Apple Quietly Releases iTunes 4.8

trmptblwr writes "Apple has quietly released an iTunes update to version 4.8 for Mac OS X and Windows. Release notes say 'iTunes 4.8 includes new Music Store features and support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod (requires Mac OS X version 10.4 on your computer).' There also appears to be a some sort of new video functionality as you can now import QuickTime movies. I speculate that this has something to do with the 'new Music Store features.'"

I wonder

if this means the next iPod will have video?

And maybe they're planning on releasing it soon?

Re:I wonder

I don't want a swiss army knife

I dunno.

The iPod Photo didn't really rock my world, because I'm not much of a shutterbug... ... but the ability to watch downloaded Doctor Who episodes in the ice-fishing house or while waiting in line at the DMV sounds pretty sweet to me.

It's not often that I disagree with the Almighty Jobs, but I think that the only thing really preventing video on hand-held MP3 players was that the technology was not quite ready to do it right just yet.

IMHO, we are rapidly approaching the point where introducing an "iPod Movie" will be nearly as trivial as the extra $50 or so to create the iPod Photo was.

Re:Movies?

Nah... if they were going to start selling movies, we'd be hearing rumors that Apple is buying up some big movie studio, followed by speculation that it's a plot by Jobs to get Pixar a good distribution deal, hundreds of Slashdotters screaming about how Apple will die if it branches out and becomes a media company, followed by disappointment when people find out they're actually just going to be selling movies online.

Will it run on linux?

I mean seriously. When are they going to get around to porting it?

Re:Will it run on linux?

Since when is the goal of any Linux to make money for Apple?

Apple is a corporation. Their only goal is to make profits. They don't see porting iTMS to Linux to be a good business move, the same way most game manufacturers don't see making games for either OS X or Linux to be a good business move.

Re:Will it run on linux?

Approximately 10 seconds after some bright spark ports the Quicktime framework to Linux. Which is to say, never.

Exansion...

Maybe it will go something like music -> music videos -> movies? One can only hope...

Not in software update, it seems.

Does Apple usually delay putting updates into software update or was slashdot just amazingly fast getting this news story published?

Re:Not in software update, it seems.

Yes. this is normal procedure.

they roll out updates to a small section of the net at a time, usually over the span of a day so that their servers don't die the instant they release a patch.

it's not a bad idea... Microsoft used a similar scheme for SP2, but did it over the course of several weeks leaving many customers high and dry for a few weeks until they got enabled to receive the update.

Yeah, but will it play oggs?

No, seriously.

qtcomponents [sourceforge.net] has not been updated in almost a year and has to my knowledge never really worked. It is open source, but according to a bug posted by an Apple developer, it uses the now obsolete SoundManager and will have to be rewritten to use CoreAudio before it'll work again.

The other component [illadvised.com], while being even longer since it was last updated, worked great. Although it had a few annoying bugs, it was quite usable right up until QT7 landed, and now it doesn't work at all. It is not open source, so you're pretty much out of luck.

Has anyone found any alternative way of getting oggs to play in iTunes?

Re:Yeah, but will it play oggs?

In this week's I, Cringely column [pbs.org] there's some talk about an unused Ogg iTunes icon embedded in Tiger. Official Ogg support could be on the horizon..

Looking at the unused iTunes icons that shipped with your new version of 10.4, you'll notice icons for currently-not-supported ogg vorbis and Windows Media Audio (wma), as well as several others including a variety of video formats, too.

Re:Yeah, but will it play oggs?

The icons were there about a year and a half ago. I wouldn't count on actual ogg support being "on the horizon", as it hasn't materialized in that time.

Re:Yeah, but will it play oggs?

there's some talk about an unused Ogg iTunes icon embedded in Tiger.

That icon's been present in the last few releases of iTunes. It seems to have devolved into a running gag at this point. During the OS 9 era, iTunes included icons for MODs, S3Ms, and other "sound module/track" formats.

