Claims renew iTunes 8 expectations, slate iPhone 2.1 for event

[AppleInsider]

Despite some expectations to the contrary, iTunes 8 is now allegedly a lock for Apple's "Let's Rock" special event and may come with new iPhone firmware that packs surprises of its own.

Ars Technica recants its previous doubts and now says its beliefs that iTunes 8 would miss the September 9th Apple gathering were "unwarranted."

Moreover, it also says that much of Kevin Rose's predicted feature set is also true. The earlier leak pointed to a Genius auto-playlist feature as well as support for a second-generation iPod classic and the expected iPod nano and touch upgrades.

The revised outlook also has the surprise news that Apple may not only announce its known iPhone 2.1 firmware update but release it at the event itself. At a minimum, the software is known to sport the background push notification feature for third-party apps as well as directional GPS that could lead to more advanced navigation.

As a further surprise, Apple could additionally include more features than what it has revealed ahead of time, Ars says. Similar to Apple's frequent practice of keeping larger feature updates out of Mac OS X beta builds to avoid spoiling major introductions, the alleged sources say the company has deliberately stripped out important features from iPhone 2.1 betas seeded to developers to save them for a higher-profile debut.

What these new features may be is still very much unknown, although Apple in an unusual move had removed push notification in one of its last developer betas. The company is said to sometimes remove features or to halt build seeds outright to focus on internal development.

Ars has been historically reliable regarding iTunes-related leaks.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Galley]

My most-wanted feature in iTunes 8 is the ability to transcode tracks on the fly for any iPod, not just the shuffle. 6GB of lossless files is only about 15 albums.

[nagromme]

I predict a Paste feature available immediately. Also a Copy feature, demoed for release "by the holidays."

[guest]

Also, 10.5.5 is near completion. I wish for some bigger multimedia related changes with iTunes8 (is it too annoying to mention Blu-Ray here?).
Would it be completely off to expect a music rental similar to what they do with movies, e.g. rent an album for a month and then buy the PLUS version somewhat cheaper or dump it?

[k2director]

Dear Apple,

Regarding the iPhone update:

Instead of more new features, how about more consistent, day-in-day-out stability?

Thanks...

[bdkennedy1]

I wouldn't really consider these features "surprises". A surprise would be a new Apple TV or something.

[bdkennedy1]

This has been my most-wanted feature too since the iPod Nano was released. I really don't understand why it's still not there. I could fit so much more music on my iPhone.

My other most wanted feature is video playlists. People have been asking for this for 3 years.

Originally Posted by Galley

My most-wanted feature in iTunes 8 is the ability to transcode tracks on the fly for any iPod, not just the shuffle. 6GB of lossless files is only about 15 albums.

[Mitch1984]

Tethering maybe and I reckon they will enable itunes downloading on Edge & 3G.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by bdkennedy1

This has been my most-wanted feature too since the iPod Nano was released. I really don't understand why it's still not there. I could fit so much more music on my iPhone.

My other most wanted feature is video playlists. People have been asking for this for 3 years.

The feature came out when the 512MB "gumpack" Shuffle was released. It made sense then. Having iTunes convert up to 32GB of audio to play at 128Mbps AAC from whatever bitrate and codec you are using seems a bit much.

If your liTunes library is Apple Lossless then storage space shouldn't be an issue for you or you wouldn't be saving your audio in such a space consuming format. iTunes makes it easy to convert your audio to whatever format and bitrate you desire. Set it in Preferences and then right click on the audio to change it.

[nagromme]

Actually, I'd like the remote play/pause/skip funcitonality (from the eaebuds clicker or from car controls) have the option to NOT bring up the iPod app. Those means of remote control are great for not having to look at the touchscreen while it's in your car or pocket. But they make you exit the app you're in.

I want the Maps app up full-time while driving, so it doesn't go away when I skip tracks with my Griffin iTrip Autopilot.

While we're on the subject of minor features...

Originally Posted by solipsism

If your liTunes library is Apple Lossless then storage space shouldn't be an issue for you or you wouldn't be saving your audio in such a space consuming format. iTunes makes it easy to convert your audio to whatever format and bitrate you desire. Set it in Preferences and then right click on the audio to change it.

