MobileMe

MobileMe is the new service from Apple to replace their .Mac online service for Macintosh users. Launched with the new iPhone to much fanfare, it may well represent Apple’s most painful product introduction. It seems Apple underestimated the demand on the service when the new iPhone was launched, and existing .Mac users were switched across. For some users this caused a 2 week period of intermittent outages. Personally, I found that things were working within about 48 hours, and given the scale of the transition, I felt this was acceptable. Apple has given all users an extra month free as compensation.

So what is MobileMe? It was initially promoted as ‘exchange for the rest of us’ offering Push – or instantly delivered – email to your iPhone. It also transparently synchronises contacts and calendar entries between multiple computers and iPhones on an account (Mac or PC Outlook). Make a change on one and it is rapidly reflected across to the others. At this stage, the desktop sync is every 15 minutes, so Apple has temporarily withdrawn the term Push.

Additionally, you get a beautiful suite of web applications mirroring the Mac desktop mail, contacts and calendar experience. These are so well executed it is hard to remember they are running in a browser. You also have access to a 20Gb online hard disk to allow offsite backup and file access, plus beautiful web galleries to store your photos and videos.

Is it worth it? Yes, if you have a Mac, although it is expensive. It integrates so well into the system and iLife applications that it is worth the $119 a year. On a PC, I’m not so sure. There are other less expensive options available. If there are a few of you, it may be worth considering a family pack for $180. This gives one master account and four sub accounts with 5Gb of storage.

More information on MobileMe can be found at www.me.com.