The rationale once seemed to be that since iTunes is playing files via QuickTime, iTunes could potentially play OGG or WMA files via a new codec component provided by a third party. Apple used to encourage developers to create codecs and make them available for distribution via QuickTime Update. There has been some effort at making an OGG codec, and the the first verison of WMA (then called NetPlay, IIRC) used QuickTime hooks for the Mac version of the player.

However, Apple hasn't done much with QuickTime Update and it appears to be going the way of QuickTime TV. (Does anybody out there use stuff like Axel, On2, or ZyGoVideo?) It seems there is no market or widespread enough interest in third-party enhancements to QuickTime...

iTunes 4.7.1 and video

iTunes 4.7.1 (and maybe prior versions as well) can show QuickTime music videos from the iTunes store, but I don't know offhand if it's making a call to the QuickTime program or processing the QT file itself. I know that there are AppleScripts that will let you save iTunes music videos to your hard drive.

You can play a local QuickTime file with iTunes 4.7.1 but you'll only hear the audio content. Doing so also makes a copy of the QT file in your Music folder.

New Apple Lossless format

from the link:
Use the new lossless encoder to import music from CDs and achieve sound quality indistinguishable from the original, at about half the original file size. Plays in iTunes and on iPod.
Yum.

Any downgrades?

It seems that with every iTunes release, Apple quietly removes some useful feature to placate the RIAA. They eliminated internet streaming, disabled some plug-ins, restricted you to sharing songs with 5 computers a day, and so on. Any word yet about whether has removed any features this time?

Re:Any downgrades?

They removed the ability to play music.

MOV import

Just tried it out: it imports MOV files, all right, and creates a full copy of the file in the iTunes library.

However, it doesn't (or I haven't yet figured out) play the video portion of the file in iTunes: only the audio.

The Real Question

The real question is, when will there be a Windows 64 compatible version? Since XP 64 is currently shipping from OEMs, and a lot of other companies currently have 64 bit drivers and apps either out or in development, I wonder when Apple will release iTunes for it. Everything in iTunes currently works under 32 emu mode, but to burn CDs, you would need 64 bit drivers. Burning CDs from iTunes is a huge, important feature, so it's not a minor thing.

you know

You know, for a company that has gained A LOT of support and respect from the /. type, they really ought to spend the 59 seconds necessary to have iTunes support FLAC and OGG. Seriously, you know how many people they'd make happy?

And if the iPod itself supported those codecs, I wonder how many more they'd sell to this crowd? (This crowd, by the way, being the ones who provide recommendations to the people who sign the checks to buy IT equipment for corporations worldwide.)

Get over yourself

And if the iPod itself supported [FLAC and OGG], I wonder how many more they'd sell to this crowd? (This crowd, by the way, being the ones who provide recommendations to the people who sign the checks to buy IT equipment for corporations worldwide.)

The parent post doesn't even make sense in the Real World (tm). What corporate IT infrastructure is the target market for the iPod? And in that small subset of the global market, what group requires FLAC and OGG and can't "make due" with Apple Lossless, MP3 and AAC?

As to your question about "how many more would they sell?" All I can say is that Apple sells 90% of HD based players and 68% of Flash based players according the March numbers from IDC. If the 10% and 32% non-Apple players being purchased are being purchased because of their FLAC and OGG support, then we are living in some wierd ass /. fantasy land!

Re:Get over yourself

If Apple were to gain even more popular with the crowd that implements hardware in corporations, maybe they'd sell more hardware to them. They can start that goodwill with some simple mods in iTunes.

What a load of crap. There are no IT managers who would support a platform change to Mac OS X if only Apple would support FLAC and OGG on the iPod. No, not one. Apple has created tons of goodwill to the OSS community - embracing OSS with contributions like Bonjour and using FreeBSD in OS X. Want proof of the good will? just checkout a website known as /. [slashdot.org] where OSS geeks fall all over themselves praising Apple daily.

The iPod is for consumers. Be rational, not emotional, about these facts.

The blind devotion to your position is astounding!

Don't underestimate the OS X/Apple hardware marketing that can be done with "consumer products" like the iPod. If you doubt me, go to ANY tech trade show - Citrix, Linux, VoIP, etc. Nearly every vendor is auctioning off an iPod. Gee, I wonder why?

