MobileMe
Latest
iCloud named as successor to MobileMe, will be free service
Steve Jobs unveiled the new iCloud service at WWDC today. iCloud stores a user's content in the cloud and wirelessly pushes that content to all devices. The services will be free with no ads and be completely integrated with the apps found in MobileMe -- and they've all been rewritten from the ground up. Contacts and calendars that are created or modified on one device are pushed to the cloud, and the changes propagate on all other devices instantly. Calendars have also had sharing features added so that you can send them to friends or coworkers. iCloud also allows users to propagate app and iBooks purchases across devices. Purchase an iBook on your iPad, tap the new iCloud button, and the same book will be downloaded on your iPhone, for example. iCloud also features deep backup sets and automatically performs daily backups over Wi-Fi. Backups include music, books, apps, camera roll, device settings and app data. iCloud also features an app called "Documents." When you create a new document in Pages, Keynote or Numbers, that document is automatically pushed to all the devices the user has Pages, Keynote or Numbers on. The iCloud Documents APIs will be made available to developers so that they can build the feature into their apps. Another new feature: in the Photos iOS app there is a new album called Photo Stream, which allows any photos taken on any devices to be pushed to your other devices automatically. The last 1,000 photos will be stored on the cloud for 30 days and then be deleted from the cloud. In that time, you have the option of permanently saving any of those photos to any device you own. Finally, Apple has extended iCloud capabilities to iTunes. You can re-download (for free) any song you have previously purchased in iTunes on up to 10 devices that you own. "We're making it free, and we're very excited about it. So that's iCloud. It stores your content and pushes it to all of your devices, and it's integrated with all your apps," Steve Jobs told the packed theater at WWDC.
iCloud unveiled at WWDC, free for all 9 cloud apps, MobileMe RIP
Apple tipped its hat early, but now we have the details from the man himself. "iCloud stores your content in the cloud and wirelessly pushes it to all your device. It automatically uploads it, stores it, and pushes it to all your devices." And by "automatically," he means it: in addition to every day content, such as purchased music, iBooks, photos and videos, device settings, and app data that will be automatically backed up over WiFi, Documents in the Cloud will effortlessly sync Pages, Numbers, and Keynote data between all of your iOS devices. There will be no advertising (contrary to previous rumors), and calendar, mail, and contact sync is free (for up to five gigs). Also in store is the new Photo Stream cloud feature, which is essentially a gallery in Photos that exists on all of your iOS devices, Apple TV, your OS X and even your Windows PCs, and syncs through the cloud. Take a picture on your iPhone and it appears on your laptop and your iPad, and it's stored in the cloud for thirty days. And no, your Photo Stream pics do not count towards your 5GB total. iCloud will be released concurrent with iOS 5 this fall. If that isn't enough, Apple has announced iTunes Match, a $25 per year service that scans your iTunes library library and populates your iTunes in the Cloud account with any of your previously bought and ripped music -- in handy 256Kbps AAC, DRM-free files (as long as the titles already appear in the iTunes store). Last but not least, MobileMe is no more. If you're a current member, you can still access everything as usual through June 30, 2012 (according to Apple), but there will be no new enrollments. And if your subscription has auto-renewed recently? Well, we've received plenty of tips from readers who have received refunds this morning. So at the very least you have that to look forward too!%Gallery-125471% p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Lucida Grande'}
WWDC 2011 liveblog: Steve Jobs talks iOS 5, OS X Lion, iCloud and more!
