MacRumors have picked up on some claims this morning by Mac4Ever that give details on Apple’s next update to the iLife suite.
It’s rumored that the update will happen on August 7th, 2010, and will introduce a whole host of new features including a new ”mystery” application:
- iLife ‘11 will be sold for $79
- Release Date of 08/07/2010
- All [...]

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Well, our good friends over at The Cat Convention think so. According to the site, new evidence in the MobileMe beta is pointing towards Apple trying to get CalDAV, its preferred calendaring implementation, not only into the hands of MobileMe users, but Microsoft Outlook users as well.
Since CalDAV is the calendaring format of choice [...]

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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.

Apple has issued an update to its MobileMe iDisk application today and version 1.2 brings some welcome improvements. As well as support for multitasking and fast app switching, iDisk is now a universal application and works natively on the iPad.
What’s more, iPad users can now export documents from iDisk in to iBooks or office applications [...]

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Apple released an update today to its MobileMe Gallery application for the iPhone & iPod Touch which brings it up to version 1.1.1.
The update features “various bug fixes” as well as the ability to download your photos in a higher resolution when using the iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi.
Despite these improvements, this little app still leaves [...]

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The new Retina Display on the iPhone 4 is simply stunning and gorgeous. However, the increased resolution has meant that developers need to increase the resolution of the assets used in their apps. Is it really such a big deal?

Take a look at part of the home screen on my new iPhone 4. The icons look super sharp but Apple’s own Remote app still needs an update to take advantage of the higher-resolution display. In fact, it just looks plain gross compared to the rest of the icons.

Here’s a few more examples, this time of Apple’s own iDisk app. This particular app, which still lacks a native iPad version), really looks rough around the edges. (Click on these images to view a full size version.)

Consider the official new Apple Store app, which is being highly profiled and featured by the staff at local Apple Stores. The tab bar icons need a definite refresh. (Click on the image to view a full size version.)

Native iPhone UI elements, like segmented controls, text labels and navigation buttons are all automatically updated, however some of them still cause awkward interface goofs, like when receiving a message on Facebook.

The time it’ll take for developers to update their assets is indeterminate. Depending on how their interface assets were originally created (vector vs. rasterized files) could mean some developers have to re-design their interfaces from scratch.

Five months ago, developers were asked to update their apps to support a larger interface on the iPad. Though the iPad can automatically scale an iPhone app to twice its size, it’s generally agreed that such scaling does not look attractive at all.

If developers have been holding off delivering native iPad versions of their apps, now is a great time to polish their apps for the iPhone 4 because the increased resolution will automatically translate into a higher resolution on the iPad when iOS 4 ships for the iPad this fall. At least, until the next iPad revision sees a Retina Display-like update.

Has Apple put too much work on developers to keep their apps updated to take advantage of the latest and greatest? Apple could be feeling a bit of this weight itself, as some of its own apps, including MobileMe iDisk, Remote, Texas Hold’em, Keynote Remote and MobileMe Gallery are still not ready to shine on the iPhone 4. In fact, some of the more high-profile apps aren’t even designed to take advantage of the full canvas of the iPad, like the iDisk and Apple Store apps. Why not?

Do you develop apps? What do you think about how apps look on the Retina Display? Anxious for developers to update their apps to really look sharp? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Apple: The [...]

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Apple has been on a kick releasing new applications for its iOS devices over the past few weeks. First, there was the iTunes Connect app, then there was the Apple Store app, and now, coinciding with a redesigned MobileMe, Apple has released the native Find My iPhone app for both the iPhone and the iPad.

Apple is no stranger to the fact that a growing majority of its customers own more than one Apple product. Seeing numbers like two million iPads in two months and 600,000 iPhone 4′s in the first day only add weight to this argument. To make it easier for users to keep up with their iDevices, Apple introduced the Find My iPhone feature in MobileMe that can use GPS (or Wi-Fi if the device is on) to locate your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

If you haven’t had a chance to use it or if you’re not a MobileMe subscriber, it’s a very compelling reason to consider Apple’s cloud-based service. Beyond just being able to locate an iOS device on a Google map, you can also remotely lock it, remotely wipe it, or push a message notification and sound to the device. Maybe you lose your prototype iPhone 4 at a bar and you need to remotely lock it or push a message to it saying “Please don’t post this prototype iPhone on Gizmodo.” MobileMe’s Find My iPhone service has you covered.

Some people do criticize the service for not pinpointing a super accurate position of where the device is located, so this is a great opportunity to point out a few technical limitations (such as GPS does not work indoors). However, if you’ve ever had your iOS device stolen, locating your device on a map is still very useful.

Apple’s MobileMe solution is great, if you happen to have access to a web browser to make use of it. But for those times where you are on your iOS device, logging into MobileMe and navigating to Find My iPhone can be time consuming. Apple’s free Find My iPhone app eases the burden.

The first Apple app to natively support the iPad, besides iBooks and the iWork apps, the Find My iPhone app keeps track of all iOS devices attached to your MobileMe account and brings the same great features like remote lock and remote wipe to your iOS device.

Find My iPhone on the web has also seen some updates, including a refreshed interface and displaying locations on a full screen map.

Check out the free app from the app store and let us know what you think! Is Find My iPhone the reason why you use MobileMe? Have you ever used the Find My iPhone message and sound notifications to help you find your iPhone under a pile of dirty laundry in your apartment? Or as a way to send free text messages to your spouse’s iOS device?

MobileMe has just gotten a makeover, featuring the new webmail, now out of beta, and a refreshed navigation system.

A little over a month ago, Apple introduced a new beta version of webmail for MobileMe. The new version supported features like widescreen or compact views, mail rules, single-click archiving, faster performance and better security and more. Now that the new webmail is out of beta, Apple has unwrapped a few additional features.

Support for External Emails

You’ve always been able to read Mail from external accounts but a new feature (since the beta) will allow you to reply to emails and make it appear to be coming from that account.

The way this process works is a little strange though. Basically, you setup your email account, for example, a Gmail account, to forward its messages to MobileMe. Then you setup MobileMe with a “Send From” account. Your emails will then be sent through the SMTP server of your original email account (the Gmail account in this example) and to your receiver will appear to be coming from your original account. In practice, the setup works pretty well, though it’s still not true external IMAP support, which would be nice. On the plus side, you can add as many of these external accounts as you wish, a welcome upgrade from the previous version.

Improved Junk Mail Filtering

Another new feature since the beta is automatic support for tagging emails as Junk, similar to how Junk Mail filtering works in Mail on OS X. If it messes up and there’s an email you want that’s not junk, just click “Not Junk.”

New Navigation

Pulling a design cue from OS X, the navigation bar has disappeared from MobileMe and been replaced with something akin to the application switcher on the Mac. Clicking the Cloud icon (or using the keyboard shortcut shift + escape) will bring up the Application Switcher, allowing you to easily move to another MobileMe app.

Beyond just the Application Switcher, the refreshed blue navigation bar has also been extended to the other areas of MobileMe, bringing updated icons along with it. Most of the other MobileMe cloud apps function the same, but the Find My iPhone app also got a makeover (coinciding with the Find My iPhone native app).

What do you think of the new MobileMe changes? Do you prefer to use MobileMe through its web interface or just through your Mac or iOS device? Tell us what you think about the new webmail or how you think Apple could make it better!

For those interested in cloud computing or data centers, check out our Structure conference in June.

Widescreen and compact views.
Rules to keep your email organized everywhere.
Single-click archiving.
Formatting toolbar.
Faster performance.
Increased security with SSL.
Support for [...]

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