August 19 - 3:55pm EDT   Apple has applied for two new additions to its trademark pool, filings show. The first is simply entitled iDisk, and covers the online file storage system first debuted through .Mac, and more recently continued with the advent of MobileMe. A successful trademark would be listed under International Class 042, and Apple cites its iDisk website as evidence of commercial use. [full story]

July 24 - 12:25am EDT   Apple has acknowledged the continuing MobileMe outages for some users and confirmed that the previously reported (and still ongoing) email outage is due to problems with its mail servers. Last week, a third wave of issues with MobileMe surfaced with Apple's email, sync, and web-based internet service offering. The scope, which Apple still claims is very limited, appeared to affect both US and international users, severely limiting users' access to email access via the Web and via email software. Users report that account access is intermittent at times, but for many the service has been completely out. [full story]

July 8 - 12:25am EDT   Apple has officially announced its launch of MobileMe – the service it intends to replace its platform-specific .Mac – by setting the launch date at midnight July 10th (Pacific), following a short downtime from 6PM PT the preceding day, July 9th. The note, posted in the .Mac service bulletin, informs users that while the update will cause users to lose access to almost all operations, they will be able to access their email through a desktop application, or an iPhone/iPod touch. [full story]

July 2 - 10:35pm EDT   Apple is extending access to .Mac Web Bookmarks past itsJune 30th end date to July 6th, which will make it impossible for users to access or update bookmarks located on the web portion of the service. Users are still able to synchronize bookmarks for the purpose of keeping consistency between several computers, but will not be able to access those bookmarks through the .Mac website or the .Mac Bookmarks application. Apple's transition from .Mac to Mobile Me – first announced at WWDC 2008 – is expected to be completed this month. [full story]

June 30 - 9:50pm EDT   As Mobile Me nears its unveiling, Apple has written an FAQ support document for current .Mac customers who are curious about the impending transition, while a user has informed MacNN some unofficial good news regarding "@me.com" email addresses. The FAQ addresses many questions from users regarding whether or not services will be available, or whether user input is required for the process, most of which is revealed to be automatic. [full story]

June 24 - 12:45am EDT  As Apple draws closer to unveiling Mobile Me, concerns echo throughout the .Mac community that the new service is compromising the current service's user experience, as .Mac suffers its 15th recorded outage for June. On Monday, .Mac saw outages for both the email service and homepage service, with the latter issue to be restored "as soon as possible". Apple has not commented on the problems, which are most likely occurring as the company lays down the Mobile Me architecture. [full story]

June 17 - 9:05am EDT   Apple's .Mac online service is experiencing extended worldwide outages, according to accounts. The main website is currently unavailable, and users have reported being unable to access features such as e-mail, backup or web galleries. The service is said to have been down for several hours in at least the United States and the UK, although UK customers may already have normal functions back. [full story]

June 16 - 4:30pm EDT   Apple has begun restricting the supported browsers for the iDisk storage component of .Mac, reports say. Where the service once supported virtually any standard browser, public iDisk access is now officially limited to Safari 1.3 or Firefox 1.0.4 or later, though people can still visit using the likes of Camino (which uses Firefox's Gecko technology) or Opera 9.5. Browsers blocked by iDisk include OmniWeb, and more crucially, the recent Firefox 3 release candidates, The MacObserver noted. The final version of Firefox 3 is due to release on Tuesday. [full story]

May 30 - 2:15pm EDT   Earlier reports of .Mac receiving a major makeover appear to be all but confirmed, as developers and enthusiasts find proof of a .Mac name change to Mobile Me. The Coding Robots blog reveals that the new iPhone SDK also contains information specific to the .Mac restructuring. Deep in the SDK, in a file entitled "Main.strings", a definition at the beginning of the file states "MOBILE_ME_SERVICE_NAME", while a PNG graphic file called "mobileMeAlbum.png" sits within the PrivateFrameworks directory. [full story]

May 30 - 10:15am EDT   Apple's .Mac online service -- which provides functions such as web hosting, file storage and data sync -- may be nearing a substantial revision, code exploration indicates. Buried within the new v10.5.3 update for Mac OS X are several strings of code which imply that the .Mac name will be dropped, although a new name has not yet been chosen. In iCal's Localizable.strings file, for example, code can be found that reads: "/* Label of .Mac button in iCal’s General preferences. %@ is the new name of Apple’s online service (was .Mac) (remove -XX02)." [full story]

May 12 - 3:50pm EDT   Two thieves have been caught in White Plains, New York as a result of Mac hardware and software, the New York Times reports. Edmon Shahikian and Ian Frias are accused of having stolen thousands of dollars' worth of items from an apartment, including TVs, iPods, DVDs and car rims; their arrest however is tied to the theft of two notebooks, one of which belonged to Kait Duplaga, an employee at an Apple Store in Westchester. Clues to the suspects' identities developed when a friend told Duplaga her Mac notebook was online. [full story]

April 8 - 9:40pm EDT   Memeo today unveiled LifeAgent 2.2, a new version to its automated software backup solution, that introduces support for Flickr and .Mac iDisks. Using LifeAgent, users can automatically back up data to a network folder, external hard drive, removable media, the internet, and now Flicker and iDisk. By securing multiple backup locations, LifeAgent helps ensure that data will be safe in the event of an emergency. LifeAgent is available for $30 from Memeo's website. [full story]

April 7 - 10:00am EDT   Extendamac has released the first version of Flow, an original FTP program. The software is designed to streamline certain tools that normally fall outside of FTP clients; predominant is the inclusion of a code editor, which is used to write the likes of HTML, and includes features such as tabs, colored syntax and live previews. Along these lines Flow also boasts integrated QuickLook support, letting users preview the content of various files before formally downloading them. [full story]

March 12 - 10:55am EDT   The Back to My Mac remote networking option, normally only available with a paid subscription to Apple's .Mac service, can in fact be imitated for free, writes one columnist. Users begin by enabling File and Screen Sharing under System Preferences, and then clicking the Options button to expand file sharing to FTP. After some router configuration, users must run the distant computer's Screen Sharing app, located under "System/Library/CoreServices" in Leopard, and enter the external Internet address of the home/work computer. [full story]

February 26 - 4:15pm EST   IGG Software today released iBank 3, a major update to its financial management application, adding support for the iPhone and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard technologies. iBank for iPhone is a web-based iPhone application that allows users to enter transactions on their iPhone, and through .Mac, sync them to the desktop application on their home computer. IGG Software is selling iBank 3 through its website for $60, while current users can upgrade for $30. [full story]