iphone, MobileMe is dead

It's announced, effective June 6, 2011, if you had an active MobileMe account, your service has been automatically extended through June 30, 2012, at no additional charge. After this, the MobileMe service will no longer be available.

So this is what, the second time in four years Apple has done this to their customers? First, Mac.com was replaced by MobileMe (me.com), which is now being replaced by iCloud. And each time it requires the customer to resubscribe to the new service, move their data, and change their email addresses.

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I'm led to believe here at work, the icloud doesn't require the current MobileMe members to do anything.

If you want the cloud-based iTunes sync, that is a $25. Annual subscription.

That subscription price is for 20-200,000 items in your iTunes library.

From my little technological bit of heaven, iPad2!

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If you have a me.com address you will not need to do anything but log in.

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Dot Mac and MobileMe were both caca, especially the latter. Did not renew my Me account over a year ago simply because it never worked right.

Three times in five years Apple has moved everything around, essentially admitting the first two tries were failures. Apple does so many things well, but not these two.

Why should we expect anything different with iCloud?

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That's strange. I've never had any real problems with MobileMe except during the initial startup. Once that settled, iMM has always worked beautifully between my iPhone, iPad (now iPad 2), Mac Mini, iMac & MacBook Pro.

Calendar App that syncs with Outlook 2007

Apple iPhone - Calendar App that syncs with Outlook 2007

I am brand new to the iPhone and looking for a calendar app that I can sync with the Outlook 2007 program on my PC. So far all I have found is a program called "MobileMe" which requires a monthly fee. Can anyone recommend something else that works well and doesn't have a monthly fee attached to it? It would be great to also have a program that syncs with both the Outlook calendar and contacts.

iPhone Calendar
Are you looking for a replacement calendar, or are you only looking to
sync with Outlook?

If the second, iTunes. Which you need to sync the iPhone anyway...

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I use companion link and love it!! It does everything contacts and calendar and I have it sync to Google as well as a back up to my desktop

http://www.companionlink.com/products/cl4.html

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I'm using Companion Link to sync Outlook to Google (for use with my Droid). Just be careful how you have it set up if you use it on more than one computer. If set to "merge" it will cause dupes every time.

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Outlook 2007 will sync everything with the iPhone you just have to tell it to in settings.

Ensure your phone is connected to iTunes/pc

Highlight your device

Tab to the info tab and press space

Tab until you hear Mobile Me

Tab 3 more times and you will hear "Sync Contacts with" and you are at the start of what to start syncing with iTunes/Outlook 2007.

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iTunes will do that for you when you are connected via usb. If you want to sync over the air then you can use google's sudo Exchange server.

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Iphone 4 and me.com support problem

Apple iPhone - iphone 4 and me.com support problem

I'm enjoying a new iphone 4 and having a problem with it. I replaced a 3GS, so I did a restore in itunes, after activating the 4 and that appeared to work. My mac.com email address appeared as an account, contacts, ical events and email appears. I have itunes set to sync all three.

I also have an Exchange account and it works fine (email and calendar events are shared and they appear).

However...I can't edit calendar events on the phone even tho both the Exchange and me.com calendars appear as options for display. When I go to add an event, it can only be an exchange event. (On my 3gs, I could select which calendar it went to).

Most importantly, when I go to settings for the MobileMe account, I used to see toggles to activate email, contacts, events and find my phone. None of those toggles appear. The only thing on that appears on that screen is the name of the account. When I select it, the phone goes to a page where you can enter the PW and no other options.

If I delete the account and re-create it, after creating, it shows up as "Inactive". Very odd since it takes my email account name and PW and creates an account. When I return to the Accounts list, it's there along with the Exchange account but underneath in Italics it says Inactive. (My account was extended a few weeks back into 2012, so tI wouldn't think that's the issue)

Any suggestions?
iPhone MobileMe
Alot of people are having issues with mobile me

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That is a pretty open ended and unsupported statement. I have seen two people mention it in the last week, and that is it.

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ko first I'm sorry for going off another post but I would also have to say I have had problems with it I have never had a 3g only the 4 but when it first came out and my daughter's phone was stolen we downloaded it and used it from the computer had some problems following and tracking would give one area then would jump to a whole another area that it was not even in I mean from Yakima to Seattle or Oregon in a matter of Min's and then when we would use it from my phone it would not want to up date or go to the correct page that we would select to show the correct readings we have not tried it in over a month since we gave up on it but we also did have problems with using it many times

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There is an issue with the iPhone's calendar app regarding editing events. It's been there for quite a while now and I've been hoping it gets fixed with the updates, but no.