You're in the right place! Bookmark this page and return on Monday at the times listed below to see Steve Jobs take the stage at Moscone West. WWDC 2011 promises a peek at iOS 5, OS X Lion, the iCloud music storage offering and who knows what else. The iPhone 5? Don't count on it, but also, don't count it out. Your town not listed? Shout your time in comments below! 07:00AM - Hawaii 10:00AM - Pacific 11:00AM - Mountain 12:00PM - Central 01:00PM - Eastern 06:00PM - London 07:00PM - Paris 09:00PM - Moscow 02:00AM - Tokyo (June 7th)
MobileMe renewals getting refunded automatically? (Updated)
Here's a tease for what might be coming later today: we have had a couple of reader reports that indicate a change to MobileMe's billing plans, citing service continuations past the expiration date. Now Steve M. has chimed in to let us know that his auto-renewal of MobileMe triggered this week and charged his checking account as usual -- then the charge was immediately refunded back to his account. Odd, to say the least. We already know that iCloud is on the agenda for today, and we know that there's going to be a migration path from MobileMe to the new service (codenamed 'Castle' in development builds of Lion). It seems entirely likely that the new offering will have a different pricing structure than the all-in annual $99 cost of today's MobileMe; this was first suggested by the Wall Street Journal back in February. Update: Corey notes that his renewal date for MobileMe was rescheduled for... today. Hmm. Thanks Steve!
WWDC: Looking back at the past 10 years
Steve Jobs will kick off Apple's WorldWide Developers' Conference (WWDC) on Monday, and the world will be watching to see what Apple has in store for Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud. To help pass the time until Monday afternoon, we have compiled some memorable moments from the past ten years of WWDC. WWDC was first held in Monterey, California in 1983. This small gathering of developers has blossomed into one of the major annual events for Apple's extended community of vendors, engineers and enterprise/academic IT management. In addition to the 'meat' of the event (technical sessions covering hundreds of topics for developers, code labs and face time with Apple engineering staff), WWDC has become an opportunity for Apple to announce new versions of Mac OS X, new hardware and new versions of iOS. The event has grown in importance as Apple has eliminated or scaled back its participation in trade shows like Macworld Expo. Read on for the best of WWDC Past: a funeral for an operating system, a spoof of Steve Jobs and much applause.
iCloud offerings might be free to those who upgrade to Lion
When Steve Jobs kicks off Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next Monday, AppleInsider suggests the iconic CEO may reveal an aggressive price-point for some of the Cupertino company's upcoming cloud services -- free. On Tuesday, Apple announced plans to unveil iCloud, a suite of cloud services expected to replace MobileMe, and Lion, the eighth significant upgrade to Mac OS X, at WWDC next week. According to the post, people familiar with Apple's plans expect the computer maker to offer some of iCloud's services gratis to Mac users who upgrade to Lion. But AppleInsider notes that some components of iCloud are not likely to be free for any customer. Apple recently negotiated new licensing deals with (at least) Sony, EMI, and Warner Music, and is expected to announce its own music streaming services on June 6. Much like MobileMe today and competing music offerings from Google and Amazon, Apple's upcoming music services will likely include a complimentary trial period, but customers should ultimately expect to pay a subscription fee to host content on the company's servers.
How to: Share iCal calendars without MobileMe
This how-to over at Gearz.de will help you share your iCal calendar around even if you don't have a subscription to Apple's online MobileMe service (a very forgivable offense, especially since its expected replacement iCloud service is now just a week away). Unfortunately, the writeup is a little technical, as you'll need to actually configure your local web server to share out and broadcast the calendar to anyone who needs to read it. That means you'll need to do a little console typing and config file editing, but as long as you follow directions, it should work just fine. A simpler solution might be to use an app like BusyCal to do the syncing for you, or even just use a service that's already in the cloud, like Google Calendar (which is what I actually do). But if you're already tied to iCal, either because you've got a calendar on there or just because you like the app, following those steps should help you get sharing to anyone up and running.
