File this one under AYFKMWTS (are you freaking kidding me with this stuff?): a Gizmodo reader, aggravated with an unacceptably high rate of dropped calls on his iPhone, took it to a New York City Apple Store to have it checked for issues. The call dump statistics revealed a 22% drop rate on calls, which most of us would call "wicked awful" -- but not Apple and AT&T.

No, in this particular case the Genius told our hapless iPhone owner that he should count himself lucky, as Apple's baseline stat for dropped calls in NYC is a blistering thirty percent. Yes, almost one in three calls on an iPhone in the Big Apple will end with frustration, and that's just OK with everyone.

Well, not with us. Combined with the "five bars, no calls" dead zones and mysterious "call failed" issues, it must be said: this phone is not getting it done when it comes to the whole phone thing, at least on AT&T's network in the city that never sleeps. Or, for that matter, makes an uninterrupted cell call.

[via Engadget]

One of the first surprises out of today's Apple event, other than Steve Jobs appearing on stage again (!!!), was the announcement that iPhone OS 3.1 and iPod touch OS 3.1.1 were available. We're still waiting for the download to complete, so this won't be a hands-on review, but we do want you to know what the new features of 3.1 are:

• Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
• iTunes U content organization
• Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
• Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
• Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
• Option to Save as new clip when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
• Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
• Remotely lock iPhone with passcode via MobileMe
• Use Voice COntrol on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
• Paste phone numbers into the keypad
• Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
• Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
• Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
• Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

There's now also a App Store Genius function, which will recommend Apps based on your purchase history. The Genius of Apple also extends to iTunes, which will now create up to 12 playlists for you based on what's in your library. You can now purchase and download ringtones from your iPhone, and organize apps in iTunes.

Apple's security info page will be listing the security content of the OS updates shortly. The new versions include 10 security fixes, including patches for SMS vulnerabilities, Exchange passcode lock workarounds, and Unicode character spoofing flaws.

We'll have a hands-on review later!

Yesterday we told you about iTunes being updated to version 8.1. We went over the features, and you dutifully downloaded it. Then we started hearing from readers (thanks, by the way) about some features missing from the update. What missing features you may ask?

Oh, like the Genius suggestions for movie and TV shows. Well, you weren't dreaming it. Those features didn't make it into the version released yesterday and Apple has changed the release notes and their web site to reflect it.

It's kind of bad to mess up on a feature called 'genius' but the other changes all seem to be there. Plus, iTunes is faster for sure.

Stay tuned for the next iTunes update and we'll see if the 'genius' sneaks back in as fast as he snuck out.

Love it or hate it, Genius is the marquee feature of iTunes 8. Basically, it creates playlists based upon a single song in your library. iPhone and iPod touch firmware 2.1 added it to those devices, and it has worked well in my experience. Here's how you can have your iPhone or iPod touch generate a Genius playlist for you (Note that you must sync with iTunes 8 to get the Genius icon on your iPhone/iPod touch).

First, touch "Playlists." You'll see the "Genius" option at the top of the list. Tap that, and a new window appears. From there, touch the song you want to be the basis for the playlist. Your iPod will work for a second, generate the list and immediately begin playing the first track.

While it plays, tap the screen to bring up the familiar progress bar. You'll notice the Genius icon is displayed, indicating that it's working on a Genius playlist.

Touch the back button to refresh the list (force the iPod to make new choices) or create a new one. You can also save the playlist from here. Note that Genius playlists are named for the original target track.

You can view screenshots of the process in the gallery below.

Shh. Don't tell anyone. My iTunes Genius is tone deaf. When I selected "Man of Constant Sorrow" as my "seed" song, My Genius actually suggested "America, F**k [sic] Yeah" and "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)" at the store. The proper genre, or at least the genre I was looking for, was "Rockin' Bluegrass", not "Obscure Movie Themes". Bzzt. Let's try again.

Next, I tried "Funiculi Funicula" by Pavarotti, a song I knew was in the store. I was told "Genius is unavailable" for that song. Please choose another song or artist. A few more tries revealed that I needed to focus on pop music, not classical or obscure. Well enough. But then I got the same error message for the Beatles' "Long and Winding Road." You know them, a mildly popular band of the 1960s, known for not being sold through iTunes but otherwise not an unthinkable choice in a modern playlist.

