Ping allows them to follow friends and artists, and everyone will be able to post information including images, videos or music.

ITunes Ping feels a lot like Facebook in this regard. It requires a valid Apple ID and needs to be activated after the installation of iTunes 10 before it can be used.

Ping offers some interesting features, including custom top ten lists based on the listening habits of a user’s friends. The software will be available as an app on iPhone and iPod touch so that users can interact with the network from their mobile devices as well.

itunes ping

itunes ping friends

But iTunes Ping is just one of the new features in iTunes 10. TV show rentals are now available for 99 cents per episode. The shows are commercial free, come in HD, and are available for 48 hours in a 30 day period after renting the show. The shows can be watched on PC, Mac, Apple TV and iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Additional features worth mentioning are improved syncing, which shows a capacity bar for devices connected to the computer, Apple TV support and AirPlay support so that AirPlay capable devices can connect to iTunes.

In other news, iTunes 10 is still one of the programs with the most active background processes after installation. The new version will automatically start AppleMobileDeviceHelper.exe, distnoted.exe and iTunesHelper.exe as permanent background processes:

The iTuneshelper.exe process can be removed from startup in msconfig or any other startup manager. The remaining background processes are triggered by services, specifically Apple Mobile Device and iPod Service.

Apple iTunes 10 can be downloaded from the official Apple website.

Those that use a different software to manage their music are left with the option to add the music to iTunes as well to synchronize it with the iPod or to use a third party syncing software like Froddle Pod or Yamipod.

A major problem for iPod owners who use a different software program to manage their music and iTunes to sync it to the iPod is that they have to add the music to two programs instead of just one.

They naturally add the music to their primary music management software but also to iTunes since they need to use it to sync the music to the device.

sync itunes

The portable software SynciTunes has been developed for this exact situation. It allows the iPod owner to select a music folder for synchronization with iTunes.

Options like including subfolders or preventing volume changes in iTunes are selectable in the program interface to customize the synchronization.

SynciTunes will automatically remove songs from the iTunes library that do not exist anymore. It will also update iTunes tags automatically if songs have been updated outside of iTunes.

Do you own an iPod? What’s your preferred way of adding songs to the device?

I have received two requests in the past week asking me how to download iTunes for Windows. The short answer is that you can download iTunes for Windows at the Apple website.

Here is what you need to know. Itunes is offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit application for Windows 7, Windows Vista and as a 32-bit application for Windows XP. The installer makes no difference between the different Windows operating system though, only 32-bit and 64-bit editions are separately available.

The easiest way to download iTunes is at the official Apple website which is accessible by following this link.

The downloads are listed on the left side. Just select Tunes 9.1.1 for Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 or iTunes 9.1.1 for Windows (64-bit) and click the download link to start the download. It is not necessary to enter an email address into the form below, the download will start regardless of that. The versions may differ as iTunes is updated regularly by Apple.

32-bit Windows users can also download an iTunes offline installer directly from the Apple servers.

The program displays some legal mumbo jumbo at startup, basically stating that the developer cannot be held responsible for any damages on the system. The program kills the explorer.exe process and displays a progress window afterwards that displays progress information of the removal.

The program will remove all traces of iTunes but Quicktime from the computer system. Included in the removal are the Bonjour services, other iTunes releated services, Registry keys, startup programs, files, shortcuts and directories.

Bye iTunes has been last updated in 2007. It seems however that it still works without causing troubles or problems on the computer system it is executed on.

Windows users can download the portable program Bye iTunes from the developer’s website.

• Addresses several stability issues with VoiceOver
• Addresses a usability issue with VoiceOver and Genius Mixes
• Addresses issues with converting songs to 128 kbps AAC while syncing
• Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance

The new iTunes 9.1.1 is available for download from the official Apple iTunes website or directly from within the iTunes software. A click on Help > Check for Updates will initiate the update check in iTunes.

The new version should be discovered automatically by the software which then guides the user through the installation process. Users should take note that the installation does not only offer to install iTunes and Quicktime but also the Safari web browser.

The Windows version of iTunes 9.1.1 has a size of about 94 Megabytes which is exactly the size of the full iTunes version that can be downloaded from the Apple website.

Some users might need to start iTunes as administrators to be able to install the update without difficulties. A computer restart is required after the installation.

The program is available for the Microsoft Windows operating system and requires iTunes to be running in the background to function at all.

It will automatically pick up the songs that are played in iTunes offering additional controls in its interface. These controls include rating songs, toggling shuffle and displaying lyrics that are pulled from the Internet.

