Apple says MobileMe service to go live Wednesday evening
Apple on Monday night gave word that it would launch MobileMe just
ahead of iPhone 3G, turning on the lights during a six-hour window on
Wednesday evening.
A notification sent out to .Mac users warns them that most of the
online service's functions will be taken offline between 6 p.m. and 12
a.m. Pacific Time on the 9th, with MobileMe going live "as soon as
possible" during this particular timeframe.
";Members will be unable to access www.mac.com or any .Mac services
during this time,"; the notice says, "with the exception of .Mac Mail
accessed via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod touch."
The early handover is considered important both for the widespread
adoption of MobileMe as well as the iPhone 2.0 software update, which
ties in closely with the new online platform.
Apple hasn't said if or when it will ultimately phase out .Mac
permanently, but has so far promised to let users keep at least their
mac.com e-mail addresses and transition over to me.com only when
they're ready to make the change themselves.
MobileMe was announced last month at Apple's annual developers
conference as a new Internet service that delivers push email, push
contacts and push calendars from the "cloud" to native applications on
iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs.
When it launches on Wednesday, the service will completely replace
Apple's existing .Mac online services. Existing .Mac members will see
their accounts upgraded to MobileMe accounts and new users can
subscribe to the service for $99 per year.
MobileMe retail boxes began arriving early on some consumers'
doorsteps late last week. A need to know transition guide for
existing .Mac members remains available.
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