Apple Adds Features to MobileMe Gallery for iPhone 4

Apple released an update for MobileMe allowing owners of the recently released iPhone 4 to view and download photos on the phone's high resolution Retina display. The update, 1.1.1, also allows users to share photos across MobileMe accounts, as well as features which allow for pinch to zoom and rotate to landscape or portrait mode functionality.

The MobileMe collection of online services and software also keeps mail, contacts, and calendar information in the cloud and uses push technology to keep everything in sync across the iPhone, iPad, Mac computers, PCs, and the Web automatically.

Also included in the MobileMe Gallery update were various bug fixes and access to previous viewed photos when offline. A scrolling sampler at the top of the app gives users access to recent photos, while the app also automatically stores photos the user views. MobileMe also provides the user with an e-mail address that is used only for uploading photos and videos. Apple offers the MobileMe service on a subscription basis; users can sign up for a free 60-day trial. 

Apple also recently updated MobileMe to offer synchronization for the Find My iPhone application, available for free from the App Store. If a user loses an iPhone or iPad while on the go, the app on any other iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can now find it. Users simply sign in with their member name and password to locate the missing device on a map and have it display a message or play a sound. Users can also remotely lock the missing device to protect your privacy, or wipe it to permanently delete all of the data if it seems that it won't be returned.

Earlier this week, Apple announced that it has sold more than 1.7 million of the iPhone 4 smartphones through June 26, just three days after its launch on June 24. Apple CEO Steve Jobs called it the most successful product launch in the company's history and apologized for turning customers away due to lack of supply. While many of Apple's products, including the iPod and recently released iPad routinely run into supply problems, one analyst recently warned a lack of availability could harm sales of the iPhone 4 in the long run.

"While the channel supply issue might not impact total iPhone sales for the entire year, what is happening now certainly has done some damage to the Apple brand," Tina Teng, an analyst with technology research company iSuppli, wrote in a June 29 research note. "Consumers, questioning Apple's supply chain management capability, have started looking for alternative devices. In particular, consumers are not satisfied with Apple's response to the antenna issue causing poor reception and dropped calls."