Apple releases iTunes 6.0

Well, that was snappy. It took 'em freaking forever to make the jump from 4 to 5, but it took 'em only about a month to go from 5 to 6. iTunes 6.0 features video playback, however, and a slew of new features in the Store. On the audio end now you can gift music (i.e. buy it for your friends by album, song, or playlist), add customer reviews (uh oh, here we go…), and they've added Just for You—their name for personalized automated recommendations (it's in beta, aight?).

On the video side they're launching with 2,000 QVGA formatted FairPlay DRMed music videos which you can pick up for $1.99 apiece, as well as episodes of five ABC series (Lost, Desperate Housewives, Night Stalker, That's So Raven, The Suite Life), also two bucks a go.

[Permanent4 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Why are they offering TV shows that are broadcast over the air on network TV? It would make a lot more sense to pair up with HBO to offer Rome and Deadwood, or pair up with Sci-Fi to offer Battlestar Galactica and Stargate SG-1 -- shows that people might want to watch without giving up all that cash for cable TV channels they won't watch.

Either way, it's not a good deal. A full 24-episode season of Lost would cost you $47.76 through iTunes, vs. $38.99 if you wait for the DVD.

[eric @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

I would like to see the add a lite version of iTunes for windows. Don't get me wrong I love i Tunes and all its greatness, but it's a cpu hog, and now with this version I'm sure it's even worse!

[Jimmy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

anyone else having problems with new iTunes/Quicktime. it crashes when I try to play a video in either IE or Firefox.

[C.J. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

once more networks join in, ill be buying a video ipod.. 2 dollars an episode seems cheap considering a season is like 50 bucks a dvd with what 12-20ish episodes although the resolution blows

[Brad Hill @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Anybody else getting just black screens where the video content should be in iTunes 6?

[thepingofdeath @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

all the updates are to ITMS. i don't see how that will affect CPU usage.

[Klemens @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Hey. There's a big problem with iTunes 5 and now iTunes 6 and its German localisation. It's filing all the "The-" Bands at T.
There are German "The-" Bands too, "The" in German means "Die". Ironically, iTunes 5 and 6 file "Die"-Bands correctly, for example "Die ?zte" at A not D.
Unfortunately I'm a big fan of "The" bands so this is really, really pissing me off.
PLEASE STEVE JOB! FIX THIS!!!
Otherwise I like it. There's no real difference to iTunes 5 except for the video part.

[Brad Hill @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

>> Either way, it's not a good deal. A full 24-episode season of Lost would cost you $47.76 through iTunes, vs. $38.99 if you wait for the DVD. <<

"if you wait." That's the point. If you miss an episode of Lost you don't want to wait for reruns of DVDs.

[cecil @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Rip...Mix...Burn remember?

Will it rip my DVDs to play on the iPod at least?

What am I gonna have to use to convert other video? and can that be done batch?

Come on...6? should be 5.5 or something.

[Lord Tenchi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

hmmmm i think it's too expensive for the video. I mean, $1.99 for a QVGA video? If it was at least at SD quality I may bite. Unless I intend to watch all thises video ONLY on my iPod, I'm not biting.

[Boinko @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

So, downloading tv shows via BitTorrent is not a good thing?

[Brad Hill @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Downloading TV shows via Bit Torrent is beyond the mainstream iTunes market.

[Brad Hill @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Downloading TV shows via Bit Torrent is beyond the mainstream iTunes market.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

iTunes 6.0 is not in working order yet. I bought a season of Lost to try it out and am just getting a gray screen. I restarted twice and still nothing. Everything else works fine. Then I am trying to get into my apple ID account at work and it's not letting me. Saying that the Apple Store is temporarily down. Fix please.

[jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

i dont think the iTMS is ready yet. I'm still getting the old store (?) or at least the store that shows up in my recently installed iTunes6 looks nothing like the one pictured here. and non of the video content is downloadable, and i cant even find where to browse video stuff... it seems like the old store still. i'll give it a day or two i suppose.

[Bootes @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

It will not rip DVDs to play on the computer or iPod, because that is illegal in the US. Thank the DMCA. :)

[i <3 applle @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Wow, the new version (6.0) of this gadget is cool!

[Talkin Ape @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Where are all these vids anyway? All I can find is a Beastie's and a u2 one...

@ �1.89 it sucks ass

The UK store looks exactly as it did in 5. There are no links to video collections whatsoever!

And "6" lol should be 5.1, have apple gone mad?

[tf @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Klemens, but how do you tell "Die" from "The". I wouldn't want the English version treating "Die" as "The" so why would the German version treat "The" as "Die"?

You said version 5 and 6: did it use to do the same with both words?

[Hipoteca @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

i think that the videos are only for USA...

