Pheeww... Good to be back up and Running!

* Update: Been getting lots of tips, and we've received the same message ourselves, from the BlackBerry Network Administrator pushing you to upgrade to the latest version of BlackBerry Messenger. We'll be paste the email in down below. Better upgrade! *

WOW. BlackBerry Messenger brought down BBM. Who would have thought. Our CrackBerry readers were first to pick up on the issue and we were quick to report that BBM was on the fritz... from there it escalated into one crappy evening with all BlackBerry data services going down.  But we're glad to be back in action.

RIM Statement - December 23rd

A service interruption occurred Tuesday that affected BlackBerry customers in the Americas. Message delivery was delayed or intermittent during the service interruption. Phone service and SMS services on BlackBerry smartphones were unaffected. Root cause is currently under review, but based on preliminary analysis, it currently appears that the issue stemmed from a flaw in two recently released versions of BlackBerry Messenger (versions 5.0.0.55 and 5.0.0.56) that caused an unanticipated database issue within the BlackBerry infrastructure. RIM has taken corrective action to restore service.

RIM has also provided a new version of BlackBerry Messenger (version 5.0.0.57) and is encouraging anyone who downloaded or upgraded BlackBerry Messenger since December 14th to upgrade to this latest version which resolves the issue. RIM continues to monitor its systems to maintain normal service levels and apologizes for any inconvenience to customers.

BE SURE TO UPGRADE to the latest version of BlackBerry Messenger. You can grab it by visiting blackberry.com/messenger from your BlackBerry's web browser or from BlackBerry App World.

Email from BlackBerry Network Administrator

------Original Message------
From: BlackBerry Network Administrator
Subject: BlackBerry Messenger Software v5.0.0.57 Update Available
Sent: Dec 23, 2009 12:23 PM

A new version of BlackBerry® Messenger software is now available. If you are currently running version 5.0.0.55 or 5.0.0.56 of BlackBerry Messenger, please upgrade to version 5.0.0.57 as soon as possible. This version addresses issues with versions 5.0.0.55 and 5.0.0.56.

To download the most current version of BlackBerry Messenger software, please visit www.blackberry.com/blackberrymessenger and follow the on-screen instructions. Please note that the software update is available free of charge, however downloading and using applications over the wireless network may incur data usage charges depending on your service plan. Please check with your airtime service provider for information about service costs. If you have any questions about this update, please visit www.blackberry.com/support/messenger.

Thank you,
Research In Motion Limited

©2009 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry®, RIM®, Research In Motion®, SureType®, SurePress and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world.

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