MobileMe subscription about to expire? Don't renew it just yet
If you've already paid the US$99 for Apple's MobileMe service, but your account is due for renewal within the next ten days or so, it might be a good idea to hold off on renewing it for now. Apple's rumored to be heavily revamping its MobileMe service this year, and we expect to hear announcements about the service upgrades at WWDC on June 6. Some rumors even suggest that parts of MobileMe may be available at no charge after the update. It's been a perennial rumor that Apple will stop charging $99/year for much of its MobileMe service. The rumors have always suggested Apple will offer basic services (like email and over-the-air device syncing) for free, while paying subscribers will have access to things like website hosting, online photo galleries, storage options through iDisk, and now potentially wireless streaming of music via the rumored iCloud service. Year after year this rumor has failed to come to fruition, but many are hoping this is the year Apple will finally split MobileMe into two services: free/basic and subscription/full access. There's already precedent for making certain parts of MobileMe free. Find My iPhone/iPad used to be a service for MobileMe subscribers only, but last November Apple made it free to anyone with an iPad, iPhone 4 or current-gen iPod touch. The bottom line is that if you're only making limited use of MobileMe's services right now and your account is set to expire within the next couple of weeks, wait to see what's in store at WWDC before you shell out another $99 for another year. You may or may not lose access to some MobileMe features as soon as your account expires; we've been hearing conflicting reports about this from some readers, suggesting the service is indeed due for an overhaul relatively soon. You'll still have access to email services for up to two weeks after your account expires, at which point Apple will supposedly throw the switch and delete all of your MobileMe data. That means if your account hasn't expired already, you're in good shape until WWDC. Speaking only for myself, if MobileMe's email and device syncing services do indeed become free-to-all after WWDC, I'm not likely to pay for access anymore. I've made very limited use of iDisk -- it's absolutely terrible compared to Dropbox, especially the way iDisk behaves in the Mac OS X Finder -- and MobileMe's gallery service is cumbersome compared to other photo sharing services I've used. As for iCloud, I have pretty much zero interest in what I've heard of it thus far, because I don't believe the internet infrastructure where I live can handle the types of services iCloud will supposedly offer. On the other hand, if Apple knocks it out of the park with the MobileMe upgrade, I may still happily drop some cash on the service. It all depends on what we hear at WWDC.
Apple's iCloud music service will automatically mirror your iTunes library using 'high-quality' tracks?
There's been so much chatter about Apple iCloud that you'd think the streaming music service had already been announced and the deals inked. But it's still just a rumor until an Apple executive takes the stage and unleashes the Amazon Cloud Player and Google Music competitor in a spate of superlatives. That hasn't stopped Businessweek from stepping up with a good summary of all that is "known" thus far, while giving us some insight into the particulars of how the service will work and the motivations to make it happen. One revelation, sourced from three people in the know, claims that Apple will scan customers' iTunes libraries (hello, LaLa) and quickly mirror the contents on Apple's own servers -- no massive DSL-choking upload required. And Apple will do you the solid of "replacing" any low bitrate tracks with the "high-quality" versions it stores in its fully licensed music locker for streaming to your connected devices. Of course, this value-add won't come free and will certainly require a subscription fee. The cost to the consumer, though, is still very much unclear as is the service's integration with Apple's $99 per year MobileMe sham. And you know those rumors about MobileMe being offered as a free service? We wouldn't be surprised if it stays at $99 with iCloud being announced as a "free" feature update; aka, an $8.25 per month music subscription that also provides web access to your synced bookmarks, contacts, email, and calendar. Regardless, it's this subscription model that has the major labels so enthusiastic as it will finally allow them to extort fees for all that pirated audio you may have stumbled upon since Napster was loosed on an unprepared music industry a decade ago. All signs point to WWDC for this to get official but we're sure to hear more -- much more -- before the event kicks off on June 6th.
More details emerge about Apple's iCloud music service
Businessweek cites sources who claim Apple's new digital music service, which many expect to be called iCloud, will quickly scan a user's iTunes library and mirror those songs on the cloud. Users will then be able to stream and listen to those songs on any devices. Interestingly, the sources say that if a user's song isn't encoded in an acceptable quality, Apple will replace the lower-quality song with one that is encoded at a higher quality. No details of a cost for the service have emerged, but Businessweek speculates the iCloud service may be baked into the US$99 per year MobileMe fee. Apple could also offer monthly subscription plans for the service. An NPD analyst has even told Businessweek that he believes "We will come to a point in the not-so-distant future when we'll look back on the 99-cent download as anachronistic as cassette tapes or 8-tracks." We know Apple has been actively working to get the big four record labels to license the service (a step that Amazon and Google both skipped), but beyond that, not many hard facts have surfaced. An online streaming service for iTunes has been a perennial rumor, but over the past few months, as more details have emerged, it's looking like the service may be a reality as early as June or July of this year.
