# Apple iTunes - 6.0



## bobw (Oct 12, 2005)

With iTunes 6, you can now preview, buy, and download over 2,000 videos on the iTunes Music Store and sync your music and purchased videos with iPod to enjoy on the go.  After purchasing music from the iTunes Music Store with iTunes 6, you will also need to upgrade your other computers that purchase music from the iTunes Music Store to iTunes 6.


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## Golfer099 (Oct 12, 2005)

I have been trying to download a desperate housewives show for over an hour.  What do I do?


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## Robn Kester (Oct 12, 2005)

Golfer, just wait it out. Alot of people are doing exactly what you are doing so you will just have to be patient.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Oct 12, 2005)

After a new product announcement at Apple, like Robn said, there is a massive flow of people to the Apple site and Apple's servers.  I couldn't even view the new iPod and iMac pages for most of the day until now.

Patience.

From what I've heard, these videos Apple is offering are extremely low-resolution, suitable for viewing only on the iPod's screen (unless you like miniscule video on your monitor)... can someone who has downloaded an episode confirm?


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## Robn Kester (Oct 12, 2005)

The videos are only 320x240. Have confirmed this on another forum.

Was told they look less than great scaled up, and that they default to playing in the "Album Artwork" window in iTunes.


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## Satcomer (Oct 12, 2005)

i just received the iTunes update in my Software Update (along with Quicktime 7.0.3) in the U.S. So far along with the video playback some bug fixes are in QuickTime.


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## Damrod (Oct 12, 2005)

Is iTunes worth the upgrade from version 5.01, or is the only new stuff the video playback? If there are bugfixes in it, I might bother loading it. But I'm not really keen on getting that video function


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## kainjow (Oct 12, 2005)

I haven't heard any website or anyone mention the new beta Just For You feature in iTunes 6. It lists recommendations for you based on what you've bought. It's pretty cool, and is quite accurate. I just might buy some albums it showed "just for me"


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## IslandJordan (Oct 12, 2005)

Has anyone been able to successfully view previews of TV shows yet through iTunes? Any word on video quality/resolution for TV shows?


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## kainjow (Oct 12, 2005)

TV shows are 320x240 for the iPod. I've heard they don't look so good scaled up..


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## Mikuro (Oct 12, 2005)

I agree with Bryan Chaffin of The Mac Observer:


> There are DRM restrictions for videos, not too surprisingly. I do so loathe DRM.
> 
> Frankly, 320 x 240 is a crappy resolution for a music video I am paying $2 for. It's great for an iPod, but on a Mac? Completely lame.


I actually don't think that's too awful for music videos, but TV shows it's a joke. Gimme a break. It seems like Apple hacked this together just to get people to shut up about it. It's a worthless implementation as far as I'm concerned.

Does anyone know what format these movies are in? I mean file format, not video format. Are they bastardizing the mp4 standard with proprietary DRM (again)? I think this could be very bad for H.264 and MPEG4 from a PR standpoint, just as the iTMS is bad for AAC. People assume that all AAC audio is locked and proprietary, which is nonsense. I don't want H.264 to get that kind of rep.

I find it interesting that the iPod has a 4:3 screen. That makes it seem like they're not gearing up to create an actual movie store, but are instead focusing on TV content. And even TV content is becoming widescreen with the slow rise of HDTV.

I am very unimpressed. I'm not paying $2 for a 320x240 TV show.


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## kainjow (Oct 12, 2005)

I want to know if the iPod will show normal sized H.264 videos on it without any extra downsizing from iTunes.. anyone know?


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## Veljo (Oct 12, 2005)

I, too, would've liked to have seen a 16:9 screen. 4:3 is old school.


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## Mikuro (Oct 12, 2005)

kainjow said:
			
		

> I want to know if the iPod will show normal sized H.264 videos on it without any extra downsizing from iTunes.. anyone know?


That's the big question. If it's capable of outputting 640x480 movies to a TV, then that's awesome. But I'm betting they didn't cram that much power into it. If they did, they'd probably be selling their movies at that resolution. Even if they were at the same bitrate, higher-res movies would just look better.


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## fryke (Oct 12, 2005)

They didn't. It's really just the 320*240 deal. Strangely enough, the iPod page at apple.com says at the tech specs that MPEG-4 movies can be up to 480*480 (?!) at 2.5 Mbps, whereas H.264 can be up to 768 Kbps at 320*240. I guess that's what the decoder chip can do, but basically it means you have to reencode to 320*240.


