10 June 2008

MobileMe announced - Apple with its head in the clouds

This week, along with an introduction to the new iPhone, Apple announced the launch of a new web-based 'cloud' storage service called MobileMe which is set to replace their old .Mac subscription service.

Apple announced the launch of the new iPhone and the MobileMe service at the 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference. The new iPhone features 3G wireless broadband which Apple claims will be 2.4 times faster than the first iPhone's EDGE connection. The new handset will also feature built-in GPS technology, better battery life, and access to a whole host of new applications - all of which remain advertisement free. The iPhone is also set to become a lot more affordable, with prices at a low $199 for an 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB model.

Apple is also hoping to make the lives of iPhone users a lot easier by introducing their new MobileMe service, which allows users to upload data for storage or sharing. This is set to replace the current .Mac subscription service, with .Mac users being automatically upgraded to MobileMe. The service is set to work with the mail, calendar and contacts applications on the iPhone and iPod touch, in addition to working with similar applications on the Mac, and also Outlook on the PC. It will work by storing users' email, contacts and calendar entries on a 'cloud' server and pushing them down to their iPhone, Mac and PC. The service will feature a real time sync process which will push the data automatically, and continuously. Also since MobileMe uses a wireless connection, users no longer need to use a cable for uploads, making the whole process a lot easier and hassle-free.

MobileMe also comes with a suite of Web 2.0 applications which will be found at Me.com. This will feature web-based versions of Mail, Address Book, iCal, Web Gallery and iDisk, and will offer online storage of documents, files and photos. The Me.com platform will compete with similar online storage software currently offered by Google, Microsoft and more recently, Adobe.

The MobileMe subscription service will be available from July 11 and will cost $99 per year for 20 GB of storage.