iTunes 10.6

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Apple recently released iTunes 10.6 whihc adds the ability to play 1080p HD movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store. This release also includes improvements for iTunes Match, including: improved song matching, improved album artwork handling, downloading and display. The new iTunes version also addresses an issue where songs may skip when playing from iCloud.  For information on the security content of this update, see: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222. So have you upgraded to the new iTunes. Let us know what you think.

25 Billion Apps Downloaded from the App Store

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Apple announced today that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store. The 25 billionth app downloaded was a free app called, Where's My Water? It was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu received a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. Chunli, you lucky person! The App Store currentlyoffers more than 550,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in 123 countries around the world. Wow that's incredible Apple! So what's you favourite App, let us know?

Discounted iTunes Gift Cards from Select Stores

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Rather than using my credit card to pay for songs and apps on iTunes I usually use discounted gift cards. At the moment select stores are selling $50 iTunes gift cards for $45. To apply an iTunes gift card to your account, go to the iTunes Store and on the home page select the Redeem link from the Quick Links menu on the top right of the page. When prompted, enter the redeem code and your balance should be increased. Hopefully, you have a store in your area selling these discounted gift cards. That's a 10% discount on songs and apps. Let me know if you have come across other iTunes discounts out there?

iTunes 12 Days of Christmas

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Received an email from iTunes early this morning promoting iTunes 12 Days of Christmas which starts today and ends January 6. Each day you can download a free gift from the iTunes Store. The offer includes a selection of songs, music videos, apps, books, movies and TV episodes. The cool thing is the first free gift is an exclusive EP from Coldplay which is my favourite group. The free download includes three songs, three music videos and iTunes LP. The offer is available for 24 hours only, until midnight (ET) today, so hurry up and download it. Can't wait to see what the free download is for tomorrow. Thank you Apple and thank you iTunes. Apparently, the offer is only available in Canada and some parts of Europe. So have you downloaded the free gift?

Become DRM-Free with iTunes Match

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Yesterday, iTunes 10.5.1 was released that included iTunes Match which enables you to store your entire music library in iCloud. You can then download your music to any of your Apple devices. As a side effect of iTunes Match you can become DRM-free and also combine music purchases from mutliple Apple IDs under one Apple ID you use to login to the iTunes Store and iCloud across your devices.

Your iTunes music library typically contains DRM-free songs purchased from iTunes (one or more Apple IDs), songs you ripped from CDs and DRM protected songs you previously purchased pre DRM-free days. With iTunes Match you can have iTunes determine which songs in your collection are available in the iTunes Store. Any music with a match is automatically added to iCloud for you to listen to anytime, on any device.

As a side effect if you delete a song from your library that is DRM protected or of a lower quality than the iTunes Store you can re-download the song again as a DRM-free 256-kbps AAC file. In addition the file ownership is transferred to the Apple ID you use to login to iCloud and the Apple Store. You now essentially have DRM-free, 256-kbps AAC file quality songs under a single Apple ID for $24.99 a year which you can unsubscribe from after you have re-downloaded all your music. That's pretty cool!

iTunes 10.5.1

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Today, Apple released a new update of iTunes 10.5.1. It introduces iTunes Match, which can store your entire music library in iCloud, including music you’ve imported from CDs. You can now enjoy your collection anywhere, anytime, on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, computer, or Apple TV. The current version of iTunes 10.5 also includes:

  • iTunes in the Cloud which stores your music and TV purchases in iCloud and makes them available on your devices anywhere, any time, at no additional cost. 
  • Automatic Downloads where music purchased from any device or computer can be automatically downloaded to your other Mac and iOS devices. 
  • Downloads of previous purchases where you can download your past music, TV, app, and book purchases again, at no additional cost. However, previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store. 
  • Wi-Fi Syncing which automatically syncs your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes any time they’re both on the same Wi-Fi network. For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

iTunes 10.5 Update

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Apple today release iTunes 10.5 which has been upgraded to work in conjunction with the official release of iCloud tomorrow. According to Apple with iTunes in the Cloud, the music you download to one device automatically appears on all your devices. So the song you buy from your Mac at work is ready and waiting for you on your iPhone when it’s time to drive home. Regardless of where you click or tap Buy, iTunes will automatically download your new songs, apps, and books to your other devices over Wi-Fi or 3G.

