It’s iPhone 4.0 day and a tasty rumour has sparked back into life just in time to debut at WWDC. We’ve heard it before but subtle new tweaks to Apple’s suite of cloud apps suggest that free MobileMe really is about to arrive with iPhone 4.0…
The big clue that free MobileMe could be headed our way with iPhone 4.0 is lurking on the MobileMe account page. Previously subscribers were either packing “Trial”, “Individual” or “Family Pack” accounts. Now some paid up MobileMe users are seeing their status as “Full Member”.
That new distinction for MobileMe seems to suggest that Apple is gearing up to offer different levels of subscription rather than just the current £59 per year subscription option. To battle the free Google services baked into Android, it would make sense for one of those tiers to be free MobileMe.
After snapping up Quattro Wireless and launching iAds, the big rumour is that the free MobileMe service would be ad-supported while slapping down cash for a MobileMe subscription would free you from commercial distractions.
But what if Apple chose to just make MobileMe free for all iPhone 4.0 and iPad owners? That would give it the cloud-based clout to really take on Android and the enhanced syncing skills promised with Android 2.2.
Apple recently slipped out a souped-up MobileMe Mail beta with features that looked laser-targeted to take on Gmail. It wouldn’t be a huge leap to see other parts of the package like Find My iPhone offered for free to all iPhone 4.0 owners.
Let us know: do you think Apple will make MobileMe free? And what features does it need to battle Android’s web smarts?
Out now | £59 per year | Apple
