iPod Tracker

A Page 2 report over at MacRumors suggests that iTunes 4.8 already features support for the upcoming Motorola iTunes Phone.

Evidence for this claim can be found in a localization pack that ships with the current version of Apple’s popular jukebox. From MacRumors:

“iTunes.app -> Contents -> Resources -> English.lproj -> Localized.rsrc contains the “Eject Phone” phrase as well as later references to ‘Phone’”.

At least Apple have already implemented support for the much-delayed phone. Rumours have been circulating round the Mac web for months that carriers have been reluctant to deal with the new phone, preferring to sell downloadable music direct to their customers using their own home-brewed stores.

Steve Jobs has stated publically that the next version of iTunes will support Podcasting.

While speaking at the D: All Things Digital conference Jobs said that he was “high on the podcasting phenomenon, and the excitement that millions of users have displayed about it.”

He told the conference that the new version of iTunes featuring integrated Podcasting support will be available within the next few weeks.

An article in The Chicago Tribune reports that the Motorola iTunes Phone is not meeting opposition from phone companies and say that the phone will launch in a couple more months.

Motorla’s Zander was quoted:

“There is no resistance on anybody’s part, I don’t know where these rumors got started.”

Screenshots from development builds of the Motorola iTunes phone have been posted on Gizmodo. Referring to the availability of offical images of the Motorola iTunes phone, a Motorola spokesman stated:

“We would expect them to be available mid July when the product launches.”

Apple have released iTunes 4.8 for download. New features include.

• New Music Store features
• Support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod.

Apple were rumoured to be readying iTunes 4.8 for release shortly after Tiger was released.

Some people are experiencing a problem with iTunes 4.7.1 that stops iTunes from opeing as it should. To see if you are affected by the bug, disconnect iPod, quit iTunes, plug the iPod in again and try to run iTunes. If it doesn’t start, you have the bug. To fix it, download the latest software for your iPod and use it to restore the device.

Hot on the heels of the new iPod shuffle, Apple have released a new version of iTunes. This minor point release takes iTunes to v 4.7.1 and “includes support for iPod shuffle and other performance improvements”.

With the release of iTunes 4.7 last week, it has come to light that the popular iPodDownload plugin has been disabled. iPodDownload provided users with an easy way to copy selected tunes from an iPod to a computer, bypassing Apple’s copy-protection. An email from Apple Computer to the developer’s hosting company forced them to pull it from their server.

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Apple have released iTunes 4.7 for Macintosh and Windows 2000/XP. Details follow:

• New iPod tab in ‘Preferences’ provides support for new iPod Photo.
• Windows users can minimize iTunes to the system tray, or the mini player.
• Mac users can now have the mini player float above all other windows.
• Various other minor performance improvements.