[Alex @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Last time, I installed iTunes 4.whatever the day before they released iTunes 5. This time, I installed iTunes 5 (to a new install of Windows) the day before iTunes 6 is released. How lucky am I... sigh.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

"Just for you" huh? Ripping off Yahoo I see.

[Gadget @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

I love mac os but the only reason I use iTunes is because it has some features that I can't seem to find on the other music players. That said I always have some better programe do my ripping. I haven't trusted iTunes to rip anything well in ages.

[Twist @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

iTunes didn't deserve to be called version 5 and this sure doesn't deserve to be called version 6. Apple has really been inflating the version numbers for iTunes and a few of the other iLife products. iTunes 2 was more of a 1.5 and 3 was more of a 1.8 and 4 was maybe a 2.0 with 5 being more like a 2.5 (if that since the main change was the appearance) and this maybe being a 2.7.

[John Molina @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Yeah major flaws in iTunes 6... I opened the info of one of my songs and it wouldn't close. Basically froze up my iTunes, I had to manual crash it. Quality is getting crappier! But that's what happens when you substitute quantity...

[Joe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

i downloaded itunes 6 as soon as the announcements finished and the website opened. it is a good products, especially its ability to find videos on your sys and play them. great software.

[juan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

does anyone know if there is a way to play the videos on the itunes store on some other pvp or even a psp?

[Jack @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Does this even work on Windows? Its freaking rediculous, I figured 6 would be the update to the windows bug in 5. But it, without fail, just seems to get worse.

[deviantflux @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

All of the free music videos that were available before are now $1.99. And more than a couple of the videos that were previously available are no longer there.

Where have all the free music videos gone?

[Joe Henson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

To get the new DRMd video files to play you need to update to Quicktime 7.0.3 (via software update on the Mac)

[Klemens @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

--> "The-" Bands-Problem.

tf, yes, iTunes 4 and before that did the thing for "Die" AND "The". Now the English version never did "Die". So there are many Germans who listen to American and British bands, but only few American/British people who listen to German Bands. That's why I liked the way it used to be and now it's sucky lol.

Btw the only time the "Die" thing sucks is when it's doing it to the band "Die Happy" lol.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Wow, this thing sucks. It freezes as soon as you click import. Seriously, Apple, make sure your software works BEFORE you release it.

[Fred @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Down loaded iTunes 6 and found that the tunes catalogue file had been replaced. Replaced that with a b/u copy and started it - now its re-catalogueing the entire collection ~9000 tunes that I loaded from CDs and are on a NAS - we're at 8 hrs and ~ half way done. That's my freeze

[Sidney @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Has anyone else noticed that music videos used to be FREE?

Music video purchasing is not a feature. You should only have to if you want them on your iPod.

[Angie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Itunes 6.0 is giving me a ton of problems. I have panther, and sometimes the screen doesn't even come up when I run it, then it doesn't quit fully until 10 minutes after I've force-quitted a couple times.

[yoli @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Every time i try to download itunes 6 i can't, just at the end of the instalation i receive a messages saying that and error has occurred. I have called Apple and they have'nt done nothen. i am literally sick of it.

[Watterud @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

If iTunes freezes when importing videos, try turning off direct draw in Quicktime first. That seemed to help mine become at least a little more stable.

[Drew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Is anyone else having audio playback problems? The sound keeps cutting out in (Windows) iTunes 6 which makes it basically unusable for me. Winamp is just too complicated, and I refuse to use WMP, so does anyone have a suggestion for a replacement until Apple get this problem fixed?

[skp @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

iTunes 6 is not ready -- now I can't get iTunes 4 or 5 to read my iPod. Don't do it, don't upgrade yet.

[Jazz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:54AM]

Itunes 6 is the worst itunes. It has worked fine for ages and now wont even show up wen i press da short cuts or anything. And it uses up all of the CPU!!! sort it out Apple!

[Julius Harper @ Jan 4th 2006 4:43PM]

iTunes is great software, and kudos to them regarding podcasting support, but it's not enough. iTunes needs to incorporate BitTorrent-type "swarming" technology to really make it feasable for podcasters to distribute their files to large audiences.



Petition to Integrate BitTorrent Technology into iTunes

http://www.petitiononline.com/itnsbttr/petition.html

[Paul Proch @ Jan 9th 2006 3:42PM]

I can't even download quicktime or itunes. My computer freezes before installation is complete every time I try to download them. I've even tried the quicktime alternative. Anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

[Paul Proch @ Jan 9th 2006 3:46PM]

I can't even download quicktime or itunes. My computer freezes before installation is complete every time I try to download them. I've even tried the quicktime alternative. Anyone have any idea what the problem could be?