iTunes 4.8 adds video support, Yorkdale store photos, more
Rumor: iTunes Switzerland on Tuesday?
Apple tomorrow will hold a press conference in Zurich, Switzerland to unveil a localized version of its iTunes music download service, according to French iPod news site iPodGeneration.
The press event is scheduled for 11:30am local time, according to the news site. No further details were reported and it remains unclear if iTunes music stores for Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Australia will be part of the announcement.
Last week a source told The Courier-Mail that Apple had planned to launch an Australian version of its iTunes music store on April 28th, but had to sideline plans because one unnamed major record company refused to sign an agreement in time.
The Australian launch was originally rumored to coincide with the launch of iTunes music stores in the four aforementioned countries.
Apple Store Yorkdale
Canada's first Apple retail store, located in the Yorkdale Shopping Center, could open as early as next week.
Over the weekend workers preparing the store for launch apparently vacated the premise without closing the makeshift doors behind them. One member of ehMac, a Canadian Mac community site, was able to snap the first photos (page 1, page 2) of the store's near-complete interior.
The Yorkdale Shopping Center has penciled the Apple Store for a May 14th launch, according to AppleInsider correspondents. However, mall representatives said the date is an approximation.
iTunes 4.8 Plays QuickTime Movies
Apple today quietly released iTunes 4.8. According to the company, the software "includes new Music Store features and support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod."
One feature Apple curiously failed to mention is video support. The new version is capable of not only storing, but also displaying QuickTime video content (picture 1, picture2, picture3).
New options built into the iTunes "Advanced" preference pane let users choose whether they want video content to display in "the main window," "a separate window," or "full screen."
Let the speculation begin...
Apple tomorrow will hold a press conference in Zurich, Switzerland to unveil a localized version of its iTunes music download service, according to French iPod news site iPodGeneration.
The press event is scheduled for 11:30am local time, according to the news site. No further details were reported and it remains unclear if iTunes music stores for Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Australia will be part of the announcement.
Last week a source told The Courier-Mail that Apple had planned to launch an Australian version of its iTunes music store on April 28th, but had to sideline plans because one unnamed major record company refused to sign an agreement in time.
The Australian launch was originally rumored to coincide with the launch of iTunes music stores in the four aforementioned countries.
Apple Store Yorkdale
Canada's first Apple retail store, located in the Yorkdale Shopping Center, could open as early as next week.
Over the weekend workers preparing the store for launch apparently vacated the premise without closing the makeshift doors behind them. One member of ehMac, a Canadian Mac community site, was able to snap the first photos (page 1, page 2) of the store's near-complete interior.
The Yorkdale Shopping Center has penciled the Apple Store for a May 14th launch, according to AppleInsider correspondents. However, mall representatives said the date is an approximation.
iTunes 4.8 Plays QuickTime Movies
Apple today quietly released iTunes 4.8. According to the company, the software "includes new Music Store features and support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod."
One feature Apple curiously failed to mention is video support. The new version is capable of not only storing, but also displaying QuickTime video content (picture 1, picture2, picture3).
New options built into the iTunes "Advanced" preference pane let users choose whether they want video content to display in "the main window," "a separate window," or "full screen."
Let the speculation begin...
Comments
Edit: some videos work but no full-screen controls. Also you can't buy any videos on the iTMS so what's the point.
Will this end complaints about fullscreen mode being available in QuickTime Player Pro only?
No, and it should not.
Essential player features missing from QT Player is silly, and again unless they make iTunes a general purpose player, it's not a replacement.
Also, video editing is what iMovie/Final Cut Express/Final Cut are for. I understand editing is the "justification" for QT Player Pro. Can this app do something that the other three apps can, and if it can, why is the functionality not in the others?
I also question the need for the DVD Player, when DVD playing could be a part of QT Player.
That said, I don't think I am in the target market of any of these apps. VLC and MPlayer fill my needs pretty well though they could be more stable and make at least some effort to play broken content.
-Nitrile Tiger
A standalone QuickTime player also seems less and less necessary at all, let alone a Pro version.
First they left off activating iSync from the sync menu bar icon unless you already had iSync open so syncing your phone no longer worked.
Now they move contacts/calendar syncing FROM iSync to iTunes if you're using an iPod.
