iTunes 4.8 released

iTunes 4.8 has just been released by Apple. I’ve just downloaded it now, and will report back later if I find anything like the five users per day limitation going on again. According to SmartPlaylists.com, the following features have been added:

  • Video playing support (mov and mp4 files only), with fullscreen video playback
  • Ability to transfer contacts and calendars from computer to iPod (if you’re using Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger)
  • Icon indicators for different media types (you get a little camera icon next to movies)
  • The ability to buy videos as well as music from the Music Store
  • A security patch (I wonder what extra restrictions this gives?)

My initial impression is that being able to play Quicktime movies fullscreen without having to pay for the Quicktime application is A Good Thing! Other than that, right now I don’t see myself using the video abilities of iTunes that much at present (especially since I access my drive with all my music on it across a network connection, so streaming video across sometimes end up with a bit of jerkiness occurring). Other than that, this upgrade is a bit of a non-entity for me - I don’t have Tiger or an iPod, so the syncing stuff is no use to me, I’m likewise not very likely to be buying music videos from the Music Store either - once they start selling individual TV programme episodes though, that’ll be a very different matter!

The iTunes COM for Windows SDK has not been updated as yet. It’s possible that it will be but they just haven’t got around to it yet.

It’s a pity that there’s nothing in the “What’s new” section of the help file about any of these upgrades though. It makes you wonder if there’s anything else that’s been added that we’re going to find out about soon.

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Neil Crosby now blogs at The Code Train and also runs NeilCrosby.com, The Ten Word Review and Everything is Rubbish.