When I logged into MobileMe this morning, I noticed that my iDisk icon looked a bit different ... it now resembles the one representing the forthcoming iDisk app for the iPhone. It's not the only visual tweak to MobileMe. The Settings icon has received a refresh, and Mail has been changed to look more like its desktop counterpart, showing the count of unread items next to their respective folders.

A look at the status history for MobileMe shows that maintenance was performed late last night on the web apps, resulting in the new look throughout the site. Other changes to MobileMe include:

• The Help menu is now accessible from the toolbar.
• Mail forwarding and replies now retain original formatting.
• All messages on MobileMe can now be searched from the iPhone or iPod Touch.
• Automatic album creation from the iPhone or iPod Touch with version 3.0 software.
• iPhone 3GS users can publish video to MobileMe.
• iPhone contacts maintain ringtone associations after syncing with MobileMe.
• Option to merge contacts and calendars on first sync.
• Turning off sync will enable users to still keep a copy of their data on their device rather than wiping it.

We're not 100% convinced of the safety of his approach, but Kevin Miller's determination to recover his lost iPhone -- combined with the power of MobileMe's new Find My iPhone feature -- led him on a wild chase across Chicago, which he visited while he was attending a LEGO convention in nearby Wheeling, IL.

After leaving his phone in a bar, Kevin tried to get FMI working (via a friend's laptop & broadband adapter, ironically from Sprint; as Megan & Michael pointed out, you can't access the MobileMe page from the iPhone browser anyway) with no luck. The next morning, however, the phone began responding and Kevin's three-man team began the hunt. With laptop in hand and a succession of more and more specific location details, the guys began tracking down the errant phone.

We won't spoil the end of the story for you; Kevin's post is quite entertaining and worth a read. Still, once you do know how the plot turns out you may want to consider enlisting the police for a missing phone, rather than choosing to use their methods.

I just got back from the Apple Store and am now the proud owner of an iPhone 3G S 32 GB in basic black. I can't wait to get at it, but before dive in, I want to write a bit about the experience.

Driving to the Apple store at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, NY, I drove past an AT&T store which had no line and very few cars in the parking lot. When I got to the Apple store, it was a different story. There was a bit of a line or actually two lines, but nothing big. When I got to one of the Apple reps at the start of the line, I was asked if I pre-ordered. I had, and my name was on the list. I was told to stand on a line of only five people, the other line of people who had no pre-ordered numbered fourteen.

It was about 1:50 pm when I got there and I was curious to see how the Apple experience would differ from what I was accustomed to. The last few times I bought a cellphone, it was a slow, laborious process where the store rep had to take a ton of information from me, get a credit check, wait, find a phone, wait, get more information from me, wait, take the phone to the back to infuse it with life by chanting arcane spells and pushing arcane buttons, wait, hear a canned sales pitch on how the phone would be absolutely no good without a dozen or so accessories that they would be very happy to sell me, refuse, wait, sign a sheave of documents, wait, get the okay, a shopping bag and a receipt and finally leave the story after well over an hour. Let's see how Apple does it.

While waiting in the line with a bottle of Poland Spring Water given to me by an orange-shirted rep, I struck up a conversation with Angelo Vergara who was trading in his three month-old 16 GB model for the same capacity in a 3G S. He told me a story that made me do a double-take. Angelo could have upgraded a year ago according to his contract, but didn't. Instead, he bought his iPhone 3G a few months ago. To upgrade it would cost him $399. That sounded a bit steep. I asked him why he couldn't just cancel his contract, sell the 3G iPhone and pay the early termination fee, and then start a new contract along with paying only $199 for his new phone. He told me that doing so would lose his phone number which he was not wont to do. The net dollars spent would be close, but it seems like he was caught in an odd concatenated AT&T policy. When I got to the front of the line, I asked Jane, my sales rep if this was, in fact, policy and she told me it was. Seems somewhat fishy though.

Mel gave you the instructions for how to set it up... but dear reader, we're going to go in-depth into the features of using MobileMe's Find My iPhone to see how well it works in locating and securing your phone from a remote location -- including performing a voluntary wipe.

