RIM Confirms BlackBerry Email Outage [UPDATED]

Talk about unfortunate timing. Research In Motion has confirmed reports that BlackBerry users across North America have been experiencing email problems this morning. Evidently, the outage is affecting all BlackBerry users who rely on RIM’s Internet-based email service instead of in-house servers, regardless of carrier.

This, just hours before the company is to release its third-quarter results.

In a statement, Research in Motion (RIMM) said customers “may be currently experiencing delays receiving email,” but phone services and PIN-to-PIN messaging are working just fine. The company offered no explanation for the service interruption, adding that engineers are doing all they can to resolve it.

UPDATE: The Toronto Star reports that some BlackBerry users in Canada have begun to regain e-mail access after 8 hours without it.