iTunes 9.1 due soon with ebook support and auto bitrate conversion
It should come as no surprise that iTunes is very likely due for an update this weekend, thanks to the iPad launch. MacRumors has reported on the likely features of iTunes 9.1, with built-in support for ebooks being the most obvious addition to the increasingly misnamed iTunes. According to their source, the current "Audiobooks" entry in iTunes will be replaced with a "Books" section meant to encompass both audiobooks and ebooks. Content management for portables like the iPad and iPhone will also be changed in order to allow users to sync ebook content to their devices more easily.Genius Mixes, the series of auto-generated playlists introduced in iTunes 9, will allow users to have a bit more control over them after the update. Currently the only functionality allowed in the Genius Mix interface is a simple play/pause over the album art; in iTunes 9.1, users will be able to rename mixes and rearrange them by drag-and-drop. You'll also be able to delete unwanted Genius Mixes, and any you decide to hold on to will be available as sources in iTunes DJ. Hopefully this means you'll be able to actually see what's in your Genius Mixes; the current interface is so irritatingly bare-bones that I almost never use it.
One more thing: iPod shuffle users have long had the ability to have iTunes auto-convert songs' bitrates to 128 kbps AAC in order to save space and fit more songs on the device, but this functionality hasn't been offered for other iPods or the iPhone. Reportedly, iTunes 9.1 will finally bring this optional feature to other iPods. Songs in your iTunes library on your Mac or PC will remain at their higher bitrate, but should you choose to do so, you can enable iTunes to convert these songs to a lower (but still quite listenable for most people) bitrate for your portable device. Many are wondering if the iTunes interface will allow you to select a bitrate other than 128 kbps AAC, but my bet is that if iTunes includes this feature at all, it'll be 128 kbps or nothing.
If history is anything to go by, iTunes 9.1.1 will probably come out a week or two later in order to fix the things that iTunes 9.1 is almost certain to break.
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It should come as no surprise that iTunes is very likely due for an update this weekend, thanks to the iPad launch. MacRumors has reported...
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space verses ringtone compromise?
so did the 128 aac auto conversion to get much needed space, but now lost my m4r ringtone (i suspect). iphone 3g has been sync'd twice now and no luck! has it also been converted to aac and is not showing up in sounds settings as an option? can't see a way around it, and don't want those awful defaults.
Wow! what a disappointment. A long sought after feature: down-convert lossless audio files while syncing to an I-device. They missed the mark. The target customer who stores lossless music does so for one reason: you enjoy the fidelity on a home system. For the discriminating ear, 128kbps is too lossy and is a discernable loss of fidelity whether you listen with cheap headphones or quality headphones. You require at least 258kbps for a tolerable music experience. The irony here is that the I-tunes music library was criticized for years because they provided only 128kbps music. Thank goodness they remedied that problem by providing a 256kbps format. Now, they bring that old issue front and center with a limited conversion to the old 128 standard. Oy!
April 02 2010 at 2:40 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySweet, I can't wait to convert all my 128k mp3s to ALAC ;)
March 30 2010 at 8:32 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI hope they allow you to choose your own bitrate, and that it will work with Apple Lossless. Although I choose to rip my most important music in lossless, It would be nice to be able to choose to downconvert to 256 or 320 kpbs when I choose to carry more music on the go.
March 30 2010 at 8:08 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYes, but will 9.1 fix the Podcast Smart Playlist bug on the iPhone? This has been a problem for over a year. In its' latest incarnation the playlist will not appear on the iPhone, even if it is selected, or checked, under the 'Podcasts' tab.
March 30 2010 at 6:38 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIs it possible to buy EBOOKS directly from iTunes and read them on the computer or they are only readable on the iPad?
March 30 2010 at 5:21 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGREAT. After a little math I noticed that at 128kbps I can bring all the songs I like on my iPhone, not half of them, without having to lose compatibility with other MP3 readers. I wonder how long it will take to convert 9.3 days of music. =D Can I borrow your Mac Pro?
March 30 2010 at 4:49 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply64-bit anyone? (Even if only because my OCD irks me when not everything in the list in Activity Monitor reads a uniform "Intel (64 bit)")
March 29 2010 at 9:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyNot til iTunes is rewritten, unfortunately. It's still a carbon app, after all. And then they'd have to make a decision to either start cross-compiling objective C to Windows, or keep the core libraries in C, or maintain two completely separate development groups.
March 30 2010 at 12:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyhow nice it would be to only keep one library! PLEASE let this happen!!!!!
March 29 2010 at 8:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAuto transcoding is a most welcome feature. Now all I need the option of storing audio and video files on separate hard drives.
March 29 2010 at 8:14 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIn fact you can use symbolic links if you still want iTunes to organize the media folder. Just make a symlink called Movies in your iTunes Media folder that points to a folder on another drive.
March 30 2010 at 4:52 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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