Locating where your phone is via map
When you bring up the Find My iPhone page in MobileMe, the first thing you will see is a map giving the approximate location of your phone. As indicated above, my phone is somewhere inside of my apartment. Because the map is powered by Google, you can toggle it among plain map, satellite, and hybrid views of the location. However, the feature won't give off an exact address. So, if you happened to leave your phone inside of a shopping center complex, you'll still have to visit each store to track down the phone.

Read on for more into Find My iPhone's features ...

Coming about six weeks too late for Steve Sande, the new Find my iPhone feature demoed at WWDC will enable you to locate your iPhone on a map by logging into me.com. Sadly, I doubt that feature will help those of us who accidentally knock their phones behind the bed or get stuck between the couch cushions, but at least you'll know if it's in the house. Edit: I forgot, you can hear it beep, even if it's set to silent. However, how loud it beeps remains to be seen ...

You can also use the Find My iPhone feature to do two things: First, you can send a message to your phone that will display on the screen, even when it's locked, alerting to the Good Samaritan who has found it that you'll be on the way to get it. However, if someone with more nefarious intentions in mind gets ahold of it, you can do a remote wipe of the phone, thus returning it to factory settings.

Not mentioned during the keynote are these little gems:

• The ability to access your iDisk from the iPhone: A feature that should have been on the iPhone for version 2.0, you can upload a file to your iDisk and immediately access it on your phone. The iDisk app will be free through the App Store.
• File sharing via iPhone: Likewise, that nifty little iDisk app will enable you to share a file with someone else by tapping on the "Share" button in the application, and it'll shoot an e-mail link to your recipients. You can also tweak the settings to set passwords and the number of days a file is available. You can also use it to access other MobileMe's Public folders.
• Mail search: If you've got a message on MobileMe but not on the iPhone itself, the improved search capabilities of iPhone OS 3.0 will allow you to search MobileMe for messages in addition to the e-mails that are on your iPhone as well.

I swear, getting old is not a lot of fun.

Last night, I taught a class in data security for home and small business users at our local community college. There were a lot of good questions from the community education program students, so the class ended quite late and I was still answering questions as I walked out the door.

This morning, I went to grab my MacBook Air out of my laptop bag and literally grabbed air instead. In my haste to get out of the classroom and head home, I had packed everything but the laptop. Fortunately, the classroom was locked and few classes are scheduled for early morning, so I called the campus police and had them rescue the MBA for me. Problem solved!

After actually losing an iPhone 3G a few months ago, I wrote a post about what to do to prevent data loss and identity theft when lose your iPhone, and included a few tips on how to hopefully keep yourself from losing the phone in the first place. In this post, I'll talk about the things that I do (or can do) to keep my MacBook Air and my data safe, even when my mind conspires against me to try to lose the computer.

Yesterday, Apple released MobileMe Control Panel for Windows 1.4, recommended for users on corporate networks that use proxy servers.

Some users were reporting errors when trying to sync contacts and calendars, or were unable to log into the MobileMe control panel at all. This update sorts that out.

According to Apple technical note on the subject, supported proxy server types include:

• Web proxy servers (HTTP)
• Secure Web proxy (HTTPS)
• SOCKS proxy servers (see note below)
• HTTP/HTTPS proxy servers that require authentication
• Proxy bypass lists
• Proxy auto-configuration (PAC) files

The update is available on the MobileMe website, and is also included with iTunes 8.2 for Windows.

Several TUAW readers have contacted us about a MobileMe phishing scam. These readers are getting an email that looks surprisingly official (see below). When they click on the Log In button, they're going to a page that has already been shut down. That might not always be the case.

Apple has begun sending an email to MobileMe customers about a pending service change. Specifically, .Mac HomePage will be discontinued on July 7, 2009. While existing pages will remain live at their current addresses for MobileMe users, they'll no longer be able to edit them or add new ones. If you want to delete an existing page between now and then, simply visit the HomePage application.

Groups will also be discontinued on July 7 when Apple shuts down all group email address, group HomePages, message boards and iDisk "Groups" folders. Your data will be safe, however, as Apple will move the "Groups" folder to a new folder on your iDisk called "Groups Archive."

