At Apple’s recent live event at the Guggenheim in New York to launch its most recent application, iBooks Author, the company also used the occasion to introduce another education related iOS 5 app and iTunes service called iTunes U.

For several years now, colleges and universities have posted for free academic courses via iTunes podcasts. But now in iTunes U, Apple is expanding the service by providing access to complete courses from leading universities and other schools.

For now the courses are completely free–requiring only your time to work through the lectures and assignments.

iTunes App

The iTunes U app can be used on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. When you subscribe to a coure all the core material for the course will be automatically downloaded to the app on your device.

Links to supplemental material will also be provided for download from the App Store, the iBookstore, and the iTunes Music Store. While the supplemental material may come at a cost, most of the video lectures and PDF document handouts seem to be available for free.

The beauty of iTunes U is how it packages core material into one application. A downloaded course typically includes a brief overview, a detailed course outline of lectures and assignments, a built-in Notepad, and links to course materials. The interface and setup is similar to how you might organize an analog three-ring binder.

Though courses are best viewed on the iPad, you can sync your notes and course information between your iOS devices. Unfortunately, however, Apple has not created a Mac client for iTunes U. Nor has it done so for its iBooks 2 textbook reader.

You can access and view all the courses in iTunes U either through the iTunes U application itself, or in iTunes on your Mac or PC. iTunes U already includes several dozen courses on a wide range of topics—from Basics of Culinary, Beginners Chinese, Masters of Photography, to Stanford University’s highly rated iPad and iPhone App Development course.

Standford CS193p

The Stanford apps development course, for example, includes 19 actual live lectures, slide show presentations, in course assignments.

Even better, the course doesn’t require you to purchase any additional supplemental material. And if you’re running OS X Lion you can download Apple’s app developers application Xcode for free from the App Store. All that is required on your part for this course is your time.

Copyright Course

Another interesting though lightweight course, titled Rights, Remixes, and Respect, is a five part series about the differences between creative inspiration, appropriation, copyright and fair use.

Kirby Ferguson, the developer for this course, provides short definitions of copyright related terms, and then presents excellent song and movie examples about sampling and remixing and creative productions. His video presentations are are linked to a website which means you don’t have to download those files to your device.

You can work through the course in less than a week, and it even ends with a couple of short quiz reviews. The course also requires a few paid download of songs from the iTunes Music Store.

Notepad

Another useful and practical tool in the iTunes U app is a built-in notepad. If you want to do pretty much all your work within your mobile device, this notepad will come in quite handy. It works similarly to to the default Notepad app in Apple’s mobile devices.

While iTunes U will never be as popular as the iTunes Music Store or the App Store, it’s a great opportunity and resource for self-motivated learning. And because courses are free, you learn as much as you like without taking out a student loan.

Let us know what you think of iTunes U.

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iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

View full post on FileHippo.com

Apple has created a stir with their new cloud based music service known as iTunes Match. When it was first announced, there was a general consensus that it had the potential to be amazing. For iPhone owners, the prospect of taking all their music to the Cloud and having it matched with a high quality version direct from Apple’s servers was a winning proposition (especially if those songs were acquired from less than legal channels).

The program finally launched, and we here at MakeUseOf offered a handy guide for getting started. However, upon launch it was not available in all the countries people wanted to use it. Now, Apple is working to rectify that situation by launching the service in 19 new countries. They are mainly focusing on Latin America, the Baltic States and the Netherlands.

The full list of new countries are as follows – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

iTunes Match is now available in a total of 37 countries. Apple is obviously trying to expand their service, which costs $24.99 per year, to all kinds of new markets. If it is not available where you live, don’t fret, because you can assume Apple is going to do everything in their power to get it there.

Source: MacRumors

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While the iTunes Store has thousands of free mobile apps, the pickings are comparatively slim when it comes to free e-books from the iBooks Store. But while Apple doesn’t have a free e-book Tuesday, like it does for songs, I have found a selection of reads that MUO readers might be interested in.

I’ve chosen full-length techy related books, although there are several hundred pages of free iBooks to download to the iBooks Reader– from trashy sex novels to hundreds of sampler books.

iPhone and iPad Guides

If you’ve just got your new iPhone or iPad and you want to get a complete overview of all the features and how to use them, the iBooks Store has two full-length, each over 200 pages, official guides for free download: The iPhone User Guide, and the iPad User Guide for iOS 5.

