MobileMe
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Talkcast tonight, 10 p.m. ET: The 'let's hope the Super Bowl is over by then' episode
Last week, my friends Steve Sande and Megan Lavey joined me for an erudite discussion over drinks about the White House's tech woes, the iWork trojan making its rounds, and our favorite Mac memories. Feel absolutely free to download the show from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes. This week, hopefully, the Super Bowl will be done and dusted before 10 Eastern, so we can recap the news of the week and take your calls! We plan on covering more tips for keeping your data safe, and talking about the pros and cons of renewing your MobileMe subscription. Come prepared with your questions, comments and ideas, and we'll put them on the air! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can also use the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!
MobileMe renewal: Yes or no?
Earlier this week, I noticed that the calendars on my Mac and my iPhone weren't in sync. "More MobileMe nonsense," I thought. However, I soon found the culprit, and it wasn't MobileMe acting wonky. My account had expired, and I was within the 15 day grace period.I saw the "Renew" button and reached for my wallet like a well-trained Pavlov iDog. Then something stopped me. "Do I really want to do this?" There are so many alternatives that offer nearly the same services. Calling upon my days as a used car salesman (true story), I pulled out a piece of paper and drew a vertical line down the center, labeling one side "Pros" and the other "Cons." Then, I got to work.ProsFirst of all, I should outline what I use MobileMe for. An email account, address book, calendar sync between my Mac and iPhone and iDisk storage. I don't use the photo galleries, though my kids' grandparents wish I did, or the web apps. With that in mind, here are the pros.Everything is built in. There's nothing to download, install or configure. iCal, Address Book, Mail (OK, I have to set up an account. Nit-pickers) and iDisk are ready to go from the start. My iDisk is accessible from the Finder, and things like MobileMe Galleries just work. Sounds like an easy choice, eh? Keep reading.ConsHonestly, it doesn't always "just work." The synchronization has been flaky in the past, and push notifications have been pokey. Granted, it's light-years beyond where it was after launch, but I don't really trust it 100%.It's a bit pricey. The standard fee is $99US/year. I've got one additional email address for my wife, so tack on another ten bucks. Before you fly into an iRage, know that I realize that one hundred bucks for push email, contacts and calendar, 10GB online storage, web hosting and so on is not a bad deal. It's just that there are less expensive alternatives.With Gmail, I can have email, address book and calendar for free. With Spanning Sync, [TUAW Spanning Sync posts here] I can sync Google Calendar and iCal in both directions for $25 per year or $65 as a one-time fee. And I can easily set up my iPhone to send and receive Gmail.Let's look at the available-anywhere online storage. Here at the TUAW offices, we're big fans of Dropbox [TUAW Dropbox posts here]. Once installed, it's super easy to use. A menu bar item and a Finder window item make access a snap. Additionally, sharing files and folders is just as simple.The first 2GB of storage are free. After that, you'll pay $9.99US/month or $99US/year for 50GB of storage. So why not just switch? It's not that easy. My MobileMe email address is in heavy use. Not only among my contacts, but across many places online. Switching would be a hassle. I'm also held back by the "What If Factor."There's a part of me, deep inside my cynical, self-deprecating heart that's convinced that the very day I cancel my subscription, Apple will release the MobileMe update of my dreams. It's the same certainty that prevents me from buying a DVD player or a Blu-ray player as I watch my VHS tapes.For now, I've got 14 days to decide. I'll let you know what I chose in a future post.
Firefox 3 and MobileMe not working? It might be Ubiquity plugin
While this might not be news for everyone, reader Brad and I seemed to be having the same problem: Using Firefox 3, we would see the "unsupported browser" message pictured while trying to use me.com. Obviously, Firefox 3 is a supported browser for MobileMe. A TUAW colleague gave it a try and found everything to work fine. Brad and I compared notes about what plugins we have in common, and found that Ubiquity was causing the problem. It turned out to be related to the user-agent string: MobileMe uses the user-agent string to determine what browser you're using, and Ubiquity tacks on an extra bit at the end. For example, without Ubiquity installed, it shows Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5. With Ubiquity installed, it said Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5 Ubiquity/0.1.5. (Emphasis mine.) Since MobileMe doesn't know what to do with the extra Ubiquity text at the end, it thinks you have an unsupported browser, and shows you that error. The good news is that you can fix this, thanks to a simple technique from Tim Jarrett, and still use both Ubiquity and MobileMe. Read on to find out how. Thanks, Brad!
