Continuing the (very welcome) trend of rapid, bug-fix (including the nasty HD overwrite Dieter wrote about a while back!) and stability themed product updates, Apple has released its first minor bump to iTunes 8 (see our feature overview), the aptly numbered 8.0.1. The list of changes, voluminous by Apple’s standards, include (via Macrumors):

Head on over to Apple Software Update to get the latest — and hopefully greatest version for your iPhone. Then come back here and let us know how it’s working for you, and… er.. whether it breaks anything else…

TUAW (nice redesign, guys!) notices that the iTunes App Store no longer has a link on the lefthand side to browse all free apps. The best we have now is the Top 100 Free Apps over on the right. TUAW is hopeful that Apple will bring back the link to browse all them free apps, and indeed, so are we. Even stores that traditionally only sold for-pay mobile apps like the Mobihand store sister-site WMExperts have seen the writing on the wall and added a link for free apps.

Fear not, though, loyal TiPb Readers. We have the link to browse all 90 pages of free apps, over 1850 apps in total, right here. Go on, browse those free apps, don’t let the man keep you down. Browse all Apps

Update: Turns out that you can, in fact, stop the signal. The “Browse all free apps” listing linked above contains, well, a lot of apps that ain’t free. Could it be that Apple got sick and tired of developers listing their apps as free to move up the top apps chain, then switching to for-pay to bring in the cash? Our best guess: Apple must not have a good, automatic way to categorize “free,” so they took the above link down to tweak the store.

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Let’s Rock, iTunes 8, iPhone 2.1 update, and of course, an extended rant [ED: with some cussin', beware!] on the App Store debacle. Tune in!

(Recorded on Sept 24th, btw, so you know the rant is original)

News

• Let’s Rock
  • Apple Let’s Rock Event Live Meta-Blog
  • iPod Takes Center Stage At Lame-ish “Let’s Rock” Event
  • “Let’s Rock” Keynote Now Streaming via Apple.com
  • iPod Touch Bluetooth Hopes Raised, Mercilessly Quashed
• 2.1, iTunes 8
  • Counter Strike: Apple Fires Back at Jailbreakers!
  • Updated: iPhone Firmware 2.1 Now Live!
  • Review: iPhone 2.1 Software
  • iTunes 8 Feature Overview
• #!@%@#$@# NDA
  • Podcaster Denied! No App Store for iPod-alike App
  • Netshare Officially Banned from the App Store
  • MailWrangler Denied: No App Store for Gmail App
  • PodcasterGate: Rejects Gagged and Ad-Hoc Slagged!
• Good App News
  • TiPb GRAND PRIX: We Choose the Winner. You Win the Games!
  • Documents to Go is Coming to the iPhone!
  • Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for iPhone
  • Review: Spore Origins for iPhone
  • Trism Developer Clears $250K Since App Store Launch
• iPhone Errata
  • Power Adapter Recall
  • Opera Was the Original Browser… For the iPhone?!
  • Hidden “Matrix Code” on the iPhone
  • Updated: Apple Patents “Today Screen” for iPhone
  • NBC Comes Crawling Back to iTunes, Gets 1 Million Downloads
  • Apple’s Smart Buying Process Now Live!
• The Competition
  • UPDATED: AndroidCentral Meta Live-Blog: gPhone or iClone?
  • Android vs. iPhone: The Battle for Funnerest Begins!
  • Attack of the iClones: Blackberry ThunderStorm Clicktastic Edition!

How To

• How do you sort your apps?
• How To: Create a Genius Playlist on the iPhone or iPod Touch

Community

• how many home screens do you use poll
• Charging tips
• Voice Dialer

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast.

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge
• Relaxation Spa Treatment by Dan the Automator via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future
• Wataridori 2 by Cornelius via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future
• DC 3000 by Thievery Corporation via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future

As we mentioned earlier, when you purchase an HD TV show from iTunes you’re actually getting two copies of the show — one version in HD and another in standard definition for your iPhone. They’re two separate files and, well, apparently they don’t always go great together. Ars Technica is reporting that when iTunes gets around to downloading the SD version, some users are finding that it’s overwriting the HD file.

They recommend turning on “Allow simultaneous downloads” and also offer a sneaky quit-and-restart iTunes trick. If that doesn’t appeal to you, just sit tight, Apple’s aware of the issue and will likely manage to fix it up (here’s a hint, Apple, just append the resolution of the video to the end of the filename).

How about it: are you downloading HD content yet?

Joy of Tech are geniuses. Read their cartoons. Laugh. Or just smile knowingly. ‘Nuff said!

iTunes 8 is here and 95% of y’all are definitely going to want to get your upgrade on. A few of you might not until the pwnage situation clears up. A few more might want to avoid that Blue Screen of Death thing on Vista, although the good news there is we now have a decent fix (check that link).

