“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,” Etherington reports. “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.”
“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,” Etherington reports. “The Calendar web app beta 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.”
Etherington reports, “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.”
Full article here.
From Apple:
Preview the New MobileMe Calendar Beta
A completely new version of MobileMe Calendar is now available as a beta on me.com.
To sign up, go to me.com/calendar and click “Request an invitation.” You will receive an email notification when you have been added to the beta (we will add members in the order of their request over the coming weeks).
Here are some of the new features:
Beautiful new web application
The Calendar beta 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. Your calendars will also load faster, thanks to improved performance. The new web application works best with Safari 5, Firefox 3.6, and Internet Explorer 8.
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 “Kids” for school and weekend activities. You can allow the person you’re sharing a calendar with to edit events, and set up email notifications to tell you when they make a change.
Publish a calendar for a group or team
The Calendar beta lets you share a read-only public calendar that can be viewed by anyone, 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
Inviting any guest to an event is easy from the MobileMe Calendar beta. 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.
Works on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac
The MobileMe Calendar beta uses the CalDAV standard so you can view and edit your calendars using the built-in calendar applications on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac. Please note that support for PCs with Microsoft Outlook is coming soon.
To use the MobileMe Calendar beta, you need to be running iOS 4 on iPhone or iPod touch, iOS 3.2 on iPad, Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.4. For more details on system requirements and answers to other questions, please read this FAQ.
We look forward to your feedback on the MobileMe Calendar beta—you can tell us what you think by clicking the Feedback link at the bottom of the Calendar sidebar at me.com.
Screenshot here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David D.” for the heads up.]
Cost is too much. Can be bested or equalled by evil empire Google and Microsodt for free.
I’m willing to pay. Not sure where the sweet spot is, maybe $50???
I belong to mobile.me and can’t make this thing work at all. Every time I go up there with my iPad it acts as if I am a new user. Is this something that must be started from the desktop?
Nope. Gotta be free at this point. You can use Google calendar, Toodledo, etc with an app on your device. I can get 2GB free storage at a several sites so MobileMe is not a value at $99/yr.
FYI Mobile Me subscriptions are only $56 a year when you buy from Amazon. Also note that they include the Find my iPhone, Touch and iPad theft insurance. I don’t understand how you can say it’s too expensive when it includes the ability to track down your lost or stolen mobile device.
Yeah, you know what doesn’t ‘work wonderfully’?
Backup for MobileMe.
I’m pretty certain it shouldn’t take about 18 hours to *try* and back up 3 Gigs of files, incrementally, that it’s backed up before.
And no, it really is ‘them’, not ‘me’. This type of thing has happened repeatedly over the last couple of years, on a variety of Macs, with three different service providers.
But clearly I can’t phone someone to complain. Because unlike Applecare, you can’t talk to anyone about MobileMe tech stuff. Can’t think why.
Go Apple.
Yeah, I’ve been a .Mac & MobileMe subscriber for 5 years now, and I’m fairly certain that I’m going to drop it. I can in no way justify the $99 annual fee. I can get everything that I need for free elsewhere. The only thing that’s kept me with them this long is not wanting to change my email address, but I’m to the point where I no longer care. I was hoping that Apple would introduce a free/reduced price option before my account expires, but alas, that does not appear to be the case.
I’ve never paid $99 for MobileMe because I actually shop around online where it can easily be had for 30-40% off anytime.
Sorry, but MobileMe is overpriced garbage. Google has completely demolished Apple in this area. Only rabid fan boys or those who dont know any better waste their money on MobileMe
The calendar beta wiped out all my To Do items residing On My Mac. Which is not my definition of working “wonderfully.” I had to revert and am still trying to recover fully.
Magic Word: “Nothing,” as in what was in my To Do list after switching to the beta.
MobileMe is nothing but trouble and headaches. It’s so obvious that Apple doesn’t give a rat’s ass about MobileMe. It shouldn’t take a million “sync resets” to try to sync data reliably between my Mac, my iPhone, and my iPad. Absolutely ridiculous. Steve Jobs, put some money into MobileMe!!
MobileMe works great and the new shared calendar feature is a big addition for small businesses/workgroups. Getting the Family Pack online brings the cost down to under $20/user. Given the included iPhone over the air sync service, that’s not bad. I also don’t trust Google with important files/emails.