Easy file transfer may be finally coming to MobileMe
It hasn't been all roses for MobileMe. After a rocky start in 2008 things have started to settle down in MobileMe land, and it appears that Apple is about to add at least one feature that was promised when the service rolled out. Loyal TUAW reader Dave has noticed a little change on the Apple MobileMe page that says the ability to easily make large file transfers is coming soon. The hint is on the lower right of the page: Soon a new feature in iDisk will make it simple to share files too big for email. iDisk will automatically send a message with a simple link. The recipient will just click the link to download the file.As it is now, you can place things in your public folder, and other Mac or PC users can see that folder if they know your MobileMe user name. You can also give out your password (not a great idea), allowing others to cruise your private folders, then drag and drop large files to their own desktops. Users can also send files to you the same way.Other solutions have stepped up to fill in for the feature, like FileChute which works very well. Apple isn't giving a date, but the fact that the feature is on the way should give some New Year's cheer to MobileMe subscribers everywhere.Addenda: Some readers say the message has been there for a few months, so don't get too excited that this feature is imminent. It is, however, greatly desired.
So you just got your first Mac -- now what?
All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays! If you're a Mac veteran, send a link to this post to the switcher on your holiday list. Merry Christmas, new Mac owner. First of all, congratulations! Welcome to the family. There's some eggnog on the table, and feel free to put your coat on the bed. Setting up your new Mac is a famously easy experience. It should take about 10 minutes, depending on the kind of Mac you bought, and where you want to put it. Once you have your new Mac on your desk, it will take you through a short setup process to personalize your new machine. You'll choose a username, a password, and will be given the option to register your Mac and sign up for MobileMe, if you want. (You can register and sign up for MobileMe later, if you don't do it now.) If you bought any applications along with your Mac (like Microsoft Office, for example), you can install them very easily. Just insert the disc, and either drag the application to your Applications folder (on your hard disk) or double-click the installer application. You can eject the disc when you're done by dragging it to the Trash, or pressing the eject key on your keyboard. For Windows compatibility, get your Windows XP (SP2 or SP3) or Windows Vista disc ready, and double click the Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder (it's inside your Applications folder). Boot Camp Assistant will walk you through the process of installing Windows on your Mac. It's not difficult, but it will take a little time. Once Windows is installed, you can hold down the Option key before your computer boots to choose which operating system to run, or select a permanent preference via the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences. You can read more switcher-specific tips in our Switchers category. If you're switching to the Mac platform from the PC, I might humbly suggest you read Part 1 and Part 2 of my experience introducing my dad to the Mac. He was a hard-core PC user until he fell in love with his Mac mini. Continue reading for a few best bets about how to extend and protect your new Mac.
Apple updates MobileMe web apps
Apple released details of updates to MobileMe services for the web. It's the second time this month Apple has noted service updates for MobileMe. For Contacts, searching in large address books has been improved, along with better vCard-Address Book integration. You can also press Shift + Control + N to create a new contact while using the Contacts web app. Also included in the update is sorting of To Do items in Calendar, Japanese language support for iDisk file names, and the addition of several international domains that now work with hosted iWeb pages. A full list of the changes is available on Apple's website, along with changes from earlier this month. [Via Hardmac.com.]
iPhone thief thwarted by MobileMe sync
To say that MobileMe hasn't made everyone happy may be a bit of an understatement. We don't generally hear from the satisfied customers, but we have received a fair amount of email from dissatisfied users of Apple's "cloud computing" solution. Given the barrage of negativity, it's nice to hear a positive take now and then. TUAW reader Rob had just the thing ... While at the dry cleaner one day, Rob's iPhone was stolen. He immediately chalked it up as gone forever, and proceeded to purchase a brand new one that same evening. It was the next day when unfamiliar contacts began to appear on the new phone. The (not-too-bright) thief was unwittingly supplying him with names and phone numbers of his or her closest friends, via the magic of MobileMe synchronization from the stolen phone to the cloud and eventually to his new phone. "It didn't take long for me to realize that MobileMe was leading me right to the thief!" wrote Rob. Thanks to the fact that he caught on to it before he'd had time to remotely disconnect his account, MobileMe provided the groundwork for a little social engineering. Rob made quick work of wrangling a name and phone number from the provided contacts, supplying the police with everything they needed to get Rob his phone back. By the end of the night, he had his original iPhone in his possession. There you have it, a MobileMe success story! Sure, this doesn't make up for the problems which have plagued MobileMe, but it's a great story. The recovered phone is "pretty much brand new," according to Rob, and is currently up for auction on ebay. Thanks for sending this in, Rob!
