Apple is to release a brand new version of iTunes - the cunningly-titled iTunes 8. Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs announced the changes at Let's Rock - a special Apple event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
As widely predicted, the new version of iTunes features an all-new playlist functionality by the name of Genius.
"We're introducing a new feature called Genius," revealed Jobs. "It allows you to make playlists from songs in your library that go together. It helps you rediscover music in your library. And it really works well."
Translated, that means a last.fm-friendly playlist generator that can: (a) Automatically make playlists based on what you have in your iTunes Library; (b) Recommend music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have. Jobs explained:
"You've got your music library. You turn on Genius (and) it sends information about your library to iTunes. We can learn about your musical tastes but completely anonymously. We're going to combine your info with other users, and as that happens Genius gets smarter and smarter." Ever been 'nervous' about automatically downloading album art from Apple? Welcome home!
And it's all available today! Not much more than previously rumoured info but it all sounds cute enough and, well, it's free. Let's download!
A new Grid View (hinted at 'behind' Jobs on stage) and improved Visualiser options are expected to also feature in iTunes 8. More as we inevitably get/download it.
