Apple has announced (http://www.apple.com/ipad/mobileme/) iPad support for MobileMe, the company's US$99-per-year suite of Internet tools.

MobileMe delivers push email, push contacts and push calendars from the MobileMe service in the “cloud” to native applications on the iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs. MobileMe also provides a suite of ad-free web applications that deliver a desktop-like experience through any modern browser. MobileMe apps include Mail, Contacts and Calendar, as well as Gallery for viewing and sharing photos and iDisk for storing and exchanging documents online.

Apple says the service now syncs with iPad. And it offers a feature that lets you locate your iPad if you misplace it. Log in to me.com to view a map that shows the approximate location of your iPad. If it’s nearby, have it play a sound to help you find it, or display a message on the Home screen...

While everyone else has been distracted by the iPhone and that newfangled iPad, the Second Gear crew has been hard at work giving love to a dedicated group of Mac users who haven't felt the love lately: the Classic Mac diehards.  

Second Gear has released Today 2 (http://www.secondgearsoftware.com/today-classic/), which lets you keep track of what's on your plate for any given day without keeping Now Up-to-Date & Contact open all the time. Today syncs with Now Up-to-Date & Contact and your life's agenda so daily events and tasks are always available via one, convenient little interface.

It costs US$21.95. Upgrades from version 1.x are $11.95. A demo is available for download.

Ambrosia Software has updated WireTap Anywhere (http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/utilities/wta/) -- a low latency audio tool that lets you take the audio output from any Mac application or hardware input device and bring it into your favorite audio recording application -- to version 1.0.7. The upgrade adds several fixes and enhancements.

You can create and edit all of your WireTap Anywhere devices from System Preferences. Once your devices are created, just change the input within your favorite audio application, and you're ready to monitor, process, and record.

With WireTap Anywhere you can mix any combination of applications and input devices into a single, logical device. Select the software or hardware inputs you want, and WireTap Anywhere will handle the rest.

WireTap Anywhere is Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. It requires...

Big Nerd Ranch Europe -- a provider of Cocoa and Cocoa touch developer training for the Mac, iPhone and iPad -- has announced a new date for its iPhone Bootcamp near Frankfurt, Germany: May 17 - 21, 2010.

The class, covering iPhone and iPad programming, is taught by Scott Ritchie, who has 20 years background in Objective-C and Cocoa (touch) programming. The class is held at the historic former monastery "Kloster Eberbach." This class is for every programmer who likes to get a kick-start in iPhone and iPad development.

One price covers five days of intensive iPhone and iPad training, lodging for five days, all meals, original instruction materials, 24-hour lab access, and transportation to and from the Frankfurt airport (FRA). Students signing up before April 12, 2010 apply for the early bird price and save Euro 200 off the price of €2800.

Mac OS X, Safari and iPhone market share for Internet usage rose from February to March, according to the latest market share survey from NetMarketShare (http://www.netmarketshare.com).

According to the report, among operating systems, Mac OS X had 5.33% of the global market share in March, compared to 5.02% in February (that's global market share; in the US it's almost 10 %). Windows remains dominant with 91.58% as of March. That's down from 92.12% in February. Apple's highest percentage previously was 5.27% in October 2009, so March's number is an all-time high.

When it comes to browsers, Safari had 4.65% in March, while Internet Explorer had 60.65% Firefox had 24.52% and Chrome had 6.13%. That compares to, respectively, February percentages of 61.58, 24.23 and 5.61%, for the browsers.

The iPhone's market share also rose, according to Net Applications. The Apple device had 0....

The latest edition of "MacNotables" (http://www.macnotables.com/wordpress/), a podcast that serves as home to Mac personalities who will comment on the latest news and opinions in the Mac community, is available.

Security expert Rich Mogull discusses the wave of spam email messages that purport to be Apple order confirmations for iPads, apps and more. He shares his advice on how to avoid getting caught in this trap and other similar receipt email schemes, and outlines some ways to practice safer computing for online banking by using dedicated or virtual machines. Mogull also helps make sense of some of the security-related headlines relating to Apple software vulnerabilities, and the hacking of Macs, iPhones, and virtually all other platforms.

"MacNotables" panelists include Christopher Breen, Bryan Chaffin, Jim Dalrymple, Adam Engst, Tonya Engst, Andy Ihnatko, Joiner,...

