What will replace mobileme

But in a pinch, there are two main options. If Found allows you to display a message on your lock screen, so that you can provide contact information if someone finds your iPhone.

This can be a major headache-preventer: It means you still get the security of locking your iPhone, and if someone finds your phone they can notify rather than just having to turn it to some nearby location.

It allows you to push alarms and messages to your phone, and it has GPS functionality. The initial download is free, but its service is sold as a subscription. The Mac Security Blog. Search for:. With this software installed, you can easily sync files between your computers and an online storage area.

DropBox sets up a single folder the eponymous DropBox whose contents are automatically mirrored between your Mac and the DropBox servers. SpiderOak and SugarSync let you designate one or more existing folders to behave in the same way. In all three cases, new or modified files are uploaded automatically as soon as a change is detected in the folder s.

All three services offer file sharing and synching; SugarSync and DropBox also let you upload or delete files from a Web browser. Use an Exchange Server The iPhone fully supports Exchange accounts, which provide push e-mail, contact, and calendar updates. If your organization uses, or is willing to set up, one of these packages, you can avoid signing up for a separate Exchange hosting package.

Use NuevaSync NuevaSync is a free online service that offers over-the-air push syncing of contacts and calendars between your iPhone or iPod touch and Google Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar , Plaxo for contacts only , or both. The second consideration isn't as urgent or as simple: What will you use instead of iWeb, Gallery, and iDisk? Apple offers virtually no guidance here, so I'll have to do it myself. Between now and June 30 I'll write several columns about third-party alternatives to iWeb, Gallery and iDisk.

I haven't made my choices yet, but I am looking at several options for each category. More specifically, I'm trying visual website building software like RapidWeaver and Sandvox to replace iWeb; at photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Picasa and Facebook to replace my beloved Gallery; and online storage services such as Dropbox and SugarSync to serve as an iDisk replacement.

I will report on my experiences with these products and more and then recommend replacements for the soon-to-be-deceased MobileMe services. But I need your help. Chris Foresman Chris is an Associate Writer at Ars Technica, where he has spent the last five years writing about Apple, smartphones, digital photography, and patent litigation, among other topics.

Email chris. Channel Ars Technica.