Both books are well illustrated with step-by-step instructions. While these guides may not contain the tips and tricks you will find here on MUO, they are definitely two good starter guides that you should have in your iBooks library.

iPhone 4S Starter Guide

The leading Apple magazine, Macworld, has also released one of its guides for free – the iPhone 4S Starter Guide – which covers every feature on the device, from the Home button, to setting up Mail, Contacts, iCal, iCloud, to a review of accessories including cases, headphones, and speakers.

The Unofficial Siri Handbook

This is a 23-page guide on how to use the Siri app on the iPhone 4S. While the guide is not illustrated, it does include lots of examples of verbal commands you can use with the voice activation app.

The Price We Pay For Google

While I haven’t had a chance to read this book, the topic looks interesting. Journalist Peter Olsthoorn examines the power and possible dangers of Google’s data collection reach and how you can combat it in your personal life.

It also takes a critical look at Google’s advertising machine, censorship, social network failures, and privacy guidelines.

The Beatles Yellow Submarine

For more lighter reading, Apple has just released an iTunes exclusive, The Beatles Yellow Submarine, which features clips from the movie and Beatles songs, and awesome illustrations.

Young readers can use iBook’s audio feature to have the story read to them. The formatting of this iBook book does not fill the entire iPad screen, so it may feel a little awkward to many readers.

Geek Mom

Geek Mom is a quirky collection of fun projects for the tech-savvy parent. The author shows you how to put together a Motherboard PCB Bracelet, cook Geek Cupcakes, create a Lego USB Stick, make a wallet from a computer keyboard, and over a dozen more projects.

Superheroes

If you’re into Batman, Superman, Captain America, and the like, you might be interested in Superheroes: The Best of Philosophy and Pop Culture. Written by William Irwin, the book explores such weighty questions as, “Why doesn’t Batman just kill the Joker and end everyone’s misery? Does Peter Parker have a good life? What can Iron Man teach us about the role of technology in society?”

Superheroes gets into deep philosophical questions and analysis, with references to classical intellectual thinkers like Aristotle and Kant. If you can wrap your head around this type of thinking, Superheroes might be worth your time.

The best way to browse the free books available in the iTunes Store is through the the iTunes application on your computer whereby you can click from page to page of book covers. Also check out MUO’s large and growing collection of free PDF guides that focus on similar topics, from Using iOS 5 to BAM!: Your Guide to Digital Comic Books.

Can you recommend any other good free books for the iPad and iPhone?

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ituneslogothumb.jpg?323f2c" alt="" />After what some are calling an “accidental” launch on Wednesday, Apple has now begun rolling out its iTunes Match service around the world. Reports suggest the service has already reached the UK, Australia, Canada, France , Spain and Ireland as well as Brazil which received the service earlier this week.

Customers who signed up prematurely on Wednesday soon encountered problems using the service and were notified via email that they would be receiving refunds. Today the service appears to be officially available via iTunes in Windows or Mac OS X.

iTunes Match scans personal storage for music and delivers it across a range of devices, offering up streaming and downloadable options. If iTunes detects a song it recognises then a DRM-free 256kbps AAC file is made available. If iTunes fails to recognise a song then that file is uploaded and made available instead.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/itunes_match_signup_france.jpg?323f2c" alt="" width="571" height="421" />

Audiophiles around the world can find the iTunes Match service in their “Quick Links” bar on the right-hand side of iTunes if the service is available. Users should also be aware that the scanning and uploading process can take a while, especially when it comes to particularly large collections.

Current pricing from around the world puts a year’s worth of iTunes Match at €24.99 in Europe, £21.99 in the UK, CAD$27.99 in Canada and AUD$34.99 in Australia.

Have you subscribed to iTunes Match yet? Happy with the price in your country or territory? Talk about it in the comments.