Those features alone would probably convince only a few computer users to give the application a try. But what about global keyboard shortcuts, automated library maintenance and optimization, synchronization of playlists with USB mp3 players, playlist export, conversion of iTunes tracks into other supported music formats, copying of tracks to other locations, import of media files into the iTunes library or notification popups that show information about the track that has just been loaded?

The iTuner application offers many interesting features that are either not provided by iTunes natively or only accessible through several clicks in the iTunes software.

The program uses on the downside lots of computer resources while running (120 Megabytes on our Windows 7 test system). Windows users who want to test the program can download it from its Codeplex website.

Feed Flipper has been designed by Adam Schlitt to overcome this problem. It can convert any iTunes podcasts into a valid RSS feed that can be integrated into any feed reader or podcast viewer. Best of all – at least for most users – is the fact that Feed Flipper is an online service which means it will work with all operating systems and web browsers.

The basic principle is the following: Feed Flipper uses a base url and several parameters to turn an iTunes podcast into RSS feed. Here is the developer’s description of the options:

Creating your Feed Flipper RSS URL is easy! To start, copy the base URL:

* http://picklemonkey.net/flipper/convert.php?
Next, add your feed and any desired options to the end of it:

* &feed=URL – Your iTunes podcast URL
* &return=count – Sets the number of articles to display. (0 for all). If omitted, 20 is assumed default.
* &sender=text – Sets the sender of each RSS item to the specified text
* &senderprefix=text – Begin the sender of each RSS item with the specified text
* &subject=text – Sets the subject of each RSS items to the specified text
* &subjectprefix=text – Begin the subject of each RSS item with the specified text

The most basic option for users is to use the base url with the &feed=URL parameter like in the following example:

http://picklemonkey.net/flipper/convert.php?feed=http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=109573938

This creates a valid RSS Feed for the Japanese 101 Podcast that is available in the iTunes store. The only problem that some users might have with Feed Flipper is the fact that everything depends on the availability of the script on the developer’s website. It is not possible to update feeds if this is temporarily or even permanently unreachable. It can also happen that Apple changes a core setting in their iTunes store which could lead to the program not working anymore. The developer has fixed those problems in the post however.

All information to use Feed Flipper are provided above. The developer’s homepage can be accessed here.

Ajua has updated the iTunes switchless installer which will install iTunes without this unnecessary software. The user needs to install Quicktime Alternative (or Apple Quicktime) separately before this modified version of iTunes can be installed. The functionality remains the same for most users. Only those that require the Bonjour service (is there any Windows user who does?) or MobileMe support obviously need to install the official version provided by Apple.

The latest iTunes switchless installer can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is available in English and a multi-language version. The switchless installer was tested with Apple Quicktime installed. Some users reported that Quicktime Alternative 2.9.2. caused problems during installation which might mean that the software needs to be updated to be compatible with iTunes 9.

It was noted for sometime now that the Pre could sync with the iTunes store based on a hack. And Apple did warn that it could be gone soon. Well they did and Pre owners found out that they could no longer sync with iTunes 8.2.1.

For those wondering, the problem that Apple had with the Pre’s syncing capabilities is the fact it tricked iTunes into thinking it was an iPod. When you connected the Pre to iTunes it would show up as “iPod” and according to the boys at Cupertino, this was unlawful. Apple made no bones about the update, calling Palm by name regarding the reason for the patch to the ever so popular music software.

Well it hasn’t been a good week and already Palm has answered Apple’s challenge. Just today I downloaded webOS version 1.1 and what would you know? iTunes tethering was back. Not only has Palm gone around Apple’s block they have specifically mentioned it as a reason for the update.

So of course everyone is asking what is going to happen next. First I gotta say that Palm has balls to be doing this, but on second their new CEO happens to be the former head of Apple’s iPod division so that could be a factor as to why they are so brazen. Jon probably knows exactly how to deal with Apple. And more importantly, since he was involved with iTunes and iPod for so long, knows all the dirty secrets about it.

I’m not sure what Apple is going to do now, because apparently Palm has made it clear that they are not going to go down without a fight. The only thing I could think of to permanently fix this problem would be for Apple to hard code software recognition into the iPod’s USB connector, and that could be too expensive. There other option is probably to try and sue Palm.

Either way, this is gearing up to be very interesting and its about bloody time. Never seen one of these in the gadget world before. So who are you rooting for? Care to say in the comments below?

