14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has posted an update on its MobileMe News page, notifying users of its cloud-based service that they can now use their MobileMe iDisk to share files with their friends and families. Users are no longer restricted to sharing small files as e-mail attachments. Instead, recipients receive a link which, if clicked, downloads the file automatically to their computer.
“We're pleased to announce that you can now use your MobileMe iDisk to share files with others simply and easily,” Apple says. “Instead of attaching a large document to an email and hoping it's not too big to be received, you can place the file in your iDisk and use the new Share File command in the iDisk web app. It lets you send your friends, family, or colleagues a link they can click to download the file directly. You can password protect the link if you choose to and even set how long it will be available,” reads the announcement.
According to the company responsible for the Mac operating system, users simply have to go to their iDisk accounts on me.com, select the file they want to share, and click the Share File button. Apple also offers a video tutorial to show you how easy the process is.
MobileMe automatically pushes new email, contacts and calendar events to your Mac, PC, iPhone and iPod touch, and makes sure all your information stays up to date across all your devices. The changes you make on one device are automatically "pushed" to the MobileMe "cloud," then back to every device you use. Besides push email, push calendar and push contacts, MobileMe also offers web applications at me.com, a MobileMe Gallery for photo sharing, MobileMe iDisk for online document access and 20GB of online storage, for a monthly fee. MobileMe replaces .Mac.
The MobileMe service is localized in English, French, German, and Japanese, according to Apple. For Mac use, Apple recommends Safari 3.1 or later (Mac / PC) or Firefox 2 or later (Mac / PC) to access your email, calendar, contacts, and more at me.com. PC users are required to have Windows Vista SP1 or later, or Windows XP Home or Professional SP2 installed on their machines, as well as Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 for calendar sync, a MobileMe Account and iTunes 8.0.2 or later.