Source: href="http://gigaom.com/apple/itunes-match-rolling-out-internationally-officially-this-time/" rel="nofollow">GigaOM

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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/google-music-puts-tunes-online/" rel="bookmark"> width="125" height="125" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/gmusic-icon-150x150.jpg?323f2c" class="with-border wp-post-image" alt="gmusic-icon" title="gmusic-icon" style="width:125px;height:125px;" /> class="title">Google Music Puts All Your Tunes Online [Currently US Only]

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View full post on MakeUseOf

iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

View full post on FileHippo.com

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/itunescloud.jpg" alt="itunes match" />With the recent launching of Apple’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/set-icloud-ios-devices/">iCloud and the music streaming service href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/itunes-match-officially-launched-itunes-1051-news/&sa=U&ei=9ivVTrr8BsrhiALr1ejFDg&ved=0CAQQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNE9BKRpTY9hRXLPJ9Pf4O1gBvRtnw">iTunes Match, cloud computing seems to be the future of Apple and other computer companies. If you use multiple Apple devices like I do, you no doubt welcome the recent upgrades for wirelessly syncing data between your computer and iOS devices.

But after subscribing to and exploring iTunes Match, I find the paid service not as useful as Apple’s wireless iTunes syncing, its Home Sharing feature, and music streaming service sites like Rdio.com and Spotify.

iTunes Match

iTunes Match is a music streaming service ($24.99 per year) that essentially allows you to sync all the songs (including the ones you purchased in the iTunes Music Store and ones you imported from other sources such as CDs) from your iTunes Music Library to your iCloud account over Wi-Fi or 3G. In turn, you can access your songs in the cloud from any iTunes supported Mac or PC and on your iOS devices.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/itunes_match.jpg" alt="Itunes match" width="580" height="364" border="0" />

With iTunes Match, your song files are not physically uploaded to the cloud. Rather, iTunes scans your iTunes Library and matches your song content with the vast catalog of songs in the iTunes Music Store. The matched music is added to your iCloud account. Songs in your library that are not found in the Store don’t of course get matched, and thus don’t appear in iCloud.

If you’re an avid user of iTunes and customer of the iTunes Music Store, iTunes Match may very well be a useful subscription service for you. In addition to having access to your music in the cloud, the paid service backs up your music to cloud; and if your songs are ever deleted on your local drive they can be re-downloaded from your iCloud.

But there are problems with iTunes Match that you might want to consider. First off, though you can stream your music from your iCloud account over Wi-Fi onto your iTunes supporting computer(s), you can’t stream music in the same way to your iPhone and other iOS devices. You have to actually select and download those songs from your iCloud account to your device, which means that it will take up memory space in your device. In fact, when you turn on iTunes Match on your device, it replaces the iTune library set up for your device prior to iTunes Match.

Wireless iTunes Syncing

With the release of iOS 5 for the iPhone and other Apple devices, you can now sync data between your device and the iTunes library on your computer over your local network.

With this wireless syncing, you can add and delete songs and playlists in your iTunes library for your devices and sync those changes without having to make a wired connection to your computer. In fact, after the initial setup, your iOS device will automatically sync your iTunes library when you have the device plugged into a charger and connected to your local Wi-Fi network.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Sync_Now.jpg" alt="itunes match review" width="400" height="600" border="0" />

You can also manually execute wireless syncing in the Summary page of your iTunes or in the Settings app of your iOS device (General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync > Sync Now). I prefer this approach over iTunes to managing music on my iPhone. This method allows me to select and deselect songs in my iTunes library instead of having to download them (and manually remove them) individually from my iCloud account.

I even use a Smart Playlist in iTunes that automatically removes songs I’ve played on my iTunes and/or my iPhone in the last 2 weeks. When songs are dropped off they are automatically replaced with new tracks from my library.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/smartplaylist1.png" alt="itunes match review" width="580" height="213" border="0" />

This wireless smart playlist requires no manual downloading on my part and it keeps my iPhone updated with different music from week to week.

Home Sharing Features

iTunes Match may be most useful to iTunes users who travel frequently and want to have access to their music in the cloud. However, for the rest of us, the Home Sharing feature of iTunes (see href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-set-up-home-sharing-on-your-apple-mobile-device-mac/">here for how to set it up) will probably be sufficient for sharing and accessing all the content in your iTunes library with your computers and iOS devices. With iTunes Match, on the other hand, you can only share your songs, not your other content such as downloaded movies and TV shows.

