MobileMe

Apple's MobileMe cloud could become that much more useful as Apple is said to have been in negotiations with various major film studios to offer streaming video content to members. According to CNET, Apple has offered a plan wherein iTunes users will be able to access video from Internet-capable devices. Apple
would, of course, prefer that users access video from the iPad, the
company's upcoming tablet computer according to sources close to the story. The move seems planned around the iPad as a mobile video device with up to 64 gigabytes of onboard storage. 

Apple has made recent inroads towards streaming content via its acquisition of LaLa media and its North Carolina data center, although previous rumors had centered on the idea of Apple advancing its music streaming efforts.

Apple updated the landing page for the mobile version of MobileMe (Me.com), adding a bunch of useful on-the-go features. The new page now has instructions on how to set up MobileMe on your device using the Services app, a link to the mobile version of Find My iPhone, and direct links to the App Store download page for the Gallery App and iDisk app.

Apple has released a new app to the App Store called MobileMe Gallery [App Store, Free] for viewing gallery photos and movies on your iPhone or iPod touch. You need a MobileMe subscription to use it, but it's free if you have one. When you enter your MobileMe username and password, it lets you browse all of your own gallery, and can display the public galleries of your friends just by entering in their MobileMe member name or choosing their name from your contacts.

Apple has updated the MobileMe iDisk app for the iPhone [App Store, Free] for viewing and managing files stored on the MobileMe iDisk storage service. The update now autocomplete email addresses, saves and copies images, and has improved download speeds, as well as other improvements.

Apple has made a few minor updates to their MobileMe online information syncing / management / storage service. One of the more significant changes is that Find My Phone is now accessible from the main search bar, making it easier and faster to get to in MobileMe's online interface.

Yet another iPhone thief has been snared by MobileMe. The Journal News reports that Marvin Brown (25) and Christopher Davis (22) were arrested after stealing four iPhones totaling in $3,594 from an Apple Store. The thieves were successfully tracked down and arrested using the built-in GPS tracking feature utilized by the MobileMe feature Find My Phone, which led cops directly to their location.

Apple has added a couple of improvements to their cloud service, MobileMe, adding improvements to Mail, Gallery, iDisk, account settings, push contacts, and calenders, and Back to My Mac. Among the changes are the ability to forward or reply to an HTML or rich text message while retaining the format instead of converting to plain text.

iPhone OS 3.0 has only been released for a few days, and the new MobileMe locating feature Find My Phone has already been successfully used. As the story goes, iPhone user Kevin Miller was in Chicago for a Lego convention. Well, he was in a bar with a couple of friends and his iPhone was stolen, and... well, it's a great story. Go check it out at his website.
[via Cult Of Mac]

MobileMe users running the iPhone OS 3.0 gold master copy are reporting that Find My iPhone, a new feature Apple announced at WWDC on Monday as part of MobileMe, is already up and running. Everything we've heard so far says that it works perfectly, just as they described in the keynote address. It's good to know it will be ready when the 17th rolls around, when it will be available to all users of GPS-capable iPhones with MobileMe accounts.

Lost amongst the other items yesterday was Apple's (silent) announcement of an iDisk application for MobileMe customers. The app will allow users to access files stored on their MobileMe iDisk from their iPhone or iPod touch. iWork and Microsoft Office documents, as well as PDFs, audio, and video can can all be opened using the app. Files can't be downloaded, although it does cache recently viewed documents. Files can also be shared from the app and public folders are available as well.

When it's released, the iDisk app will be free.