Free apps for Blackberry owners

Compensation for customers may not undo all the damage wrought by a three-day stoppage

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Classic games such as Bejeweled and The Sims are being offered free to Blackberry owners.

The games, plus personal productivity tools and utilities are compensation for a three-day global blackout that started on 10 October.

A faulty switch at a datacentre left millions around the world left unable to use messaging and web browsing services on their handsets.

The free apps will become available for four weeks from 19 October.

Critical problem

In a statement announcing the giveaway, Mike Laziridis, chief of Blackberry owner Research in Motion, apologised again for the three-day service stoppage.

"We are grateful to our loyal BlackBerry customers for their patience," he said. "We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again."

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Free apps

• Sims 3
• Bejeweled
• N.O.V.A.
• Texas Hold'em Poker
• Bubble Bash 2
• Photo Editor Ultimate
• DriveSafe.ly Pro
• iSpeech Translator Pro
• Nobex Radio Premium
• Shazam Encore
• Vlingo Plus

RIM faced serious criticism over the stoppage. Thousands of people turned to Twitter and other social media networks to express their poor opinion of the company and its stuttering efforts to fix the problems.

In total, 12 apps are being offered to customers and RIM said more would be made available in the coming weeks.

As well as games such as Texas Hold'em Poker and Bubble Bash 2, users can get Photo Editor Ultimate and DriveSafe.ly pro. The software is available via the Blackberry App World store.

The programs, which Blackberry claims are worth more than $100 (£63), will be free until 31 December 2011.

Business customers are being offered a free month of technical support. Those who already have a support contract will be offered a month of Blackberry's enhanced support service.

Analysts said the package of apps may not go far enough.

"RIM has responded swiftly but this won't undo the damage done to its reputation," said Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight. "This may go some way to appeasing customers but what's critical is that the problem does not repeat itself."

Mobile operators are also mulling compensation packages for customers. Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica, which owns the UK's O2, said it would offer a package to customers but it is not clear what form it will take.

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Samsung seeks iPhone 4S embargo in Australia and Japan

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Samsung electronics has raised the stakes in its current legal battle with Apple by seeking a ban on sales of iPhone 4S in Australia and Japan.

Apple and Samsung have both accused each other of patent infringement

This follows similar pleas by the Korean manufacturer in France and Italy claiming patent infringement by Apple.

The move comes after a court in Australia temporarily banned the sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The two companies have been involved in a bitter legal battle involving smartphones and tablet PCs.

"Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology," Samsung said in a statement. "We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property."

Losing ground?

While there have been claims and counter claims from both sides, Apple seems to be gaining the initial edge in the legal battle between the two.

Last week, a judge in the US ruled that Samsung's tablets infringed patents owned by Apple. However, she said that Apple needed to prove the validity of those patents in order to win an injunction preventing the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

This followed a ban by an Australia court on the sale of Samsung's Galaxy tab 10.1 in the country.

Samsung said it had filed an appeal against the Australian court's decision.

Apple has also scored a victory against its rival in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, banning the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Meanwhile Samsung's plea for a sales ban against some of Apple products was rejected by a Dutch court last Friday.

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Google backs net safety campaign

The search firm is launching a campaign to increase awareness of online threats, in partnership with the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Google has said that its future success depends on users continuing to feel safe on the internet.

It covers topics such as choosing a password, scam emails and using two factor authentication.

The company said future campaigns may deal more extensively with how Google uses people's personal data.

An information booklet touches on the way search information is used to sell advertising, but the higher profile poster campaign focuses on broader industry problems.

"We thought that the first thing we have to do is earn the right to be informative," said Anthony House, policy and communications manager at Google.

"The long term success of our business is totally tied up in people feeling comfortable spending more time online, so this is a really important campaign for us."

Mr House admitted that Google had itself given users cause for concern, including the StreetView debacle where the company's photo cars intercepted information being sent over WiFi.

"StreetView was a complicated product for us to launch and we thought very deeply about what privacy protections should be put in place," he told BBC News.

"That doesn't mean that we always get everything right, but we've learned a lot from mistakes that we have made in the past and this campaign is one of the many manifestations of those lessons."

The "Good to Know" campaign covers five subject areas:

• Choosing a strong password
• Recognising phishing emails
• Understanding secure websites
• Signing out of online accounts
• using two factor authentication for services such as email

A series of cartoons is being used in an attempt to simplify the sometimes complicated issues.

Such problems do not account for a significant proportion of complaints from the public, according to Gillian Guy, chief executive of the Citizens Advice Bureau.

However, she added, that did not mean they were not affecting people.

"The thing that concerns us is that many people don't report these things or pursue them because redress online is much more difficult than face-to-face or in other situations.

"That's why, if we raise awareness and get people simple tips, it will probably increase the number of people who ask for assistance."

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