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The third 30+ min. call to Applecare solved it. It was about a confusion of passwords among various Apple systems.

After getting everything working on the new iPhone4, I tried to check FindMyPhone. MobileMe told me (again, as it did a few weeks ago) that I had to change my PW. It included a link to an AppleID website (forgot.xxxxxx). There I entered my Apple ID, drm0223. (As it turns out, what they really need is drm0223@... but it doesn't say that AND it takes the prefix only). Because it took this, it changed ONE of the system PWs, the one needed to get to MobileMe. So I could get into MM for a day BUT, my iPhone didn't recognize this new PW.

The new phone continued to accept the old PW (would reject the new one) BUT the phone didn't quite work right. The MobileMe options (in Settings) didn't even appear! After each of several Restores, the MM options for turning on/off email, contact, events, etc. would appear for a second or a few minutes AND then, right before my eyes, disappear, leaving only the email address and red DELETE button. Really bizarre.

I got a MM person on Chat and they walked me thru this, resetting the PW using the full email address as the ID. Everything is working fine. Of course I had to change that PW on the System Preferences on all my desktop/laptop machines.

But it looks like it's working now.

I never had my 3GS sync'ing w/MM over the air before and now that's working as well, so I'm step ahead of the game.

Manage contacts

Apple iPhone - Manage contacts

I'm a new user of an iPhone 3GS.

I was wondering if anyone is using a software to backup, edit contacts that could point out. I've searched the internet but didn't find anything useful.

I've used outlook to backup but I wish I could use something else, I just don´t like the idea of mixing my cellphone contacts with my emails.

iPhone Tutorial
I’m not happy with the way the iPhone syncs with outlook either but for a different reason. It seems new/updated outlook information makes its way to the iPhone fine but new/updated iPhone information never finds its way to outlook.

Does anyone know if Gmail syncs both ways with the iPhone?

I guess I could pay for mobile.me but I’m only interested in syncing contacts.

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So how good is to have all your contacts on iPhone and no where else and if it breaks, get stolen etc you loose everything?

Since I´m new to iPhone world, I decided to do some testings with contacts update/backup and came to this conclusion when using iTune 10.1, MS outlook 2003 from MS Office and (not outlook express which I use for emails and didn't want to mess up with) on Windows XP to sync:

When you sync first time with outlook and it is empty, all contacts goes from iPhone to outlook It will ask you if you want to merge, and since my MS outlook was empty, it was OK to do.

Every time you switch places to sync your contacts in iTunes, it asks this question, which is good.

Then:

If you add a new contact on iPhone and sync, it will go to outlook if you delete a contact on iPhone and sync, it will delete on outlook too and it works the same way around, both ways.

In other words: The newer action on either side will prevail when you sync But the most important thing you can do if you really care about your contacts:

When you have outlook updated with iPhone contacts and it is all OK, I strongly suggest, on outlook, export your contacts to a file and then choose MS Excel, as soon as possible and every time you sync, and with a different file name every time.

I prefer excel file format, because Excel is widely available, and you still have a tool to edit them, the MS Excel itself and it worked perfectly.

To test it out, I deleted all contacts on outlook and synced to iPhone..guest what: All contacts on iPhone had vanished.

Since I made that Excel file, I just imported it back to outlook and synced again, and all the contacts on iPhone went back to normal. Remember, the last action prevails.

The good thing about outlook you can edit, fix, delete... you contacts using your computer screen/keyboard which is easier than on the iPhone itself.

If you want to make a test that your contacts are safe:

Sync your contacts with Outlook 2003, make sure they are OK.

unplug the iPhone USB, so you don´t delete the contacts by accident.

On outlook export your contact to a file, Excel if you prefer and/or other formats that are available, to make sure.

Delete all contacts from Outlook.

Import that excel file back. If outlook shows your contacts back like before, than you are safe!

It should work like that, if not, there is something wrong with your computer, excel etc.

-- BUT REMEMBER, DO IT ALL AT YOUR OWN RISK --

I also managed to sync my contacts with yahoo http://address.mail.yahoo.com/ and it worked too...you can even export from Yahoo to a file (excel or many others) back to your PC to be on the safe side. It is a good idea to do that first, before playing with outlook just to make sure.

I did not not manage to test contacts with pictures since I don´t have them on iPhone, so I don't know what would happen.

The steps of working with excel, export/import files, iTunes etc...I assume you already know that and are beyond this matter.

To copy pictures and movies from the iPhone, just use copy/paste on your PC, just like a flash drive, which is way better and safe than any dedicated software, because you have full control.


PS. All that above already came in handy. I was trying to do some other updates on my iPhone lately and managed to totally erase it!

