By Josh Quittner
If this is Facebook Mobile, perhaps the company ought to go back to Facebook Static. Many users who downloaded a new application released yesterday for popular Blackberry smartphones have yet to get it running.
Clearly, some users have gotten it to work. But many others say the application simply doesn’t connect to Facebook’s social networking service. The rallying point for criticism, ironically, is on Facebook itself, where members have been convening to complain—and are being ignored by Facebook support. “I wish a developer would address this issue,” wrote Facebooker Andy Lovell. “Even as much as a comment to let us know they’re aware of the problem and are working on it. Until then, if anyone figures something out PLEASE let us know.”
A spokesman for Research in Motion, which makes the Blackberry and created the Facebook app, says the problem appears to inflict corporate users of the phone. One of the appeals of the Blackberry, for corporate IT departments anyway, is how easy it is to lock down. Many IT departments prefer to block browser access—on PCs as well as smartphones, to certain sites for security and productivity reasons.
The spokesman said the company will be providing instructions on a work around, which would be posted later today. In the meantime, here’s the generic fix.