I think the point is that some people want to have pure lossless quality at home and for their "master library," while using compression on the go for the sake of having more music.

They want BOTH formats for different uses--as can be done with the Shuffle in a very nice automatic way.

Makes sense to me.

[8CoreWhore]

I think Copy will come with 2.1 and Paste will come with 2.2.

[Galley]

Originally Posted by solipsism

The feature came out when the 512MB "gumpack" Shuffle was released. It made sense then. Having iTunes convert up to 32GB of audio to play at 128Mbps AAC from whatever bitrate and codec you are using seems a bit much.

If your liTunes library is Apple Lossless then storage space shouldn't be an issue for you or you wouldn't be saving your audio in such a space consuming format. iTunes makes it easy to convert your audio to whatever format and bitrate you desire. Set it in Preferences and then right click on the audio to change it.

I don't want to deal with two copies of everything.

[BWhaler]

I am looking forward to upgrading my iPod touch to something with more capacity, and the "genius" playlist function sounds killer since I don't have the time to create new playlists often--and I have a ton of music so I forget great singles--so accordingly, I get bored with the music on my iPhones.

But honestly, after the new iPhone, Leopard, mobileme, etc., all I really, really want is Steve to get on Stage and say they're finally releasing updates which just ACTUALLY WORK.

Apple's habit of shipping beta software and hardware is getting utterly pathetic.

[Wings]

... are missed call reminder beeps.

And options to turn it on or off, set the beep type, the snooze time, and include this for for email and SMS too. Am I asking too much? Why should I have to ask my phone if it has any messages for me if I'm away when a call comes in? It's a smart phone damnit, so it should act like one.

[nagromme]

I Just hope that those already affected by the loss of 3rd-party apps with 2.0 will not have to do a factory restore to recover when going to 2.1. In other words, I hope 2.1 doesn't merely prevent whatever corruption is involved from happening in future, but retroactively cleans up corruption (or whatever the change may be) that has developed.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Galley

I don't want to deal with two copies of everything.

But you are if you want iTunes to convert your audio for a 160GB iPod classic, 32GB Touch, etc. You don't have to deal with the copy in your library, but you'll have to deal with the conversion process of potentially thousands of songs. I'm not saying I don't agree with your stance, but Apple worka to make this easiest for the majority, not the technically inclined minority. If they haven't done it yet when capacity keeping growing then I don't think they will do it now.

[walshbj]

I'll take some wifi sync for my touch please.

[Explorer5]

I find it pathetic how Apple would rather suprise everyone with features rather than test their products out completely before releasing it.

I can picture it now, new feature in iPhone 2.1 breaks something in alot of users computers, apple ignores the issue for a month, then abruptly posts iPhone 2.1.1 which attempts to fix the issue which would have been found if they just tested it with their developers rather than keep it underwraps.

Another Apple Class Action Lawsuit on the way? I think so.

Apple has some great products, but they need to make the products stable for EVERYONE not just some people who have perfect configurations. Apple is totally getting too big for itself and doesnt know how to handle it.

It's ashame.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by walshbj

I'll take some wifi sync for my touch please.

I have no interest in this except for using the iPod as a data storage device. I have MM for the important syncing, but having my iPod media syncing to my iPod/iPhone wirelessly in the same wireless LAN seems pointless. It's slower than using the USB cable and it uses power and doesn't charge the device.

What I'd like is a scalable data partition that I can format as FAT32 that can be used as node a t friend's house for copying files.

[bluedalmatian]

I wish they'd just fix the bug that causes Safari to crash if the network drops out and then comes back up, rather than piling on more feature crap, with bugs of their own.

[FrenchMac]

It seems a logical step that the 2.1 update to the iPhone OS integrates some new features. It could be music oriented features (like a new version of the iPod application), support for an iPod remote (and FM), support for Nike+ device, usb mass storage support or more generally anything that brigde the gap between the classic iPod and the iPod touch (there is still some things that a classic iPod can do and that a iPod touch cannot).

iPhone OS 2.0 has bring a lot of new features except on the iPod application front, maybe it's the time of the year for a change in this direction...