MobileMe updates alongside 10.5.6
Alongside the OS update to 10.5.6 released today, Mobile Me has also undergone a service update. The Mobile Me improvements includes the following: Contacts, calendars and bookmarks sync automatically within a minute of the changes being made on a computer, another device or at www.me.com. Resolved issues causing contacts to temporarily disappear on the iPhone and iPod Touch, along with inconsistent data. Improved startup time and reliability A complete list of changes can be found at the update's support page. You must upgrade Leopard to 10.5.6 and your iPhone to 2.2 before taking advantage of some of the fixes.Thanks for the tip, Jonathan!
MobileMe silently filtering email to spamcop.net
According to Mac OS X Hints, if you're trying to send an email to someone with a spamcop.net email address with your MobileMe account, chances are the message will never arrive, and you won't be notified. What's worse, apparently if you're sending the message to a distribution list, and only one of those recipients has an address at spamcop.net, nobody will receive the message. Apparently the problem has been happening for months, since Apple moved everyone from .Mac to MobileMe. A participant in the Apple Discussions thread notes that it's common for service providers to filter their outgoing mail by domain in order to avoid being blacklisted. So far, only spamcop.net appears to be affected. A workaround for now would be to try to send the message using a different email account. We'll let you know if Apple offers a fix in the meantime. Update: Friendly reader Jason sent me a detailed explanation about why this might be. In a misguided attempt to control their individual load of spam, some users choose to forward all their MobileMe mail to a spamcop.net address. Spamcop, unfortunately, thinks the "spam" originated at MobileMe, not the actual origin of the spammy badness. So, MobileMe, to combat this, forbids forwarding to domains like Spamcop in order to avoid being blacklisted. There's nothing sinister going on here, just honest network administrators doing what they can with what they've got. Thanks, Jason!
Live Mesh now available for Mac OS X
[Editor's Note: Several comments objected to the comparison between Dropbox and Microsoft that implied Dropbox's reputation was less than ideal; we also heard directly from Dropbox founder Arash Ferdowsi on this point. The post has been edited to clarify the sense Cory intended -- while Dropbox's service is well-regarded and its backers are notable, some may feel comfortable with a more-established vendor for cloud storage. Our apologies to Dropbox and its users for the unintentional slight.]While many Mac users use MobileMe for file synchronization, there are the a few (*raises hand*) who think it's overpriced. Therefore, I have been looking for alternatives. Dropbox is nice, but I wanted more storage, and I wanted it from a reputable company with a longer track record. I had heard about Live Mesh, Microsoft's up and coming synchronization service so I decided to check it out. While there are plenty of anti-Microsoft Mac users, I tend to like some of their products (i.e. Microsoft Office). Their Live Mesh service just recently came to the Mac platform, and is well built. Once you create/sign-in with your Windows Live ID, you can add new devices for file synchronization, including Macs and PCs (phone support coming soon). To add a Mac to your Mesh account, you'll need to download a small application. This menu bar application will upload your specified folders to Mesh, and keep them in sync. Two things about the Live Mesh service that I really like are: (1) You have the ability to sync up to 5 GBs of data. (2) You can access your files anywhere with the Mesh.com website. However, you'll be presented with a Windows Vista theme, which can be unfamiliar for some Mac users. Overall, I have really liked using this service, but there are a couple of complaints. While the desktop Mesh client is a menu bar application, the Dock icon remians visible -- I found this annoying. Also, the web service is somewhat buggy, and I had problems deleting some older files. However, if you're looking for a good, cheap solution to MobileMe file synchronization, then you might want to give Mesh a try.
