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After delaying the release of iTunes 11 by a month, Apple has released the much-anticipated update for both Windows and Mac users. The new iTunes is redesigned from the ground up, with a completely new look and feel. Along with the new look comes some new features: deeper iCloud integration, a new MiniPlayer, and a feature called "Up Next."

Up Next is more or less a living playlist within iTunes. You're able to add, rearrange, edit, and delete songs from the Up Next queue at any time.

To get started with Up Next, update to iTunes 11 … Read more

Early this morning, Syria went offline.

Some more scary news is coming out of Syria early this morning. Apparently the entire country has gone dark, completely vanishing from the Internet over the course of just a few minutes. According to Renesys, a company that operates a real-time Internet-monitoring grid, all of Syria's IP connectivity has become unreachable.

Today Google has announced the acquisition of Incentive Targeting, a maker of coupon programs that tailor to users' behaviors and likes. The company has worked with retailers to design trackable coupons that help gauge their performance and usefulness.

CNET has a review of the Jawbone Up … Read more

One unadvertised feature in Apple's just-released iTunes 11 lets users tap into their built-in video camera to redeem gift cards and other promotional codes.

The feature, which Apple did not demonstrate at the software's unveiling in September or in subsequent marketing materials, can pull out the alphanumeric codes and submit them. This means you can redeem a code without having to type it in, though that option remains if the software is unable to pick it up.

In order to use the feature, the promotional code must be from gift cards that place the code within a square … Read more

Apple today released iTunes 11, the latest version of its popular music software following a monthlong delay.

The program was originally slated for a release sometime last month. Just ahead of a self-imposed October deadline, an Apple spokesman told CNET the company "wanted to take a little extra time to get it right."

Users now get the chance to put that claim to the test. The software went out as a free update to current iTunes users on Mac and Windows this morning, and later as a download from Apple's iTunes site.

iTunes 11's headlining feature … Read more

After a month-long delay, the next generation of Apple's popular iTunes music software could launch as early as tomorrow.

iTunes 11 could make its long-awaited debut Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported this evening in a profile of Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue. While not exactly offered as the definitive release date, Thursday is the second to last day before Apple's self-imposed deadline for releasing the new software.

Originally slated for release in October, the program was delayed, a company spokesman told CNET earlier, because Apple "wanted to take a little extra time to get it … Read more

Facebook and Apple are joining their massive forces again, this time encouraging Facebook users to send iTunes gifts to their friends directly within the social network.

Facebook added iTunes digital gifts to Facebook Gifts gifting service today, letting users send iTunes recommendations along with cash credit for purchases.

A user can search for a specific song, album, movie, game, or apps to recommend along with gifts in denominations of $10, $15, $25, or $50.

The social network's move to add Apple to its retail partner list for Facebook Gifts comes shortly after it announced the inclusion of more than… Read more

Holiday shoppers looking for iTunes gift cards can save a bit of change via Best Buy.

The retail outlet is offering 15 percent off the full cost of cards ranging in price from $15 to $100. So a $15 card will cost you $12.75, a $25 card $21.25, a $50 card $42.50, and a $100 card $85. A 3-pack of $10 iTunes gift cards will run you $25.50.

Beyond opting for an iTunes card, you can choose an App Store card or a iBookstore card, giving you the full gamut of Apple's offerings for iOS … Read more

Apple may be gearing up to launch the next-generation iTunes 11 software "within the next days," according to a report by MacRumors, citing a German music distribution service.

Germany-based Feiyr emailed artists to submit high-resolution imagery for the music player's new layout, saying Apple will release iTunes 11 in the coming days. "Users have the possibility to view picture and galleries to every artist in iTunes," says the email.

While the email isn't a direct communiqué from Apple, it's possible that Apple is warning music distribution firms and … Read more

Twelve years ago Apple was lagging.

Consumers with PCs were ripping music to their hard drives and creating mixes. They were even taking those mixes and burning them onto CDs for listening to in the car, or on the go. The same experience could not be had easily on a Mac.

Apple's solution was iTunes. A piece of software that promised to do all those things, but with more simplicity than rivals, and only on a Mac.

iTunes quickly became a case study in the benefits of tightly integrated hardware and software. You had to own a Mac to … Read more