Push technology

When Apple launched its MobileMe Web cloud software last Friday, customers ran into severe glitches. The subscription service is designed to synchronize calendars, e-mail and other applications between iPhones and Mac or Windows desktops, but users of the new service were unable to log in or sync files correctly.

The company fielded a torrent of criticism from end-users. An e-mail from the MobileMe team on Tuesday read in part:

On Monday, Apple introduced a new service that delivers push e-mail, push contacts and push calendars into the "cloud" of native applications on the iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs.

Dubbed MobileMe, the service also provides a suite of ad-free Web applications that aim to deliver a desktop-like experience through any modern browser.

MobileMe applications -- available at www.me.com -- include Mail, Contacts and Calendar, as well as Gallery for viewing and sharing photos and iDisk for storing and exchanging documents online.