The only other available option is to select a playlist to be created or extended with the music that is found in the monitored directory. This is an optional step though and not required for the music import to work properly. The software will check the folder for new music periodically and add it automatically to iTunes whenever new music is discovered in that folder on the drive. It looks like the interval is set to 1 minute as music that is moved to the folder gets quickly added to iTunes all the time.

The program has to be running in the background for this to work properly. It uses quite some computer memory (34 Megabytes on a Windows XP test system) which might make it to memory hungry for some computer systems. Could be worth a try for users who regularly add music to a specific folder and its subfolders on a computer system though. The music does get added to iTunes regularly as well.

Enter iExporter. The software program for the Windows operating system comes with the means to easily export playlists to the computer system. The only restriction of the program is that it currently only works with native mp3 files.

The software has to be connected to iTunes upon start. This is done by clicking on the Connect to iTunes button. The software will be opened if it is not open already and the two tabs playlists and artists will be populated. The playlist tab contains all playlists that are currently available in iTunes. The artist tab on the other hand offers the possibility to export selected artists from iTunes. This did not work on the Windows XP SP3 test system though.

iExporter is a great software for iTunes users that want to export some or all of their playlists to their computer system.

There is however a way to install iTunes without Apple Quicktime, Bonjour, MobileMe support and iTuneshelper process running at startup. This can be achieved with a custom installer that can be downloaded from the Custom Installers page which contains installers for the English and multi-language versions of iTunes 8.0.2.20 and 8.1.0.52. The only requirement other than running the installer to install iTunes is an installation of Quicktime Alternative and the Quicktime Alternative iTunes add-on which makes the program compatible with iTunes 8.

The correct sequence for installing iTunes without Quicktime and Bonjour would be therefore to install Quicktime Alternative, then the Quicktime Alternative plugin and finally iTunes using the custom installer. The custom installer will skip the installation of aforementioned programs and services. This is great news for users who do not want to have those programs running in the background or those who prefer to run the Quicktime Alternative program instead of the original.

The iTunes customer installer is only available for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It comes as a msi file that allows a silent installation with the switches /qb /norestart.

It does require an installation of Apple’s iTunes software to work which is the only requirement. The main interface is divided into a library selector that provides access to all playlists that are currently configured in the installed iTunes version on the computer system. A click on the Clean button will initiate the scan of the songs that are listed in the library.

Users who want more control can access several configuration settings before which define the value that null fields will be replaced with and which also allow the selection and deselection of several cleaning filters.

The application is definitely a work in progress and could need some additional information to guide the user and explain what it is doing. The homepage of the software developer lists several of the features and plans for future versions. The download on that page is currently broken but will hopefully be fixed by the developer soon. Here is the direct link to the page containing the download.

A total of 19 different scripts are available that can be executed from the interface. The scripts usually spawn a dos window that will execute the selected script. A selection of the script itunes_not_found will for example scan the iTunes music library for music that is no longer available on the local hard drive. Other cleanup scripts include the search for duplicate music in iTunes. Some scripts require user input like removing songs based on a playlist or location. The script collection will usually list the available options and wait for keyboard input to continue executing the script.

Teridon’s iTunes Scripts provide a great way of cleaning up the music collection in Apple iTunes. The script collection does contain several additional scripts that might be worth a try. One interesting script is for example the one that will create a playlist containing all songs of a connected iPod.

The scripts are also available as Perl scripts for users who do not like to download the executables. They have been tested both with iTunes 6 and 7 but most should work fine if iTunes 8 is installed on the computer system as well.

The actual process of anonymizing itunes songs involves the usage of two different programs: Atomic Parsley and Hexfiend. Atomic Parsley will be used to remove the application ID which is usually the email address of the user who purchased the song and the purchase data. The software is available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

A basic command that can be very helpful is to display all information about a song using the software. To do this run the following command:

atomicparsley song.m4u -t

This will list all tags and their values in the same command window making it easy to spot the identifying ones.

Tags can be removed with the command

atomicparsley song.m4a –manualAtomRemove “moov.udta.meta.ilst.TAG”

where TAG has to be replaced with a valid name. To remove both the application ID and purchase data from an iTunes song one would issue the following command:

atomicparsley song.m4a –-manualAtomRemove “moov.udta.meta.ilst.apID” –-manualAtomRemove “moov.udta.meta.ilst.purd” -W

An alternative would be to remove all tag information at once using the following command which is currently the only way to ensure that the song will not contain user identifying information afterwards. It will however clear all tags including title, artist and other related tags.

