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APPLE’S RANGE of services bundled as MobileMe has been around for some time, but is currently undergoing a face lift. MobileMe offers email, address book services, calendaring, online storage, web hosting and the “Find My iPhone” service. MobileMe will keep your information in sync and up to date across all of your computers, your iPhone and your iPad.
Given the wide adoption of iPhone and iPad devices by Windows users, Apple has made MobileMe compatible with the Microsoft operating system. By downloading and installing the MobileMe control panel for Windows one can synchronise address book and calendar information from Microsoft Outlook and other Windows productivity tools with MobileMe. The service’s email also uses the IMAP standard, which means virtually any email client on just about any device is compatible with it. Apple is also in the process of moving MobileMe Calendar over to the CalDAV standard, which will make it compatible with a wider range of devices and software.
iDisk is the name for Apple’s online storage solution and it comes with a default of 10GB that’s available for files. The iDisk appears on a Mac as a normal drive and can be accessed as such, but on Windows it can only be accessed using the MobileMe website. On Apple mobile devices, such as the iPhone, there is an iDisk application that allows for mobile access to files. This is a decent addition to the service stack, but doesn’t compare favourably with Dropbox, which works on Windows, Linux and Mac and is free for the first 2GB.
Find My iPhone is very useful when you’ve misplaced your phone, or for spying on your spouse as it allows you to see where an iPhone or iPad is on a map. You can also send messages to the device, make it play a sound, even if it’s on silent, or lock the device and erase its information remotely should it be stolen.
Best of all, Apple is partnered with Akamai to provide its online services internationally, with support for South Africa. So when you access MobileMe in SA, it’s served on local bandwidth, as if it were actually in the country.
I’ve become reliant on MobileMe for keeping my information in sync “over the air” on my Mac and iPhone. I can add calendar events while on my computer and these show up on my phone without my having to do anything, which is golden. That said, it does cost $99/year for a service that should be made free to anyone who buys a Mac.
Review
Verdict: Ultra useful cloud services for Apple users.
Complexity: Easy to set up, but nerds will get more out of it.
Also consider: Google Apps and Dropbox.
Price: $99 (R750) per year.
Value rating: 4/10.
Given the wide adoption of iPhone and iPad devices by Windows users, Apple has made MobileMe compatible with the Microsoft operating system. By downloading and installing the MobileMe control panel for Windows one can synchronise address book and calendar information from Microsoft Outlook and other Windows productivity tools with MobileMe. The service’s email also uses the IMAP standard, which means virtually any email client on just about any device is compatible with it. Apple is also in the process of moving MobileMe Calendar over to the CalDAV standard, which will make it compatible with a wider range of devices and software.
iDisk is the name for Apple’s online storage solution and it comes with a default of 10GB that’s available for files. The iDisk appears on a Mac as a normal drive and can be accessed as such, but on Windows it can only be accessed using the MobileMe website. On Apple mobile devices, such as the iPhone, there is an iDisk application that allows for mobile access to files. This is a decent addition to the service stack, but doesn’t compare favourably with Dropbox, which works on Windows, Linux and Mac and is free for the first 2GB.
Find My iPhone is very useful when you’ve misplaced your phone, or for spying on your spouse as it allows you to see where an iPhone or iPad is on a map. You can also send messages to the device, make it play a sound, even if it’s on silent, or lock the device and erase its information remotely should it be stolen.
Best of all, Apple is partnered with Akamai to provide its online services internationally, with support for South Africa. So when you access MobileMe in SA, it’s served on local bandwidth, as if it were actually in the country.
I’ve become reliant on MobileMe for keeping my information in sync “over the air” on my Mac and iPhone. I can add calendar events while on my computer and these show up on my phone without my having to do anything, which is golden. That said, it does cost $99/year for a service that should be made free to anyone who buys a Mac.
Review
Verdict: Ultra useful cloud services for Apple users.
Complexity: Easy to set up, but nerds will get more out of it.
Also consider: Google Apps and Dropbox.
Price: $99 (R750) per year.
Value rating: 4/10.
