Apple Introduce MobileMe - replaces .Mac

Apple® today introduced MobileMe™, a new Internet service that delivers push email, push contacts and push calendars from the MobileMe service in the “cloud” to native applications on iPhone™, iPod® touch, Macs and PCs. MobileMe also provides a suite of elegant, ad-free web applications that deliver a desktop-like experience through any modern browser. MobileMe applications (www.me.com) include Mail, Contacts and Calendar, as well as Gallery for viewing and sharing photos and iDisk for storing and exchanging documents online.

“Think of MobileMe as ‘Exchange for the rest of us,’” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Now users who are not part of an enterprise that runs Exchange can get the same push email, push calendars and push contacts that the big guys get.”

With a MobileMe email account, all folders, messages and status indicators look identical whether checking email on iPhone, iPod touch, a Mac® or a PC. New email messages are pushed instantly to iPhone over the cellular network or Wi-Fi, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads. Push also keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically pushed up to the cloud and down to other devices. Push works with the native applications on iPhone and iPod touch, Microsoft Outlook for the PC, and Mac OS® X applications, Mail, Address Book and iCal®, as well as the MobileMe web application suite.

MobileMe web applications are 100 percent ad-free and provide an incredible, desktop-like experience that allows users to drag and drop, click and drag and even use keyboard shortcuts. MobileMe provides anywhere access to Mail, Contacts and Calendar, with a unified interface that allows users to switch between applications with a single click, and Gallery makes it easy to share photos on the web in stunning quality. Gallery users can upload, rearrange, rotate and title photos from any browser; post photos directly from an iPhone; allow visitors to download print quality images; and contribute photos to an album. MobileMe iDisk lets users store and manage files online with drag and drop filing and makes it easy to share documents too large to email by automatically sending an email with a link for downloading the file. MobileMe includes 20GB of online storage that can be used for email, contacts, calendar, photos, movies and documents.

Pricing & Availability
MobileMe, available on July 11, is a subscription-based service with 20GB of storage for £59 per year for individuals and £89 for a Family Pack, which includes one master account with 20GB of storage and four Family Member accounts with 5GB of storage each. Users can sign up for a free, 60-day MobileMe trial at www.apple.com/mobileme and current .Mac members will be automatically upgraded to MobileMe accounts. MobileMe subscribers can purchase an additional 20GB of storage for £30 or 40GB of storage for £59 annually.

Apple Stores Down - Worldwide

Ahead of todays WWDC Keynote announcements, Apple's online stores are all down. So, I guess, well not entirely guess, that we will be seeing a new product or two today, or at least something new on the Apple Store website. I can't help myself getting excited about this, so credit cards at the ready :-)

Apple WWDC 08 - Steve Jobs Predictions

Before I kick things off with my customary predictions for this years WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs, I wanted to let you know about my 'Mac & Gadget Show'. We had a successful show yesterday, where we talked about what might be coming from Apple this year. Many thanks to all who participated.

I am running a special edition of the 'Mac & Gadget Show', tonight at 6:00pm (GMT) or 1:00pm (EDT) to cover the WWDC keynote as it happens. Pulling in news from all over the internet, using various news feeds, expect to hear a great overview of Steve Jobs Keynote speech. Point your browser here to join in, or to listen as things happen. I will try and bring in callers when I can (if you would like to talk live on the show), but please accept my apologies in advance if I rabbit on and miss you. I will try to accommodate your views and questions where possible.

Now, onto my predictions for this years WWDC.

iPhone 2.0 (or 3G)
It seems like a forgone conclusion that we will see the new iPhone launch, or at least announcement of features. If we don't, there will be a lot of disappointed people across the world. The new iPhone is predicted to include 3G technology for faster data transfers, GPS and ho knows, maybe even some sort of partnership with the likes of TomTom or Garmin to bring us true in-car or on-foot navigation.

iPhone 2.0 (or 3G) part 2
There have been images floating around showing a front facing camera on the new iPhone. Whether these are real or not, many 3G mobile handsets offer video calls, so why not Apple's iPhone. With OS X built into this little box of technology, iChatAV is an obvious progression for the device. I think that this new feature, coupled with upgrades to the .Mac service could well round up the iPhone announcements today.

Mac Mini Version 2
For quite a while now, it has been predicted that the Mac Mini will face the chop. Well, CrunchGear have posted these rather tasty (if somewhat blurry) images of Mac Fusion. A new even slimmer miniature Mac. This all-aluminum enclosure certainly looks tasty and if we see a slight ramp up from current Mac Mini specs, along with a slight price drop, then hurrah for Apple... I will buy one for sure.
Why might we not see this? Well, it would hurt sales of both the current Mac Mini (if they keep this line going) and also the AppleTV.

iPhone Goes Large
Over the past few weeks there have been loads of mini laptops (or sub-notebooks) announced from the likes of Acer, Asus, HP, MSI and Dell (to name just a few). Apple must be sitting up and taking notice of this, after all, they would be stupid not to. People love to communicate whilst 0n-the-move nowadays, and the likes of these new devices really do fit the bill. For example the MSI Wind, you get a nice keyboard, Intel Atom CPU, 10-inch screen, 80GB hard drive, all for around £300. The only downside is that it runs Linux or Windows XP.
Apple can do this product right, with the all important Mac OS X operating system. Give us a tablet computer, based around the iPhone, but twice the size. Add onto this a real keyboard, maybe a wireless unit that can sit separate or snap onto the screen and wow, they will sell truck-loads.

Mac OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'
I don't think we will see this, as Leopard in its current 10.5.3 guise is just too new. Maybe I will be totally wrong on this one.

An exciting day for us all. Join me on Talkshoe for the Mac & Gadget Show for the news as it happens.

Apple Brings Movies & Rentals to iTunes Store UK

Apple today announced that movies from major film studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate UK are now available on the UK iTunes Store. Movie purchases and rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movies as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been. The iTunes Store in the UK features over 700 films available for rent or purchase, with titles available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including favorites such as “Hitman”, “I Am Legend”, “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” and “Into the Wild”. iTunes Movie Rentals also features over 100 titles available in stunning high definition, perfect for viewing on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.

“We’re kicking off movies on the iTunes Store in the UK with over 700 films for purchase and rent”, said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We think customers in the UK are going to love being able to enjoy their favorite movies on their iPod, iPhone or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV”.

The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting directory, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

With iTunes Movie Rentals, once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 48 hours to finish it — or watch it multiple times.

Pricing & Availability
Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac or Windows require iTunes 7.6.2, available as a free download from www.apple.com/uk/itunes/. iTunes movie purchases and rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the United Kingdom. iTunes movies are available at £6.99 for library title purchases and £10.99 for new releases. iTunes Movie Rentals are £2.49 for library title rentals and £3.49 for new releases, and high definition versions are priced at just one pound more. Movie rentals can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.