The Active Network
ActiveMac Anonymous | Create a User | Reviews | News | Forums | Advertise  
 

  *  

  Apple iTunes for Windows XP and Windows 2000 Launched
Time: 13:37 EST/18:37 GMT | News Source: ActiveMac | Posted By: Byron Hinson

Apple's Steve Jobs has just announced the Windows version of both iTunes and the excellent Apple music store have been launched. Along with a partnership with AOL, Apple hope to sell 100 million tunes a year. Jobs then went on to Compares it to WMP and MusicMatch. iTunes has full speed encoding, MP3 CDs, iPod compatible. Others are limited in features or prevent it altogehter. iTunes shares Music up to 3 computers via Rendezvous. The others don't. No upgrade costs for iTunes. Free. New iPods shipping as of today will ship with iTunes for both Mac and Windows. It is a 19mb download. It includes a new version of QuickTime 6.4

A new iTunes book store was also launched as a deal with Audible.com. Multiyear exclusive deal. Over 5000 books on iTunes. AOL users don't have to put in their Credit Card. They can enter their AOL ID and that's it, they buy a song. Jobs on the AOL Music Store "Going to put iTunes buttons next to every song/album on AOL's music site. Will launch iTunes and show the song/album"

You can mix and match your 3 authorized computers (Mac or PC). Also the music store has been enhanced, with better searching, Now can sort albums by album name, or best sellers on artist pages, or Original release dates. Full biography information has now been added.

Deal with Pepsi announced: Apple and Pepsi are giving away 100 million songs. Pepsi is going to make 300 million bottles with 1 in 3 a winner. Give away them all in a 60 day time period. Just enter the code from the cap and download your favorite song. Starts on Feb 1, 2004 at the Superbowl

New iPod accessories announced including a Belkin flash card reader, with up to 20,000 photo's that auto-sync with your iPod, and all dockable iPod's will do voice recordings which auto-sync with the new version of iTunes giving up to 640 hours of voice recording.

Write Comment
Return to News

  Displaying 1 through 25 of 385
Last | Next
  The time now is 12:27:18 AM ET.
Any comment problems? E-mail us
#1 By 3 (62.253.128.7) at 10/16/2003 2:50:25 PM
At last, everything can go AAC now in my collection. It's better than I expected it to be.

#2 By 3 (62.253.128.7) at 10/16/2003 3:12:14 PM
I think even Brian is converted!

#3 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 3:13:31 PM
And you can store and encode to mp3, parker. If you purchase digital AAC files from the store and burn to DVD or CD, you can burn them as mp3 and aiff and wav.

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 15:16.

#4 By 3 (62.253.128.7) at 10/16/2003 3:25:20 PM
Don't try and convince Parker, it's made by Apple remember.

#5 By 37 (64.109.30.2) at 10/16/2003 3:49:56 PM
I told Byron (thanks for the heads up on the download) that I thought the interface was a cleaner less cluttered interface than WMP9 (not that they are DIRECT competitors). I think it's well laid out indeed. It resembles a Mac interface.

I do find that the lack of right click context menus is disappointing. As is the limited selection of music in the store (which I understand it growing) and radio stations.

I will test the AAC conversions once I get home.

#6 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 4:39:58 PM
Parker, if you want to play them in your DVD player, aren't you burning them anyway? What is the big deal? Transcoding adds little if anything to the time to burn a disc. You were the one who wanted to play a disc with mp3s.

QT is not just an app. iTunes uses the codecs bundled with the QT media layer and API to playback various formats. Which... by the way... allows you to add codecs to playback and encode in whichever format you desire as well.

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 17:17.

#7 By 163 (64.4.226.123) at 10/16/2003 5:07:57 PM
Just in time for the holidays :) Now I gotta go get an IPod :)

#8 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 5:37:47 PM
"Not true."

So you've downloaded it, purchased or created a bunch of AAC files, and burned an mp3 disc and found it to be slow or are you just being an ass?

#9 By 2459 (24.175.137.164) at 10/16/2003 5:51:01 PM
Napster.com will have similar liberal useage terms when it launches October 29th. BuyMusic.com will also likely get similar terms because of these and other services. I think the labels will let this play out for a while to see what the uptake is. If they don't like the results, then they may make the services go to more restrictive policies. If they do, however, I don't see that the increased restrictions will help them convince more users to use the legit services.

