MobileMe Calendar Beta — Have you signed up yet?

After months of beta testing, Apple released a redesigned Mail interface for MobileMe in June. It was a fresh interface with added features. Apple is at it again, this time with the Calendar. They are giving out invites, but you have to head over to http://www.me.com/calendar/ and sign up. After you sign up, you are informed that Apple will send you an invitation in the coming weeks.

AppleInsider points out the new features, and let me tell you they look really good:

  • Beautiful new web application: The Calendar beta includes a new web application at me.com with great-looking calendar views. You’ll find redesigned day, week, and month views, as well as a new list view to make scanning your events easier. Your calendars will also load faster, thanks to improved performance. The new web application works best with Safari 5, Firefox 3.6, and Internet Explorer 8.
  • Share calendars with family and friends: You can easily share your calendars with one or more MobileMe members to keep everyone on the same page. For example, create a shared calendar called “Kids” for school and weekend activities. You can allow the person you’re sharing a calendar with to edit events, and set up email notifications to tell you when they make a change.
  • Publish a calendar for a group or team: The Calendar beta lets you share a read-only public calendar that can be viewed by anyone, perfect for publishing an events calendar such as a soccer team schedule. After setting it up you can send the team members a link to view the calendar on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.
  • Event invitations with RSVPs: Inviting any guest to an event is easy from the MobileMe Calendar beta. Just add their email address to the event (they don’t have to be a MobileMe member) and your guests will get an invitation email they can respond to directly by clicking a link. Your event then automatically updates, making it easy to track RSVPs right in your calendar.
  • Works on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac: The MobileMe Calendar beta uses the CalDAV standard so you can view and edit your calendars using the built-in calendar applications on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac. Please note that support for PCs with Microsoft Outlook is coming soon.

Finally, I can use the Calendar in MobileMe like I use iCal, which is very exciting. To top it off, I can also use it on my iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. AppleInsider also mentions the requirements for use with your iDevices – “The MobileMe Calendar beta requires users to be running iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch, iOS 3.2 on the iPad, or Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4.”

Apple keeps on adding value to MobileMe with updates like this.  Wonder what they will be rolling out next?  It’s anyone’s guess at this point. I hope to see Apple integrate their still un-announced music streaming with MobileMe.  Are you a MobileMe user?  If you are, do you like the additions that are being made?  Let us know by leaving a comment in the comments section below.

Photo Credit: Thanks

Article Via AppleInsider

I'm a husband, dad of two great kids, and I have a passion for Apple products. I got my first Mac in 2005, and I haven't looked back. I like the simplicity of the Mac, and how does the motto go, oh yeah, It just works. I think that's the great thing about Macs how the hardware and software work harmoniously together. I've also been in the IT industry for over fourteen years. I've worked with everything from Windows computers to Mac computers. I can say I thoroughly enjoy working with Macs.