By Sam Oliver

Published: 12:00 PM EST (09:00 AM PST)

Apple this morning is sending couriers to fetch and recoup MobileMe retail boxes that were mistakenly delivered early to some customers. Meanwhile, Google has released a streamlined Google Talk messaging client for iPhone and the iPod touch.

MobileMe breaks free a few days early

Around the same time that @me.com email addresses became active for some existing .Mac subscribers, Apple began shipping MobileMe retail boxes to customers who had pre-ordered the service through its online store.

Couriers were apparently asked to hold local delivery until sometime mid-to-late next week, but at least one of them mistakenly began making home deliveries this week.

The MobileMe retail box pictured below was delivered to one customer today. When he called Apple Support because he couldn't activate his service, a rep told him that the box shouldn't have been delivered and that a courier would return to take it back into custody, then redeliver it later.

.Mac customers making the transition to MobileMe should check out AppleInsider's what you need to know guide on moving to the new service.

Users who have not synced their .Mac Web bookmarks to Safari by now should do so immediately, as the service will be discontinued on July 6th. Apple had previously said it would discontinue .Mac Web bookmarks on June 30th, but has extended the deadline for syncing.



Meanwhile, prospective MobileMe subscribers can pre-order a single license MobileMe account from Amazon for $89.99 (a $10 savings) or the Family pack with one individual account plus four Family Member accounts for $134.99 (a $45 savings).

More information on MobileMe is available in this AppleInsider article or at MobileMe.com

Google Talk for iPhone

Also on Thursday, Google released a new streamlined Google Talk web application for the iPhone and iPod touch that's accessible via www.google.com/talk from the mobile version of Safari. Some of the features of the new app are:

Chat with your Google Talk contacts in real time. Send and receive instant messages in chat sessions with your contacts. Move easily between multiple open chats.

View and search for your Google Talk contacts. See the availability and status message of your contacts and change your own status on the go.

Go off the record if you don't want to store your chats. Off the record chats are not stored on Gmail.



Google notes that Google Talk must be open in your Safari browser and you must be logged in to receive instant messages.