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I use address book to synch it to. Its in two places.

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I know that works on a Mac. Does it also work on a PC?

Edit html files in iDisk on iPhone

Apple iPhone - Edit html files in iDisk on iPhone

I am using iDisk/MobileMe to host a small personal website.

I would like to be able to edit on my iPhone the .html files that reside on my iDisk, but all the iPhone apps I have tried so far, that are capable of opening files that are on an iDisk, *renders* (like a web page) any .html file I attempt to open, rather than opening it as editable text.

There seem to be a few iPhone apps that will open .html files for editing that are on ftp servers, but I need an app that will open .html files for editing that are on iDisk.

Does anyone know of such an iPhone app?

iPhone Apps
ezShare Pro
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ezshare-pro/id301589535?mt=8

I got it when it went on sale for a couple bucks, it's kinda pricy at $16 but it'll connect to virtually anything, including iDisk.

The editing is a tad convoluted as you connect to the source, copy down the file, go into the document store, edit the file, copy to clipboard and then paste it back to the source, but it works really well. I use it to do quick edits of my various websites through FTP.

EzShare Pro also supports VNC and Remote Desktop.

It's a really fantastic app for those on the go, but it is pricy without another sale.

Free Find My Phone

Apple iPhone - Free Find My Phone

So is Find My Phone free for all iPhone 4 customers, or all customers using IOS 4.2.1? I'm confused.

iPhone iOS
Technically you have to have an iPhone 4, iPod Toch 4th Gen, or iPad running 4.2.1 to initiate the service but once it is initiated, you can use it on all of your iOS devices running 4.2.1

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This should be clearer but it seems not to be available unless you have an iPhone 4. I've installed 4.2.1 on my 3GS but I get "Device Not Supported" when I try to register.

This is disappointing.

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If you register an iPhone 4 first then you can register your phone and even remove the iPhone 4 - it is detailed on lifehacker.com

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So it seems. As I don't have a 4, but do have a device (3GS) that can run 4.2.1, it seems to be an unnecessary limitation. (I've never been tempted by .mac or mobileme because of the price.)

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I have a 3 GS And a paid MobileMe subscription but locating the phone is not working. When asked to retype in my password that I just used to sign into my account (and can read emails and contacts) it returns the error -password not valid. That is just for the find my phone.

I am going to call support just wanted to give them some time with all the questions they having about 4.2!! And the holiday rush.

Does anyone else have this problem?Strange that I can access all the other components of mobile me without a hitch. I have tried my iTunes Password and the password to the phone itself.

I can locate my phone when I use the find my phone app on the phone but what good is that? ;-0

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Where are you getting the error at - remove the MMe account on your phone and readd with full email address (it used to put @me.com in automatically, it now requires that you enter it since anyone with any email address can access Find My iPhone).

Same thing for me.com and the Find My iPhone App the user id is the full email address including @me.com and the same password you always used.

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you had suggested that when I inquired about this problem but hadn't updated to 4.2 yet. I forgot about deleting the account from the phone. Will try that now again as I have since updated to 4.2.

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no go. Deleted the account from phone. Readers with full address and still get password incorrect at second asking in the find my phone on PC. I am going to call support. Perhaps they have some flukey thing that is going on.

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Here is a "problem" for all the experts to ponder:

I have an iPhone 4 running 4.2.1 and the free find my iPhone service. Find my iPhone works the three or four times I have tried it. But I keep getting "Can not access (user id) check settings". When I check my user ID and password all looks fine.

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I'm getting the same exact thing. Everything work fine, but that warning comes up periodically

Problem using paid version of find my phone

Apple iPhone MobileMe - Problem using paid version of find my phone

Hi all - I mistakenly installed find my phone app on my 3GS. Couldn't get it to work. I have deleted it. However I have a paid mobile me subscription . I used to be able to locate my phone from my computer. However ever since the new app came out I can log into my mobile me account but when it asks for me to reenter my password it says it is incorrect. I have tried multiple times for 3 days thinking all the upgrading etc just put a stress on the mobile me server, but now I not so sure. I manually typed in the password and tried cut and paste incase I may have been spazzing out.

Is there a alternate way to locate my phone from a laptop or computer? I do have find my phone in settings on the phone enabled. I tried using my itunes password no luck.

iPhone MobileMe
You have to use your full address now ie abcd@efgh.com not just the abcd

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Have tried that as well ;-(. Another poster notes that many are having my problem. I tried the @mac.com login but I get to my account but again the reenter password doesn't get accepted.

As the poster suggested - wait til apple figures out what is wrong at their servers.

I just wanted to be sure it wasn't something I was absentmindedly forgetting.

