DriveSafe.ly Pro the first app released free by RIM as part of the Thank You From BlackBerry Offer

As promised, Research In Motion has started releasing the premium apps in BlackBerry App World that are part of what they are calling the Thank You from BlackBerry Offer. Of course, this is the offer we told you about a couple of days ago that RIM is making as an apology for the service outage that occurred last week. The first app to hit App World is DriveSafe.ly Pro, which allows you to listen and respond to SMS and emails out loud, instead of by typing.

Interesting to note, RIM has segregated the apps that are part of this offer, giving them each a separate item number than their normal listings. It looks like you will be able to find them all listed in one place, which is convenient, but we're not sure yet how this will play out if/when the apps get updates. Also, please remember that not all the apps are going to be released at one time. RIM will be releasing them gradually between October 19 and November 30. Users with a BIS Lite or BBM-only plan will be able to download the free apps over wifi from App World starting in November.

You can find more details on the BlackBerry Facebook account including some of the fine print regarding this deal.To find the free apps, simply open up App World, and you should see "A Thank You Gift" in the carousel, as seen in the picture above. (If you don't see it yet, or don't see any apps listed when you open it, try refreshing App World by typing Alt + R,S,T,R,S,T in the main page, or just Alt + R,S,T in the My World section.)