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Streaming Music Services

Lastly, I would argue that streaming music services like Spotify, Rdio, and MOG may be a better and much more affordable option for those of us who have a good Wi-Fi connection.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/mog.png" alt="itunes match" width="580" height="285" border="0" />

An affordable $5 per month subscription to one of these music streaming services allows you to stream, commercial free, all the songs and albums in their catalog. For $10 per month you can stream music from these sites to your mobile smartphone. These music streaming sites also have free ad-supported options as well. See my article, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pros-cons-streaming-downloading-mp3s/">The Pros and Cons of Streaming Music vs. Downloading MP3s for more about this option.

So what is your view of iTunes Match, iCloud and other streaming music services. Which do you prefer and why?

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/tunesque-3.png" alt="search itunes"/>In my eyes, software developers can often be the saviors of the world, especially when they develop and release little free Mac gems that save us power users several laborious clicks or taps to get something done. This is the case with a new Apple related search application called href="http://tunesque.afkstudio.com/">Tunesque.

Developed by MTA, Tunesque locates keyword related items in the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/itunes-store/">iTunes Music Store and the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-tips-apple-mac-app-store/">Apple Mac store, and displays results in a single display. An app like this simply makes sense and you wonder why Apple didn’t develop it itself.

Quickly Search iTunes

Tunesque resides in your menubar where you click on its icon and enter a search query in the text field. After clicking the return key, Tunesque presents the results of search items in all categories of Apple’s online stores.

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For example, a search for “Steve Jobs” reveals related songs, TV shows, iOS apps, e-books, podcasts, audiobooks, and iTunes University downloads.

So you can easily see how Tunesque saves you the trouble of opening the bulky iTunes application, and/or the sometimes the buggy App Store app, and then having to make several clicks in order to perform searches.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/tunesque-2.png" alt="itunes search for music on your computer" width="493" height="231"/>

Incidentally, I also like how Tunesque doesn’t do intuitive searching—that is, start performing searches, Google style, as you type a term. That approach seems to sometimes complicate or slightly slow down the search process.

Search Results

As you might expect from looking at the user interface of Tunesque, when you move your cursor over an item, you get an instant preview of that item, including an image and description along with the listed price. Album descriptions, however, for some reason, don’t show up.

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Clicking on an item of course will link you to its respective place in the iTunes Store or App Store.

If the drop-down interface of Tunesque seems a little too cluttered with results, you can simply narrow them using to specified keyboard shortcut.

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Tunesque will also maintain your most recent search queries, so when you return to the application you don’t have to retype the search term again.

In my tests, the search results in Tunesque matched most of the results I got when I did the same keyword search in the iTunes Store. Results may vary for particular searches, but Tunesque is certainly a great place to get started.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Screen-Shot-2011-11-12-at-2.51.29-PM.png" alt="have itunes search for music on computer" width="580" height="318"/>

Customized Searches

The developer also had the foresight to enable users to customize search results. In Tunesque Preferences you can disable store categories (like audiobooks, iTunes U, and podcasts) you’re not particularly interested in.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/screenshot1560.png" alt="have itunes search for music on computer" width="467" height="433"/>

And on top of that, Tunesque searches in a local store of your choice, from the U.S. to the Ukraine and beyond.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/screenshot1561.png" alt="have itunes search for music on computer" width="463" height="434"/>

And for users who don’t like the dark side, you can change up the color scheme to Light.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/screenshot1563.png" alt="search itunes" width="495" height="409"/>

Tunesque may not be for those who like to click and browse around Apple’s respective stores, but it is certainly a welcome solution for those of us who like to quickly search itunes with a lot less clicking.

Tunesque can be downloaded free from the href="http://tunesque.afkstudio.com/">MTA web site or the href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tunesque/id462203645?mt=12">Apple Mac Store. It does however require your Mac to be running Mac OS X Lion—10.7 or later.

Let us know what you think of Tunesque. Will it be a regular log-in item in your menu bar?

