MobileMe Launching on July 9th Between 6pm-12am PT
Apple has announced the launch date and time for their MobileMe service. The revamped .Mac service will offer web-based email, calendar, addressbook, photo gallery and storage capabilities as well as “Push” sync services.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already positioned MobileMe as the replacement for .Mac across iPhones, Macs and PCs in its June MobileMe announcement. The scheduled launch turns that cross-device service plan into an operational rollout, pairing web email, calendars, contacts, galleries and storage with push synchronization.
The timing also places MobileMe just ahead of Apple’s confirmed July 11 iPhone 3G launch, making the service a shared software layer for Apple’s device lineup rather than a standalone web offering.
First-order effects
- Apple’s .Mac customers and new MobileMe users gain a defined migration point for web-hosted personal data and push synchronization across Apple-supported devices.
- Apple must bring its web applications, storage and push-sync systems online within the announced launch window, making service reliability part of the MobileMe debut.
Second-order effects
- MobileMe makes Apple’s iPhone, Mac and PC touchpoints more interdependent: users who store contacts, calendars and email in the service have a stronger reason to keep those endpoints connected to Apple’s account system.
- The July 11 iPhone 3G launch gains a companion service layer, allowing Apple to present device sales and hosted synchronization as parts of one customer experience.
Third-order effects
- MobileMe points to a hardware vendor using hosted accounts and synchronized data as complementary assets that can bind a multi-device product lineup together.
- If Apple continues tying web services to device releases, competition shifts beyond individual device features toward the quality of cross-device setup, data access and synchronization.
The trend: Apple is extending its device business with hosted services that make a user’s data and experience travel across its hardware and supported PCs.