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.

If you've always wondered how to draw a "ball of nodes" as featured in a variety of Mac OS X icons, wonder no more: Mike Rundle of flyosity.com has written a tutorial to show you how using Photoshop.

Rundle discusses "spheric realism," the process of understanding the materials, reflectivity, and roundness of a sphere, and how to accurately illustrate it digitally.

Clever users can easily adapt the technique for Illustrator, Acorn, or many other compositing tools that feature blur and blending mode support.

Rundle also offers a PSD file containing the artwork with no strings attached.

Thanks Todd!

[Editor's Note: Several comments objected to the comparison between Dropbox and Microsoft that implied Dropbox's reputation was less than ideal; we also heard directly from Dropbox founder Arash Ferdowsi on this point. The post has been edited to clarify the sense Cory intended -- while Dropbox's service is well-regarded and its backers are notable, some may feel comfortable with a more-established vendor for cloud storage. Our apologies to Dropbox and its users for the unintentional slight.]

While many Mac users use MobileMe for file synchronization, there are the a few (*raises hand*) who think it's overpriced. Therefore, I have been looking for alternatives. Dropbox is nice, but I wanted more storage, and I wanted it from a reputable company with a longer track record. I had heard about Live Mesh, Microsoft's up and coming synchronization service so I decided to check it out.

While there are plenty of anti-Microsoft Mac users, I tend to like some of their products (i.e. Microsoft Office). Their Live Mesh service just recently came to the Mac platform, and is well built. Once you create/sign-in with your Windows Live ID, you can add new devices for file synchronization, including Macs and PCs (phone support coming soon). To add a Mac to your Mesh account, you'll need to download a small application. This menu bar application will upload your specified folders to Mesh, and keep them in sync.

Two things about the Live Mesh service that I really like are: (1) You have the ability to sync up to 5 GBs of data. (2) You can access your files anywhere with the Mesh.com website. However, you'll be presented with a Windows Vista theme, which can be unfamiliar for some Mac users. Overall, I have really liked using this service, but there are a couple of complaints. While the desktop Mesh client is a menu bar application, the Dock icon remians visible -- I found this annoying. Also, the web service is somewhat buggy, and I had problems deleting some older files. However, if you're looking for a good, cheap solution to MobileMe file synchronization, then you might want to give Mesh a try.

One of the most frequent questions we hear from readers on our Ask TUAW posts (and for our doting Aunt TUAW) is a simple one, with no simple answer: "How can I replace the synchronization features of MobileMe with a free service or a software package that doesn't cost me $99 a year?" We feel your pain.

For anyone looking to cut their cash outlay and maintain multi-Mac data sync, there are options for calendaring (BusySync, Google's CalDAV support) and some for address books (address-o-sync, or the free Google & Yahoo sync in Leopard's Address Book), and some products that handle both calendars and contacts (SpanningSync, Plaxo) -- but if you're in the mood for a free all-in-one approach, you may want to check out a promising beta service from a team of European developers: fruux.

Starting with address book sync in earlier versions, fruux has now progressed to include calendar, task and bookmark sync via Apple's built-in apps (Address Book, iCal & Safari) and a cloud service that stores the synchronized data. The system pref pane interface is no-frills and the product is definitely still a work in progress (there are prominent warnings to back up your data beforehand and frequently thereafter), so it may not suit your needs just yet -- but it's definitely one to watch. Future roadmap plans include an iPhone client and a web interface to your PIM data.

Thanks Dominik, Hagen & everyone who sent this in.

Today Twenty08 released a new instant messaging client for the iPhone/iPod touch. MobileChat (iTunes Link) allows you to connect to multiple IM services, including:

• AIM/ICQ/.Mac/MobileMe
• Windows Live/MSN
• Yahoo
• GTalk
• Jabber

In many ways, this application for the iPhone looks like a cross between Adium and AIM for iPhone. This application is feature rich, allowing you to take and send images or IM a phone number from any of your 10 supported IM accounts, Most notably, MobileChat allows you to use Apple's forthcoming "Push Notification" system for notifications when the application is closed. This feature is built into this release, but will not be active until Apple "flips the switch." You can download MobileChat today from the App Store for $2.99 (USD).

[via MacRumors]

We've all awaited the .Mac to MobileMe switch for a while now (some more than others). However, Apple's 6 hour time table for upgrading to MobileMe turned awry and led into an almost 24 hour up, down, up, up, down cycle.

If you're like most users experiencing the 24 outage, then you haven't been able to login and experience MobileMe first hand. So why not take a look at our gallery? We've got pictures of the entire MobileMe suite of web applications and user preferences: from the login screen to storage partitioning.