In addition the new iTunes supports iTunes Match, where songs you’ve imported from CDs can be stored in iCloud. And you can play them on any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC — whenever you want and wherever you are, without syncing. iTunes Match is just $24.99 a year. iTunes determines which songs in your collection are available in the iTunes Store. Any music with a match is automatically added to your iCloud library for you to listen to anytime, on any device. Since there are more than 19 million songs in the iTunes Store, chances are, your music is already in iCloud. And for the few songs that aren’t, iTunes has to upload only what it can’t match. Which is much faster than starting from scratch. Once your music is in iCloud, you can stream and store it to any of your devices. Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality. This is pretty cool, so are you ready to sign up for iTunes Match?

iTunes 10.2.2 Update

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Apple released iTunes 10.2.2 which provides a number of important bug fixes. The new iTunes update addresses an issue where iTunes may become unresponsive when syncing an iPad. It resolves an issue which may cause syncing photos with iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to take longer than necessary. It also fixes a problem where video previews on the iTunes Store may skip while playing. Best of all the new iTunes update addresses issues that improve stability and performance. This has always been Apple's software development foresight in addressing stability and performance regularly in updates.

Tunes 10.2 came with several new features and improvements, including:

  • Syncing your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.
  • Improved iTunes Home Sharing where you can browse and play from your iTunes libraries on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.
For information on the security content of this update, you can visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

iOS 4.2

Apple today released its latest major update to the iPhone Operating System called iOS 4.2. One of the major new features is AirPlay which is a new feature for streaming music, video and photos wirelessly from iPad, iPhone and iPod touch to Apple TV. This is a very cool feature! So have you downloaded iOS 4.2? Let us know your experience with it. Here is the official release from Apple:

CUPERTINO, California—November 22, 2010—Apple® today announced that iOS 4.2, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, is available today for download for iPad™, iPhone® and iPod touch®. iOS 4.2 brings over 100 new features from iOS 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 to iPad including Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay® and AirPrint.

“iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

iPad users can now run their favorite apps and switch between them instantly, while preserving iPad’s legendary battery life. Users can organize their apps with drag-and-drop simplicity using Folders, and Mail now features a Unified Inbox, fast inbox switching and a threaded message view.

Game Center allows iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users to challenge and play friends or be matched automatically with new opponents, showcase their scores and achievements, and discover new games their friends are playing.

AirPlay is a new feature for streaming music, video and photos wirelessly from iPad, iPhone and iPod touch to Apple TV®, transforming Apple TV into a great accessory for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. iOS users also will be able to use AirPort Express® and AirPlay to stream wirelessly to any stereo or powered speakers, or directly to AirPlay-enabled speakers coming to market in the months ahead.

AirPrint is a next-generation Wi-Fi print architecture that dramatically simplifies printing by completely eliminating printer drivers. A selection of AirPrint enabled printers including the HP Photosmart, HP LaserJet Pro and HP Officejet will be the first to support printing direct from iOS devices. iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to any printer that supports AirPrint.

The Find My iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch) feature is now free to use without a MobileMe℠ subscription and helps you locate your missing device.* The Find My iPhone app is a free download on the App Store℠ and lets users easily locate a missing device on a map and have it display a message or play a sound. Users can even remotely lock or wipe data from a lost device to protect privacy.

Other new features that iOS 4.2 brings to the iPad include: the ability to rent TV episodes directly to iPad using the iTunes® App with a 30 day viewing window and a 48 hour session window once playback is started; the ability to easily find and highlight specific words and phrases on web pages in Safari®; enhanced enterprise support so businesses can take advantage of stronger security features, new device management capabilities and improved enterprise integration; industry-leading accessibility enhancements; and support for 25 additional languages, including Korean, Portuguese and Traditional Chinese.