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I would remove the account completely and readd if you still can't get in, contact MMe support - I had problems on first day but once I tried twice, used full account address with @me.com and it worked fine...

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I will give that a go and contact support if it doesn't resolve.

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Just tried removing the account and reentering everything. No dice. I will have to contact support. Maybe it is not working as I have not updated to 4.2 yet. I am still on 4.1. I was waiting til I had more time if I ran into problems.

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That's probably why - they switched it over to 4.2 I am pretty sure...

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You must be on iOS 4.2

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Thanks - I will update after Thanksgiving and give it another try.
Hopefully it will be just that simple update.

Calendars - events vs reminder

Apple iPhone - Calendars - events vs reminder

I use iCal on the Mac and sync events and reminders from several defined calendars to my 3GS. I also sync my work Exchange Server calendar.

Usually I display only one of the iCal calendars and the Exchange calendar on the 3GS, tho I can display others by selecting the iCal calendars I want to see.

I notice that ANY reminder chimes and appears on the screen, regardless of whether that calendar is displayed. This is not what I would like.

I have a calendar called Home, for instance, that is contains actions (like turning certain programs on or off) and is meant only for my desktop machine. I never display those events on the 3GS. However, their reminders go off like clock work.

Is there a way to prevent events from nondisplayed calendars from triggering?

iPhone Calendar
You can choose which calendars to sync in iTunes. Are you syncing Home even though you don't actually want it on the iPhone?

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Thank. On the one hand, I know I can choose which calendars to sync in iTunes.

However, I don't have any calendars selected to sync in iTunes. The check box Sync iCal Calendars is not checked in the Info tab. Dimmed out, the radio button for my mac.com account is selected, I imagine because I've turned on Calendars in on my 3GS in the MobileMe account settings. (iTunes has the statement "Your calendars are being synced over the air..." in the INFO tab under Sync iCal Calendars section).

In Calendars, all my iCal subcalendars, like Home, appear as options for display, along with the Exchange calendar. I can select any or all of them for display.

However, I want to disable the Alarms on the Home calendar. I don't see any option in iCal, in MobileMe or on the 3GS to turn off Home's Alarms. My only option has to do with Display the events.

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So you're using Mobile Me, not iTunes, to sync?

I don't know of a blanket 'disable alarms' function, so that's why I wondered if you wanted to not sync that calendar.

I've never used .Mac/Mobile Me so I can't try anything myself.

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Well, that's an interesting question! As I indicated, the settings seem to follow the 'sync by MobileMe' approach and yes I have MobileMe.

iCal on all my computers sync to MM (editing contacts or events in either place flows them to the other). I have a couple of computers that are part of that collection and all goes as expected....

Except the 3GS. Items added to the cloud calendar DO NOT appear on the 3GS and vice versa, even tho iTunes says the calendars are being sync'ed over the air. The only way those updates are made is by sync'ing hardwired to iTunes (even tho, as I said, the ŒSync iCal Calendars' is NOT checked, tho the radio button for the MM account is selected, tho greyed out so it can't be edited in iTunes.)

And of course, my original question remains, how to disable one of my iCal calendars, called Home, from triggering events on the 3GS. I'd be glad to remove it from the display on 3GS option as I never need to see these daily events on the calendar.

MobileMe renewal

Apple iPhone - MobileMe renewal

I am about a month away from the expiration of my MobileMe subscription. I currently have a family plan, utilizing 4 of the 5 possible addresses. Is there anything to prevent me from using a family plan subscription purchased from Amazon for this renewal?

iPhone MobileMe
I just used an individual plan renewal from Amazon, saved $30 and it worked just fine.

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Not at all, get the best priced one you can find and extend your current subscription.

MMe, iDisk & Doc2Go

Apple iPhone - MMe, iDisk & Doc2Go-Worth the money?

I just started the trial of Mobile Me and like the idea of not having to be wired to my computer to sync but I don't have Docs2Go Premium and I'm not sure I want to upgrade if I'm not going to keep MMe.

I want to be able to edit documents and spreadsheets and have them sync but the reviews of D2G Premium show a lot of problems. Is there anyone out there who uses these successfully? Do I spend the money?

iPhone MobileMe
What is it that you want to do, edit documents on your iPhone or just keep documents in sync between computers?

MMe's iDisk can sync between machines running OS X or Windows, but so will Dropbox and it is free for up to 2GB (which is a lot of documents).

Google Docs is another option, I think you get 1GB standard storage for Docs (in addition to 8GB in Mail and 1GB in Picasa) but you can buy an extra 20GB of storage for $5 per year (much cheaper than MMe) and they sell up to hundreds of TB storage and allows limited editing on mobile devices (with more advanced features in beta now).