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## Mikuro (Oct 12, 2005)

480x480 isn't too bad. That's SVCD resolution. Of course, I'm assuming it will be doing real-time scaling to adjust the aspect ratio (like with an SVCD), because otherwise....that's just weird. But 480x360 would work, too. Not _great_, but definitely a step up.

480x480 MPEG4 (scaled to 640x480) would probably look a good bit better than 320x240 H.264.

Edit: With the supported bitrate disparity, MPEG4 would _definitely_ look better than H.264.


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## Veljo (Oct 12, 2005)

It's exciting to have all these features, but a punch in the stomach to know THEY'RE OF NO USE TO ME!

The ignorance of Australian music companies drives me insane. Still, in late 2005, Australia has no iTunes Music Store. All I can do is browse the US store, listen to high quality clips and do nothing about buy them. Piracy in Australia will continue.


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## mindbend (Oct 12, 2005)

I for one have absolutely no interest in a tiny screen video iPod first of all and have equal interest (zero) in 320x240 video, especially if I'm going to pay for it. I may have been slightly interested in the video iPod if it output full res DV footage (720x480) or even 640x480 to a TV. That would be nice for client presentations, but I'll just stick to my iBook for now.

I said months ago in another thread that I have no idea who the hell has any interest in a 2.5 inch screen for watching video content. I still have no idea. Now something like the PSP I can see watching video on.

The only thing I can be optimistic about is that this is just the beginning. The first baby step in the inevitable future of all on-demand high res HD video downloadable (and ownable) on a whim.

I suspect that, in spite of my disinterest, the teen crowd will find it cool.


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## symphonix (Oct 12, 2005)

> Does anyone know what format these movies are in? I mean file format, not video format. Are they bastardizing the mp4 standard with proprietary DRM (again)? I think this could be very bad for H.264 and MPEG4 from a PR standpoint, just as the iTMS is bad for AAC. People assume that all AAC audio is locked and proprietary, which is nonsense. I don't want H.264 to get that kind of rep.



Apparently they are H.264, with the same Fairplay DRM that is used for purchased AAC songs - the only difference being you cannot burn to CD/DVD. They allow playback on up to 5 computers and an unlimited number of iPods. The system is not making a big deal of the fact they're H.264 format, so I doubt its likely to have much of a negative impact on the image of H.264 as an open standard that *can* support DRM.

As for the resolution, I think it sounds about right. Bumping it up to 640x480 would significantly increase the time taken to download these. As Steve said, a TV episode will take around 10-20 minutes to download a one hour (read that as "43 mins") show. This is ideal for today's technology and makes it a handy way to catch up on the shows you've missed or grab a few favourites for a long plane trip, etc.

I hope that in the near future they provide users with the choice of two resolutions, with the default being 320x240 and offering 640x480 as an option when the vid is available in that size. This would mean practically tripling the bandwidth and storage footprint of these videos, though, but at least Apple are taking the first steps toward this.


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## kainjow (Oct 12, 2005)

Creating Video for iPod


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## fryke (Oct 12, 2005)

Thanks for the link. Doesn't say, though, what happens if it's a wide screen movie or something... Well, I'm trying with a movie trailer now.


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## kainjow (Oct 12, 2005)

Right now I'm converting my recently ripped Spiderman 2 DVD into the iPod 320x240 format via QuickTime Player. I'll write up a summary once it's complete.


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## Ripcord (Oct 12, 2005)

I still wouldn't buy regular episodes with that quality, especially since the playback in iTunes is so ridiculously poor.  I'm much more likely to watch them with Tivo, or wait to buy the DVDs when they come out.

However, I AM very interested in the potential, and the home media aspects.  I'm *very* interested in the idea of having my media library centralized and available when, say, I'm in the bedroom (where my Mac Mini is hooked up to the TV and I've been trying to do something like this with my ATI Remote Wonder remote).  I like the idea of using iTunes to manage my media library, and of using Front Row to access it all.  And if my iPod can play them when I'm on the road or at a friend's house, so much the better.