View full post on MakeUseOf

iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

View full post on FileHippo.com

iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

View full post on FileHippo.com

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/screenshot10871.jpg" alt="Screenshot1087" />Although Apple attracts a huge market with its computer hardware, portable devices and software, some magazine publishers and content providers are indifferent to paying the company over 30% of their revenue generated from their magazine apps sold in the iTunes Store. Instead, some publishers are pulling their apps and directing readers and subscribers to use their HTML 5 web-based apps.

Amazon.com, for example, recently class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/amazon-cloud-reader-web-app-kindle-books/">disabled the link to their online Kindle Store in their e-reader Kindle app to avoid added revenue costs. And now the London-based Financial Times has also pulled its iPhone and iPad app from the store, and instead has created a web-based version of its online publication.

To get the full benefit of FT’s web app, you are directed to go to class="vt-p" href="http://app.ft.com">app.ft.com on your iPad or iPhone. From there, you should save the webpage to your home screen which will make it work pretty much like a traditional iOS app.

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The web version will provide you with previews of all of FT’s newspaper content, but if you want to view and read entire articles in the publication you will need to pay £4.95 for a standard subscription, or £6.95 for a premium.

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Pearson, the publisher of FT, claims that the web version provides faster downloads than the now defunct app version. The web app also provides offline viewing capabilities for up to 50MB of storage on your iPad or iPhone.

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In the long run, it may be subscribers who most benefit from publishers deciding to pull their apps from the iTunes Store. You be the judge.

Source: class="vt-p" href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/08/financial-times-pulls-ios-apps-directs-users-to-new-web-app.ars" rel="nofollow">Ars Technica

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ituneslogo.png" alt="" />If you’re a heavy iTunes users with a significant size music collection, you definitely should know about Doug’s class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/">AppleScripts for iTunes. Doug Adams has been writing scripts for iTunes ever since Apple’s inception of its popular jukebox. As far as I can tell, iTunes seems to be the most scriptable of all the default Mac applications.  Last year I talked about class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/boost-itunes-player-applescript-hacks-mac">some of Doug’s scripts and now I want to cover some more useful ones.

If you’re not familiar with AppleScripts don’t let the techie name scare you off. Doug‘s site has scripts for managing your music tracks, playlists, album covers, controlling iTunes, networking, managing files and lots more. Instructions for downloading and installing scripts are very clear and if you become interested in creating your own iTunes scripts, Doug’s class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/info01.php">how-to guides get you started in that direction as well.

class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/apps/smartsapp.php">Smarts

Doug has created several self-contained AppleScript class="vt-p" href="http://http://dougscripts.com/apps/">apps, each for $5 or less. But his free offering, class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/apps/smartsapp.php">Smarts, will be very useful to iTunes users who like to use class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-5-smart-itunes-playlists-ipad-iphone-ipod">smart playlists, which are the best way to create smart collections and manage a large selection of music tracks.

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With Smarts, you can load and save your existing smart playlists as templates for creating similar smart playlists. So for a very simple example, you might have a smart playlist for recently added tracks to your iTunes library. It might be set up like this:

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With Smarts, you can load and save that smart list as a template to create new ones that use some similar rules. Using a template saves you the trouble of starting from scratch.

You can also use Smarts to access and manage all your smart playlists. This little tool is great for iTunes users just getting started with iTunes and for those of you who would like to create more smart collections.

If you’re new to smart technology in Mac, check out my free class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-the-awesome-automation-guide-for-mac-users">MUO Automation Guide for all you need to know to get started using it.

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class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=quickconvert">Quick Convert

Advanced iTunes users and music aficionados know that MP3 files can be encoded into different formats for better quality. The default format for most iTunes tracks is AAC.

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If you want to encode and export tracks into a different format, you have to make the change in General Preferences of iTunes. That’s not a big problem, but if you’re encoding lots of different files, you might want to use class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=quickconvert">Doug’s Quick Convert AppleScript.