As far as Docs to Go, I have been using different versions of it since Palm was the major smart phone market, I have the iPhone/iPad version as well as the Android version - the Desktop Sync software is a pain but iTunes supports syncing so of the files so you don't really need the desktop client anymore and it does interact with MobileMe and Google Docs for storage.

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What happens is that there are times when I have to edit documents, especially excel spreadsheets when I'm away from my desk. It would be great if I could then have the edited doc already available at my desk or available for anyone who is sharing that doc.

Right now, the docs are only read-only when I view them in D2G.

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I don't think that is possible with Docs 2 Go. To the best of my knowledge, Docs 2 Go does not cloud-sync. Meaning that you would have to be in direct WiFi range (ie, same local network) with D2G running on the host computer and then manually sync. This may work if you are in, say, the same office space but not if you're across town.

I didn't know that D2G has a viewer-only version.

You are actually asking two questions: Editing on the handheld, and remote syncing.

The first Docs 2 Go can do and does it very well. If the version you have does not edit and you want to edit, it is a worthwhile purchase.

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Latest version of Docs 2 Go has Google Dox, Box.net, Dropbox, iDisk, Public iDisk, and SugarSync support for "cloud" documents...

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Good to know. Then what the OP wants will work with Docs 2 Go and iDisk. Whether it's worth it, that's up to her(?) wallet. :)

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You can upgrade to D2G to one that will allow you to modify a spreadsheet, but it will not remotely update it to a server.

That takes something like Dropbox or MobileMe.

Look at QuickOffice, so you don't get orphaned by D2G, but you will need something else to update to a server others can access.

However, if you're also looking to be able to sync it while not local to your desk, then this won't work and you would need something more akin to Google Docs, which stores your documents in the cloud and is thus accessible from anywhere. Evaluate your security and privacy needs accordingly.

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I got the basic (non-"pro") D2G & I can edit on it. I haven't done it lately so I don't remember details, but I *have* edited on the ipad/phone & copied/synced back to pc.

I'm not sure, but maybe saving it saves it as a separate file with a new name, e.g. FileA becomes FileA (1).

Why would I be "orphaned" by D2G? even if they stop upgrades & whatnot I'd still have what I already have & be syncing thru iTunes.

iPhone Photos to MMe

Apple - iPhone Photos to MMe

Advising a friend about setting up MobileMe - how do we upload all his Photos
from his iPhone 3GS to the MMe Gallery?

iPhone MobileMe
Directly from the phone you can only do one at the time, it would be MUCH easier to import all the photos to his computer (Windows uses the Camera and Scanner wizard, Picasa, or Photoshop - Mac uses iPhoto, Picasa, or Image Capture) then log into me.com using a browser, select gallery, upload and select all photos imported.

New MobileMe Calendar to all Member

Apple iphone - New MobileMe Calendar.
Now Available to All Members.

The new MobileMe Calendar is now out of beta and available to all members. We'd like to thank everyone who took part in the beta for helping to make this the best MobileMe Calendar yet.

iPhone MobileMe Calendar
To start using the new calendar (see system requirements below), sign in to me.com/calendar, click "Upgrade now" in the lower left corner of the Calendar web application, and follow the instructions. If you have already been using the Calendar beta, you don't need to do anything.

Here are the highlights of the new MobileMe Calendar:

The best calendar service for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch The new MobileMe Calendar works great with the built-in calendar app on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch by always keeping it in sync with your Mac or PC. New events or changes are automatically pushed to your iOS 4 devices so your calendar stays up to date. If you schedule a meeting on your device, that's pushed everywhere too.

Share calendars with family and friends You can easily share your calendars with one or more MobileMe members to keep everyone on the same page. For example, create a shared calendar called "Family" for weekend activities. You can allow the person you're sharing a calendar with to edit events, and you can set up email notifications to tell you when they make a change.

Publish a calendar for a group or team The new MobileMe Calendar lets you share a read-only public calendar, perfect for publishing an events calendar such as a soccer team schedule. After setting it up, you can send the team members a link to view the calendar on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.

Event invitations with RSVPs
You can also invite guests to an event from MobileMe Calendar. Just add their email address to the event (they don't have to be a MobileMe member) and your guests will get an invitation email they can respond to directly by clicking a link. Your event then automatically updates, making it easy to track RSVPs right in your calendar.

New web application
MobileMe Calendar includes a new web application at me.com with great-looking calendar views. You'll find redesigned day, week, and month views, as well as a new list view to make scanning your events easier. The new web application works best with Safari 5, Firefox 3.6, and Internet Explorer 8.

