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Filed under: iPod Family, Rumors, iPhone

Rumors: Apple working on iTunes controller for iPhone


An anonymous tipster tells TUAW that according to code found in the latest firmware release, Apple is working on a new iPhone application called iControl. Like Apple TV and other remote controllers, it would allow the iPhone to connect wirelessly to local iTunes libraries and browse through and play media from those sources.

TUAW is told that a media navigator will allow you to view videos, play podcasts, listen to music and even support shuffle playback. The screenshot shown here shows some of the localizable strings for the iPhone-based application. There's obviously no timeline for release, but since the SDK event back in February, it's been rumored that Apple would release some official iPhone apps of their own, and iControl might be the first.

Update: The data is so thin on the ground that it's hard to respond to readers who have asked whether this will be a "Back to my iTunes" application. Just having local Bonjour support wouldn't be all that useful. Apparently a screenshot of the bundle (not apparently a real application) here

Filed under: iLife, Software, Cool tools, Productivity

iPhoto Library Manager 3.3 brings iPhoto '08 compatibility, more



Whether you have a good reason for wanting to maintain more than one iPhoto library or your collection simply became un-browsable long ago, Brian Webster's iPhoto Library Manager is your answer. This slick little utility was mentioned briefly in an Ask TUAW back in May, but to summarize: iPhoto Library Manager makes it painfully simple to create multiple iPhoto libraries, keep them anywhere you want, automate them with AppleScript and Automator, switch between them with a single click and even set one library as the default. But it doesn't stop there - the features I've already listed are available in a free version, but registered users get to enjoy the ability to create library shortcuts for opening straight from the Finder, copying photos (and preserving all their metadata) between libraries, merging libraries and copying photos from multiple libraries into a folder for synching with an iPod. To top all this off, the new v3.3 brings iPhoto '08 compatibility and some other goodies.

What does it cost for this multiple iPhoto library goodness? To gain the more powerful features and give Webster his due, iPhoto Library Manager costs a mere $19.95 from Fat Cat Software.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Tips and tricks, iTunes, Open Source

Scrobblepod hooks your iPod up with Last.fm



I haven't gotten into social music database Last.fm much, mostly (I'm ashamed to say) because I'm worried about some of my musical guilty pleasures being browsable by the Internet audience at large. Also, because I listen to my music in all kinds of ways, not just simply through iTunes.

One of those ways, of course, is my iPod, and if you've been trying to figure out how to get your iTunes listens scrobbled into Last.fm, worry no more: Scrobblepod is here to save the day. It's a go-between for iTunes and Last.fm, and allows you to sync your iPod listens up with Last.fm before your iTunes listens get entered, ensuring everything gets listed just fine. Now, people will be able to see that you've listened to Mamma Mia whether it's on your iPod or your iTunes install.

Of course, I still haven't seen a way to track the other way I listen to my music-- I keep all my actual music files on my Powerbook, and share them directly to my desktop through iTunes. That way, I have access to my music no matter where I take my laptop. Unfortunately, neither iTunes or Last.fm treats listens through shared libraries as if they were "real" plays, so no matter how many times I listen to that Timberlake Justice remix, it'll never show up on my "Recently Played" list, or in Last.fm.

But anyway, my problems are complicated. If all you want to do is track your iPod listens into Last.fm, Scrobblepod's got you covered.

Filed under: iPod Family, Tips and tricks, iTunes

Add music to auto-synced iPods from any Mac (photos and videos, too)

At last, the chains that bind an auto-synced iPod have been broken; or at least, this is the first time I've heard of such a simple hint for adding music (and possibly photos and video) to an iPod already bound to another computer's library. Mac OS X Hints has a surprisingly simple tip for accomplishing this: all you need to do is select and expand the iPod icon in the left Sources menu, then simply drag from the Finder whatever new music you want to add onto the main list of music, *not* the iPod in the list. This can be useful especially for those who have separate libraries on two machines (example: one for work and another for home), since the only other simple alternative is to set the iPod for manually managing your music, which then doesn't allow you to sync some metadata like ratings and comments or tags. Oh what a twisted music management web Apple weaves.

A commenter at Mac OS X Hints says they can add photos and videos using this method as well, but I unfortunately don't have a second machine to try this out on right now. Anyone in the audience care to give it a go?

Filed under: Audio, iLife, Software, Cool tools, Tips and tricks, iTunes

Access iPhoto and iTunes libraries with a simple Automator action

You could also file this under "fantastic Automator actions that Apple should've advertised when Tiger was being released."

A post at macosxhints has discovered a simple Automator action you can use to open panel containing your entire iPhoto or iTunes library (pictured), complete with albums/playlists, DnD and even search abilities. This is for all those times you groan at having to start iPhoto just to grab an image or two. Bonus points for the iTunes library action: songs are playable from this panel.

Check out the macosxhints post for the drop-dead simple 3-step process (it's really only two steps) for creating this handy panel.

Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, Internet Tools, iTunes

Libraries loaning out iPods and cataloging iTunes

Playlist's Mathew Honan has penned an interesting article about more and more libraries turning to iTunes and iPods for a number of reasons. While this topic has been covered fairly heavily, Mathew's article takes a new angle: DRM.

You see, libraries have to serve two masters: the public that wants information, and the content providers who don't like the idea of having a CD in a library where hundreds of people can use the same CD (without having to buy a copy themselves).

Worth a look, if you are at all interested in DRM or the future of libraries.

[via Library Stuff]

Filed under: Audio, iPod Family, Multimedia, Software, Video, Cool tools, iTunes

iPod.iTunes offers song and playlist synchronizing

Now here's a novel idea: keeping songs and playlists synchronized between Macs. While it's possible to do it manually, or with jury-rigging your favorite backup system, I really think Apple should offer a far better, OS X-injected way of doing this.

Enter iPod.iTunes, an app that tries to fill this gap by using the already established iTunes and iPod system, offering 8 different ways to synchronize playlists and songs between your Macs. It offers a fairly robust feature set for customizing the syncing process, but the obvious catch here is that - in my understanding - what you synchronize is limited to the size of your iPod. I haven't given this a real shot yet as I have a 30 GB library of music and only a 4 GB nano, but this sounds like one of the best solutions I've seen for keeping multiple iTunes libraries in sync thus far.

[via MacNN]

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