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iTunes offers a bit rate conversion feature which allows you to load more music onto your iPhone, iPod and iPad devices by downsampling high bit rate audio files.  This was initially introduced with the diminutive iPod Shuffle, but has available for all devices since iTunes 9.1.

This iTunes conversion feature is most useful if you have songs that have been imported directly from standard audio CDs to Apple Lossless or other high bit rate formats.

Upon enabling the “Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbs AAC” checkbox in the device options screen, iTunes converts all music set to transfer to the iPod, iPhone or iPad.  This conversion happens during the sync process.  All original music is left intact in your iTunes library, and the compressed audio is stored solely on the device.

This conversion process does reduce the quality of your music, but you’re likely not to notice if you use Apple’s included earbuds or other inexpensive compact headphones.  It’s perfect for listening on the go.

This year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicked off with a keynote by Steve Jobs.  With his team of execs, he revealed three major products- all software-based.  Thousands of new features, services and APIs were announced setting the stage for future products and services across Apple’s compete line of products.

1. Mac OS X Lion- Apple’s next desktop operating system- aka 10.7.

As previously demoed, multi-touch gestures and many details from iOS have been brought over to the desktop.  Security and OS refinement are central as well as the initial integration of iCloud for document, photo and data access.  Release date is “July.”

2. iOS 5.0- The next mobile operating system for iPhones, iPads, iPods & AppleTV. 

The early beta build shows that Apple has continued chipping away at the most-requested features list.  The most visible and obvious change is the introduction of a better notification system.  The OS is now a very capable desktop replacement on the iPad and even more feature-rich on the phone.  Other changes are much more subtle refinements.  Release date is “fall.”

3. iCloud- The long-awaited Apple cloud services offering.

iCloud replaces the earlier MobileMe service with free Contact, Cal, Docs, Photos, and Music sync for free.  The service becomes a wireless digital hub, replacing the requirement for USB to PC functionality with a broadband network connection.

In addition, three of the Apple online stores (Music, Books & Apps) get re-download capability. Furthermore, an option has been introduced to automatically download purchased content on all associated devices “from the Cloud.”  This feature is immediately available in beta release form.  There was no mention of TV or movies.

Most interesting was the announcement of iTunes Match.  This service matches all songs in a user’s iTunes library, including those ripped directly from CD and obtained from file sharing sites, and offers them in the Cloud with high-resolution audio.  At $24.99/year, this is the only paid component of iCloud (other than upgraded storage). Release date is “fall.”

iCloud does not include traditional music streaming or even “iTunes in the browser.”  Instead, it’s positioned more like iTunes-as-a-service.  The vision Apple articulated was that the Cloud exists to make native apps better, not to replace them as Google and Microsoft are pursuing by running software in the web browser.  To drive this point home, Apple’s did not even show web interfaces to the iCloud services (although I do expect to see them at some point).

If iCloud’s services do deliver as advertised, expect this robust service layer will likely grow into an expectation of functionality across both the mobile environment and the entire computing space. 

A few closing stats:

- Apple has sold 200 million iOS devices

- Apple claims 44 percent of the mobile operating system market. Android is #2 with 28%, RIM is #3 with 19% and Others at 9%

- 15 billion songs have been sold through the iTunes Music Store.

- 14 billion apps have been sold on the App Store

- 130 million eBooks have been purchased from the iBooks Store

Yes, this is a nice way to show your users that the service is unavailable.

Great job, Aardvark.  I’ve the additional screens as well.

Kensington has announced a really useful new iPhone dock which adds a removable, external battery.  The dock charges both the mini battery and the iPhone. 

Mini Battery Pack is supposed to extend play time up to 30 hours of music, 6 hours of video & 3 hours of talk.  Charge overnight and grab both devices for a full day of iPhone usage- slick! 

[Kensington via iPodNN]

Erica Sadun has posted a simple, nerdy method for checking the availability of the iPhone 3.0 firmware.  The idea is to grab the XML returned from the iTunes iPhone software check. 


curl -s -L http://phobos.apple.com/version |\
grep -i restore |\
grep ‘_3.’ | open -f


To understand the output, you need to know which model you’re looking for.

iPhone- 1,1
iPhone 3G- 1,2
iPhone 3G S- 2,1

iPod Touch- 1,1
iPod Touch 2G- 2,1

When I see this- I know I’m golden:

iPhone1,2_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw

[via TUAW]

Skype, Inc. has just released the official Skype app for the iPhone.  Available for free today on the Apple App Store, you can now make free skype to skype calls, paid Skype-out calls & instant message. 

Wi-Fi is required to make calls, but this is to be expected as it is an Apple-imposed restriction. 

Doug Adams has released the second major version of the must-have Dupin. This app is the iTunes duplicates manager.

If you’ve ever wanted to rid your library of dupes, do yourself a favor and spend the $15 on this amazing piece of software.  The new “Consolidate History” tool in this version consolidates play, skip & ratings info from all dupe tracks into a single “Keeper” track.  Awesome!

While you’re there, take a look around the the huge library of iTunes scripts.  Chances are if you’ve ever wished iTunes could do something that it can’t, Doug has created a script that does it for you.

Reacting to the rejection of the latest Tweetie twitter client, Dan Moren wrote “Apple rejects Twitter app because there’s swearing on the Internet” for Macworld.

Regardless, the review process for iPhone apps needs to be standardized, and it needs to be done now, not later. Apple’s created an impressive business out of the App Store — it’s time to stop acting like it’s being run out of a garage.

The ending phrase: “run out of a garage” so perfectly sums up my feelings on the matter.

[via Daring Fireball]

Apple announced a variable-pricing model for the music offered on the iTunes store.  The new, tiered pricing will be launched in the spring at the $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29 price points.  Phil Schiller assured the crowd that more tracks would be priced toward the bottom tier than the top.

Additionally and perhaps more importantly, all music from the major labels will be available DRM-free in the iTunes Plus format by the end of Q1 2009.

Finally, label and carrier restrictions have been lifted for the iTunes Mobile Store on the iPhone and iPod Touch allowing over-the-air downloading of music with no artificial restrictions.  Pricing and content is identical to the desktop offerings.  Hopefully, video will come soon-

The Apple iTunes App Store is now serving more than 2 million apps daily.  When it was announced, it felt like a game-changer to me, but many analysts theorized that the initial hype would blow over.  At 2 million (and growing) this business is shaping up to be much more than hype.

It seems that predictions of a $1 billion market place are right on track for 2009.