Apple's DotMac to become super mobile synching service?

The Apple rumor mill is buzzing about a possible relaunch of online-service package .Mac at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference next week in San Francisco.

Apple has already announced over-the-air push synching of email, contacts and calendars in iPhone 2.0, to be launched next week at WWDC -- but only for Microsoft Exchange users. It seems likely Apple will launch a free service to synch data over the 3G network supported by the new phone. The new service, possibly called Mobile Me, would further expand Apple's reach into mobility and portable devices, building upon the foundation established by January's launch of the MacBook Air, the iPod Touch and iPhone.

Rumors of a .Mac namechange got a shot in the arm this week when hackers noticed Apple had made some changes to the way Mac OS X handles the word ".Mac". In the prior version, the word ".Mac" was hard-coded into the OS. In the latest edition, the placeholder "%@" is used, allowing for the name to be changed with the proverbial flip of the switch.

Launched originally as iTools in 2000, .Mac is a set of online services offered for $99/year to Mac users. Subscribers get a @mac.com email address, personal webhosting, online file storage and -- perhaps most importantly for this rumor -- online backup and synching of data between Macs.

Calendar dates, Address Book entries, bookmarks, and mail account information are all backed up to the service and, if the user has multiple Macs, synced between them. All this information is also shared with the iPhone when the device is plugged into a home computer -- but not over-the-air.

Given the extensive sleuthing on the Mobile Me name, it is all but certain that .Mac is being revamped, but whether it will be free, ad-supported (we can't see Steve Jobs putting ugly ads anywhere near Apple.com) or remain a premium service -- and what services will be offered -- will likely remain up in the air until Jobs goes on stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco next Monday.

(Photo by arquera)

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