MobileMe mail service experiencing problems
I've been having problems getting MobileMe email all day today. So have lots of other people. The problems seem to be with both IMAP servers and on accessing email on the MobileMe member page. To be fair, some of us at TUAW haven't had any problems with MobileMe today, and Apple's MobileMe status page also mentions that only some MobileMe subscribers are experiencing problems. I actually love MobileMe. It's a godsend how integrated it is into OS X and iOS. However, the service has had a history of spottiness ever since its launch in 2008 -- something Steve Jobs has been keenly aware of and frustrated with. In last week's Fortune "Inside Apple" article Steve Jobs was reported to have been very upset with the MobileMe team regarding the poor launch and negative media reception to the service. Jobs reportedly assembled the entire MobileMe team to a Town Hall meeting and accused them of "tarnishing Apple's reputation." Then he told them that they "should [all] hate each other for having let each other down" before he named new MobileMe executives on the spot. But the best quote from the impromptu meeting came after Steve Jobs asked the MobileMe team, "Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?" After the team answered him, Jobs then asked, "So why the fuck doesn't it do that?"
Fortune story goes 'Inside Apple'
Although subscribers to the print edition of Fortune magazine can get the full issue on their iPads this month, the rest of us may have to wait a bit -- or head to the local newsstand -- to read Adam Lashinsky's feature 'Inside Apple,' which relays several previously-untold anecdotes and company traditions. Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt over at Apple 2.0 has the preview, noting these tidbits: Steve Jobs apparently tore the entire MobileMe team a new one in a town hall meeting after the flaky, foulup-filled launch of the .Mac replacement alongside the iPhone 3G in 2008. "You should hate each other for having let each other down," he reportedly said, along with several less-printable comments. Teambuilding 101! Jobs holds "Top 100" offsite meetings for staff, which impacts both the lucky few and the ones who don't make the list. There's a core team of engineers and scientists, the "band of eggheads," who were hired before Jobs took his second leave of absence for medical treatment... and they've got an important job to do. Sounds like an engaging story; we'll be sure to check it out.
Apple ends $30 MobileMe and iWork rebate program
An internal memo suggests Apple is ending the US$30 MobileMe and iWork rebate program. The program offers customers a $30 discount on a $99 MobileMe subscription or the $79 iWork suite when they buy a new Mac. According to the memo, Apple has told all resellers to end the program on April 18th. All references to the rebate must be removed by the end of that business day. This change is stirring up the persistent rumor that MobileMe is undergoing a major overhaul. Apple recently stopped selling boxed copies of MobileMe leading to speculation that some or all the cloud service may be offered for free. This change may be announced in the upcoming months, possibly at WWDC and may be tied to Apple's iOS 5 update. The termination of the iWork rebate program is not tied to MobileMe, but it does hint an update to the productivity suite is on the way. The desktop version of the suite was updated in 2009 and is in need of a refresh. Much of the changes to iWork in 2010 focused on bringing the applications to the iPad. iWork 11 was expected to debut with the roll out of the Mac App store, but that rumor failed to materialize.
