Hands On: iTunes 7

Apple did all sorts of stuff today, my predictions were a little off, but Apple did not disappoint their fans who were eagerly awaiting updates from their “Showtime” event. Unlike those lucky fellas at Engadget I was not able to get my hands on Apple’s latest hardware, which looks amazing by the way, but I did get iTunes 7 as soon as it hit shelves servers.

The Look and Feel

After downloading iTunes 7 I immediately noticed the new look, nothing too different but a nice new blue color scheme and blue icon, a great update to keep iTunes looking better than ever.

The sidebar got a nice new refresh as well, it groups your content under three main sections Library, Store, Devices and Playlists. The icons for each has been updated and Apple has added a nice download section under purchased. In the downloads section you can view all your downloads and their completion, which is great. It also has a nice snippet on the side to show how many new downloads you have currently.

Coverflow?

A lot of my favorite Mac Users have told me that I have to use Coverflow as a great way to look at and manage my over 6000 songs and hours of video. I never got around to using it, but now I do not have to because iTunes 7 has added a Cover Browser view, which actually goes and grabs my album art for me for free. I really like the Cover Browser view and so does Apple, they have even added it to their Movie store.

Gettin’ my Flicks

One thing that I did predict was movies on iTunes, but I think everyone saw that coming. The most notable area of this addition to the store is the price and detail of your purchases. Many were saying that Steve Jobs was unable to sell movies but he had to rent them. That is absolutely not true. Apple is selling new movies for $12.99 for new and pre-ordered movies and $9.99 for other titles, a nice price for these 640×480 “near DVD quality movies.” These movies also feature Dolby Digital audio, same release day as DVD titles, and even allows you to pre-order titles.

Of course for right now iTunes is selling mostly Disney movies, but the store features over 75 movies featuring Pixar, Paramount, Touchstone and Miramax.

Games

Mac users know that Apples are not for gamers but iPods have always needed to upgrade their games. Today, with the release of iTunes 7, Apple has done just this. They have added nine games, including Pac-Mac, Tetris and Zuma, and are sold for 4 bucks a pop. Being a big Zuma fan I have just purchased this game and tested it out on my iPod and it is great. A big improvement for the iPod and iTunes.

A few more details I like

320×240 is dead, Apple has just increased the resolution of all media in their store to 640×480, more bang for your buck.

Another cool detail is the revamping of the iPod preferences section, a nicer user interface with new automation of syncing shows to the iPod.

No more iPod software updater either, it is now built into iTunes directly. Apple has just redone the iPod section with a slick new UI through iTunes that allows managing the iPod with a variety of little details.

Syncing content between two computers is made easier than ever is iTunes 7, Steve announced today that two authorized computers will allow users to easily sync their content on one iPod, a much needed addition for iTunes.

Wow

When Apple creates an update for their software that is what you are actually getting, an update, and a huge one at that. iTunes 7 offers some great details and proves that Apple really is ahead of the game, once again, in the world of digital media.