of free technical support.

Last week’s blackout interrupted email and Internet services for tens of millions of users around the world and left RIM executives apologizing profusely days after the crisis began.