Software : In Depth: iTunes 11 release date, news and rumours

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In Depth: iTunes 11 release date, news and rumours Posted: iTunes 11 rumours When Apple released iTunes in 2001, digital music was in its infancy. Over a decade ago, it was a novelty to rip a CD to your computer and make mixes, and the CD format was popular enough that a major part of Apple's advertising centred around burning mixes back to recordable CDs. The arrival of the iPod changed everything, and then the iTunes Store further wrenched Apple's software from its roots. Today, iTunes isn't a mere jukebox, but also a manager for films, TV shows, podcasts, ebooks, and apps, along with providing an interface to fine-tune the content on iOS devices. As media industries move to the cloud and streaming, iTunes continues to evolve; and a combination of reports and guesswork hints at the iTunes 11 features that are likely to appear. iTunes 11 and iCloud According to 9to5 Mac, work on iTunes 11 began prior to iTunes 10.6, and support for iCloud will be a big component of the new software. Ars Technica concurs, and said iTunes 11 could include a centralised preferences panel for controlling iCloud features, such as iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, iPhone and iPad back-ups to iCloud, and more. iDownloadBlog also stated iCloud integration would be stronger in iTunes 11, going so far as to say iCloud data for apps and games would be synced to your local iTunes Library. iTunes 11 interface Last summer, iDownloadBlog said iTunes 11 would be "revamped from the ground up", resulting in a much cleaner and slicker iTunes interface. iTunes's relative bloat and complexity is something plenty of people are unhappy about: Microsoft Fix It said the interface is plain awful and compared it unfavourably to Microsoft's Zune software; elsewhere, Jason Snell for Macworld argued that Apple should turn iTunes into a suite of separate, simpler apps. However, according to the reports from 9to5 Mac and Ars Technica, the majority of iTunes 11 features will result only in under-the-hood changes, not cosmetic ones. A new audio format for iTunes 11 A big change for iTunes 11 could be an entirely new audio format. Tom Davenport and Charles Arthur for The Guardian wrote that Apple is working on 'adaptive streaming', which in iTunes 11 and through iTunes Match would create a system that adjusted itself to available bandwidth and storage. "All of a sudden, all your audio from iTunes is in HD rather than AAC. Users wouldn't have to touch a thing—their library will improve in an instant," said the Guardian's source iTunes 11 music streaming A change in audio format, and one dedicated to streaming, will reignite seemingly dead rumours about Apple working on a streaming audio service (as opposed to iTunes Match), in order to battle the likes of Spotify. Having streaming audio in iTunes 11 might seem counter-intuitive, given the iTunes Store's download-based model. However, while 7Digital claimed iTunes has peaked and streaming is the future, Spotify chief Daniel Ek said streaming services actually boost sales. A new iTunes 11 store An integrated streaming service would only make sense if every aspect of the iTunes Store was more integrated into the general iTunes experience, and iDownloadBlog's report from last year did make such a claim: "Rather than the iTunes Store being essentially a web browser, the iTunes Store will actually be integrated into the entire app—much like Spotify is currently." This chimes somewhat with 9to5 Mac's own report about an iTunes 11 store revamp, which is said to be "even simpler and more user-friendly than the current design". The report added that most changes will centre on a more engaging and interactive experience, but Ars Technica has said Apple's acquisition of Chomp will also play a role, improving search and therefore making content more discoverable in iTunes 11. iTunes 11 and the Apple TV One of the more out-there iTunes 11 rumours concerns the Apple iTV. Cult of Mac reported that the iTV will have an "iTunes-integrated touch-screen remote and Siri-like voice command tech". Even if that doesn't come to pass, there are possibilities of other iTunes 11 features regarding TV content. As Ars Technica showed Apple's new 1080p format compares favourably with Blu-ray, and Tech of the Hub reported that some digital copies of movies loaded into iTunes are automatically made available via iCloud. This could point to iTunes 11 ushering in iTunes Match for movies and television. iTunes 11 and OS X Mountain Lion A final thought regarding iTunes 11 features involves OS X Mountain Lion. Apple has revealed some information about the new version of OS X, including Notification Center and Share Sheets in Safari and Photo Booth. Although iTunes hasn't yet figured in details about OS X Mountain Lion, it's possible iTunes 11 will be able to send notification banners to Notification Center and also enable you to share your current musical tastes on Twitter via Share Sheets. iTunes 11 release date Major and point updates to iTunes arrive on an erratic basis, but there's a possibility iTunes 11 will appear alongside the iPhone 5 (or the new iPhone as Apple will probably call it). However, 9to5 Mac reckons we will most likely instead get a further 10.6 update purely for iOS 6 compatibility, followed by iTunes 11 a little later. Ars Technica thinks iTunes 11 will coincide with new iPhone hardware, meaning a release date between late June and early October.

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