Please note these system requirements for the new MobileMe Calendar: iPhone or iPod touch: iOS 4.1 iPad: iOS 3.2; iOS 4.2 (coming in November) required for push calendar updates Mac: Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.4 PC: MobileMe Control Panel version 1.6.3 and Outlook 2007 or 2010

If you meet these system requirements, sign in to me.com/calendar to upgrade. For more information about the new MobileMe Calendar, please read this FAQ. For assistance setting up Calendar, please check MobileMe Help or visit www.apple.com/support/mobileme for online chat support.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/news/2010/10/new-mobileme-calendar-now-available-t\
o-all-members.html

mobileme bookmark

Is there a way to setup mobile me so that I can sync my mac, Win PC and iPhone's bookmarks.

iPhone MobileMe
http://www.apple.com/mobileme/setup/pc.html

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Multiple Duplicates with MMe Sync ??

Apple iPhone - Multiple Duplicates with MMe Sync ??
I had signed up for a trial run with MMe. I am using a 17" Laptop running XP and Outlook 2007, an iPhone 3GS (soon to be iPhone 4), and have no real use of the MMe desktop.

When I sync, I end up with either duplicate or triplicate Appt's, or they get wiped out entirely. Same thing with my ToDo's. It does not seem to matter whether I enter my Appt's/ToDo's in Outlook or iPhone, the sync just makes a mess of everything.

I have been using Google Calendar and the Google iPhone App, but wiped that off clean in case it was somehow interfering with MMe on the iPhone.

I became so annoyed with MMe that I cancelled it, and now I have to purchase the app if I want to put MMe back on my iPhone. Before I do that, any idea what may be causing my syncing problems?

MobileMe
I am not able to sync at all with MobileMe. It won't sync between my MacBook pro, iPhone and Mobilrme cloud.

I am trying to get apple support to help me fix it.

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Strange. I am able to sync between my iPhone 3g, iPhone 4, MBP 17", Mac Mini & iMac i7.

All working brilliantly. Mine are Macs tho.

I have found that when adding a new device sometimes, it pays to FORCE a sync and overwrite the info on the local machine.

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I also have all apple products and have done every possible troubleshooting step I think. It still does not work.

I have an appt this morning at the Genius bar and let's see if they are really geniuses.

MobileMe VS Google mail

Google Mail is free and you can wirelessly sync your calendar and contacts. It includes Google Docs which is a cloud for storing files that can be accessed from your iPhone or any computer.

That being said I have to wonder what the benefits of paying for Mobile Me are?
Besides "Find My Phone" I don't see any other value. Or am I missing something?

MobileMe
Well, Google has answers all that MME offers, accept Find my iphone, iweb integration and storage.

You can share large files by sending links to who ever you want to share with. All MME offers are in one place.

Make more sense for someone with mac than windows PC.

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I use google apps as an alternative to MobileMe. I blog about my experience with Google Apps. It works for me, Calendar syncing and Contacts, and the Calendar syncing even works with two of my calendars. One for work and one for Calendar.

It's cheaper than MobileMe.

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If you have one or more Macs there are a lot of additional features.

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I have my entire family on MobileMe. I can log in and add appointments to their calendars, or see if they have something on theirs I need to add to mine.

All changes get pushed to their iPhones/iTouches.

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The one feature that attracted me to MobileMe many years ago was the ichat service which allowed members of my family to use video cameras to chat. I have been using the service along with my family for years. We can post blogs using iWeb, sync each others calendars, and publish private gallery to view family photos. We also use the idisk to transfer photos and other files back and forth. It has worked fine for us over many years. Well worth the yearly fee.

MobileMe Slow?

Apple iPhone - MobileMe Slow?

Am I the only one who realizes MobileMe just doesn't work? On the iPhone, it is great. Otherwise, it just doesn't come close to the numerous free alternatives.

I am so frustrated. I've been harassing support and trying to get some indication that they are working on improvements, not happening.
My gripes:
- web interface is slow as hell
- doesn't refresh automatically
- fails to connect, can't retrieve contacts
- fails to connect, won't send
- fails to include attachments
- slow, slow, slow
- did I mention it is slow?

I can't believe that this is what Apple is offering as a paid service when AOL, Google, Yahoo, Hotmail have been doing far better for years, for free. I expect these basic functions would be a given.

Has anyone seen indication that this might improve any time soon?

iPhone MobileMe
I think, you're the only one

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MobileMe doesn't work for me either. I wish I knew why not!!!

