Apple Acknowledges MobileMe Stumbles, Gives 30 Days Free

Last week's launch of Apple's online synchronization service MobileMe, touted as "Exchange for the rest of us," was plagued with enough glitches that the company has given users 30 days free.The service, which also includes a suite of Web apps in addition to the Mac-to-iPhone-to-PC sync services, was meant to be a seamless transition from Apple's old .Mac service. In an e-mail to subscribers, though, Apple acknowledged that the launch "was a lot rockier than we had hoped.

"Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially....Another snag we have run into is our use of the word 'push' in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe 'cloud,' changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices....

"We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge."CNET News