Ok, so now what are we getting with iTunes 8? Follow us after the break!

iPhone Features

First up and dearest to our hearts — iTunes 8 combined with the 2.1 update to the iPhone will give us backups that don’t last for hours and hours (and hours).

Another nice bit: your iPhone info screen now shows more information about what’s taking up space on your iPhone. Namely — it has a new color for ‘apps’ instead of burying that information within ’0ther.’

Better podcast settings

iTunes is still our favorite way to grab podcasts on the desktop, but the options for how and what to download and keep were always a little too broad. That issue has been resolved with a little shuffling of the Preferences dialog. Podcast settings are now editable on a podcast-by-podcast basisi instead of globally in the Pref’s screen.

New Browsing View: Grid

1. It manages to cram more information (your media) on to one screen while simultaneously making that information easier to quickly browse.
2. With stuff like TV shows and podcasts, it shows you number badges indicating un-seen or un-listened to media.
3. Much like iPhoto, Artist view lets you ‘scrub’ your mouse across a thumbnail to get a quick glimpse of the albums to be found within.

Though we at TiPb are hopeful that Genius (see below) will become more and more useful as time goes on, for now Grid View is our favorite iTunes 8 feature.

Genius

The biggest new feature in iTunes 8 has to be Genius Playlists. Apple has taken a page from the Pandora and Last.fm playbook by helping users create playlists based on a certain song. The basic idea is this: you select a song, tell iTunes to create a playlist based on that song, and iTunes makes a list of up to 100 songs that it believes ‘go with’ that song from your library. For example, choose a Bob Dylan song and you might find Joan Baez in a playlist.

In theory, it’s nearly the perfect way to shuffle your music. Instead of a jarring switch from your secret stash of Kenny G songs to your hardcore rap, you immediately get a playlist of songs that fit the sort of mood you’re actually looking for.

iTunes also (anonymously) uploads your entire library into the cloud and collates your listening habits with millions of other iTunes users. The net effect is supposed to help Genius refine its playlist-creating abilities. That’s good news, because in these early days Genius isn’t quite Mensa-esque in either its ability to recognize songs or in choosing apt playlists to go along with them:

Nevertheless, Genius looks to be a great way to not only shuffle your music but also to (re)discover music in your vast iTunes library that you may have forgotten about. The fact that it’s also available on the iPhone is also great news.

Also notable, of course, is that there’s now a Genius sidebar that appears in your music listings. It offers opportunities to purchase related music that’s not in your library as well as the ability to fill out incomplete albums. If Genius doesn’t have information on a selected song, it defaults to showing top selling songs and albums in iTunes.

New Visualizer

There’s a new visualizer in iTunes, created by the barbarian group, and it’s sweet. Photos do better than words at conveying the new feel, but actually trying it does better than photos, so be sure you check it out.

New Terms and Conditions.

We’re not lawyers so we’re not going to delve into these just now — but we heartily invite you to give it a shot.

UPDATED: Reseting everything, including the router, solved the problem.

After Apple unleashed 2.1 today, and I downloaded and installed it with nary a snag or bump, I thought everything was pretty much apps with my Apps. Needless to say, tonight I whipped out my iPhone’s handy Apple Remote App to help out with a little YouTube searching, only to discover that while my libraries (desktop, laptop, Apple TV) were all still set up, none of them would connect. (They’d all worked flawlessly, immediately prior to iTunes 8 and iPhone 2.1).

I removed the libraries and tried to set them up again, but can’t get the iPhone to show up in iTunes in order to type in the verification PIN. I’ll continue to trouble shoot and report back if I come across any fixes.

Anyone else having this problem?

Seems iTunes 8 for Vista 32/64 will crash if you hook an iPhone or iPod up to it, or, you know, look at it funny. Gizmodo says some users are having luck reverting back to 7.7, or doing a complete uninstall and then installing 8.0. Apple, meanwhile, is asking for crash logs to try to figure out what’s happening.

Could Apple’s Quality Assurance department really not have any Vista machines in-house to run tests on? Any other company, and we wouldn’t even ask but as reader Bryan points out in the comments:

Apple, you’re looking more and more unstable as 2008 progresses. I’m not trying to be a jerk, but today’s press conference was absolutely unnecessary; these were minor product line changes, not something worth throwing an “event.” Please invest more in QA and less in these events.

We’d joke it was the new Gates/Seinfeld ad pressure, but we figure Vista users aren’t in a real laughing mood over this. For my part, I haven’t installed iTunes on my Vista machine yet, but now I’ll make a point of it. Let’s see what happens…

And Apple, break’s over, b’okay?

QuickTime 7.5.5 was the prep, Front Row 2.1.6 the side dish, but now the main event, iTunes 8 itself, is available from Apple for your downloading pleasure!

Apple Says:

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.

