downtime

Apple has revamped its online status page to include more detailed information on what's working and what isn't, following a number of recent outages of its Web-powered services.

The new page (pictured above) breaks down Apple's services, online stores, and specific features within iCloud. Also included is a "detailed timeline" which shows you a full day's worth of activity, and a rundown of any outages or issues with specific services.

The system replaces one Apple used specifically for iCloud features, which showed checkboxes next to items that had been fixed. The newer system uses … Read more

Apple's iMessage service is once again experiencing issues.

Users are reporting problems sending messages to other users, with Apple's built-in progress bar hanging in limbo.

Apple's latest support status update from 2:15 p.m. PT says that "some" users are affected, but does not go into further detail about the scale of the issue.

"We are investigating and will update the status as more information becomes available," the company said.

iMessage is Apple's proprietary messaging platform used between iOS devices, as well as Macs, replacing the need to use text messages … Read more

Cloud storage service YouSendIt is in the midst of a multi-hour disruption, which remains unresolved.

The problem began earlier today and kept users from visiting YouSendIt's Web site or sending files through the service.

The company currently lists the issue as a "service disruption" versus a full-on "outage" with the promise of having a fix soon.

"YouSendIt Services are currently experiencing slow loading times and issues sending and receiving," the company said on its status page. "We are working to have this fixed ASAP."

On its Twitter account, the company noted … Read more

Verizon's network has once again been hit with downtime in the U.S., with customers reporting that their phones are unable to get a data connection.

Droid Life, which picked up on the outage, says that customers have been having issues connecting to Verizon's 3G and 4G LTE networks in various major cities across the U.S. including New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.

"We are investigating reports of some customers experiencing trouble accessing the 4G LTE network," Verizon said in a statement issued to CNET. "The network itself continues to operate and all customers … Read more

Three days after the launch of the iPhone 4S, some users are still running into problems gettings its Siri voice assistant feature to work.

Numerous users on Twitter continue to report that the feature is experiencing connection errors when commands are issued. As before, affected users are saying that the problems are occurring even while they're connected to Wi-Fi, or have 3G coverage, suggesting the issue may lie on Apple's end.

Siri is an iPhone 4S exclusive feature, giving users the capability to talk into their phone to do things like check the weather, set alarms, and search the Web. The feature requires the use of a Wi-Fi or 3G network since it taps into Apple's servers to process and return the commands as soon as they're issued.

The service began experiencing problems on launch day last Friday, with users saying the feature could not connect. Tests on CNET's own iPhone 4S unit could not reproduce the problem, however CNET readers noted in comments on our original story that they too were having issues. Additionally, a now 10-page Apple support forum thread has users experiencing hiccups throughout the weekend. … Read more

Apple's Siri service, the voice assistant feature that's an exclusive to the newly launched iPhone 4S, is experiencing downtime, according to numerous users.

At approximately 6 p.m. PT, users began posting to Twitter that they were experiencing problems getting Siri to respond to voice commands. Affected users reported that the feature activated correctly, but was not connecting to process voice commands.

Multiple tests with CNET's test unit between 6:58 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. Pacific had the feature working over CNET's Wi-Fi network and over Sprint's 3G network on a number … Read more

Link-shortening service Bit.ly was down for a period of time last night, but the service appears to be working just fine now.

Last night, CNET editors found first that Bit.ly links were not working and then that all of Bit.ly seemed to be down. A quick search on Twitter reveals that some others had also been affected by the outage.

"Is Bit.ly down for anyone else or just me?" one Twitter user asked late last night. Another user quickly followed that up, saying "For the first time I can remember, Bit.ly is … Read more

Yahoo Mail today was down for many users today, but according to the online company, its services are now operating normally.

Earlier today, CNET heard from a reader who claimed that "Yahoo Mail has been experiencing severe outage issues for the last 24-hours plus." After attempting to access Yahoo's Mail service, CNET received an error message saying that the "page you requested was not found." Other attempts yielded a "connection refused" message from the site. When trying to access the mail service through Yahoo's QuickView, the service said that it could not &… Read more

Paper Toss is an extremely simple but still fairly addictive game that simulates the time-honored office pastime of tossing crumpled pieces of paper into a trash can. In the game's interface, you hold your Android mobile device vertically as you flick a wad of paper toward the target can, attempting to account for a blowing fan when you calculate your trajectory. The fan changes sides and speed for each shot, and Paper Toss features three levels of difficulty, with the trash can at varying distances.

Where this game really shines, though, is in its production values: the crisp visuals, … Read more