I rather like it, and it really only costs $60 if you do some minimal shopping around.
I add something to my calendar on my desktop, and within a minute it shows up on my iPhone, and vice versa. Scheduling gigs onto my phone while I’m out and about puts them right on my desktop calendar, which is very handy. Find my phone service works very well. The gallery is nice. And, especially: No f-ing advertisements.
I figger I’m not paying the $60 for Windows anti-virus crap anymore so it’s a wash.
@Foaming Solvent
Well, it is a *beta*.
Count me in with the ones for which it does just work wonderfully. I’ve had it since it was Techtools and free, and it has only improved since then.
Like the others above, it syncs with all my devices – almost instantly – and allows me to access all my documents, which I keep on iDisk.
And why would I use Backup – over the slow-assed internet – when I can use Time Machine over Firewire?
Sure, there are free services elsewhere – but not all at the same place, and none of it is designed to work with my computer and mobile devices’ operating systems – seamlessly.
@rwahrens
I too use Time Machine over Firewire.
And SuperDuper over firewire.
But should my house catch ‘fire’ (oh titter) then I’d quite like to still have my photos, core documents, and so on. Hence my desire for online backup. Which I will soon be using someone else for unless Apple sort out their service and its related care of (paying) customers.
If this Beta is no nearer ready than the iPhone 4 Beta device, I think I’ll pass.
Whew, I’ve never seen such a disparate range of opinions in a long while.
Here is a comment from my friend’s facebook page (she runs MobileMe from a PC – also own iPhone 4) She is NOT an Apple basher but a serious, tech-savvy professional. (Also a big fan of FileMaker Pro)
>> MobileMe sucks.
It’s slow. It shows the wrong times on the calendar. (Yes, I’m in the correct time zone.) Find My iPhone isn’t working. It wasn’t syncing anything for a day.
If I’m paying $100/year for this service, I sort of expect it to work. I’m funny that way.
—————
I sure hope Apple is pulling it together!
I’m sure I speak for Apple when I say thank you for spelling “iPod touch” correctly.
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I have had it for about 5 years. For me the big thing is iDisk. When you invest literally years of your life writing, you do not want to have any chance at all that it will go up in smoke. While traveling abroad with my MBP, I never fear a theft will rob me of all this work. Even with an external BU you can loose it all to a fire or break in. There are cheaper alternatives to MobileMe, but if you get past 2GB storage, then you gotta pay.
I also like the easy iWeb and photo galleries (I have exhibited photos in 3 different countries and won several ribbons in juried exhibitions). To my mind EASY IS GOOD – and nothing is easier than iWeb/iPhoto to MobileME.
I also like syncing my bookmarks, etc.
—
PROBLEMS:
That said – I do not use the calendar much, which seems to be the most problematic item.
Also, on my home desktop G5 Mac Pro the iDisk syncing absolutely sucks! It takes almost an hour to sync when only a few Megabytes has changed, and it frequently fails. (E.G. – it does not deal with MS Word file locks – refuses to sync if the file is open. Dropbox has no problem with this:
See: https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTc4OTE0MzQ5 )
So I have the odd thing that I use Dropbox for short-term usage, and the iDisk for more permanent BU. This will probably change as soon as I get my new MBP
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(My daughter ran off to college with my Intel MBP.)
Could not live without mobile me syncing between devices, iDisk, find my phone, not to mention how else do you add iPhone email folders and manage junk email easily?
@Macarina
“Sorry, but MobileMe is overpriced garbage. Google has completely demolished Apple in this area. Only rabid fan boys or those who dont know any better waste their money on MobileMe”
Wrong AND obnoxious is no way to go through life. MobileMe does a whole host of things for me that Google and other services cannot.
I love mobile me! Apple: Give us an small business version of it and I’ll gladly pay $99 per year per user and leave google apps behind.
Me too! MobileMe is great! I have 4 macs 2 iPhones 2 touches and an iPad and all sync with various customazations perfectly. Also email is perfectly synced no matter what device I check it on. Bookmarks, contacts, calendar etc…. It is a no brainer….
It is *VERY* good to see MobileMe getting the savage beating here that it so richly deserves. MobileMe is PURE junk, and I say that as a HUGE APPLE fan (i’ve owned 6 Macs since 1988 and 4 iPods).