Filed under: .Mac
'Mobile Me' the new name of .Mac?
As Mat noted last night, it's looking like a name change is in store for the .Mac service. CodingRobots.com and Deep Apple (via Daring Fireball) have found some additional interesting strings in the newest release of the iPhone SDK, building on strings found in other parts of the Mac OS X update (iCal, Mail and more) released Tuesday. Apparently, Mobile Me looks like it wil be the name of the new service: CodingRobots has a screenshot of the "MobileMe" string inside the SDK 2.0 release. Add in the 2006 AppleInsider report, noted by DF, that Apple filed a trademark application for the name "Mobile Me" in early 2006, and all signs point to the new branding for .Mac. What Mobile Me could offer is known only by Apple at this point, though Gruber speculates that Mobile Me might extend the over-the-air sync capabilities of iPhone 2.0 (as announced, limited to Microsoft Exchange/ActiveSync users in the enterprise) to the rest of us.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
poop-butt said 11:05AM on 5-30-2008
That is the worst name I've ever heard. .Mac was so much better. Oh well. Maybe it'll be like Wii or Macbook Air. You just gotta get used to it...
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Techtistic said 11:13AM on 5-30-2008
I don't know if I would call it the worst but I definitely like .Mac better; it's clever. I can see how it has a stigma and a rename would benefit it. The exciting part is (if this all turns out to be correct) that changing the entire name of their service must mean it is a complete overhaul. Maybe I will actually buy into it now.
Jon Niola said 11:14AM on 5-30-2008
I have to agree with you. That name is pretty awful. Almost sounds like something to come out of Microsoft's marketing department and not Apple's.
Tony said 11:59AM on 5-30-2008
I'll just wait for Mobile XP...
Will said 1:22PM on 5-30-2008
Agreed with #3 - "Mobile Me" definitely reminds one of a Microsoft product name.
homagetogorto said 4:07PM on 5-30-2008
Could be worse. They could have named it Bob.
Robert Palmer said 4:42PM on 5-30-2008
There _was_ nothing wrong with Bob, until some no-talent ass-clown of a company made a horrible product with it.
David G. said 6:48PM on 5-30-2008
They could called it poop-butt. Thank God they won't.
David G. said 6:49PM on 5-30-2008
*call
EMoShunz said 11:13AM on 5-30-2008
any word if ".mac" hosting speeds will be faster with "MobileMe"?
(regrettably) thankfully, my church web sit only has like 5 people ever visit it, so it doesn't really matter, but man is it slow.................... to..................... load.................. up................... every.................... page...............
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Zach said 11:30AM on 5-30-2008
Wow. That's truly awful.
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Matt said 11:30AM on 5-30-2008
This is just like how everybody blasted the MacBook Pro name when it was revealed or even the Wii. It's just a name so get over it because in a few months it will be second nature. If it's such a bad name then let's hear your great names for it.
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Andy Smith said 11:38AM on 5-30-2008
Mobile Me.?
Does that mean the iPhone support may be called Mobile Mini-Me ? :D
kurt.tappe said 3:59PM on 5-30-2008
"This is just like how everybody blasted the MacBook Pro name when it was revealed"
I didn't blast that. While it didn't roll off the tongue, it made sense. This one is very blast-worthy though. It's almost a tongue-twister. Bad.
Thomas said 11:40AM on 5-30-2008
I can understand that if it's going to be used for devices other than "Macs" then the name doesn't make so much sense, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with iTunes - which as we know does a hell of a lot more than just Tunes.
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ChrisM said 11:40AM on 5-30-2008
I still think "MobileMe" is going to be free.
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Blaktornado said 12:36PM on 5-30-2008
Free to Mac Users only, please ;D
spam said 11:52AM on 5-30-2008
At least the name Mobile Me will be easier to google! I hate trying to search for .mac as google just ignores the dot... And not everyone writes it as "dot mac"...
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PSM said 12:45PM on 5-30-2008
I was going to say the same thing. Whenever I try to Google .Mac issues, or search for it in forums, it's basically impossible. And the number of people who write "dot Mac" is only a small percentage of the total possible hits.
Erik said 11:52AM on 5-30-2008
This reminds me of the Fat Nano rumor pics that came out because I'm seriously hoping it's fake. We do know that they applied for the trademark in January, so they must be using it for something. I doubt it's to replace .Mac though.
MobileMe definitely sounds like a new wireless phone by McDonalds...bada bah buh bah. However, since iGoogle came out, I'm beginning to get tired of them just appending "i" to beginning of a word to make it sound like a Mac.
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