MobileMe has become a virtual Swiss Army knife of online services, offering not only a whizzy new "push" data syncing service for tracking calendar, contact, and bookmark info on a variety of devices, but also email services, online storage and file sharing, Web hosting, and much more. To help you make the most of your $99-per-year MobileMe subscription, we've just released the 112-page "Take Control of MobileMe," by Joe Kissell.

Joe starts out by helping you understand MobileMe's features and get set up, and then he dives into the details of real-life projects. In particular, he focuses on syncing - what to expect, what kinds of data besides calendar and contact information can sync, handling problems, and more. The ebook also examines:

• Various ways to use an iDisk for storing and sharing files
• Accessing and updating calendar and contact data on the MobileMe site
• Using the Gallery feature (alone or via iLife '08) to publish photos and movies
• Publishing a Web site to MobileMe's servers
• Enabling Back to My Mac in order to access one of your Macs from another
• Using MobileMe email, via its Web interface, Apple Mail, and an iPhone or iPod touch

You'll also learn what Backup, Apple's free backup software that comes with MobileMe, can and can't do, and get advice on whether it's a good choice for you, especially when compared with Leopard's Time Machine.

This ebook is effectively the third edition of "Take Control of .Mac," and if you own that ebook you should already have received an email message with a free download link or a discount, depending on when you purchased it. If our mail didn't arrive, open the PDF of the latest version of that ebook and click the Check for Updates link on the cover to learn more.

Also, we've just updated Glenn Fleishman's "Take Control of Back to My Mac" to version 1.1. It's a free update for anyone who already owns it; click your Check for Updates link in that book. If you don't own it, you can buy it together with "Take Control of MobileMe" at a discount.