While I never used Groups, it's kind of sad to see HomePage go. I can remember building homepages on my old 333mhz G3 iMac. It was so easy to make a quick-and-dirty site for sharing photos, etc. with grandma. No, it wasn't the cleanest code ever produced, but it was fun back in the day.

Of course, Apple recommends that customers consider MobileMe Galleries and iWeb as an alternative. You can get the full run-down here.

Good afternoon, and welcome to your daily brainload from TUAW, a division of Weblogs, Inc. owned by Comcast Online. Please make sure the neural connector is clicked in all the way, and then think "Start" when you are ready.

Steve Jobs returns to Apple's Board of Directors after stint at GM
Steve Jobs announced his return to Apple today after a government-mandated stint as CEO of General Motors. Obama White House spokesperson Ruth Christopher stated that since Jobs had saved the American auto company with the introduction of the extremely popular flyCar, he could return to his usual duties. Apple executives released a statement saying they were "overjoyed" to have Jobs back on the job.

New MacBooks and Mac mini appear on Apple Store site
Apple has quietly updated its legacy line of personal computers, adding exabyte molecular hard drives and gigacore nanoprocessors without raising the prices. Fans, unfortunately, were unimpressed with the updates -- "my implants can move faster than that," John Gruber transmitted to his brainload feed, along with a TwitFeeling of disappointment and anger. But Apple defended the updates, stating that the new computers were "perfect for the older member of your family who still need their hardware in the box, rather than out of it." Anyone who has purchased one of the older units in the past six months (if there are any of you out there still buying hardware) can be eligible for an exchange at any Apple center.

MobileMe announces record number of subscribers
Over three billion people have subscribed to Apple's MobileMe service since its reintroduction two years ago, according to a new study transmitted by analysts NPD. Apparently people love the fact that they no longer have to carry an iPhone, a laptop, or any hardware at all, as MobileMe now works directly with tiny processors implanted into your head to bring you brainloads, news, TwitFeelings, and the Webview over the cloud directly into your visual and memory cortexes.

"People really love not having to deal with devices or pesky buttons," said an NPD analyst. "MobileMe allows them to connect directly into the ethersphere, leaving them open to do or think or feel anything while anywhere." The price of the system was also lauded as one of the reasons it's so popular. Apparently after the big economic meltdown in 2010, Apple's customers are thrilled to get a full-service communication package for just over a billion dollars a year. "MobileMe has never been so worth it," said longtime user Dave Caolo.

Apple announces event next Tuesday: "Go ahead. Take a guess, suckers."
Press outlets around the brainsphere have recieved invites from Apple for an event next Tuesday in Chicago's Willis Tower (up until two years ago, events like this were held in San Franscisco at the Moscone Center, but of course the unfortunate earthquakes and flooding in 2014 mean that all of California is currently underwater). Rumors are flying about what might be announced at the event, but Apple hasn't given any indication of what there might be -- in fact, the invite itself features a question mark, and the text: "Take a guess, suckers. You still haven't gotten it right."

Most brainloaders have speculated that the event may finally feature the debut of the long-awaited iTablet, or maybe, finally, the reveal of The Beatles unenhanced audio recordings into the iCollective. Either way, TUAW won't be there: we still haven't gotten an invite. But we will, as usual, be providing Mike Schramm's unfiltered thoughts on the event live as it happens. Remember to make sure your children are unplugged at the time.

This is my week to take a second look at some iPhone apps that were less than thrilling on their first appearance, but have been updated with fixes and enhancements. Earlier, I took a look at VoiceMail, and today I'm taking a fresh look at IbisMail, [App Store link] an email client for the iPhone and iPod touch that offers some features Apple does not. The app is U.S. $0.99.

Although the specs indicate that almost all mail protocols are supported, last time around I had no luck with a simple POP3 account, and a complete fail at working with MobileMe. I'm happy to say it now works with both types of mail, although setting up MobileMe mail is not automatic, and the defaults the program enters are not correct. You'll have to do it manually, copying the same information you use on the Apple Mail app. I tried a couple of other IMAP mail accounts, and they worked OK.