Let me repeate, no IT manager in their right mind would base a Mac OS X vs. "Platform B" decision on wethere or not FLAC and OGG were supported on the iPod.

The logic that iPods are given away at trade shows as support of the assertion that FLAC/OGG support would sway these decision makers is illogical. iPods are given away because they are sought after consumer electronic devices, targeting a personal market. Do you think that the bouncy balls and T-shirts given away are to appeal to the corporate IT needs of the organization? Heck no! They are to appeal to the attendees! Show me the iPod givaway that includes some sort of business related use. They don't. iPods are music players given away because they bring crowd of people who want to win one for themselves or someone in their household!

As I said before, be logical, not emotional about this. FLAC and OGG support on the iPod does nothing to aid Apple's bottome line. It's like Panasonic supporting Betamax on their VCRs. It may be a format with some merits, but the masses have spoken, 90% of HD and 68% of flash players sold in March in the US wore the Apple logo. None of those played FLAC and OGG files and they continue to fly off the shelves!

The limited market for FLAC and OGG players does not concern Apple. Neither Apple nor any other manufacturer can build a player that appeals to 100% of the market, and Apple has no doubt considered and rejected FLAC/OGG support.

It isn't going to loose them any market share on consumer digital music player or with business hardware. Face it!

Re:you know

they really ought to spend the 59 seconds necessary to have iTunes support FLAC and OGG. Seriously, you know how many people they'd make happy?

Uh, both of you?

*ducks*

Re:you know

Why do you care, and why should I? I try to be sympathetic to all the format wars -- Real v. WMV v. QuickTime, OpenOffice v. MS Office, etc. -- and pick the side that is best for the community, but honestly on this one I just do NOT see a reason to give a crap. MP3 and M4A do everything I want. I have yet to see reasons compelling enough to justify caring about this battle.

Security fixes included as well

from 2 seconds ago, posted to the OSX Security Bulletins Mailing list:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

APPLE-SA-2005-05-09 iTunes 4.8

iTunes 4.8 is now available and, among other enhancements, delivers
the following security improvement:

CVE-ID: CAN-2005-1248

Impact: A buffer overflow in iTunes could cause a denial of service
and lead to execution of arbitrary code

Description: The MPEG4 file parsing code in iTunes versions prior to
4.8 contains a buffer overflow vulnerability. Parsing a
maliciously-crafted MPEG4 file could cause iTunes to terminate or
potentially execute arbitrary code. iTunes 4.8 addresses this issue
by improving the validation checks used when loading MPEG4 files.
Credit to Mark Litchfield of NGS Software for reporting this issue.

iTunes 4.8 is freely available at
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ [apple.com] for Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later,
Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Windows 2000

For Mac OS X:
The download file is named: "iTunes4.8.dmg"
Its SHA-1 digest is: 5a86f278f9f83192a7789ad123d5d62f67a6a316

For Windows 2000 or XP:
The download file is named: "iTunesSetup.exe"
Its SHA-1 digest is: 12582d193b27991c8f069331ab12d107c569bde2

Information will also be posted to the Apple Product Security
web site:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=617 98 [apple.com]

This message is signed with Apple's Product Security PGP key,
and details are available at:
http://www.apple.com/support/security/pgp/ [apple.com]

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Not to toot my own horn...

But this is largely what I was trying to achieve when I initially started storing videos in iTunes.

This [macosxhints.com] was my solution (different nickname... Same dull, boring guy). I'm glad to see that Apple's taken my lead and is running with it! 8)=

Have they fixed basics yet?

I use itunes to keep my ipod synced but it lacks some basic functionality that I keep expecting to see in these updates.

How about an option to rescan a directory? If I drop new music in my Music folder, I have to either import that directory manually into itunes or delete everything and reimport. Ideally, I could drop the whole folder on itunes and it would find the new items. Instead, it reimports all of them so I end up w/ duplicates in my library. WTF? Similarl issues show up if I update my tags.

Everything else I have used has a "rescan" function, why doesn't iTunes?

