The current iTunes visualizer could be replaced by a newer one. Trippy.
(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News)Add another possibility to the list of possible announcements at Apple's iPod event next week: a new version of iTunes.
Digg's Kevin Rose, fresh off his prediction that Apple has a new iPod Nano design in store for next week, shares word from an unnamed source on Wednesday that Apple plans to introduce iTunes 8 at the same event. "iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have," Rose's tipster wrote.
I'm a little curious as to how that would actually work: by genre? By tempo? By finding like-minded artists?
Would your Biggie and Tupac songs be put together in a playlist because they are both rap tracks? Or would Biggie's songs be put together with your Velvet Underground tracks because they are both from New York? Do Britney and Christina go together? Or Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead?
The use of the word "Genius" is also a little curious, given that Apple already uses that term to describe its army of customer service representatives at its retail stores. Still, such a feature would be convenient, even if it takes half the fun out of making mixes.
Rose also reports that iTunes 8 will allow you to view your library as a grid, download HD television shows from the iTunes Store, and "enjoy a stunning new music visualizer" that I'll guess was designed to go along with your new Pink Floyd/Grateful Dead playlist.
Expectations are running high that Apple next month will bring out new iPod models.
Certainly, September has a solid track record as the month that Apple favors for its iPod launches. And as my colleague Tom Krazit pointed out the other day, drawing on a report on AppleInsider, some inventory management changes at retailer Target lend credence to the notion of old iPods giving way to new iPods next month. Tom has also pointed to reports of a potential redesign of the iPod Nano.
Blogger Kevin Rose offers this photo of what he says is the redesigned iPod Nano.
(Credit: Kevin Rose)Against that backdrop, we bring you to today's tip sheet, the blog of Digg founder Kevin Rose. His take: "Sometime between now and the end of next month, Apple's going to be refreshing quite a bit of their iPod line."
Rose offers some details on what he says will be coming, though he doesn't provide any info on his sources. The Nano, he says, will see a significant redesign, with a shift to a longer, skinnier case. As it happens, that matches up with design murmurings from earlier in the summer. The iPod Touch, meanwhile, will see just cosmetic changes, Rose reports.
The Touch will be the first, he says, to have the 2.1 software, after which Apple will bring that software to the iPhone. The world will also see the arrival of iTunes 8.0--"a true point upgrade," according to Rose.
Price cuts are on the way for the iPod line, too, to avoid cannibalization from sales of the $199 iPhone 3G, Rose says.
And will OS X 10.5.6 include Blu-ray support? Could well be, Rose reports.
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