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Since the new release of mobile me my web interface is very fast

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I have never had any issue with MMe being slow on any of my machines (iMac, Mac Mini, Windows XP, Windows 7)

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I have not had any of those issues with MobileMe. Sometimes a new Calendar/iCal entry and other cross-platform entries are synced faster than I can exit from the input device and log into a different one to see it has already been wifi-synced by MMe. Hope you can discover what is slowing yours so much and remedy it.

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I don't use the web based MobileMe that much, but when I do, I notice it's slowness. Also, after the next to last update in the MobileMe desktop app, I have noticed it not syncing as it should with my Outlook. Granted, I am using Outlook 2003, but the last I looked, that was supposed to be supported by MobileMe. Since that upgrade, the "cloud" icon in the system tray constantly has the "syncing" arrows on it, and the only way I can sync is to manually invoke one on the desktop app.

Kind of frustrating!

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I am very surprised to see the responses.
To be clear, sync across desktops and iPhones is flawless. Near instantaneous. I would have to agree with that. Retrieving mail on iPhone, no issues at all.

Desktop (browser) is another story. I use AOL.com, I have used Gmail, Squirrel Mail. In web browsers on numerous Windows machines, these systems are quite tolerable. Side by side with me.com, MM is a slug.

Why is it unable to automatically check for mail? I have to manually refresh, usually when I hear incoming tone on my iPhone. Click refresh once, nothing happens. Click again, screen clears then wait for it... It's coming... here it comes now...
Well let's just say, in Gmail I would have already reviewed all incoming mail and responded by the time I get to see new mail in MM. Not to mention, if the message is spam, Google's filters are exceptional. MobilMe filter involves mostly me moving spam to junk folder.

Nobody has ever composed a new MM message and seen the little error icon at the right of the recipient field? This, when it cannot retrieve your contacts. Copy the text from body to new message and try again. Cross you fingers.

At one point I was sending emails and recipients would receive stripped of attachments.

Another time nobody received anything that I forwarded.

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When I try to create a new contact on my iPhone I literally better walk away and come back in 10 minutes before it saves the new contact. Then I look and it's gone. Not in the iPhone. It's not on me.com. It's not on the Mac.

I wish it was really a smooth operation!

I would like to sync to the cloud but it just doesn't want to cooperate.

I may need to seek some help from the genius bar!

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Strange, I have MobileMe, at least one Google Account, and at least one Google Apps (private/business domain run through Google) on every machine and device, some have other accounts but my three main accounts are on everything and a change on one device or machine is near instant across everything else on both services under all OSes.

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MobileMe vs Gmail

Apple iPhone - Mobile Me vs Gmail

I have a Mobile Me account and successfully wirelessly synch my contacts and calendar between my Iphone, Outlook and the MobileMe online web site. Of course, MobileMe costs $100 per year.

A friend was suggesting I could do the same thing using Google Apps including Gmail and Google Docs for free.

My question, has anyone in this group used the Google products to achieve the same results I'm experiencing with Mobile Me? If so, please share how you set up your Iphone and Google products.

MobileMe Gmail
Google Mobile Sync using Exchange ActiveSync:

Google Sync: Set Up Your Apple Device for Google Sync

To set up Google Sync on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch device, please follow the steps below.

Requirements and Upload

1. Google Sync is only supported on iPhone OS versions 3.0 and above. You can check your current version by going to Settings > General > About > Version. To upgrade, follow the instructions at http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/. Please upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0 before setting up Google Sync.

more detail...http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138740&topic=14252

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Will I have the same features with Google as I do with Mobile Me
or will I be giving up something to save $100 per year?

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MobileMe has a ton of features if you use a Mac and/or multiple iOS devices (iPhones, iPods, iPads, etc). As far as the photo sharing, storage, mail, calendar, contacts, etc - all of that can be duplicated with Google (Picasa, GMail, GCal, GContacts, can buy storage at 20GB for $5 per year) - the main thing you will be losing is Find My iPhone/iPod/iPad which can be worth it if you misplace your devices.

Also, Amazon sells discounted MobileMe subscriptions at ~79/year and/or you could always split a 'family' plan from Amazon with 4 other people.

That being said, YES Google can do the basics and do them very well for free and if you don't have a Mac will save you the cost of MMe.

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I wanted to share calendars and contacts between my wife and me. MobileMe worked fine, by logging my wife's phone into my account for the calendar and contacts. Only problem was that I couldn't use the "find my iPhone" feature of MobileMe on her phone since it was logged into my account. So we now share a Google calendar, but from what I understand, we can only share contacts on Google with a "commercial" account ($).

iPhone Contacts List

Apple - iPhone Contacts List

I just edited and removed some old contacts off of my iPhone contacts list. Now, the next time I connect to iTunes and do a Sync, will it attempt to restore the old contacts? If so, how can I prevent that from happening? I don't want to waste time by having to go back and remove the old data again.

iPhone tutorials
You can sync your Contacts either through MobileMe or iTunes, but don't do both unless you like lots of duplicates.

