[Post updated below with Microsoft statement and fix.]

People using Android devices with Microsoft’s Office 365 online service have been lighting up the Office 365 support forums this week with reports of a glitch that’s preventing some users from receiving emails via Microsoft’s ActiveSync on certain Android versions. For all of them, the problems began to surface over the weekend.

Here’s a sampling of the Office support forum threads: Android ActiveSync not working … Galaxy S2 “unable to connect to server” … ActiveSync suddenly stopped working on Android … Droid stopped connecting to server.

The forum threads have generated what appears to be a temporary workaround, configuring the devices with the Outlook Web Access server address associated with their account, but users are concerned about possible negative side effects from that approach, including overzealous file folder syncing.

One GeekWire reader reports that his company’s Samsung Captivate phones, running Android 2.2 Froyo, still sync properly. But their Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 devices, running Android 3.2 Honeycomb, aren’t working properly with ActiveSync to receive email.

In many of the threads, the problem occurs with Android 2.3.6, but devices with Android 2.3.4 work.

We’re in touch with a Microsoft representative who’s checking on the status of the situation inside the company, and we’ll update this post when we hear back.

Update, Jan. 16: Here is Microsoft’s statement on the issue, with a suggested fix.

Microsoft is aware that a very small number of customers are currently impacted by a flaw in their phone or tablet’s implementation of the Exchange ActiveSync protocol.  In December, Microsoft posted an alert about a small change in how Exchange ActiveSync devices are handled in Office 365.  This change improves performance by pointing customers to their closest server.

Phones and tablets that are part of the Exchange ActiveSync Logo Program are not experiencing this issue. Customers experiencing this issue, can use the Mobile Phone Setup Wizard to help configure their phone or tablet for the correct server address and regain Exchange Server connection.

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