#10 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 5:52:54 PM
kevinu, it's going to last and Apple started it. That's clear. Other companies keep coming online with similar terms to Apple. There are at least 3 services with similar licensing already on Windows. It ain't temporary.

Has anyone tested burning? I'd like to hear whether or not the more exotic mix of burners in Wintel is producing problems. How many devices does iTunes have the drivers for?

#11 By 14091 (63.236.113.66) at 10/16/2003 6:03:35 PM
No WMA support. No thanks.

I'll continue to use my superior sounding Nomad Zen NX with the superior audio format.

#12 By 3 (62.253.128.7) at 10/16/2003 6:32:14 PM
From a personal stand point i prefer AAC over WMA, but thats from listening to both and I guess using an ipod which is likely to playback AAC very well. As for iTunes, it is the best music player out there, it does what it wants to be good at - dealing with music files. I'm glad its on the PC now as I have loads of tracks on here.

#13 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 7:03:53 PM
So, parker, your "not true" was complete bullsh!t and you won't be satisfied anyway. Thank you very much.

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 19:05.

#14 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 7:13:53 PM
Yes, it was. You didn't test the speed of transcoding mp3s from AACs so your claim that what I was telling you was "not true" was baseless.

Secondly, you are the one who wants to play it in your DVD player so you are talking about burning a disc anyway. Isn't that correct? If you aren't playing it in a disc player, why would you need to convert an AAC file to mp3? Hmm?

And you do understand that AAC is the next generation of mp3, right? Everyone else is moving slowly, but over the next year or two, you should expect most mp3s to move to AAC.

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 19:16.

#15 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 7:22:09 PM
And by the way, this: " I need to burn it as a WAV file on CD and then rip it as an MP3 or WMA"...

...There are two possibilities here: either you are talking about circumventing the DRM, which you and 95% of the softies here defend, or you are talking about simply taking one format and burning it into another...

which is 100% POSSIBLE without burning to a disc and re-ripping!!!

Maybe you should do some more reading or actually check it out. Burning has 3 options: music disc (.aiff format), data disc (the original format), or music data disc (where you select the encoder and format you desire).

#16 By 7754 (216.160.8.41) at 10/16/2003 7:28:42 PM
I think this is a good move overall by Apple, and I'm anxious to try it out sometime tonight. I do hope it runs more smoothly than QuickTime on the PC. I'm not really crazy about the look of the brushed metal interface (and I'm not really sure how it fits in with the "lickable" interface in OS X... my kitchen sink looks similar, and I'm not too crazy about licking that...), but if it works well, that's not a big issue. I don't think it will sync with my Pocket PC, though, which is a benefit of WMP9 (along with the WM 9 Series codecs).

Can't think of another way to give Apple 10¢.... :P

#17 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 7:31:03 PM
parker, I apologize if I was misleading you, but the previous point lays it straight: if your question was: can I circumvent the DRM which I have defended a thousand times before?

My answer would have been: you can but this requires modifying iTunes (which has been done) or re-ripping. But are you now claiming it is appropriate to remove legally applied DRM? Huh?

"Because my DVD player plays WMA and MP3 and WAV. I can fit thousands of MP3's on a DVD and 1/10th as many WAV files. I choose MP3's. I like to put 30 or more albums on a DVD instead of 6 or 7."

And you can do this! I've said it 3 times now. Are you going to exclusively and soley use and buy music from iTMS? So all other files (.wav, .aiff, .mp3, AAC (not from iTMS), and many, many more formats) can be burned directly to disc.

"Not really." Your an idiot. Of course, it is. New mpeg licensees are being granted AAC licenses. WinAmp has added support. Anyone who wants to add formats besides WMA will be adding AAC next.

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 19:33.

#18 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 7:57:01 PM
What sort of retarded flamebait is this twaddle: "And, it appears, a waste of money for Apple." It doesn't sound to me like Steve, or Phil, or anyone at Apple thinks its a waste of money. They did say it doesn't have long term profit potential... i.e. profit growth past a certain point. But waste? Hmmm....

It is almost profitable now (meanwhile BuyMusic refuses to release a number of downloads--any guesses why?) and they are willing to underwrite it because of the huge surge in iPod sales. WiniTunes could potentially lead to both iPod AND Mac sales... Waste of time indeed.