Success finally followed for Alison Krauss' "Down to the River to Pray". My genius matched me up with Queen's "Bicycle Race", the Wreckers' "Rain" and Billy Joel's "Say Goodbye to Hollywood." These are not exactly groupings that I would have picked myself. Listening through to the playlist hit home how jarring those selections were.

I expect the Genius feature will only improve, especially as Apple big brothers all our personal music collections but for now I'm so totally not dropping Last.fm any time soon.

How's Genius working for you? Are your playlists sublime or just strange? Let us know in the comments.

Released today, iTunes 8 is the most recent and advanced iteration of Apple's media management and playback software. iTunes 8 includes a new Genius recommendation engine, new visualizers, a new grid view, and new terms and conditions.

The Genius engine recommends other songs you might enjoy, based on a song you've selected in iTunes. If you have a diverse range of music, iTunes does a pretty good job of finding the "mood" of your selected song, and generating a playlist of songs that fit with that mood. Plus, it kicks off the playlist with the song you selected.

When you first use the Genius system, you must agree to its terms and conditions, and then it gathers information about the songs in your iTunes library. This took about three minutes on my 2.8GHz Intel iMac and my 2,100-song library. It then sends that information to Apple and builds a profile based on your likes and dislikes. You can then use the Genius Sidebar, which appears to the right of your playlist.

At Apple's "Let's Rock" event today, they unveiled the newest version of iTunes: version 8. The rumors were mostly right: iTunes 8 includes a new feature called "Genius" that allows you to "rediscover your iTunes music." Genius works by matching music with your listening tastes. The Genius interface looks similar to iPhoto and works similar to Pandora (or Last.fm).

iTunes 8 will be a free update later today, and we'll have more about it then. Stay tuned to TUAW as we provide coverage of Apple's "Let's Rock" event.

Last night, Apple offered up the iPod touch 2.1 firmware early for iPod touch owners (iPhone owners will have to wait until Friday). Not much has changed since the 2.0 firmware, but Apple did add some features to the Music section of the iPod touch -- most notably, Genius.

Unlike Genius in iTunes on your Mac/PC, Genius on the iPod touch doesn't connect to Apple's servers and exchange information (however, it may download an indexing file of sorts from iTunes on your computer). You can create a Genius playlist on the iPod touch using 2 methods:

• While playing a song, tap once on the artwork, then tap on the genius button (in the middle of the pop-up toolbar)
• Tap on "Playlists" on the bottom toolbar and select "Genius"
  

When you use the Playlists > Genius button, you will need to specify a song for Genius to analyze. Once your Genius playlist is created, you will be presented with a screen with 3 new buttons along the top:

• Save - this button allows you to save your current Genius playlist
• New - tapping this button will create a new Genius playlist (you must specify a new song to analyze)
• Refresh - tapping on this button will refresh the current playlist, replacing any old songs with new ones

The Genius logo will appear next to the songs that you've chosen to analyze. That is all of the new features in 2.1: just Genius. Be sure to take a look at our gallery of Genius screenshots.

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.

It looks as though Apple's Concierge, their online system allowing for Genius Bar reservations, is undergoing a bit of an upgrade. There wasn't much warning, and we don't have any details of what shiny new goodies are going to debut, but it was an already pretty slick system that is bound to get even better if they're making this big of a deal out of it. Stay tuned.

[Upate: Someone (no, literally: "someone") in our comments pointed out that Apple has already rolled out this shiny upgrade to some of their retail stores, and you can already access it at the San Francisco's store site. Looks like a handy new system.]

Beyond a doubt, Apple's retail stores have been and still are making headlines of all kinds - from business magazines hailing the stores' sleek design, to consumer reviews giving the stores high marks for their unique and (ideally) helpful Genius Bar feature. However, as some of you may know - not everyone's trip to the genius bar wraps up with a happy ending, and I'm not just talking about the customers; the Geniuses don't always have it so peachy-keen either.

Hence, Ungenius - a blog by "JC" who apparently has some stories to tell of his adventures "aton[ing] for the sins of a multinational corporation during nearly four years as a Mac Genius". JC delves into all sorts of topics surrounding the world of the Genius including QA, the obvious defects that have made headlines as of late, and even some thoughts as to why Class Actions might be bad for consumers.

Whether you've made a shrine for the last Genius who helped you out of a pickle or you're putting the finishing touches on a Genius Voodoo doll as you read this, Ungenius might be an interesting read from the other side of the cheery Apple retail store fence.