Gruber ruminates on Apple's cloud
Recently, Amazon introduced a new cloud-based file storage and media playback system aptly named Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. The debut of this system, which is compatible with Android handsets, kicked off a debate on cloud storage and Apple's lack of a similar mechanisms for its iOS devices. In a lengthy post, John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses this deficiency and points to four areas that Apple should move to the cloud. These cloud features include the transfer of media to an iOS device, the ability to backup and restore an iOS device to the cloud, a mechanism to deliver iOS updates wirelessly and a way to activate your device without connecting it to iTunes on your computer. Gruber points to the Apple TV 2 as a preview of this cable-free future as the device streams its content. There is no need to transfer and backup up content as its media is stored in the cloud. Unlike other iOS devices, the ATV 2 also updates itself independently of iTunes. If Apple can develop such a system for the Apple TV, it could do the same for other iOS devices. This system, though, is difficult to put into place with the large number of devices Apple has in the wild. Apple will also have to accommodate a wide range of user scenarios, including those who have never synced their device to those who synced but ran out of space on their device. In these two example cases, Apple must have a method to resolve these customers' issues before a sync can be performed. You only need to look at Microsoft's botched Windows Phone update to see how difficult this can be. Gruber asserts Apple is interested in the cloud, but the company is taking an incremental approach. Rather than sever the tie in one major update to iOS, Apple will slowly cut the cord one piece at a time starting with the Apple TV 2. Eventually, the Cupertino company may move to an over-the-air update system and iTunes-free activation system for iOS. Later, Apple may introduce streaming but still require users with large media libraries to sync via a Mac or a PC. Apple may never completely cut the cord as it is not feasible for someone with a 10 GB library to backup and restore their media over a cellular or even a Wi-Fi connection. Google, Gruber points out, has a cloud syncing system that performs better than Apple's MobileMe service, but it lacks the slick UI and ease of use associated with Apple's products. Apple is admittedly behind, but it still has a chance to catch up if all these rumors of free MobileMe and a cloud-based media storage and streaming service come to fruition.
Apple publishes job posting for "Cloud Systems Software Engineer"
A job posted by Apple last week suggests the company plans to expand its portfolio of "cloud-based" products and services, AppleInsider reports. According to the job description, the "Cloud Systems Software Engineer" will join a "small team" to "explore the far reaches of the possible," build "the future of cloud services at Apple," and form the foundation for the company's "exciting new products and services." The job listing reveals nothing about Apple's specific plans for future web applications or services. The ideal candidate will likely be deeply involved with building internal systems for sharing data across Apple's family of cloud products. By asking for applicants that can collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams and have experience constructing highly scalable software powered by a variety of data management systems, it looks like the Cupertino-based company wishes to add muscle to the core APIs that power its online products and services. Apple currently offers a suite of web products and services called MobileMe for US$99 per year. Many, including The Wall Street Journal, speculate the company plans to dramatically enhance these services later this year. There's also the beta iWork.com, which has been in beta since 2009. [via AppleInsider]
Microsoft releases Office 2011 Service Pack 1
Office 2011 version 14.1 (Service Pack 1) is now available from Microsoft's website. As announced on April 6, the update includes a variety of improvements to the new Outlook for Mac, including built-in support for Apple's Sync Services which allows users to more easily synchronize Outlook data with other Mac OS X software (like iCal and BusyCal) and devices (like the iPhone and iPad) through iTunes. The update also includes the usual fixes for "critical issues" and patches a security vulnerability that could allow an attacker "to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code." Microsoft offers more details about the software update on its official Office for Mac blog. Even if the update isn't showing in Office's AutoUpdate utility yet, you can download the 246 MB package here. [via MacUpdate]
Office 2011 Service Pack 1 due next week, improves Outlook compatibility
The upgrade from Microsoft Office 2008 to 2011 has not been without its drawbacks; for users of Entourage who moved to the all-new Outlook for Mac, in particular, there have been a few holes in the feature lineup. None of them are necessarily showstoppers, but the collection of odd omissions has given the flagship mail/calendar/contact management platform an air of unfinished business over the past few months. Good news, though: Microsoft's Office for Mac blog reports that we will be seeing Service Pack 1 for Office 2011 next week. The big-ticket returning feature for Outlook is calendar support in Sync Services, meaning that Outlook calendars may once again synchronize locally with iCal, BusyCal or tethered iPhones, iPod touch or iPad units through iTunes. Outlook's punch list also includes editing support for Exchange's server-side rules (which last appeared on the Mac in Outlook 2001 for Mac OS 9!), the return of the Redirect and Resend options in addition to simple message forwarding, and editing of messages in the Inbox. Excel is also getting better Solver integration, and there are sure to be hundreds of other bug fixes and minor improvements. While the Sync Services calendar support is welcome, it's slightly ironic that it's coming back to Microsoft's PIM at the same time that Apple's MobileMe calendars are transitioning to CalDAV -- which in turn is breaking Sync Services support for those hosted calendars via iCal and BusyCal. That means there still won't be a supported way to get MobileMe calendars to synchronize with Outlook for Mac (or Entourage 2008, for that matter), at least in the short term. There are some Outlook users who will be able to synchronize to MobileMe's CalDAV servers... but they aren't using Mac OS X. 32-bit versions of Outlook 2007 or 2010 on Windows can indeed sync up to MobileMe, with the help of Apple's MobileMe control panel on Windows XP, Vista or 7. The Office 2011 SP1 download will be available sometime the week of April 11; we'll let you know when it drops. Hat tip to The Loop.