Assuming you are syncing through iTunes, you can do your editing on either, but do your deletions only in the specific way below:

- before you begin the deletions, connect your iPhone and in iTunes select your device and go to the Info tab

- scroll to the bottom to Advanced and select Replace information on this iPhone with the note below:

"During the next sync only, iTunes will replace the selected information on this iPhone with the information on this computer."

- make your deletions on the Mac

- start a sync

So if you are editing your contacts on the phone and want to delete an entry, you should keep a list of them for the next time you connect and sync to your Mac.

iphone-ipad sync via mobileme - slooow

Apple iphone-ipad sync via mobileme - slooow

I have an iPad and a original 2G iPhone, both running iOS 3x

Both are set up to with push notification (every 15 minutes) switched on and sync'd to MobileMe.

I am finding that synchronisation via the 'Cloud' is very slow. It can take a day for items I add to the iPad calendar to appear on the the iPhone, by which time it's too late...though I think this does demonstrate that the settings are ok (?)

I'm using the excellent Omnifocus on each one, and again OF on the phone does look for the database on MobileMe but doesn't always find it. Eventually it will.

The Phone seems to be the temperamental one. It will fail to log onto MobileMe email occasionally unless restarted.

iPhone iPad
First if it is set to push that is instantly, if it is set to 15 minutes that is Fetch not push.

Second, it should be nearly instantly - if I add something to my iPad it shows up on my phone, all computers, etc within a minute - vice versa, at least through MMe and Google.

MobileMe

Apple iPhone - MobileMe

Is mobile me Free or do you have to pay for it?

iPhone MobileMe
Pay for it

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You have to pay. It's about £60 per year here in the UK but I bought it off ebay for £18!

Being a web designer I have my own servers and FTP sites etc. but MobileMe just made it all easy.

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Is it really worth $99 for Mobile Me, if someone steals the phone, it doesn't seem like a several block radius of where the phone is will help. Opinions Please

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Well first of all you can get got $60 at amazon. But even at $60 if that is the only feature you would use it , probably not.

Transmitted at the speed of light from an iPhone 3GS - It is NOT "just a phone"

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There are already documented episodes (at least one) of successfully using Find My Phone to recover a lost/stolen iPhone.

"Several block radius" - depends on a)whether the phone is somewhere where the GPS receiver can see satellites (in which case it could be as good as a several YARD radius), and b)if dependent on cell towers or WiFi, how closely spaced they are.

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If you keep clicking to update, it gets to the block, and exact street. Never posted address though...

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Allows you to wipe handset. Also wireless sync data

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However, it's perfectly legitimate to buy a MobileMe membership from 3rd party sellers, like Amazon, where right ow they list it for the lowest price I have ever seen, $50.99



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Family pack is also $97.99 ~ $98 - that has up to 5 accounts, the only difference in the other 4 is the total storage space is 5GB instead of 20. If you know 3 or 4 others with iPhones who want to take advanced of the service, you could each pitch in $20 or possibly the other 4 pay a little less for the space and the 'primary' holder pays a little more for the 20GB of space. It is definately worth the reduced rates and especially if you can go in on a family pack with someone. The easy sharing of documents, photos, videos, push mail, and Find my iPhone.



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It is all part of it - you have to pay or find a kind person with a spare slot of their 'Family' pack.

You can always use Google Mobile Sync for contacts and/or calendars. E-Mail is not push yet, but keeps being brought up as 'soon'.

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I have Mobile Me and running out very soon. Would it work if I buy MMe from Amazon, instead of paying $100 to Apple. How does that work?

Yes it works the same, you receive a package in the mail with a "Redemption Code" - just like you receive when you buy it from an Apple Store or from store.apple.com, you enter code on your me.com account and it extends your expiration date by a year.

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The older versions work fine. I used a .Mac last year for my renewal.

Just one major point. Make sure you do it BEFORE your expiration date. Otherwise, it is possible Apple will hit your credit card or cancel your account. Unlikely, but possible!

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Turn off the auto renewal in your iTunes account if, you plan to buy a renewal elsewhere. IIRC, Apple auto renewed my account the first time like 45 days early. I have since turned it off for renewal.

The redemption code is the good, but the _if_ there is a CD or DVD, it may be an older one if you get the "old" version. My recent one, did not have the optical disc.