iTunes 5.0 Released!

[Patrick]

New version of iTunes announced and released today.

From a MacWorld live update:

Jobs then rolled out iTunes 5, an update to the popular software Apple makes available for Mac and Windows users alike. He described the new version's interface as sporting "a little bit of a refined look." It's available today as a free download from Apple's Web site.

Users can now organize playlists into folders, and new search capabilities have been added. Windows users can now automatically synchronize contact and calendar information using iTunes 5 and Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express software.

A "Smart Shuffle" feature has been added that lets users control how likely they are to hear multiple songs from the same artist or the same album using a preference slider. "We've got a lot of people saying our shuffle is not random," mused Jobs.

Parental controls have also been added to help parents restrict purchases of music that contains explicit lyrics through the iTunes Music Store.

[docsnavely]

it's up on the main itunes page now. looks like they moved the file to public servers also..... took about 10 seconds to DL :wink:

[cpjolicoeur]

The best think about the new iTunes 5.0 is that podcasts downloaded with iTunes podcast features can be used in smart playlists. Finally, we can use the iTunes podcasts in our existing "Podcast"-genre smart playlists instead of having to listen to them through the Podcast menu. It's about time.

Now I can finally migrate from my old version of iPodderX Lite and onto iTunes completely.

[docsnavely]

does it keep your place in the podcast if you pause and walk away? i know when i used to have them in smart playlists before 4.9, it wouldn't save my location.....

[cpjolicoeur]

This still depends on the file type. If the podcast is distributed in mp3 format than no, but if the podcast is distributed in a bookmarkable format then yes you can pause in the middle and come back later and start from where you eneded. This really has nothing to do with iTunes, just with the file type of the audio file.

[docsnavely]

you sure about that, because all of my podcasts that i subscribe to are mp3's, and all return to the place that i left them. they never did that before 4.9

the bookmarking i thought had to do with making chapters to which you can fast forward to, and add art with.

i'm on a windows machine, and use only mp3's so, i have never experienced that, but i do know that when i pause out of the middle of a cast, when i come back, i'm back at my last spot......

[cpjolicoeur]

the chapter tool and bookmarking are different things. bookmarkable AAC files have been around for a while, much before iTunes 4.9 came out. The chaptering tool is just a way to break the audio file into segments that can have associated "chapter art" with hyperlinks and you can skip immediately to set "cut-points" by pressing the forward button instead of scrolling.

not sure how you have every podcast in bookmarkable mp3 format. i believe what you are saying, but i'm not familiar with all podcasts having bookmarkable mp3 files just because they came from itunes. itunes just grabs the same file, so if i subscribe to a feed from iPodderX and its not bookmarkable, subscribing from iTunes wouldnt automatically make it bookmarkable.

of course, if you just are truly referring to "pausing" the track, then yes pausing has nothing to do with bookmarkable files. just pressing the pause button and then returning and pressing play will always start from where you paused. i thought you were referring to playing a file and stopping somewhere during the file then playing something else or updating the ipod and when you return to that file later it remembers where you last were.

[apocalypsedowell]

I'm pretty sure Josh wasn't talking about pausing...

With 4.9 came the ability to start podcasts from the place you stopped listening to them. This works even if you listen on your ipod, connect your ipod to your mac, and then listen in itunes. (and vice versa) Not sure if it's the same for the PC, though.

[jeffoest]

Yup, works on the PC too. One of the things I loved about iTunes/iPod. I had no idea (and no expectations) when all of a sudden about three days after I had started using it, my iPod was telling me where I left off on several podcasts. And what I thought was realy cool was that it didn't seem to matter if I was listening and stopped on the PC or the iPod after synching - it knew where I was...

[jeffoest]

With 5.0 released, is everyone seeing an increase in their Feedburner stats?

No - you are not getting more popular all of a sudden (sorry!). I'm sure that Feedburner tracks the different versions as coming from different clients so that every day someone converts from 4.9 to 5.0, that subscriber gets double-counted for that day if he checks the feed before and after conversion within the day. It will drop back down after people are done converting.

I did some checking and noticed that other podcasters with feedburner stats on are enjoying this temporary bump so I knew it wasn't just me and something system-wide. We went up about 11-12% for comparison (in one day).

That's my public service announcement of the day.

[podcastshuffle]

The best think about the new iTunes 5.0 is that podcasts downloaded with iTunes podcast features can be used in smart playlists. Finally, we can use the iTunes podcasts in our existing "Podcast"-genre smart playlists instead of having to listen to them through the Podcast menu. It's about time.

I agree. However my "New Podcast" smart playlist did work on my iPod with 4.9.

I saw "Podcast" in the list of criteria in the Smart Playlist Rules box. Did I miss that from 4.9 or is that new? (i.e. you can make a smart playlist where Podcast "is true" or "is false") That would allow you to have a smart playlist with podcasts that don't have their genre set to "podcast". Which would allow podcasters to go back to 'comedy' or 'music' or 'tech' genres.

Jeff

[docsnavely]

i do believe that is new. they are now allowing us to take our casts out into the file system.....woot!

and yes, thanks jeff for bursting my bubble!!!!!!

and to think my numbers were jumping just because i'm a good podcast personality...... hah!

and bah-humbug to you too!

[kneelw]

RE: the bookmarking, I've noticed that if you download a podcast with iTunes and manually add it to you iPod by dragging it to a playlist, it's still bookmarked and has the shownotes as well. I do this with my ipod at work (auto-syncs with my mac at home, manually managed on the PC at work.) So I assume it would be the same with a Smart Playlist.

We've also seen a hike in subscribers. Thanks for pointing that out, Jeff. I would have never thought of it, just assumed this week we were v. popular :cry:

[mesoed]

I did some checking and noticed that other podcasters with feedburner stats on are enjoying this temporary bump so I knew it wasn't just me and something system-wide. We went up about 11-12% for comparison (in one day).
This makes sense. I've actually seen a much MUCH more substantial bump in subscribers from WinAmp 5.1. WinAmp subscribers now encompass over 35% of my listeners.

[jeffoest]

WOW!

Winamp subscribers represent just 0.3% of my subscribers! What a difference....

Do you do anything special to draw in Winamp listeners?