Photo Stream feature hints found in iOS 4.3
Possible confirmation of a Photo Stream service in iOS 5 has come after users spotted hidden references to the service inside the current version, iOS 4.3. We wrote about it a while ago here, but now a 9to5Mac reader has come across it while using a third-party app to browse his iPhone 4 photo albums. The expectation is that Photo Stream will work for your photos in Photos.app the same way Playlists work for music in iTunes, allowing you to send albums of photos to friends. Its background appearance in iOS 4.3 may indicate that it was pulled at the last moment and will instead be part of the major iOS 5 upgrade, which is rumored to be out this fall. Hopefully, Photo Stream will indeed make it into iOS 5. Sharing your photo albums via a revamped MobileMe with your friends and family, all in an easy-to-use Apple fashion, would be a great feature.
MobileMe rumored to get alternative payment methods
A recently-published report from Germany suggests Apple will soon add brand new functionality to MobileMe: the ability to subscribe to the suite of online services with a form of payment other than a credit card. The rumor discourages hope for MobileMe becoming a free offering. According to macnews.de, one of its readers ran into trouble while trying to renew his subscription to MobileMe. Currently, it's practically impossible for Apple's customers to activate a subscription to the US$99 per year online service without a credit card. When the macnews.de reader, who doesn't have a credit card, explained his situation to Apple's support hotline, a support agent for the company told him, "We're currently working on offering customers alternate payment options." The support staffer could not provide any further details or a release date. Once upon a time, customers like this macnews.de reader could walk into a store, purchase a boxed "copy" of MobileMe using their preferred payment method, bring the box home and use the included activation instructions to enable or renew their MobileMe subscriptions online. But in February, Apple discontinued shipments of boxed MobileMe activation kits, leaving customers with only one option for buying the service: online with a valid credit card. This limitation could dramatically reduce MobileMe subscriptions in countries like Germany where about 80 percent of consumers use bank transfers to complete online transactions, according to research by The Nielsen Company. If Apple wishes to continue charging customers for all or part of its online services, it would be necessary for the company to offer more payment options. Prompted by an email from Steve Jobs promising MobileMe would "get a lot better in 2011," many speculate the service is due for a major overhaul this year. Today, Apple's suite of online services allows subscribers to publish websites and photo galleries, access ad-free IMAP email, synchronize data between Macs and devices over the internet, backup and share files online and locate lost iPhones. Rumors suggest any or all of these services will be revamped and expanded to include a "media locker" to give subscribers online access to certain content purchased from the iTunes Store. Speculators hoped Apple planned to offer MobileMe free of charge, especially after the company discontinued the service's boxed activation kits. But if Apple is exploring alternative payment options, an entirely free MobileMe seems unlikely. [via MacNN]
Apple reportedly working on music locker launch
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Apple is working on cloud-based music storage. The Music Void suggests that Apple has sealed a deal with the Warner Music Group in regards to an online music "locker" that will be a part of a forthcoming update to MobileMe. Apple is supposedly using that deal to persuade other labels to jump on board. There's a healthy serving of guesswork with a side of conjecture in that article, so do with it what you will. After all, Apple's got to use Lala and all that storage for something. [Via 9to5)