A version of the iPod touch with more memory can replace the old classic...

The 2.1 OS release is known for it's new support for directionnal GPS. An exploitation of these new capabilities could be integrated to the Maps application (a directionnal map, podmaps, etc...)

I sure they will show that they are still investing a lot in the touch iPod line.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by FrenchMac

support for Nike+ device

I wonder if an accelerometer built into the Nano would be possible. Nike+ gets it's money by having you signup on line for the service but no longer have to supply you with the HW.

[walshbj]

Originally Posted by solipsism

...but having my iPod media syncing to my iPod/iPhone wirelessly in the same wireless LAN seems pointless. It's slower than using the USB cable and it uses power and doesn't charge the device...

The main reason I ever connect my iPod to a computer is to grab podcasts. My music is fairly static. That's why I want the wifi sync. The pieces are already in place, it seems crazy not to implement them. It doesn't seem like asking for too much. I'm downstairs in the kitchen, the ipod is in a dock charging, it would be nice to walk out the door without having to go upstairs to plug it in, wait for it to sync, unplug it. Having it sync the podcasts automatically in the background? I think there would be real value there for a lot of users. But maybe not you.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by walshbj

The main reason I ever connect my iPod to a computer is to grab podcasts. [...] I think there would be real value there for a lot of users. But maybe not you.

That is a valid reason since they can be updated more often that you would charge your device. That never occurred to me as I don't use podcasts. I've tried, but I have absolutely no interest in them.

Since they aren't under the RIAA/MPAA umbrella it would be nice if the notification server could be turned for them too so you could get them remotely when they become available over any internet connection.

[thomasfxlt]

I'd say we're definitely in store for a release of iPhone software on Tuesday. I've had GPS issues since 2.0.1 and Apple sent me 2 new phones 10 days ago. The new ones behave the same as the old. The technical support specialist was very proactive up to the point of sending out new phones, but has declined any further communication since Tuesday of this week. It's not like Apple to do nothing albeit sometimes resolution has come slowly. I think the rep has been holding back knowing there is an imminent release next week. In the meantime, I'm holding two old 3g's hostage

[napabar]

I'm hoping Apple finally decides to give Airtunes the push it deserves. The "Killer App" for Airtunes is the Remote program on iPhone/iPod Touch. This thing is very cool for a version 1.0 release, and can only get better.

Here's what I'd like to see:

A new version of the iPod Hi-Fi, with an Airtunes client built it. Drop the iPod dock to distinguish it from the million other speaker systems out there and make it look more streamlined. Change the name and sell it for $249. People could buy more than one of these for different areas in their house. Drop in it, plug it in, control the "Zone" from the Remote program. Apple simplicity.

Also, Apple could make a slimmed down version of Airport Express. Call it "Airtunes" and it's only function is a client with an audio out mini-jack. No router, no ethernet jack, no USB. Airtunes only. Sell it for $49. That way people would have a cheap way to use their existing audio equipment (anything from an old boom box to a high end amp) to receive music from iTunes and have that "Zone" controlled by the Remote app.

The Remote app could be updated to version 2.0. Among it's features are being able to access a CD in iTunes, and call up various internet radio station. Also, fix the album art issue with Remote and Apple TV.

One last thing. Update Apple TV to allow the volume to be controlled with Remote app.

[cameronj]

Originally Posted by walshbj

The main reason I ever connect my iPod to a computer is to grab podcasts. My music is fairly static. That's why I want the wifi sync. The pieces are already in place, it seems crazy not to implement them. It doesn't seem like asking for too much. I'm downstairs in the kitchen, the ipod is in a dock charging, it would be nice to walk out the door without having to go upstairs to plug it in, wait for it to sync, unplug it. Having it sync the podcasts automatically in the background? I think there would be real value there for a lot of users. But maybe not you.

Count me in.

[mikep123]

Originally Posted by Explorer5

I find it pathetic how Apple would rather suprise everyone with features rather than test their products out completely before releasing it.

I can picture it now, new feature in iPhone 2.1 breaks something in alot of users computers, apple ignores the issue for a month, then abruptly posts iPhone 2.1.1 which attempts to fix the issue which would have been found if they just tested it with their developers rather than keep it underwraps.