Apple seems like they've taken a big step, but are only halfway to where this will take off.  In my opinion, they'd need:

- Higher quality downloads (ESPECIALLY if they can get studios to allow movies for download)
- MUCH better variety of video downloads
- Better import options (including converting existing media to whatever iTunes "wants" to play)
- DVD import.  This would require DRM'ing the imported video somehow, but as long as it's not ridiculously crippled, it'd be acceptable to me.
- Front Row on Mac Minis (it's definitely a killer app for that market.  The only reason I can think that it seems to be downplayed at the moment is that the Minis just aren't fast enough to run it smoothly (looks like it does some Core Video effects and things).  Once the Minis are powerful enough I'm sure it'd be marketed heavily)


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## kainjow (Oct 12, 2005)

Well according to Think Secret, the "real" iPod video with a widescreen display and the movies will come sometime in 2006 link


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## fryke (Oct 13, 2005)

My trailer took a while to convert, but at the end, the result was quite okay. 320 pixel wide, and _not_ 240 pixel high, only the pixels actually needed. So the converter is at least as intelligent as I hoped for. Converting a whole movie will take _quite_ some time, I guess.

I also wonder... When Steve started videos on the iPod, it took a few seconds to start. This probably means that the iPod loads the video - or at least a large chunk - into a cache of some sort. We don't know how big that is, but it might be enough for a whole music video. The question would be: How much would the battery drain if it had to constantly load the video from the harddrive? My guess is that whole movies, currently, is rather a no-go on these devices. At least when on battery power.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 13, 2005)

it's iTunes 5.1

or maybe 5.2.

it isn't itunes 6.


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## bookem (Oct 13, 2005)

for some reason software update fails to conplete the download, but downloading the dmg from Apple's iTunes page works fine


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## fryke (Oct 13, 2005)

My SU last night went fine. For both iTunes and QT.


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## Golfer099 (Oct 13, 2005)

I;m still downloading Despreate Housewives since yesterday.  Issue?  YEAH!

So should I get this video iPod or wait for the new one next year?


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## ablack6596 (Oct 13, 2005)

are any of you able to preview the TV shows?  The preview never starts for me. 

Also anyone able to find the Eminem add on Apple's website?  It was on the front page last night, but the link was dead and now it's gone completely.


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## ablack6596 (Oct 13, 2005)

Hmmm http://www.ipodnn.com/news/05/10/12/apple.pulls.eminem.ad/

However you are suppsosed to be able to preview TV shows right...?


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## Golfer099 (Oct 13, 2005)

no i cant preview.  i can download music and am dow loading a FREE video podcast now.  are those 340 x 200 as well?


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## kainjow (Oct 13, 2005)

Last night I started converting an entire movie to the iPod format, and it took a very long time. I had to let it go over night and it finished sometime this morning. The completed file is 617MB and 2:17 long. Original size was about 1GB.


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## Captain Code (Oct 13, 2005)

I can't preview the TV shows either.  It just pretends to be loading it or something but really there's no Internet traffic.


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## ablack6596 (Oct 13, 2005)

Video podcasts are at whatever resolution the author puts them in.


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## fryke (Oct 13, 2005)

the preview only works if you have QT 7.0.3 and iTunes 6 installed through Software Update or from the web and restarted your computer.

The podcasts' resolution are depending on their creators.


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## DocOrgone (Oct 13, 2005)

Veljo said:
			
		

> It's exciting to have all these features, but a punch in the stomach to know THEY'RE OF NO USE TO ME!
> 
> The ignorance of Australian music companies drives me insane. Still, in late 2005, Australia has no iTunes Music Store. All I can do is browse the US store, listen to high quality clips and do nothing about buy them. Piracy in Australia will continue.


 Dude as far as I know the only reason you can't use an itunes store from another country is the location of your credit card. If you can get a US or other credit card with a billing address in that country then you should be able to use the store of that country. I might be wrong but I think it worth a try. All best, Doc.


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## mdnky (Oct 13, 2005)

Doc, that might be possible...but also highly illegal.  Reread your terms of service and use agreements.  Not to mention the fact that it would raise serious alarm bells at anti-terrorism agencies and probably violate some laws here and there.

Veljo, is it the music companies or the laws in Australia causing issues?  I vaguely remember hearing or reading something a while back about some law or statute of some kind causing the delay in the Australian iTMS.


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## Captain Code (Oct 13, 2005)

fryke said:
			
		

> the preview only works if you have QT 7.0.3 and iTunes 6 installed through Software Update or from the web and restarted your computer.
> 
> The podcasts' resolution are depending on their creators.



I have both of those.  They still don't work.


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## Mikuro (Oct 13, 2005)

Captain Code said:
			
		

> I have both of those.  They still don't work.


Same here. However, the other movies they have, like the Pixar shorts and music videos, do work. But all of those are loaded using a different method  a big web-style "preview" button instead of the typical iTunes list.


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## symphonix (Oct 13, 2005)

> it's iTunes 5.1, or maybe 5.2. It isn't itunes 6.