Re:Have they fixed basics yet?

If you were using iTunes as it's designed to be used (letting it organize your music instead of importing your whole library that you're organizing yourself every time you update it, so you can sync to your iPod), you wouldn't have that problem.

Have you requested the feature/reported it as a bug to Apple? If not, it's unlikely anyone else has, as it works for the way they expect users to be using it.

Closer, closer ...

Closer, closer Apple edges to distributing video entertainment (DVD-quality movies, music videos, streaming video pay-per-view) via iTunes.

Won't be long now. This follows the introduction of the new H.264 video codec in Quicktime 7. Apple has pretty much all the pieces in place to begin content sales to early adopters.

You didn't think those 30" cinema monitors were just for pr0n, did you? ;-)

iTunes vs QT Pro

Funny, you need to buy QT Pro in order to play videos full screen, but OTOH Apple releases iTunes 4.8 with *fullscreen* video support for free.
The same is true (since a long time) for audio encoding: Need QT Pro for the "Export" feature in QT, but the "Import" feature in iTunes is free.

I like Apple, but IMHO the guy, who's responsible for the QT Player frontend (not the QT backend, which is cool), is quite stupid.

What's next? iTunes 5.0 with video encoding support?

AppleScript

I want to be able to select a file (or files) in iTunes and open it in QuickTime Player or VLC. So, I wrote this, and save it in ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts/. Select one or more files and select the script in your iTunes scripts menu.

tell application "iTunes"
set myfiles to location of selection
tell application "QuickTime Player"
activate
open myfiles
end tell
end tell

Also save a separate version with "VLC" instead of "QuickTime Player". Also works with any media file in iTunes. including MP3s etc.

Psychologically interesting

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time I was upgrading iTunes from 4.5 to 4.6. While the upgrade was running, there was a knock at the door. I went to open the door, and who was there, but Steve Jobs! Steve said "Mr. BigLig? Mr Rufus T. BigLig?" "That's me Steve", I replied. And then he kicked me in the nuts.

Well, not exactly. But I did have an "iTunes Music Library file unknown error (-50)" every time I used iTunes from then on. Tried everything - see here [ipodlounge.com] for details. It hit about 0.01% of users, and the fix was basically "suffer in agony until 4.7".

And now 4.8 is out, and like a fool, I'm downloading it as I type.

And that, Best Beloved, is how Steve got his Reality Distortion Field.

Bring It!

All I know is that it would rock to be able to rip my DVDs onto my Video Ipod, and play it through my TV via s-video or whatever. maybe get a little Mac Mini rev.b to vid iPod dock action going on. Who knows...

Total Annihilation

I've known for a while that the Total Annihilation game disc is also an audio CD with the games soundtrack encoded as red-book audio. Previous versions of iTunes wouldn't read the game disc as an Audio CD, but when I started 4.8, I had my TA game disc in my drive, and iTunes showed it as an audio CD, that could be ripped.

regarding screensize complaints

the next time you're on an airplane, hold your ipod up at arms length and compare it to the relative size of the closest screen on the plane. unless you're sitting right under the thing, chances are that the ipod's screen size will be very similar to the planes. its purpose won't be to replace your tv.

iTunes *does* play oggs.

I don't know (fully) about flac, but I know for certain that iTunes plays oggs - I've got several in my library.

It says the filetype is "Quicktime Movie File", implying that it uses QT to import them (I have the quicktime ogg/vorbis codec installed).

How do you get them in your library? Just drag them to the library, from the finder.
Am I really the only one to know this? Screenshots on request....

Re:Translation

What it doesn't work for you? on a side note, there is a new button on the bottom, but it remains inactive. rollover reads "Show video full screen". Tried everything i could, but I can't make it active. does anyone know what it is for? also if apple were to make a video ipod (as apposed to enabling video on the ipod photo) they would do what they usually do and release a new itunes spicifically for that purpose. itunes 4.1 = windows itunes 4.6 = airport express itunes 4.7 = ipod photo itunes 4.7.1 = ipod shuffle itunes 4.8 = Music Store Support and Video Support????