Another Apple Class Action Lawsuit on the way? I think so.

Apple has some great products, but they need to make the products stable for EVERYONE not just some people who have perfect configurations. Apple is totally getting too big for itself and doesnt know how to handle it.

It's ashame.

1000% right! And it's getting old quickly. Case and point - iPhone's 2.0 s/w. They (actually, everyone) knew there was going to be a flood of new iPhones to be activated along with all existing iPhones that had to be reactivated when being upgraded to the 2.0 s/w. Did Apple release 2.0 early for existing users to help ease the activation bottleneck that was certain to occur? No. Instead, it seems it's more important to them for Steve to walk onto stage and make his grand announcements at a big splashy event. The activation process is then, predictably, a giant CF for all of the customers during the first week or so.

I suppose someone will argue that no one forced the existing users to try to upgrade to 2.0 as soon as it was released and no one was forced to buy an iPhone in the first week (which is why I waited). While that's true, it's not realistic. It doesn't take a marketing whiz to know what most people are going to do as soon as the s/w or new product is released. If you can minimize your customer's inconvenience then do it; otherwise, don't have a big event implying you're ready when you're not.

While my example doesn't speak to the quality of the 2.0 s/w (which is its own topic) the pattern is the same - more concern for the big event and corresponding hype than for the impacts to their customers. I really think it ultimately comes down to arrogance - we're Apple and people will line up to buy our stuff because it's cool. The rules don't apply to us. This same pattern can be seen in their attempt to launch MM, 2.0 and iPhone 3G on the same day and their efforts to keep everything so secret that things don't get properly tested before being released.

I know they're the "flavor of the month" right now so they have to be more secretive than others for fear of being copied or losing their image appeal that is working so well; however, I do think they can do much better in the QC and customer impacting areas. It seems like this latest CF may have gotten their attention. I hope so.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by mikep123

Did Apple release 2.0 early for existing users to help ease the activation bottleneck that was certain to occur?

The activation from a new user or new phone IMEI is not the same as the same phone finding the network after getting a new version of the OS installed.

No. Instead, it seems it's more important to them for Steve to walk onto stage and make his grand announcements at a big splashy event. The activation process is then, predictably, a giant CF for all of the customers during the first week or so.

I agree that they should have spaced out MM, v2.0 and the iPhone 3G releases (emphasis on the MM release) but the activation process within AT&T had nothing to do with these things. The process was much better than the year prior and there were a lot more phones being activated. We're talking a million devices in a weekend. Part of the better success this year was probably from AT&T's decision to activate all iPhones in store, this meant that activations from their employees were happening only 1 per employee per unit every 10-20 minutes instead of having a surge of people accessing AT&T through iTunes in large bursts.

I really think it ultimately comes down to arrogance - we're Apple and people will line up to buy our stuff because it's cool. The rules don't apply to us. This same pattern can be seen in their attempt to launch MM, 2.0 and iPhone 3G on the same day and their efforts to keep everything so secret that things don't get properly tested before being released.

There certainly seems to be an arrogance, but not from the AT&T activation side of things. v2.0 was tested, and v2.1 is being tested too. I think you'd be upset if Apple gave software to someone before you just because he bought his iPhone a day before you or because his IMEI is lower. Or you'd be upset if Apple gave you the update before others but it was buggy so now you feel that those who bought it after you should suffer before you. Whatever the reason, software will be buggy and only massive prolonged testing can prevent it.

I assure that v2.1 will cause people to complain. There is bound to be something that don't work for someone. v2.1.1 will solve the problem for some and cause issues for others. This is normal; this is software development. This is another substantial update, not just a bug fix, so more issues will arise.

I know they're the "flavor of the month" right now so they have to be more secretive than others for fear of being copied or losing their image appeal that is working so well; however, I do think they can do much better in the QC and customer impacting areas. It seems like this latest CF may have gotten their attention. I hope so.

The only major issue they've had is MM. They've apologized, identified the issue and have given everyone 3 months. Have they learned from it? We'll see, but I can tell you they will surely F-up again. The QC issue has to carry into a lot of areas and it is one of the growing pains of becoming more successful. There isn't a company out there that has had complaints about a product.