Pingdom posts insight into latest Mobile Me outage
Despite the server-side updates Apple detailed last week, the company's beleaguered Mobile Me service is still problematic for many users. Yesterday, we received a number of e-mails complaining that Apple's Me.com domain was reporting 404 errors. Today, the fine folks at Pingdom.com (which monitors website uptime), posted some details about what was going on. It appears that there was an issue with the Me.com redirect. If a user directly typed in http://me.com/mail, he or she could successfully access the server. Trying to access the Me.com domain, however, led 404 HTTP error response with the words "Not Found: Resource does not exist," appearing on the page. This outage lasted nearly seven hours, from 2:29 AM EST - 9:25 AM EST on November 3, 2008. Because the outage occurred at night in the continental United States, most affected users were from Europe, where the outage lasted for most of the work day. If this was a simple redirect error (which it appears to be), why did it take seven hours to fix? My guess is that no one at Apple was alerted to the problem until someone came into work at 6:00 AM PST and started seeing error request e-mails or had problems accessing the domain. This is a problem. If Apple is truly dedicated to making Mobile Me a service it can be "proud of by the end of this year," the company should really consider having either dedicated 24-hour Mobile Me IT support (or more support) or figure out a way to resolve errors like this in a more timely matter. Redirect errors or glitches are not uncommon, but any company trying to run an international communications service needs to get on the ball. Despite my vocal misgivings about the service, before it even launched, I signed up for a 60-day trial in early July -- so I could "eat my own dogfood" -- as they say. And even though my service was extended for free until December, I canceled in September. Why? Because the service proved it wasn't reliable enough for any sort of e-mail communication, its calendar syncing was complete junk, and it seemed like every time I tried to access the service, it was either slow as all get out or unavailable. Free or not, that just isn't worth the hassle. At least with Google, it apologizes when it has an outage and if you pay $50 a year, you get actual phone support that doesn't just go to a random Apple Care person with no knowledge or information about the issue. Are you still a Mobile Me subscriber? Sound off in the comments!
Better late than never: Apple details late-Sept. MobileMe updates
Yesterday, Apple released a support document detailing changes that were made to the MobileMe web services to improve stability and browser compatibility. The article noted that since "server-side updates are a bit more innocuous than a standard software update to Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows, it's easy not to notice that updates are occurring. Usually the only hint of these updates is that things just 'work better.'" Several improvements to Mail, Account services, Calendar, Contacts and Gallery are mentioned in the document, including better support for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3. What's interesting is the timing of the document: The support article was posted nearly a month after the improvements apparently took place. Apple's culture of "reluctant transparency" could be coming into play here, with information about MobileMe updates arriving several weeks after implementation. Alternatively, Apple could be getting itself in the routine of releasing information about MobileMe updates on the 29th of the month. The question then becomes: Why isn't the information timely? The only other example we have is information about an update during the middle of September was posted on the 29th of that month. I suppose we'll find out in November: two is a coincidence, three is a trend. [Via MacRumors.]
Beta Beat: fruux keeps you in sync
One of the most frequent questions we hear from readers on our Ask TUAW posts (and for our doting Aunt TUAW) is a simple one, with no simple answer: "How can I replace the synchronization features of MobileMe with a free service or a software package that doesn't cost me $99 a year?" We feel your pain.For anyone looking to cut their cash outlay and maintain multi-Mac data sync, there are options for calendaring (BusySync, Google's CalDAV support) and some for address books (address-o-sync, or the free Google & Yahoo sync in Leopard's Address Book), and some products that handle both calendars and contacts (SpanningSync, Plaxo) -- but if you're in the mood for a free all-in-one approach, you may want to check out a promising beta service from a team of European developers: fruux.Starting with address book sync in earlier versions, fruux has now progressed to include calendar, task and bookmark sync via Apple's built-in apps (Address Book, iCal & Safari) and a cloud service that stores the synchronized data. The system pref pane interface is no-frills and the product is definitely still a work in progress (there are prominent warnings to back up your data beforehand and frequently thereafter), so it may not suit your needs just yet -- but it's definitely one to watch. Future roadmap plans include an iPhone client and a web interface to your PIM data.Thanks Dominik, Hagen & everyone who sent this in.
Apple updates MobileMe control panel for Windows
Today, Apple updated the MobileMe control panel for Windows. Update 1.2 "provides better support for syncing a large number of contacts (more than 2,000) and prevents syncing of data between Microsoft Exchange Server and MobileMe, a configuration that is not supported."This control panel is required to use MobileMe syncing/iDisk on a Windows computer. This update requires Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2, or Windows Vista SP1 or later. You must have iTunes 8.0.1 or later installed. You can download this update from the Apple Support website.
