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Apple Quietly Releases iTunes 4.8

Posted by timothy on from the they're-humming-john-cage dept.

trmptblwr writes "Apple has quietly released an iTunes update to version 4.8 for Mac OS X and Windows. Release notes say 'iTunes 4.8 includes new Music Store features and support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod (requires Mac OS X version 10.4 on your computer).' There also appears to be a some sort of new video functionality as you can now import QuickTime movies. I speculate that this has something to do with the 'new Music Store features.'"

12 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder by InfallibleLies · · Score: 2, Interesting
    if this means the next iPod will have video?

    And maybe they're planning on releasing it soon?

    1. Re:I wonder by Golias · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't want a swiss army knife

      I dunno.

      The iPod Photo didn't really rock my world, because I'm not much of a shutterbug... ... but the ability to watch downloaded Doctor Who episodes in the ice-fishing house or while waiting in line at the DMV sounds pretty sweet to me.

      It's not often that I disagree with the Almighty Jobs, but I think that the only thing really preventing video on hand-held MP3 players was that the technology was not quite ready to do it right just yet.

      IMHO, we are rapidly approaching the point where introducing an "iPod Movie" will be nearly as trivial as the extra $50 or so to create the iPod Photo was.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  2. Exansion... by kenthorvath · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Maybe it will go something like music -> music videos -> movies? One can only hope...

  3. Not in software update, it seems. by BigZaphod · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Does Apple usually delay putting updates into software update or was slashdot just amazingly fast getting this news story published?

    --
    Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
  4. Yeah, but will it play oggs? by Cecil · · Score: 1, Interesting

    No, seriously.

    qtcomponents has not been updated in almost a year and has to my knowledge never really worked. It is open source, but according to a bug posted by an Apple developer, it uses the now obsolete SoundManager and will have to be rewritten to use CoreAudio before it'll work again.

    The other component, while being even longer since it was last updated, worked great. Although it had a few annoying bugs, it was quite usable right up until QT7 landed, and now it doesn't work at all. It is not open source, so you're pretty much out of luck.

    Has anyone found any alternative way of getting oggs to play in iTunes?

    --
    Random and weird software I've written.
    1. Re:Yeah, but will it play oggs? by PaxTech · · Score: 4, Interesting
      In this week's I, Cringely column there's some talk about an unused Ogg iTunes icon embedded in Tiger. Official Ogg support could be on the horizon..

      Looking at the unused iTunes icons that shipped with your new version of 10.4, you'll notice icons for currently-not-supported ogg vorbis and Windows Media Audio (wma), as well as several others including a variety of video formats, too.
      --
      All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
  5. Any downgrades? by fname · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems that with every iTunes release, Apple quietly removes some useful feature to placate the RIAA. They eliminated internet streaming, disabled some plug-ins, restricted you to sharing songs with 5 computers a day, and so on. Any word yet about whether has removed any features this time?

  6. The Real Question by hawkbug · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The real question is, when will there be a Windows 64 compatible version? Since XP 64 is currently shipping from OEMs, and a lot of other companies currently have 64 bit drivers and apps either out or in development, I wonder when Apple will release iTunes for it. Everything in iTunes currently works under 32 emu mode, but to burn CDs, you would need 64 bit drivers. Burning CDs from iTunes is a huge, important feature, so it's not a minor thing.

  7. you know by sethadam1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You know, for a company that has gained A LOT of support and respect from the /. type, they really ought to spend the 59 seconds necessary to have iTunes support FLAC and OGG. Seriously, you know how many people they'd make happy?

    And if the iPod itself supported those codecs, I wonder how many more they'd sell to this crowd? (This crowd, by the way, being the ones who provide recommendations to the people who sign the checks to buy IT equipment for corporations worldwide.)

  8. Re:New Apple Lossless format by kitzilla · · Score: 2, Interesting
    At least you've noticed now. Give Apple Lossless a try. I was using variable-rate MP3s before, but have completely switched over. Unless you have really crappy speakers or headphones, you'll hear the difference.

    Be read to buy more hard drive space, though. ;-)

    --
    This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
  9. iTunes vs QT Pro by Bulln-Bulln · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Funny, you need to buy QT Pro in order to play videos full screen, but OTOH Apple releases iTunes 4.8 with *fullscreen* video support for free.
    The same is true (since a long time) for audio encoding: Need QT Pro for the "Export" feature in QT, but the "Import" feature in iTunes is free.

    I like Apple, but IMHO the guy, who's responsible for the QT Player frontend (not the QT backend, which is cool), is quite stupid.

    What's next? iTunes 5.0 with video encoding support?

    1. Re:iTunes vs QT Pro by Bulln-Bulln · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Oh please. These fees are also required for iTunes' Import feature and in many cases for decoding (depends on the licensing scheme).
      If this was the reason for QT Pro, it would be required to buy a Pro license for QT just to play anything.

      The whole QT Pro thing is just flawed. The QT Player should be what it once was: Just a good player.
      If Apple whants a QT Editor, they should bundle it with iMovie or something.