August 29, 2008
Phishing -- the name for fraudulent attempts to obtain credit card numbers, passwords, social security numbers and other sensitive information -- isn't an issue exclusive to MobileMe. Still, it's as relevant to MobileMe subscribers as anyone else, and warnings about it bear repeating from time to time.
There are thieves in the world who work hard at creating emails that appear to come from legitimate companies, frequently even including links that go to real pages on those companies' web sites. But at least one of the links will lead to a site that looks like it belongs to the company but is in fact a fake which asks readers to enter personal information such as their address, phone number, credit card number, or other information the thieves can use to steal from the unwary.
You will never receive an unsolicited message from MobileMe asking you to send personal information over email. If we are ever unable to charge your credit card, for instance, we will send you a reminder email, but will not directly link to any web pages. The safest way to respond and update any necessary information is to type www.me.com into your browser and log in to your account directly. That way you can be confident you are at me.com and your personal information is secure.
For more detailed information about phishing emails, including how to use MobileMe webmail to see the real address hiding under a link, take a look at this support document. And for more information about phishing in general, try this Wikipedia entry. Finally, if you do receive an email that arouses your suspicions, select all the text in the message and use the Forward as Attachment command in the Message menu in Mac OS X Mail or the Action menu in Outlook to send it to reportphishing@apple.com. This will provide us with information that can be useful to our legal department and outside law enforcement, and we'll be grateful for your help. Like crime in general, phishing can't be totally stamped out, but it can be fought.
August 28, 2008
We've been hearing from iCards fans who miss that feature. There's a very good substitute built into Mac OS X Mail in Leopard that more than a few of those fans have taken to enthusiastically. When you start a new message, the Photo Browser and Show/Hide Stationery buttons in the upper right corner give you easy access to all the images in your library and over 30 different stationery backgrounds, many of which contain placeholder images you can replace by simply dragging in images from the Photo Browser. It's like the old Make Your Own iCards feature on steroids, and a whole lot easier to use in the bargain. This document contains detailed information about how to use the stationery feature.
August 21, 2008
Many of our longtime .Mac members have been asking us if you can still use your mac.com email address now that the name of the overall service has changed from .Mac to MobileMe. The simple answer is yes. We stopped issuing new mac.com addresses when the name changed, but if you had a working mac.com address on 7/9/08 you can continue to use that address as you always have without missing out on any of the benefits of MobileMe. Mail for either username@mac.com or username@me.com will come and go from the same mailbox.
You can use either address on your iPhone or iPod touch. If you want to use your mac.com address instead of me.com for the MobileMe address on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can simply remove the me.com account (if you've already created one) and then add a new MobileMe account entering username@mac.com for the email address. Any contacts, calendars, and bookmarks you are syncing will re-appear on your phone. It can take several seconds to minutes to update your phone depending on how much data you have and your network connection speed. If possible, it is best to do this when you are on a wi-fi connection for the fastest response.
For more information on using your me.com and mac.com addresses, please visit this article.
August 18, 2008
We sent out an email today containing the news that we are giving every current MobileMe subscriber a free 60 day extension for their subscription. This is in addition to the 30 day extension most subscribers have already received. As stated in the email we've already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make, and we appreciate our subscribers' patience while we turn things around. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. To find out if you are eligible for the extension or to answer common questions, you can visit this FAQ.
August 18, 2008
Members who've been using the MobileMe support chat lines have been increasingly telling us they're finding it a good way to get help. We've opened the dedicated chat line for mail support to all MobileMe members now (please use it only for help with MobileMe Mail), and we're continually adding and training staff to be there when you need them. If you find yourself struggling with something, go to MobileMe support and select the appropriate topic from the All Topics area on the lower left. If you don't find an answer among the "Have You Tried?" resources listed, click the Chat Now button and give it a try. All of our chat support services are currently in English only, but we are working hard to offer the service in other languages as soon as possible. Email support is available wherever chat support is not. Click here to find the Support page for your country and language.