The revolutionary iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. You can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, using the innovative Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPad weighs just 1.5 pounds, making it easy to carry and use anywhere.

Today, customers have downloaded more than seven billion apps from the groundbreaking App Store and more than 300,000 apps are available to consumers in 90 countries, with more than 40,000 native iPad apps. Over 125 million iOS users around the world can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.

Availability
The iOS 4.2 update is available today to download to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch by syncing the device with iTunes 10.1. iOS 4.2 is compatible with iPad, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, second and third generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) and new iPod touch. Some features may not be available on all products. For example, Multitasking requires iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) or later.

iTunes 10.0.1 Update

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With the recently release iTunes 10, Apple released a Facebook like feature for music enthusiasts called Ping. iTunes 10.0.1 builds on Ping and now makes it easier to share your favorite music with friends. You can now Like or Post about music right from your iTunes library. Using the new Ping Sidebar, you can also easily see the recent activity of a selected artist in your library or all artists and friends you follow. The iTunes 10.0.1 Software Update also fixes a number of important bug fixes, including: addressing an issue where the picture quality of a video changes depending on whether the on-screen controls are visible, resolving an issue where iTunes may unexpectedly quit while interacting with album artwork viewed in a separate window, fixing a problem that affects the performance of some third-party visualizers, addressing an issue where the iTunes library and playlists appear empty and resolving an issue that created an incompatibility with some third-party shared libraries.

iTunes 10

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Apple recently released iTunes 10 which comes with many new features and improvements. iTunes 10 has a number of new features including the newly created Ping which is like Facebook specific for music. You can use Ping to follow your favorite artists and friends or connect with other music fans around the world to discover the music everyone is talking about, listening to, and downloading. With the new iTunes 10 you can now play music wirelessly from iTunes on your Mac with AirPlay to any AirPlay-enabled speakers, home theater receivers, and iPod accessories. Very cool!

iTunes 9.2.1 Update

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Apple released iTunes 9.2.1 today which provides a number of important bug fixes. Don't wait to apply this update as it is a stability update especially with new devices like iPhone 4 and the iPad being recently added. The update includes: disabling older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins, addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items, addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2, addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups and addresses other issues that improve stability and performance.

iTunes 9.2 comes with several new features and improvements, including:

  • Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on-the-go
  • Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1
  • Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4
  • Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes
  • Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4
  • Album artwork improvements make artwork appear more quickly when exploring your library

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

iTunes 9.1.1 Update

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Apple released iTunes 9.1.1 which provides a number of important bug fixes. We always welcome bug fixes that address stability and performance. The update includes fixes that:
  • Address several stability issues with VoiceOver
  • Address a usability issue with VoiceOver and Genius Mixes
  • Address issues with converting songs to 128 kbps AAC while syncing
  • Address other issues that improve stability and performance

If you have not upgraded to iTunes 9.1, you should, as it comes with many new features and improvements, including:
  • Syncing with iPad so you can enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on the go
  • Organizing and syncing books you've downloaded from iBooks on iPad or added to your iTunes library
  • Renaming, rearranging, or removing Genius Mixes

iTunes 9.1 Gets Ready for the iPad

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The current version of iTunes is v9.0.3. Apple has just released iTunes 9.1 to support the upcoming iPad which is available April 3rd. iTunes 9.1 comes with several new features and improvements, including:
  • Syncing your Mac with your iPad to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on the go.
  • Organizing and syncing books you've downloaded from iBooks on iPad or added to your iTunes library.
  • Renaming, rearranging, or removing Genius Mixes.
The changes can be seen under the Library menu where previously the menu items Audiobooks and Applications have now been changed to just Books and Apps. So have you bought the new iPad and downloaded the latest iTunes 9.1?