To commemorate the launch of MobileMe, Apple has updated the Apple TV to work with the new service. The new update includes a new MobileMe sub-menu in the Photos menu.

MacRumors is reporting that you will also be able to control your Apple TV using the free Remote app from the iTunes Store. You can download this update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

If you notice anything that we haven't, be sure to leave a comment!


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

[via GearLive]

Yesterday, we noticed that the .Mac status page listed a MobileMe launch date and time of July 9th between 6 p.m. until 12 a.m. PT. Tonight, there seems to have been a change.

As of this writing, the .Mac status page says, "MobileMe Launch: 7/9/2008, 8pm-2am PT -- As part of the MobileMe launch, www.mac.com will be taken offline at 8pm PT on Wednesday, July 9th."

So, we've got to wait two more hours? Oh, no! Actually, we'd rather the folks at Apple take the time necessary to do things right. Oh, who are we kidding ... we want MobileMe!

Stay tuned here for the latest information on this transition.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Tonight, we will all say "goodbye" to .Mac, a service that has been a small part of Apple for almost 8 years. iTools, .Mac's predecessor, was launched on January 5, 2000 at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco and was a free service that included a HomePage, iCards and the much coveted @mac.com e-mail address that is commonplace today (as well as the forgotten 'KidSafe,' which was a database of kid friendly websites Apple compiled so you could make sure your children weren't up to no good on your Mac). As more users came to the service and the cost of bandwidth went up, Apple began charging for the service and called it .Mac.

The name ".Mac" was born at the Macworld Expo in New York on July 17, 2002 and provided several new services including: a beefed up iDisk (with a dizzying 100 megs of space), Backup, and a free copy of Virex. On September 17, 2002, Apple announced that it would discontinue the free iTools service in favor for .Mac.

That brings us to, well, tonight. Apple is scheduled to take down .Mac and replace it with a newer, rebranded service named "MobileMe." While some scoff at the name, TUAW can't help but see the other side of the picture: look how far iTools has evolved over the past 8 years. So, join us in saying, "So long old friend, we hardly knew ye."

Do you have a favorite story to tell about iTools or .Mac? Be sure to mention it in the comments below! Apple is scheduled to take down the .Mac service between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m. pacific time.

Early Tuesday morning, Apple started offering boxed versions of the much awaited MobileMe web service. While buying from Apple costs $99 for the boxed version, Amazon is offering MobileMe for $89.99 (US).

According to Amazon, MobileMe has been on sale since "July 1, 2008," however, they also say "This item will not be released until July 12, 2008."

We did learn last night that MobileMe is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, July 9th around 6 p.m. pacific time.

Stay tuned to TUAW for the latest information regarding the .Mac to MobileMe switch, iPhone 2.0 software, and the iPhone 3G coverage.


Thanks, Jay!

Apple has just updated the .Mac status page with the date/time of the .Mac to MobileMe switch. So, for those of you wondering when Apple might start the switch will not have to wonder any longer. July 9th from 6 p.m. until 12 a.m. PT is the scheduled date and time.

Apple says that during the switch, users will be "unable to access www.mac.com or any .Mac services ... with the exception of .Mac Mail accessed via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod touch."

According to Apple, "MobileMe will be available as soon as possible during this maintenance window." Be sure to stay tuned to TUAW for the latest on the .Mac to MobileMe switch.


Thanks, Andy and Barry!

The above message has been posted to the .Mac Tips website. As you can see .Mac members are being told to sync their .Mac bookmarks to a computer (Mac or PC) by July 6th because web access to bookmarks is no longer going to be supported in MobileMe (.Mac's replacement). The July 6th date is actually a few days later than the one Apple first gave in this KB article (June 30th). It looks like Apple wants to give all .Mac members as much time as possible to get their bookmarks in order.

Does this mean we'll see the official launch of MobileMe on the 6th? Probably not, since Apple has stated that MobileMe will be available on July 11, but then again Me.com email is already being properly routed so this might all be part of a soft launch (as they say in the biz).

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

According to Apple Support documents, personal domains will be kept intact with MobileMe. Blogger Sean Sperte noticed a "personal domain" option while watching the MobileMe quick tour. That prompted some investigation which led to this support document. Sure enough, it confirms that .Mac personal domains will remain untouched by the change:

"...If you have a personal domain setup for your iWeb site, it will continue to work without changing any settings at your registrar."

Thanks, Apple!

[Via Geek&Mild]