What you should be pointing out is that the company with the most exclusive titles, with the most complete vertical solution (iPod, Macs, iTunes, and other software), with leading pro audio applications, which leads the market for 3rd party pro audio tools, which has 70% of the legal download market, which has introduced more new features than any other service (audio books, gift certs, allowances, etc...), and which is primarily using it as a trojan horse to drive other sales... knew before they did it that there would be little profit. So shouldn't the question be: how the hell does BuyMusic, Napster, and many others hope to survive?

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 19:59.

#19 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 8:29:46 PM
"Why can't they make one media player that just has it all?"

Because Apple and most others feel that the interface and interaction with a music collection is different than a video collection. And in fact they are QUITE DIFFERENT.

"Converting AAC to MP3 or whatever is just too messy."

Why are so many stuck on this? If you buy a protected track from the iTMS, you get an AAC which can only be burned to disc in one way. This has nothing to do with any other type of file or workflow. All other AAC's can be burned DIRECTLY in whatever format you choose from available codecs. Also, you are saying that you want to violate the license of the material.

"It's stupid." It's also illegal.

"I also refuse to pay money for compressed audio files." You don't have to. Why do softies act as if you HAVE to buy from iTMS to use iTunes. Or own an iPod... Use it as you will.

"If I want that, I will download MP3s from WinMX." Okay, you are a thief.

"I'm an album guy anyway." Okay, and? What's your point? Albums don't exist if you use iTunes?

"CDs are not that expensive." First time I've heard that.

By the way, I agree that I'm not going to ay for compressed audio. I'll rip my CDs and/or wait for higher bit rates. (Which they are working on.) That doesn't make iTunes useless though.

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 20:57.

#20 By 3339 (64.160.58.135) at 10/16/2003 8:56:59 PM
"Yeah...why would anyone want to be able to listen to their music on an MP3-compatible CD/DVD player? I mean, what's the point? Being able to listen to your music on anything other than your PC or iPod is just silly!"

See... you are still falling for it! You can. Just not files which are purchased from iTMS. And even then you are not restricted. So... again... why are you all acting as if iTunes prevents burning discs in mp3? Hmmm? Why are all the DRM dickriders know complaining they can't circumvent it? (By the way, you can't burn DRM protected wma files to mp3 either from any other service using that format! Oh my!)

This post was edited by sodajerk on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 20:59.

#21 By 2960 (68.100.76.227) at 10/16/2003 9:36:54 PM
#1,

I'm cross-platform (Like you didn't know that LOL), and even _I_ am amazed.

I never expected it to be _so_ identical to the Mac version!

Awesome stuff. Awesome software.

TL

#22 By 135 (208.186.90.91) at 10/16/2003 9:46:17 PM
Curious the argument about AAC versus WMA considering they are both based off MPEG-4.

I'll probably download it and try it, but since my media content is all in WMA already I probably won't be using it. But we'll see.

#23 By 3653 (209.149.57.116) at 10/16/2003 9:50:46 PM
I'm not willing to take a risk on apple. There's too much chance that I'll be abandoned a few year's from now... with a bunch of apple shite. I'll continue to bet on a winner (wma, mp3) that I know will have BROAD (meaning more than a single provider) support in the future. I can use wma and mp3 on my computers, my receiver, my dvd player, and portable music player (if I owned one). With apple, I only get to use the ipod. No thanks.

#24 By 2960 (68.100.76.227) at 10/16/2003 9:51:02 PM
#40,

"And why are all the Steve Jobs "dickriders" saying that DRM is great when it comes from Apple?"

For heavens sake man, don't be such a twit.

NO ONE in here (certainly myself) is saying DRM is ok. In fact, I DESPISE any sort of DRM (a point I've made clear on many occasions, sometimes to my detriment here :))

What CAN be said is that Apple and the IMS has the most LIBERAL DRM policy of any service anywhere, bar none.

If you can't be happy with the ability to burn as many CD's as your heart desires, then, well, you simply are not someone who can be satisfied.

Whether I (or anyone else) likes it or not, what we are seeing here IS the future of music distribution online. Apple has finally made the whole thing digestible for the most part.

TL

#25 By 3653 (209.149.57.116) at 10/16/2003 9:51:57 PM
techlarry - "I never expected it to be _so_ identical to the Mac version"

Thats because the mac OS platform doesn't have any advantages over Windows. The best apple-ites can hope for is to be on par with Windows.

Write Comment
Return to News
  Displaying 1 through 25 of 385
Last | Next
  The time now is 12:27:18 AM ET.
Any comment problems? E-mail us
User name and password:

 

  *  
  *   *