On the new "MacVoices" (http://www.macvoices.com), Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus -- one of the privileged very few who received an iPad for early review -- provides his thoughts on the new Apple product.

He discusses what made the biggest impression on him out of the box, what he's already discovered about casual usability, and his positive experiences with the iPad's on-screen keyboard. LeVitus also talks about what came with his iPad, and what didn't, his app experiences, games, books ... even the quality of Apple's iPad case are all covered in the first look at a production iPad.

"MacVoices" is an Internet show and podcast that delivers in-depth discussions with the most influential people in the Mac industry, as well as "the individuals who are out there making it happen on the front lines of the global Apple community," according to host Chuck Joiner.

Hard Candy Cases is shipping the first line of protective sleeves for the iPad, with four additional models scheduled to ship in the next several weeks. There's a video of the cases at http://tinyurl.com/HCCBubbleShell that details the production process of the first Bubble Sleeves.

“We wanted to create a case that had more style and protection than the typical neoprene sleeve," says Hard Candy Cases CEO Tim Hickman. "We took it a step further by custom molding rubber feet inside the case that add 2-3x the drop protection, and which allowed us to start manufacturing the casing earlier."

Crafted with detailed stitching and zipper, the EVA molded, rigid Bubble Sleeve features shock absorbing fitted rubber bumpers to keep the iPad securely in place. A soft, padded interior lining protects the Multi-Touch display. The Bubble Sleeve is available in green, pink and black and retails...

According to a new poll conducted by ORC (http://www.opinionresearch.com), an Infogroup Company, the vast majority of US consumers (71%) are familiar with Apple’s iPad. Six percent plan on buying one within a year, equating to a sale of about seven million units, and 1% said they will purchase one as soon as it becomes available, which would translate to a sale of approximately one million units.

The findings in ORC’s survey correspond closely with market analyst predictions that five million iPads will be sold in 2010. Based on the results of ORC’s research, it is clear that a significant number of tech-hungry consumers are interested in an iPad in the short-term, but what does this mean for the long-term success of the product?

“Adoption of new technologies is often a slow and gradual process,” says Kevin Wood, vice president and senior analyst with ORC’s technology practice. “It...

OCRKit (http://ocrkit.com/), a text recognition app for Mac O X 10.4 or higher, has been updated to version 1.1. The new version adds support for new OCR languages: Polish, Russian, Turkish.

There's also control for color detection. Additionally, version 1.1 improves automatic color detection and the embedding of certain image files.

OCRKit transforms images and PDF files into searchable PDFs. With built-in OCR it allows for editable PDF files via drag and drop. And you can find 'em with the Mac's built-in Spotlight desktop search.

OCRKKit comes with support for several OCR languages, including English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, and even more user-interface translations: English, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified-Chinese and Traditional-Chinese. It's designed for Intel Macs only.

OCRKit costs approximately US$56, though...

Here are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod/iPad apps announced. You can find 'em at the Apple App Store (http://www.itunes.com/appstore/).

"It's About Time Products" has announced mini apps -- an iPad application which allows you to access and utilize multiple "mini apps" with different, customizable types of information. It will be available soon at a special launch price of $0.99.

Digital comic book distributor and software provider iVerse Media has unveiled the latest version of iVerse Comics. The free app will run on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices. Long time users of iVerse Comics will have the ability to download new, high resolution, iPad files of their previously in-app-purchased comics at no additional cost.

Onederr has released SF Way 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch users who live in or visit San Francisco.The app (free for a limited time) is packed with...

OneSpring has released an updated version of the visualization templates for Apple-branded mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch and, now, the iPad. It offers a way to define software projects from mainframes to web sites to mobile applications.

The iPhone and iPad simDK gives business analysts and user experience professionals a way to quickly prototype the look, feel and behavior of iPad applications, including screen transitions, typing, sliding, etc., before any code is written, according ot Robert Grashius, chief visualization officer for OneSpring. This approach clarifies requirements, saves time during product ideation, and speeds up delivery of applications, he adds.

The iPhone & iPad SimDK is offered by OneSpring at no cost and is available for immediate download by visiting onespring.net. It requires iRise 7.3 or above. iRise is an enterprise visualization solution.