AtomicParsley song.m4a –metaEnema

After finishing the first step of anonymizing iTunes songs we still have to remove the name of the buyer that is contained in the songs. To do that a hexeditor like Hexfiend is needed. Simply open the iTunes song in Hexfiend and search for the name. Once the name is found replace it with other chars that match the exact length of the name. Save the file under a different file name and check out that it still plays fine in your favorite music player.

The main reason to use multiple iTunes libraries would be to divide specific data into different libraries. This can be dividing losless and lossy music, libraries for specific occasions, specific music genres or types like bootlegs or live music only.

It is actually very easy to create a second iTunes library. All that needs to be done is to press the Shift key (Alt on Macs) before launching iTunes. A small popup window will be displayed asking the user to choose or create a library.

Selecting the create a library option will create a new iTunes library that acts independently of all other iTunes libraries. It should also be noted that iTunes will always open the library that has been used the last time iTunes was executed. Switching libraries would again require pressing the Shift key during launch.

Version 1.2 of iTunes Media Keys adds the option to select the hotkeys to perform the various actions. Several new actions have been added which can be used to rate songs, forward or rewind them.

The software will add the shortcuts as system wide shortcuts. All that needs to be done to use the software is run it in the background.

The software itself uses less than 1 Megabytes of computer memory while running but about 12 Megabytes of virtual memory, still acceptable for heavy iTunes users. The software requires an installation of the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5. Should run fine on most Microsoft operating systems.

There is however a very easy and straightforward way to create a US iTunes account without having to add a credit card or any other means of payment during the account creation phase. The famous None option will be selectable during account creation. Start by visiting the iTunes store. Make sure you are in the United States store. If you are not scroll down to the bottom and change the store to United States. Access the App Store that contains applications for the iPhone. Select a free one from the list of Top Free Apps and click on the Get App link in the detail view. The next window is the login window with the option to create a new account.

Click on the Create New Account button and on Continue in the next window. Accept the license agreement and click continue once more.

Now fill out basic account details, like the email, username and password of that account and click on Continue again.

After that the screen with the payment information and address will appear. Select None as the payment and fill out the address information using a address in the United States. The easiest way to do that is to search in Google for hotels, e.g. Miami hotels, New York hotels and use the address of the hotel as the address.

Verify the email in the last step and you are set to use the US iTunes account. Here is a quick recap:

• Open the United States iTunes store
• Download a free iPhone application
• Select to create a new account
• Enter username, password and email
• Select none option and add a US address with matching zip, town and street.
• Verify the email

This should work from any country. If you got problems or tips let us know in the comments.

Autobahn speeds up iTunes downloads and transfers by establishing multiple connections to the iTunes server. This stabilizes streams and increases downloads from iTunes which is especially important for large downloads or streams.

The only indicator that Autobahn is running is a system tray icon after its installation. It depends largely on the Internet connection if the service is able to speed up the transfers noticeably. It is obviously not possible to achieve higher transfer rates than possible.

The application is using quite some computer memory while running (26 Megabytes) and it is therefor recommended to only run it when it is needed.

Some users probably prefer not to pay any money for the account because they just want access to the free contents and never make a payment in the store. The good news is that it is possible to use used coupons as well to create a free US iTunes account. Gift certificates could later still be used to add money to the account in case a purchase has to be made.

The benefits of having an US account are access to free songs which are updated regularly, to better promotions and music, movies or tv shows that are not available in other iTunes store yet.

The first thing you do is to download the iTunes software and install it. Once that is done start it and locate the Redeem link in the top right Quick Links menu.

This will load a page with a form that accepts coupons and gift certificates. All you need to is to paste a coupon code into the form and click on Redeem to send it to iTunes. Coupons can be found here or here.

The iTunes software will throw an error message if the gift certificate or coupon is no longer valid. That however is not a problem at all. Return to the homepage by clicking on the home icon in the upper left corner of the iTunes store.

Once the homepage has loaded it is time to create the account. You can do that by clicking on the Sign In button on the upper right corner of the iTunes store. It offers you login possibilities and a button to create a new account. Click on that button.

Click continue on the welcome page and accept the terms and conditions of the iTunes store in the second. This finally leads to the account creation page.

Enter your details on that page and continue to the next and final step of the account creation.

If everything went well you should now see the page where you can select a payment method and enter the address of the account. The payment method has to offer None as one option for this to work. If that is the case choose none. Now you need to enter an US address in the last step to create the account.

The zip code, state and city have to match. Everything else does not. Just select the location of a friend or relative to be on the safe side but it is practically possible to enter any information you like.

The account will be created in the last step and the contents of the US iTunes store are now available.