Amid a day of muchos updates, it should come as no surprised that iTunes has also been boosted a it.
Apple on Wednesday released iTunes 12.3. The new version adds support for iOS 9 and is also designed for OS X 10.11 El Capitan, which is scheduled to arrive later this month.
Other changes include the following:
– Improved Apple Music accessibility with VoiceOver.
-Resolved a problem that prevented ordering of songs within Up Next.
This is interesting
Apple confirmed that all three editions of the Apple Watch will ship with 8GB of internal storage. Apple Watch users will be limited to up to 2GB of songs and up to 75MB of photos that are locally stored on the device and can be listened to or viewed without a paired iPhone. Songs can be synced using the Apple Watch companion app on compatible iPhones running iOS 8.2 or later.
These updates/bug fixes are getting a bit more common.
Not that that’s a bad thing.
On Wednesday, Apple released version 11.0.4 of its iTunes multimedia/jukebox application. The new version, a 196.6 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
– New MiniPlayer. MiniPlayer now includes a beautiful new view that showcases your album artwork. In addition, a progress bar is now built right into MiniPlayer.
– Improved Songs View. You can now enjoy your album artwork while in Songs view.
– Multi-Disc Albums. Albums with multiple discs now appear as a single album.
– Fixes a problem that may cause iTunes to quit if you switch between wired and wireless syncing.
– Addresses an issue that may require you to log into the iTunes Store repeatedly.
iTunes 11.0.4 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later to install and run.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback, please let us know in the comments.
It’s not the biggest update in the world, but it might make a difference.
Late Thursday, Apple released version 11.0.3 of its iTunes multimedia/jukebox application. The new version, a 197.3 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
– New MiniPlayer. MiniPlayer now includes a beautiful new view that showcases your album artwork. In addition, a progress bar is now built right into MiniPlayer.
– Improved Songs View. You can now enjoy your album artwork while in Songs view.
– Multi-Disc Albums. Albums with multiple discs now appear as a single album.
iTunes 11.0.3 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later to install and run.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback, please let us know in the comments.
This could be interesting.
Per the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Apple on Tuesday was granted a patent that allows users to skip unwanted audio and video broadcast segments such as commercials with on-device content like songs, podcasts or other media, possibly hinting at technology headed to the battle for the living room.
Apple’s aptly titled U.S. Patent No. 8,249,497 for “Seamless switching between radio and local media” describes a system in which a mobile device will automatically switch between broadcast content and stored media to offer the user a type of customized content consumption experience.
With the new patent, a device will allow a user listening to content from a radio station or “non-radio media or content sources” to skip past the sections they aren’t interested in, filling the gap with on-board media instead. Also of interest is that commercials are among the types of content which can be replaced by stored media.
Covered under the invention’s umbrella are broadcasts from a “radio stream provided over any communications network,” while the stored media can include content saved in a device’s memory or from a streaming host device.
From the patent background:
“A user, however, may not be interested in every media item provided as part of a broadcast stream. For example, a user may not like a particular song broadcast by a radio station, or may not like a particular segment of a talk radio station (e.g., the user does not like the topic or guest of the segment). As another example, a user may not be interested in content originally generated by sources other than the media source (e.g., advertisement content). Because the user has no control over the media broadcast, the user can typically only tune to a different media broadcast, or listen to or consume the broadcast content that is not of interest.”
By using metadata from assets like Radio Data System (RDS) data, broadcast listings or published third-party schedules, a device can “determine when an upcoming broadcast segment or media item is not of interest to the user.” When such an event is detected, the device will seamlessly switch to stored media until the unwanted content is completed. Also included as methods of discerning what a user may or may not want to consume are analysis of audio or video from the source, akin to current iOS apps Shazam or IntoNow.
As far as calculating what a user likes or dislikes, the patent employs comparisons of media items to generate a preference profile, much like the system in place with apps like Pandora. For example, a user can “like” or “dislike” a song and the corresponding metadata will then be included in their preference profile. In another embodiment, the device can keep track of a user’s content consumption habits and make guesses as to what they would like in their preference profile. The metadata can be specific media items, such as artists, songs and genres, as well as specific types of media.
After the system identifies that an upcoming segment is outside of the preference profile’s parameters, the device can look for an appropriate replacement from stored media to play instead. The patent notes that a “relevance algorithm” can be used to keep the stored media in line with content from the broadcast stream. To keep the experience consistent, the device can either monitor the broadcast stream to choose an opportune time to switch away from stored media playback, or buffer the broadcast stream for later consumption.
Seemingly, Apple is proposing a way to not only transform radio listening, but also television broadcasts. While not specifically noted in the patent and mentioned here only for purposes of discussion, the system could be tweaked for cable which would lend itself nicely to the set-top box Apple is rumored to be shopping around to U.S. providers. Insiders say the cloud-based device is meant to blur the line between live and on-demand television.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.