I don't know what they do with iPod syncing on Windows where they don't have iSync but moving sync from iSync into the apps on MacOS - and not even the right apps - just seems wrong.
What next? They move music syncing into iCal?
iSync seems to do less and less when it was the one place you could click one button and have all your devices up to date. What's the point of it if I now have to click sync in three places instead of one.
Originally posted by kwsanders
I agree. I do not particularly care to have iTunes playing video. That is what we have QuickTime for now.
From a positive standpoint, it would be one less app for most to open, both mac and pc.
Originally posted by deepkid
From a positive standpoint, it would be one less app for most to open, both mac and pc.
I understand what you are saying, but you wouldn't use your dishwasher to wash clothes nor would you use your washing machine to wash your dishes. It just doesn't work very well. They do the thing that they were designed for very well.
The same with software. iTunes does music very well. QuickTime does video very well. When we start combining utilities like this, the apps that do things very well end up being single apps that do many things mediocre.
Just because Apple can do it, doesn't mean that they should.
Just my $0.02.
iTunes 4.7 being able to play video was widely known, so what am I missing?
It seems that just some new video prefs/features and content have been added, possibly why they "curiously failed to mention" it?
Thanks for any info!
Originally posted by Gon
The only way I see video support fits iTunes is if it is used for music videos and similar music support material. For instance, think iTunes visualizations which use video material for songs where it is available. Video store in iTunes is silly unless they build it into a general purpose media player. No, and it should not.
Essential player features missing from QT Player is silly, and again unless they make iTunes a general purpose player, it's not a replacement.
Also, video editing is what iMovie/Final Cut Express/Final Cut are for. I understand editing is the "justification" for QT Player Pro. Can this app do something that the other three apps can, and if it can, why is the functionality not in the others?
I also question the need for the DVD Player, when DVD playing could be a part of QT Player.
That said, I don't think I am in the target market of any of these apps. VLC and MPlayer fill my needs pretty well though they could be more stable and make at least some effort to play broken content.
The "Pro" label we get with the $30 key is not just to enable editing in a primitive way within Quicktime Player so much as it is to open codecs that are not available.
You will notice in iMovie/Express/FCP that there are save, export, compress, etc. features and codecs that were not there before.
I do feel that Apple should make Player a full featured player, without these extra codecs and without charging.
But, you use them, you are getting your money's worth.
If iTunes becomes that full featured player, it would make sense.
There is no reason tha Apple needs to have both a DVD player and a music player, esp. along with the Quicktime player.
This should be wrapped into one player. iTunes seems to be the best place for it as most people are familliar with it. If Apple is planning to have music videos download thru it, that would make sense as well.
If they also use it for Tv and movies, they might have to re-work the name to reflect that. It's a tough name to improve upon. I can think of a few, but none of them rolls off the tongue as easily.
While I'm not sold on iTunes being my QuickTime movie manager, I've long felt that something from Apple that aids in the organizing, cataloguing and grouping of QuickTime movies was needed. iTunes isn't a perfect solution for this at present, but I'm willing to let it try to be in the future.
"iTunes is licensed for reproduction of non-copyrighted materials or materials the user is legally permitted to reproduce. Purchases from the iTunes Music Store are available only in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. #1 music download store according to Nielsen SoundScan"
Sorry Australia....
Originally posted by kwsanders
I understand what you are saying, but you wouldn't use your dishwasher to wash clothes nor would you use your washing machine to wash your dishes. It just doesn't work very well. They do the thing that they were designed for very well.
The same with software. iTunes does music very well. QuickTime does video very well. When we start combining utilities like this, the apps that do things very well end up being single apps that do many things mediocre.
Just because Apple can do it, doesn't mean that they should.
Just my $0.02.
It's not equivelant. Hardware must be specialized to work well. Software is different.
That's like saying that Toast should be broken into 6 programs. One for CD data, one for CD music, one for CD video, one for DVD data, one for DVD music, and one for DVD video. There's no reason for that. It's easier to just click, if you even have to, to select what you want to do than to have to maintain, install, and use six fifferent programs.
If iTunes can do it all, then when media appears, iTunes will open up and display what is needed for that media. no problem there. For those of us who are old timers, it's one thing, but for newbies, one app is much easier. It would be for us as well, once we got over our reluctance.