Apple notes continued MobileMe service outage

Apple has posted a tech note to its Web site acknowledging a continued outage for users of its MobileMe service. It's the latest problem to plague the service since it was launched last week.

"On Friday, July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18) we experienced a serious issue with one of our MobileMe mail servers," reads Apple's service notice. "This issue is currently affecting approximately 1% of MobileMe members. Affected members are unable to send or receive e-mail at www.me.com or access e-mail using any e-mail client software such as Mail on a Mac or Microsoft Outlook on a PC."

"We understand this is a serious issue and apologize for this service interruption. We are working hard to restore your service," concluded the message.

MobileMe is Apple's replacement for .Mac. The service, which costs subscribers US$99 per year, hosts e-mail, Web publishing, image publishing and data synchronization services between Macs, PCs, iPhones and iPod touch systems. Unlike .Mac, MobileMe sports an interface designed to be similar to a desktop or application user experience -- you can click and drag content, create new calendar appointments, manage your contact list and more from a Web interface, and it synchronizes with connected computers and devices.

Apple's launch of MobileMe has been quite rocky. At first, many users weren't able to log in or get content to synchronize at all, for example. Apple ultimately responded by apologizing for the outage and offering MobileMe subscribers a 30-day extension to their membership. "The .Mac to MobileMe transition was a lot rockier than we had hoped," said an Apple spokesman.

Shortly after launch Apple also updated the software Macs require to access MobileMe; other third party vendors that utilize .Mac services, such as Karelia's Sandvox Web site publishing software, have also required an update.

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