Actually, I'm half-certain they jumped to 6 at least partly as a joke. The keynote speech went something like "We released iTunes 5 just 5 weeks ago. Now, its time for a new version. So we're calling it ... iTunes 6!" (audience laughs).

On the other hand, I suspect that their release schedule for the two versions had been mucked up severely. Think about iTunes 5. Aside from the new interface, there weren't really many changes. But in iTunes 4.3 through to 4.9, Apple introduced video capabilities, lyrics and artwork, photo support and podcasts. I suspect that all of these new features were _meant_ to be released for iTunes 5, but the actual release of iTunes 5 had to be pushed back for some reason. 

At the same time, iTunes 6 launched with an adequate collection of music videos, and only 5 TV shows. I suspect that Apple's original plan was to release iTunes 5 (and the nano) at least a few months earlier than they actually did. I also suspect they planned releasing iTunes 6 and the video iPod a couple of months later - that they were aiming for a pre-Christmas launch and actually had the iPod video ready ahead of schedule. Had it taken longer to finish the iPod video, then iTunes 6 would have been launched with at least three times as many TV shows.

The only thing I'm really annoyed at is Apple still haven't added a way to set the "Skip in Party Shuffle" option for more than one track at a time. I have a hundred or so comedy stand-up acts and interviews that I simply don't want to come up in party-shuffle, and at this stage I have to click through each one to be able to set this option.


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## fryke (Oct 14, 2005)

Maybe they want to catch up to Windows Media Player in version numbering?  ... Well: Who cares, really. As long as it hasn't got six notes in the icon... I rather find worrying that they always talk about "iTunes" when they mean iTunes Music Store, and let's be clear: The "new" features of iTunes 6 are actually features in the store (online!) not features of the application. I know, clear, they want to mix those lines and let us grasp iTunes and the store as one thing, but I don't think Safari jumps to version 3 only because I update _my_ website...


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## Golfer099 (Oct 14, 2005)

Well I finally downloaded a tv show I bought on Wednesday early this morning.  It worked except now I know why they said minimumo of 500 mhz G3 - the movie is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO choppy on a 333 Mhz G3.  Though I shouldn't expect to run the latest software on a 6 year old machine (Introduced May 99).  I have the RAM required but still there are minimum specifications for a reason.  I finally stopped updating my OS at 10.3.9 because (a) I was too cheap to buy Tiger and (b) I don't have built in FireWire (thank God for a PC card ) - which means I need a USB 2 PC Card to use the new iPod Video.


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## fryke (Oct 14, 2005)

Well, they're H.264 - and that _does_ require quite a bit of oomph on the computer - even for low-res movies. I guess you _do_ push it a little with a beige G3... Do you _really_ want to spend your money on USB-2 cards and iPods instead of upgrading to a, say, Mac mini?


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## Golfer099 (Oct 14, 2005)

no it a powerbook g3 but same processer - wow when i think i was using that in a beige g3 in high school in 98 wow - does make my comp seem old.  I was debating macmini but after using it at the apple store it seems so slow compared to iMac G5.  Ideally I want a laptop which is why I don't think ibooks are strong enough yet either (same as MacMini).  decisions decisions


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## mdnky (Oct 14, 2005)

H.264 on any G3 (even 900+MHz) is an experience in and of itself.  Much better off with a G4 or G5...[begin dream]one of these days maybe I'll even buy a new one.[end dream].

I just bought a copy of Lost just to see what was up.  Worked alright on the iBook...quality wasn't too bad either.  Downloading was nice and quick...then again I'm on the University's network at the moment so... <G>


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## Mikuro (Oct 15, 2005)

Looks like Apple has worked out whatever problem was preventing the previews from working. They run fine now for me. I just had to go back to the main iTMS page and navigate back to them, because for some reason it still wouldn't work when I was using the "remembered" page.

The quality really isn't so bad, considering the resolution. Definitely better than VCD (as expected). Lower resolution than SVCD, but fewer artifacts, so...hard to say.

Edit: I just watched the Lost clips, and those look a lot worse. Darker scenes typically look worse in all codecs, so I guess that's no surprise. That really makes me wish they were higher quality. That's So Raven looks pretty nasty, too, even though it's very bright. Hmm.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 15, 2005)

$1.99 in the US.

£1.89 in the UK.

thats $3.30.


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## kainjow (Oct 15, 2005)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> $1.99 in the US.
> 
> £1.89 in the UK.
> 
> thats $3.30.


Get a US credit card?


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