Apple iOS 4.2.1: MobileMe going free?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 21 November 2010 13:00

Your IT - Mobility

If MobileMe going free for some iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad owners running iOS 4.2.1 is true, it's a sign that Apple has decided to really ramp things right up in the smartphone wars, matching some competitors and throwing down the gauntlet to others, with who knows what extra iSurprises yet to come?

Like wildfire, the rumour that Apple might start offering free MobileMe service to some iOS 4.2.1 users has raced around the Internet, serving as yet another taste-tempting distraction to iOS 4.2's perennial unavailability.

The discovery comes courtesy of Mac rumourmongers MacRumors, who have a screenshot of text from a 'new private framework  known as AppleAccounts.framework that includes a series of device-specific error messages referring to free MobileMe accounts'.

MacRumors draws attention to statements within the screen shot that refer to "the maximum number of free accounts" for a particular device, and notices about certain unspecified devices not being "qualified for free MobileMe service", along with messages that a 'paid MobileMe account has expired' and 'the MobileMe terms have changed'.

Other telling messages include: 'this account has been disabled', 'MobileMe is not available in your country', 'The Apple ID %@ is missing information for MobileMe setup', 'This iPad is not qualified for free MobileMe service' and 'The identity of this iPhone could not be validated', among others.

This suggests that an existing Apple ID and password will be all that's required to gain MobileMe access - if available for your device and your country.

It also suggests that jailbroken or hacked iDevices may be discoverable by Apple and could be prevented from using any free MobileMe service, thus serving as an additional deterrent to going down the jailbreak path.

If MobileMe does go free, at least for some, it will be all part of Apple's renewed attack against the Android armada of smartphones and smartphone tablets, delivering a consistent, reliable and plentiful smartphone experience, against Android's much more fragmented alternative.

Birds get angry at Android fragmentation... feathers fly page two, please read on!