Eye-Fi adds MobileMe support
Eye-Fi has announced that their eponymous SD memory card with built-in WiFi is getting faster and adding MobileMe support. The Eye-Fi allows you to automatically upload photos from your SD card compatible camera to your Mac or a variety of online services like Flickr, SmugMug, and now MobileMe. The update will be available on October 5 and is also backwards compatible to existing Eye-Fi cards with upgrade fees. Other additions include Eye-Fi's own web gallery, geotagging support (via a similar mechanism to the original iPhone), and Wayport / open hotspot support, each for additional annual fees.The Eye-Fi cards come in three flavors: Home, Share, and Explore. Home ($79.99) is limited to uploads on your home WiFi network to your home computer; Share ($99.99) allows broader WiFi access and uploading to web galleries; Explore ($129.99) also adds geotagging.[via Engadget]
Eye-Fi making wares twice as fast, expanding internationally
Frustrated by somewhat sluggish transfers from your otherwise spectacular Eye-Fi card? Fret not, as the company has just announced a forthcoming update at Photokina that will reportedly enable new and existing Eye-Fi owners to make "the upload of digital photos from camera to computer twice as fast." Also of note, as of October 5th, users can even add features that aren't already included on their card and renew annual services by tapping into the updated Eye-Fi Manager Web application. In related news, the outfit will be pushing its wares to Japan and Canada by the year's end, and in even more related news, Eye-Fi now supports direct photo uploads to Apple's MobileMe and the AdoramaPix service.Read - Eye-Fi getting 2x fasterRead - Eye-Fi going international
Mac 101: Dealing without iCards
Apple has posted a nifty tip for Mail users who miss the discontinued iCards feature from .Mac: You can use Mail stationery to create an attractive card-like message with your own photos. In a post on the Mobile Me blog (hey, it's not dead!), Apple says "...it's like the old Make Your Own iCards feature on steroids, and a whole lot easier to use in the bargain." For Leopard users, Mail comes with 30 email templates you can customize in lieu of sending an iCard. Personally, I think an email is better than an iCard anyway, what with all the greeting card spam that goes on. You can use photos that you take with Photo Booth, for example, or pictures from iPhoto. Customize it with a clever note, and away you go. If you don't have Leopard or still want to use an online greeting card site, there are plenty to choose from. (And if you like our series for beginners, Mac 101, there's much more to learn.)
The Rumor Room: iTunes Unlimited
By definition, nearly all tips we receive about Apple future product intros are wrong. After all, we're not Engadget. People aren't going to risk their jobs to deliver insider information. That being said, a tip that shot into our mailbox this morning really tickled my fancy: not because I think it's accurate but because I really really want it to be true. Our anonymous tipster laid out a description for iTunes Unlimited that I thought was brilliant. Although this guy (by definition) does not work for Apple, he really ought to. He suggested that the late September Apple event would introduce several great items that we'd love to see but haven't been holding our breath for. These are disk access for the iPhone and iPod Touch and iTunes Unlimited. His take on iTunes Unlimited goes as such: For just $129.99 (or $179.99 bundled with MobileMe, or $99 for current MobileMe subscriptions), you would buy unlimited music access for one year. This would offer you 256 Kbps music, or as Steve would boom it, "The highest quality digital music subscription service ever." You could download and play directly on your computer or iPhone/iPod and the option to "buy and keep" would replace the subscription version of a song with a downloaded version. I totally love this idea. It's not the first iTunes subscription rumor we've heard, either. I'm not betting that would happen. But it brought a huge smile to my morning. What do you think of iTunes Unlimited? If it were available, would you buy it? Thanks, extremely creative anonymous tipster
Apple offers MobileMe 60-day extension
For the second time in so many months, Apple has offered MobileMe subscribers a free extension of their current subscription. Earlier today, an email was delivered to customers stating that they'd receive a 60-day extension of their MobileMe subscription, in addition to the 30 days offered in July."We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of," the message reads. "We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around."Thanks, Apple! Three months of free service is definitely a decent compensation. And for those of you spooked by the recent MobileMe-themed phishing scam, we assure you that the link in the email is legit.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
MobileChat now available in the App Store
Today Twenty08 released a new instant messaging client for the iPhone/iPod touch. MobileChat (iTunes Link) allows you to connect to multiple IM services, including: AIM/ICQ/.Mac/MobileMe Windows Live/MSN Yahoo GTalk Jabber In many ways, this application for the iPhone looks like a cross between Adium and AIM for iPhone. This application is feature rich, allowing you to take and send images or IM a phone number from any of your 10 supported IM accounts, Most notably, MobileChat allows you to use Apple's forthcoming "Push Notification" system for notifications when the application is closed. This feature is built into this release, but will not be active until Apple "flips the switch." You can download MobileChat today from the App Store for $2.99 (USD).[via MacRumors]
