First BlackBerry, now Apple crumbles: Software launch hit by glitches as tech giant struggles with massive demand
- News of release 'trending' on social networking site behind surge in interest
- Apple's woes come as BlackBerry continues to struggle to return its own service to normal
- 'Has anyone successfully downloaded iOS 5 yet?'
The new software download is intended to bring older iPhones in line with the functions of iPhone 4S - including a new instant-messaging app, iMessage, and the iCloud service which shares music between your Apple devices
The release of Apple's latest iPhone iOS 5 software has been met with widespread anger and frustration from users as the tech giant struggles to cope with massive demand.
'Error 3200' even became a trending topic on Twitter as users were repeatedly confronted with the message as they tried to download the free package of updates intended to bring older iPhones into line with the functions offered by the iPhone 4S.
What makes the glitch so unusual is that Apple rarely struggles to cope with demand for its services.
Ironically, the inability of Apple's servers to cope may be due to the power of social networks to spread news of yesterday's release after 'Downloading iOS 5' became a trending topic.
It's traditional for geeks to be on the edge of their seats in advance of any new Apple software launch - but social networks may have ensured that a wider audience than usual was aware the instant the software - which includes BlackBerry-stye instant messaging - was available.
Apple's woes come as BlackBerry itself struggles to appease its increasingly angry users as an outage of email, messaging and internet services stretched into a third day.
It is the biggest outage in years for BlackBerry users, and strains their relationship with an already tarnished brand.
To help Apple users get quicker access to the new software tech sites yesterday began to offer workarounds and complex 'cheats'.
The download is a free update for the operating systems of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, accessible via Apple's iTunes software. These devices alert the user that a new update is available when paired with a PC, and you simply agree to download it.
The jump in demand could be seen at internet exchanges such as the LINX one in London which showed a multi-gigabit-sized increase that coincided with the launch of the iOS 5 download
The jump in demand could be seen at internet exchanges such as the LINX one in London which showed a multi-gigabit-sized increase that coincided with the launch of the iOS 5 download.
A LINX spokesman said, 'We can see that there is a jump in traffic that coincides with the launch of iOS 5.'
Apple declined to comment earlier today.
While thousands of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users were left looking at the 'Error 3200' others managed to eventually download it albeit at an extremely slow pace.
As the software launched, many users complained of slow download speeds, with some asking plaintively 'Has anyone successfully downloaded iOS 5 yet?'
Not all users encountered the 'Error 3200' message, but most found the process excruciating.
Soon questions about the error flooded Mac forums and social networks.
One Twitter user said, 'Steve Jobs has only been gone a few days and we are already experiencing the start of the techpocalypse.'
Unlike BlackBerry's high-profile collapse this week, 'Error 3200' seems eminently curable - just keep trying.
Other glitches reported with the software include the iCloud music service refusing logins.
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