With iTunes 8, browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (120GB), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.

iTunes 8 and iTunes U are now accessible with VoiceOver on your Mac.

Updated: Now available via Software Update, or you can grab it from Apple.com right now!

It wasn’t MacWorld 2007, was it? Too much hype, too little delivery? Rumors of secret features and analysts wetting themselves over lower-margin product revelations set the bar too high? Or did Apple just decide to slip under it this time?

Either way, for iPhone lovers like we here at TiPb, Apple spared only about 10 seconds worth of attention. Highlights were limited to Firmware 2.1, which will be available Friday and include better battery life, less crashy apps, and… working 3G?!

Apple’s already made their money for the year on the iPhone, however, so it was time to pump the holiday purses: iPod Nano and iPod Touch. Read on for pics and the full roundup!

Kevin Rose must be smirking, see how several of his predictions came true, at least to some degree.

The Nano has the new/old Tall-Boy widescreen form factor, and comes complete with iTunes 8 compatible Genius music recommendations and playlists, and accelerometer, shake to shuffle, and more colors than a bag of skittles (no, I’ll never tire of that visual).

The Touch looks to be positioned directly against the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, with Spore and Need for Speed featured, along with built-in Nike+ integration, and the same Genius features as the Nano (and the iPhone, right Steve?!)

The Classic gets a one-size-fits all reduction to 120GB only, and the Genius features.

Updated: And iTunes 8, which will be available today, wraps it all together along with skim-able grid view, accessibility improvements, HD TV, the return of NBC (on bended knee?), trippy new Visualizations, and full on Pandora/Last.fm-style recommendations, as rumored.

Kevin Rose, bound by vengeance to clear his name of false rumors past, has been laying the veritable smack down on Apple’s “Let’s Rock” Event. It’s like he’s got Phil Schiller on the Bat-iPhone or something.

The latest? The above mock up of what iTunes 8.0′s interface will look like, along with a roundup of rumors thus far. Maybe he’ll digg his way out of this yet! (Har!)

Meanwhile, Apple Insider is reporting that some users might have sneaked a copy of an early, pre-release iTunes 8.0 download. Nothing much there to substantiate it yet, but we all remember people getting iPhone 2.0 early last time, so who knows?

(Us, come tomorrow’s Live Meta-Blog — see you there!)

Kevin Rose rumored a newer, trip’ier, more galactic iTunes visualizer, and now according to MacRumors, he’s confirmed where it comes from:

Magnetosphere had been available as a free download from the developer’s site until a few months ago. The author has since responded to an inquiry by Allan White that the plug-in had been “sold to a third party”.

Since CoverFlow was acquired by Apple and integrated into iTunes (before progressing into Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard’s Finder file browser — and the iPhone!), this certainly has precedence.

We’ll find out for sure on Tuesday!

Update: Kevin Rose has a new blog post up, with some additional info:

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.

With iTunes 8, browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (2nd generation), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.

(Thanks Bad Ash for the update!)

Original post after the break…

Kevin Rose is going to get someone at Apple Jobsbliterated. If all these rumors he’s leaking are true, that is. First it was the new iPod Nano (which is looking likely), then the September 9th date for the Let’s Rock event (confirmed), and now he’s back Twittering additions to his previous iTunes 8 recommendations rumor:

the new iTunes 8.0 visualizations are really trippy – there is one with planet like objects wrapping around each other w/stars/light streams

Certainly not a major new feature by any stretch of the imagination, and we’d call immediate shenanigans if we didn’t think there was just the sort of 60s flashback stuff Steve Jobs might be hankering for these days.

We’ll see what the 8-ball says but in the meantime, can you digg it?

No, that’s not spring in the air, that’s the rumor frenzy ramp-up to Apple’s June World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), and here’s the aptly titled MacRumors with a mother load:

A MacRumors reader ran across a very unusual .Mac web page yesterday and was kind enough to forward it on. The page contained promotional images for Apple products [...] including teasers for iTunes 8, a 32GB iPhone [in Australia!], and a WWDC launch date (June 10th).

Turns out, not so much. The images came courtesy of one of MacRumors own forum members (though MacRumors continues to maintain they were associated with a legit @apple.com account).

In general, a 32GB iPhone, at least for the current generation product, would require a 32GB NAND chip for the single slot (due to the cell radio and other components, unlike the iPod Touch which boasts 2 NAND slots, the iPhone only has room for 1 — hence iPod Touch always offering twice the memory). If true, it may explain the price cuts on the 8GB models. iTunes 8 would only require some boosted features (App Store support?) and Apple’s marketing desire to bump the rev a full number. Australia rumors have been building for a long time now, of course.

Also included were the first MacBook and MacBookPro case revs, going to aluminum and iMac-style black on aluminum respectively. (Both of which have also seen rampant rumor ramp ups — say that ten times fast!)