Users of the latest version are having no luck with Gmail, and some POP3 port selections don't work, while others do.

There are two big features IbisMail offers that Apple doesn't. First is the ability to create folders and rules for mail. Second, it works in landscape mode. Apple has addressed the landscape feature in OS 3.0 that will be out this summer. There is no evidence so far that Apple will add folders with rules in all email protocols.

One of the other downsides of this app, pointed out in my last review, is that it can't run in the background, which is a pretty important feature for a mail program. That's not the fault of the developer, but Apple. OS 3.0 has some workarounds for this issue, but they still don't plan to support true multitasking in 3rd party applications. If the developers stick to the new Apple SDK, you can probably get alerts to new mail when you are running other apps.

So in summary, some bugs are fixed, some still appear to be there. If you really wanted landscape view for email, I'd wait for Apple to update the iPhone in a couple of months. If you really need rules and folders, IbisMail is worth a look, taking into account the app may not work with your particular mail setup.

After a less than stellar debut last year, Apple is doing a better job of communication with MobileMe customers who need to decide if they want to stay on as paid users or try other options.

In an email to subscribers, Apple says it has been working hard on getting MobileMe up to spec. The email details these improvements:

• Easy File Sharing. It's especially nice to have the large file sharing turned on and working. It was supposed to be available months ago, and while one could quibble about how it is only available from the web client, at least it has been delivered
• Faster Syncing with Mac and PC. The speed of updates between computers and the iPhone have been increased. My own experience confirms that this is now working very well. Your mileage may vary, but most reports are positive
• Improved notifications and sync on iPhone. Apple says the reliability of new email notices and syncing of contacts and numbers with MobileMe have been improved. Apple suggests you run iPhone software version 2.2 or later for optimal notifications.
  
• Better web app performance. Apple wants customers to know that the web app is faster, particularly with regard to start time for Calendar and Contacts search. I can't confirm this. Loading my Calendar took more than a minute this morning using Safari 4 beta. Later in the day, it came up instantly. I don't see anything dramatically faster in searching for contacts. You may do better, or, perish the thought, worse.
  

Apple adds that they are constantly working to improve the service, and make it easier to use.

For more information keep on top of MobileMe news. Leave your comments on this story to help give us a picture how, or if, MobileMe has improved for you.

After a brief overnight outage, the MobileMe services are back this morning -- and sporting a new look on the login page. Aside from the recently revealed file sharing feature, we don't know of any other changes behind the scenes, but putting on a fresh coat of polish never hurts.

If you're seeing changes on the inside of MobileMe please pass them along. Update: Richard spotted the release page for today's changes -- improvements to calendar performance, address book behavior and more.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Apple yesterday announced a new addition to Mobile Me: The ability to share large files with others via iDisk. One of our readers had noticed an announcement about it way back on New Year's Day.

The service works much like YouSendIt, though rather than uploading a file, you point to an existing file on your iDisk. MobileMe then assigns a URL to that file, and offers to send an email to a recipient with the link. You can also assign an expiration date and password to the link.

MobileMe's sharing functionality is so far only available only through the iDisk web application, and not through the Finder. Tools like Dropbox and FileChute -- available on the desktop -- allow you to upload files and assign them a public link, but don't feature expiration dates or passwords (yet).

Apple offers a tutorial on how to use the new feature on its website.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

We assume that there are a few of you who have got Windows machines with MobileMe access in place. If so, you'll be pleased to know that version 1.3 of the Control Panel is now ready. As you know, this control panel allows Windows users to synchronize MobileMe services and iDisk.

According to Apple, version 1.3 "...delivers faster syncing of contacts and calendars between MobileMe and Microsoft Outlook ... [and] a new tray icon also indicates whenever an automatic sync is in progress." Additionally, any change in Outlook will automatically trigger synchronization.

This is a 2.27 MB download and requires Windows Vista SP1 or later ( or Windows XP Home or Professional SP2) and Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 for calendar sync.

[Via MacNN]