Apple is just in the public eye more these days and so any single complain is amplified. An iPod battery melts the device and every tech site carries the story. Those pictures are really cool!

Apple isn't being secretive because they are "favour of the month" it's their MO. It's one of reasons that tech sites cling onto them and why you'll have regular news organizations talking about a lackluster Apple release before a major release by another tech company. BTW, Dell put out some really nice E-series laptops last month.

[F1Turbo]

Spotlight for iPhone, so I don't have to carry my 2 year old Treo around with me to find my data.

[GregoriusM]

Originally Posted by nagromme

I think the point is that some people want to have pure lossless quality at home and for their "master library," while using compression on the go for the sake of having more music.

They want BOTH formats for different uses--as can be done with the Shuffle in a very nice automatic way.

Makes sense to me.

Exactly!!!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by F1Turbo

Spotlight for iPhone, so I don't have to carry my 2 year old Treo around with me to find my data.

I'd love that for Mail, though it only keeps the last 50 messages on it. Still, if it's not find-as-you-type, I'd like something since I can't access MM from the Safari browser to do a proper search.

I'd also like to be able to search a webpage for text the way it works in Safari on the Mac.

[GregoriusM]

Originally Posted by napabar

I'm hoping Apple finally decides to give Airtunes the push it deserves. The "Killer App" for Airtunes is the Remote program on iPhone/iPod Touch. This thing is very cool for a version 1.0 release, and can only get better.

Here's what I'd like to see:

A new version of the iPod Hi-Fi, with an Airtunes client built it. Drop the iPod dock to distinguish it from the million other speaker systems out there and make it look more streamlined. Change the name and sell it for $249. People could buy more than one of these for different areas in their house. Drop in it, plug it in, control the "Zone" from the Remote program. Apple simplicity.

Also, Apple could make a slimmed down version of Airport Express. Call it "Airtunes" and it's only function is a client with an audio out mini-jack. No router, no ethernet jack, no USB. Airtunes only. Sell it for $49. That way people would have a cheap way to use their existing audio equipment (anything from an old boom box to a high end amp) to receive music from iTunes and have that "Zone" controlled by the Remote app.

The Remote app could be updated to version 2.0. Among it's features are being able to access a CD in iTunes, and call up various internet radio station. Also, fix the album art issue with Remote and Apple TV.

One last thing. Update Apple TV to allow the volume to be controlled with Remote app.

Yeppers.

[matt_s]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

I think Copy will come with 2.1 and Paste will come with 2.2.

Some clever developer will market an external storage device to handle the huge clipboard!

[canadan]

Give me a horizontal keyboard option for SMS for god's sake!!!! It's not like I'm asking for the impossible!

[techno]

Is it too much to ask to fix the annoying lag in contacts?????

[steviet02]

Originally Posted by napabar

One last thing. Update Apple TV to allow the volume to be controlled with Remote app.

I'm not sure what config you have but my TV is the master volume, last I knew Apple TV won't have a way to control the TV volume control.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by steviet02

I'm not sure what config you have but my TV is the master volume, last I knew Apple TV won't have a way to control the TV volume control.

The remote for the AppleTV has volume controls.

[MacTel]

Originally Posted by k2director

Dear Apple,

Regarding the iPhone update:

Instead of more new features, how about more consistent, day-in-day-out stability?

Thanks...

No doubt. I'll second that and not just for the iPhone OS but for OSX Leopard for the Mac. (Snow Leopard might be the stability we're looking for)

Besides stability how about some polish on the existing applications as well?

[nutts]

Originally Posted by Wings

... are missed call reminder beeps.

And options to turn it on or off, set the beep type, the snooze time, and include this for for email and SMS too. Am I asking too much? Why should I have to ask my phone if it has any messages for me if I'm away when a call comes in? It's a smart phone damnit, so it should act like one.

Yes! Every phone I've had has had a light that flashes every few seconds to tell you you've had a missed call or SMS. And yet on the iPhone you have to check manually yourself, it seems such a simple omission.