Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iTS, Software, iTunes, Software Update
Rumor: iTunes 8 to include Genius recommender, grid view, new visualizer
Kevin Rose is at it again, with a brand new round of rumors about iTunes 8, supposedly premiered next week at the big Apple iPod event. Did I miss the meeting where we all declared him king of iPod rumors? King or not, he's got what he claims is inside information, including a writeup about something called the "Genius" sidebar, which creates recommended playlists for you, a new grid view (like Delicious Library?), and a new music visualizer.Additionally, Rose's tipster mentions HD TV shows in the iTMS, and reiterates the previous rumors of new IPod nanos and Touches. None of these things are a huge surprise -- while the Genuis system will certainly be interesting to see (and make fun of) if real, HDTV and the new iPods are old news in Rumorville by now.
Is it OK if we hope for some faster and easier iPhone syncing with a new version of iTunes as well? Whatever is coming next week, we'll find out all about it then.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brandon said 6:23PM on 9-04-2008
I think it would be more than that for a whole version up.
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Jason Stoff said 7:22PM on 9-04-2008
I'm hoping for better resource management on Vista. iTunes runs better on an XP system with less ram, it's saddening, really.
The Genius bar could be interesting, if it was a Pandora-like system.
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Marius said 6:31PM on 9-04-2008
Nah, when they practically skipped from version 5 to 6 in a heart beat, the only thing new was tv shows
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Galley said 6:38PM on 9-04-2008
I want to see a filter bar like Aperture has. There should be an easy way for me to see all high-rated songs from a particular artist.
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mikeyrogers said 7:14PM on 9-04-2008
You can. Just create a Smart Playlist.
Galley said 8:50AM on 9-05-2008
True, but a filter bar would be quicker.
Norman said 6:42PM on 9-04-2008
yeah, faster iphone syncing would be cool, the normal sync is ok, but the backup takes so long i always cancel it so i lost data when the phone crashed a few weeks ago....a real shame.
the other thing is apps that are downloaded but stay in the installing mode for 10 minutes, also really frustrating.
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Tony said 6:50PM on 9-04-2008
Not only does backup take insane amounts of time the restore doesn't work - it just takes you back to the 'setup this iphone' page and the only way out of it is to select 'setup as a new iphone' - thus defeatng the point of the backup!
Apple need to either sort out backups or ditch them entirely.
Ed said 7:13PM on 9-04-2008
Indeed. My backup before the last update took 5 hours. Insane.
LD said 6:50PM on 9-04-2008
Maybe we'll see some improvements to AppleTV since hi-def is coming to iTMS. AppleTV is failing and is in desperate need of some improvements, mostly to service.
Perhaps the rumor of iTunes Unlimited is really related to video a la Netflix style Watch Now subscriptions.
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Tom Johnson said 6:56PM on 9-04-2008
I am not sure what the big deal is with the suggesting of tracks you may enjoy. iTunes already does this, to an extent.
http://flickr.com/photos/tomjohnson1986/2829275816/
Tom
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mare said 6:58PM on 9-04-2008
I have heard from reliable sources within Apple that Apple is going to introduce a new subscription-based service on the US iTunes store, later to be introduced also in other countries. $9.99 per month for all the songs you can eat, and don't want to own. Works on iPods and iPhones.
You read it here first.
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Vince said 9:56PM on 9-04-2008
Or you just pulled all of that out of your ass.
Vince said 9:57PM on 9-04-2008
Or you just pulled that right out of you know where.
(01) said 2:19PM on 9-05-2008
Except for the fact that rumors of this have been circulating for months...you heard it here first my ass.
Zeromaru said 6:59PM on 9-04-2008
The number one feature I'd like to see... REMOVE device syncing from iTunes. iTunes has become so damned overbloated with functions people have forgotten what other programs - most notably iSync - were designed to do. iTunes handling iPods made sense, but now with the iPhone syncing with so many sources that reasoning is gone. I'm also sick of iTunes opening the main window *every* time I plant my iPhone in the dock.
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Rustyjaw said 9:04PM on 9-04-2008
iSync would have been a much better choice, but because iTunes has such a large installed base of Windows users they will probably have to stay with iTunes for all these other non-music features.
mikeyrogers said 7:19PM on 9-04-2008
Capitalizing the "i" in "iPod" and calling the iTS "iTMS"? Come on TUAW, you should be embarrassed.
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Jon said 7:39PM on 9-04-2008
I think the real question is:
what color will the music note be this time?
Orange? Black? Periwinkle?
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Caitlin said 5:05PM on 9-05-2008
What's the deal with people hating the music notes color change, anyway?
It's a classic part of the iTunes updates.