Apple recently killed off about 5,000 apps on the App Store that were adult in nature. A rumor was circulating that a new category for explicit apps might be coming. That rumor has now been quashed according to an Apple spokesperson who stated, “It’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

Apple has enhanced MobileMe when accessed on Mobile Safari browser by iPhone users. The app will offer direct links to things like calendars, contacts, and more. You can also access the Find My iPhone feature from any iPhone or iPod touch when your phone is lost. There are several other features as well.

Mossberg, whose opinion can make or break a product or service, has revisited his earlier take on the MobileMe service, which got off to a disastrous start when it was launched last summer. Previously, Mossberg told readers to stay away from the product although recently gave it another look over. Through the process of developing the product, Apple did apologize for rushing the launch. Issues mainly pointed towards launching at the same time as the release of iPhone 3G, the App Store and the iPhone 2.0 software.

Mossberg said that “Apple has fixed all of the speed and reliability issues I encountered last year, ” even if Outlook data syncing between Windows PCs and Macs is still an issue. MobileMe is an important service for Apple, as it gives those wary about switching completely to the Mac a way to stay tethered to Windows. The app also improves the usability of the iPhone. MobileMe lets Mac or Windows users sync their contacts, calendar info and e-mail across Macs, PCs, and iPhones for $99 a year.

[via CNET Apple]

For the iPhone, the main modifications are improved notifications and synchronization. Reliability of new email notifications and syncing of contacts and calendar with MobileMe have both been improved. The email distributed to MobileMe members states “to get the best MobileMe experience on your iPhone or iPod touch, you should be running iPhone Software 2.2 or later”.

Most importantly for the update, the iPhone or iPod Touch must have firmware 2.2 or later. With the changes, any updates that you make to contacts or calendars on your Mac in iCal or Addressbook. On your PC using Microsoft Outlook both are automatically and rather quickly pushed to the cloud. Conversely, any updates made to MobileMe data at me.com, or on an iPhone or iPod Touch is pushed back your Mac or PC. Finally, all your contacts and calendars will update across your devices much faster than previously.

[via CNET]

If you have been let down by MobileMe, you might be pleased to learn that there is an alternative out there for your iPhone. It’s called SugarSync and it’s a relatively inexpensive way to keep all your data together without the problems of MobileMe.

Made by Sharpcast, SugarSync is an Internet srvice tailored for the iPhone. It works by backing up your media files online and then syncing your data to all of your devices, including your iPhone, Mac or PC or what have you.

The app is free to download. However, you will have to pay a monthly fee or yearly fee for the service, which ranges from $25 to $250 a year. This fluctuation depends on how much data you sync. If you’re unsure about this service, you can give it a try through their trial offer.

[via Gadget Lab at Wired.com]

Jobs admitted that MobileMe wasn’t “up to Apple’s standards” at the time of release and should have rolled out over time, adding a few features here and there, not in one huge lump. And since it was released at the same time as the iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 and the App Store, Apple had their hands full, leaving MobileMe to remain chock full of errors for a greater length of time. Jobs adds:

The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services…And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.

On a related note, Eddy Cue is now in charge of all things Apple and the Internet, including iTunes, the App Store and MobileMe.

[via iPhonic]

[Image source: ars technica]

My experience with MobileMe has been far from perfect. In fact, I talked about just two weeks ago. But there’s a difference between then and now. Then, MobileMe was ironing out launch kinks, which can be expected. Now, it’s exhibiting serious character flaws.

“Apple’s secrecy keeps them from properly testing out their apps with tons of users, the way other companies do who aren’t so worried about secrecy,” says Robert Scoble. And while this may very well be true, I can’t help but think the problem is even deeper than that. Apple lover that I am, I think they’re in over their heads this time.

I haven’t had any calendar troubles. Everything syncs just fine now. But when I tried to add a domain name to my “Personal Domains,” MobileMe said it was invalid. Now, I did some digging and it seems even though MobileMe is supposed to recognize sites with hyphens in them, it’s not. I also found out that Apple Support can help fix this for you. And that would be all fine and well if Apple Support, you know, worked.

When you go on the MobileMe Support site, you’re prompted to browse through articles they have on various problems. If the articles don’t help, you can select the topic that fits the closest and then fill out an email form. However, this e-mail form is nowhere in sight. And the live chat is “unavailable.” But these issues are only on the U.S. version of the Apple site. Go in the U.K. site and the Email form is as plain as day. However, online reports seem to indicate that people are just getting a standardized email exactly 48 hours after their inquiry.

So what’s the deal here? Is Apple turning its back on its customers? Is it merely overwhelmed with inquiries? Are they doing their best to fix the problems right now?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, and while I doubt they’re ignoring their customers, it would be the courteous thing to do to at least indicate they’re working it. Including links to help chats and indicating there’s an email support form when there isn’t one, is just plain deceptive.

On July 9th starting at 6PM (PST) the .Mac service will go down, and MobileMe will be up six hours later. The only .Mac services available during those six hours wil be .Mac Mail accessed from a desktop mail app, an iPhone or iPod touch.

[via TUAW]

This week an entire attack of iPhone rumors hit the web. According to them, the GPS in the iPhone has been confirmed. The sources also say that the 3G iPhone will in fact be smaller, and thinner. It will also get better battery life to boot. Perhaps the most interesting one, is the 3G iPhone will come in a 32GB flavor. As a result, if the current trends hold true, the iPod Touch should double as well to 64GB.

It was announced that SoftBank in Japan would be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in that country. An interesting thing about Japan, is they have done away with GSM. They only have W-CDMA, which is the 3G that the 3G iPhone will have. This of course means that without a shadow of a doubt, the iPhone will be 3G soon.

We have made an extensive rumor round up and wish list for the new iPhone. On the list, I went over things I feel need to be included in the new iPhone. I also took the time to find a few rumors and let you know what is going on. Top of the list includes GPS, 3G(of course), and better battery life.

We saw a rumor this week that the new iPhone would come in a smaller screen size, with two models. The source of the rumor is supposedly an Apple manufacturing partner, who has shown us some cases from the new iPhone. One thing that disappoints is if these do turn out to be true, than there is in fact no front facing camera for video calls.

It has been revealed that Apple will be renaming .Mac to Mobile Me. This has been confirmed thanks to several localized strings found in iCal. Remember to stay locked on iPhone Buzz tomorrow morning, and to follow our live cast, at live.iphonebuzz.com. WWDC is in less than 24 hours, and all eyes will be on Apple.

%@ is the new name of Apple’s online service (was .Mac)

That is because a variable can be changed in a software update from Apple. This localized string from iCal makes it very clear what is going on. Plainly, you can see the service has a new name, and it explicitly says the name is not .Mac. To up the speculation even more, strings in the new iPhone SDK make references to ‘Mobile Me’.

A simple Who Is reveals that Apple owns the domain ‘Me.com’ which is presumably where all the .Mac email addresses would go. There is no need to worry, as all your email from your .Mac account and corresponding email address will be forwarded to the new account.

Apple filed the trademark for the name Mobile Me back in 2006, and it was never known what they would use it for. More rumors over the name change is a sub $50 service, and push email support. It is also rumored the changes could allow over the air syncing of .Mac utilities to the iPhone 2.0.