If you’re one of those shelling out $99 per year for Apple’s do-it-all cross-platform sync service MobileMe, as I am, then this has been a good week. In fact, it’s been a pretty good few months overall, thanks to what appears to be a renewed interest on Apple’s part in keeping the service worth our while.

First there was the web-based Mail overhaul, and then the Find My iPhone app. Now, the Calendar web app gets a similar makeover to the one Mail received, and like its predecessor, it starts out in invite-only beta form. And at nearly the same time, we get an update to MobileMe’s iDisk app for iOS devices, bringing with it true iPad/iPhone universality. And it’s about time.

The iPad has been out since April of this year, and yet Find My iPhone was the first MobileMe-related iOS app to boast universality. iDisk and Gallery seemed to be being ignored, despite the obvious potential both apps held on the larger iPad screen. Well iDisk is now fully updated for the iPad, and it works wonderfully. The built-in document viewer lets you see all those PDFs, images and word processor files you have stored on your cloud disk. It also works with the “Open In…” feature along with compatible third-party apps, and allows you to create shares for people who don’t use MobileMe.

The Calendar web app beta probably won’t mean much to iPad owners, since presumably they’re using the native Calendar app on their devices, but it sure is a big upgrade for those accessing their MobileMe services from their computer’s Internet browser. Again, like with Mail, it takes cues from its iPad predecessor. The book-style view is there, and there’s also redesigned day, week, and month views in addition to a new barebones list view.

You can share calendars among friends and set up email notifications regarding changes, and publish a calendar for public use, if, for example, you have a recreational sports team to organize. You can also create events and send invites and receive RSVPs, even if your guests aren’t using MobileMe themselves. Sounds like it could provide one more reason for me to stay away from Facebook, if it works as smoothly as it sounds like it should.

The Calendar beta does come with some hefty requirements for all this, though. If you’re on an iPhone, you have to be using iOS 4, for example. It’s iOS 3.2 on the iPad, of course, and 10.6.4 on the Mac. PC and Outlook support are said to be coming soon. To get access, you must be a MobileMe subscriber. Login, and navigate to me.com/calendar, and then click on the “Request an invite” link in the lower left-hand corner of the screen…then cross your fingers.

TUAW published a report today that included new video evidence supporting the belief that the iPhone 4 death grip is very real. I know you are probably rolling your eyes about this, since there have been many other videos covering this topic, but this time things are different. This video includes the demonstration of the iPhone 4 [...]

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I purchased my first iPad with Wi-Fi and later upgraded to one with 3G when they were available. I am using it more than I am using my MacBook Pro especially for quick and dirty tasks that it is perfectly suitable for like e-mail, internet surfing, chatting, Twitter, reading, shopping, research, etc. My iPad became [...]

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There are over 200,000 apps in the iTunes App Store now and everyone can agree that wading through all those apps trying to find the real gems is a big problem. We all muddle through somehow and find an app gem or two usually by word of mouth, a Cult of Mac review, or other [...]

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We’ve known for some time that the iPhone and iPod Touch are not as secure as we would like them to be — and unfortunately the same can be said about the new iPad. The lack of built-in encryption leaves our personal data on any of these devices at risk. Luckily for iPhone and iPod [...]

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Jibbigo, by Mobile Technologies, is a bilingual translation app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that translates your speech directly into several different languages. The [...]

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Looks like Mac Developers will be in the running for an ADA after all…ADA as in “Ars Design Award,” that is. Ars Technica is stepping up to fill the empty space left by Apple this year by hosting their own ADAs. Apple is only accepting nominations for iPhone OS apps this year, which left many developers discouraged at having to take a back seat.

Ars is taking nominations for Best New Mac OS X App, Best Mac OS X User Experience, Most Innovative Mac OS X App, Best Mac OS X App for Education, and Best Student-created Mac OS X App. The nominations will be narrowed down to the top five, of which the staff at Ars will choose the winners in each category.

Ars will also be giving a special “Readers Choice” award, selected by the number of votes each of the top 10 nominations receives. All winners will be announced in June during the WWDC.

Even though Apple sometimes leaves developers out in the cold, the great Mac community steps in to fill the gaps. Leaving the Mac OS X Apps out of this years WWDC shows Apple’s focus, but I expect the awards to be back next year to coincide with the release of OS X 10.7. Apple might be all about the mobile devices right now, but we know that the Mac is not going anywhere, and it’s good that we can take the time to recognize the developers who work so hard to bring us the best applications on any platform.

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