The step-by-step instructions for downloading and installing this and other Doug apps are very easy to follow.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot955.png" alt="Screenshot955" width="577" height="381" border="0" />

After you install scripts, you can easily access them from within the menu bar of iTunes. Your menu list will reflect the scripts you have installed in the Scripts folder of iTunes, similar to this one:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot957.png" alt="Screenshot957" width="264" height="484" border="0" />

class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=removedeadtracks">Remove Dead Tracks

If your iTunes library has grown a little unwieldy with “dead” tracks and playlists, Doug’s class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=removedeadtracks">Remove Dead Tracks will locate those files that are “no longer in your local drive (“!” appears next to their names) and asks to delete them from the playlist“.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot959.png" alt="Screenshot959" width="358" height="110" border="0" />

If your iTunes library is quite large, the scanning process will take some time. And as Doug notes, use this script “thoughtfully and cautiously”.

class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=gatheruptheonehits">Gather Up The One Hits

If you‘re like me, you’ve probably collected lots of single music files, such as the free single offering posted in the iTunes Music Store every Tuesday.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot961.png" alt="Screenshot961" width="361" height="196" border="0" />

If those singles are scattered throughout your library, you can use Doug’s class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=gatheruptheonehits">Gather Up the One Hits script to have them collected and put into a single new playlist. The only drawback to this script is that if you have album collections featuring a compilation of artists, it will read those tracks as singles. So you will need to go through the new playlist, sort it by Album, and delete the tracks you don’t want in the “one hit” playlist.

class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=tracksalbumtoplaylist">Track’s Album To Playlist

If you haven’t been very good about putting music files in playlists, this class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=tracksalbumtoplaylist">Track’s Album to Playlist can help you manage those files. You can quickly find out if a selected song is in a playlist by right-clicking on it and seeing which playlists, if any, it is located in.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/not-in-a-playlist.jpg" alt="Not in a playlist" width="385" height="479" border="0" />

In the example above, the selected track is found in a few smart playlists, but there’s no playlist for the album of songs that track belongs to. So I can select the single track and run the script to have it create a new playlist that includes all the tracks for that CD.

class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=changehiddenprefs">Change Hidden Preferences

iTunes, now in its 10th version, constantly grows and improves, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be customized and tweaked. Doug’s class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=changehiddenprefs">Change Hidden Preferences script allows you to make a number of preference changes, including hiding the “Ping” buttons, automatically creating playlists for purchased song collections and adding a “Library” playlist for your collection.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot964.png" alt="Screenshot964" width="426" height="402" border="0" />

I have not scratched the surface of all the class="vt-p" href="http://dougscripts.com/itunes/index.php#whatsnew">scripts available for free on Doug’s iTunes site. He and other developers have hundreds of iTunes scripts —some old, for older versions of iTunes, and a few that might not quite work as described.

If you’re a dedicated iTunes user, you owe it to yourself to spend some time browsing and downloading scripts. If you find his scripts useful, drop Doug a line at dougscripts at Mac doc com.

If you have currently use iTunes AppleScripts, let us know about your favorite ones.

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iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

View full post on FileHippo.com

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/itunesthumb.jpg?54167" alt="" />Just a few days after the introduction of Apple’s latest operating system, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/apples-mac-osx-lion-news/">OS X Lion, the company has revealed a small update to iTunes 10.4. The update’s most obvious addition is a new full screen mode that works alongside Lion’s multi-touch support to provide a smooth, immersive experience. Users can navigate back to the desktop with a three-finger swipe, making for quick navigation between full screen iTunes and other applications.

The update also finally provides iTunes with class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/difference-32-bit-64-bit-windows/">64-bit support, a change that won’t have obvious short-term impact but is necessary for the software’s future development. Cupertino’s developers state that this improvement results in better performance and stability. However, the switch to 64-bit could potentially break class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-top-itunes-troubleshooting-tips-tricks/">some iTunes plugins until they are updated.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/itunes104.jpg?54167" alt="" width="519" height="265" />

iWork has received an update to version 6, which provides the software with support for Lion’s new functionality. Resume, Auto Save, and Version features are now a part of Pages, Numbers and Keynote, making it easier for users to switch between documents and recover them should a crash or other error occur.

You’ll need Lion OS X to receive the full benefit of iTunes 10.4, but the software is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 or better. The update to iWork version 6 requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or better, but most of the new features will not work without Lion.

Source: class="vt-p" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/07/20/apple_prepping_64_bit_full_screen_itunes_10_4_and_iwork_updates.html">Apple Insider

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/apple-releases-itunes-104-full-screen-support-updates-iwork-news/">Apple Releases iTunes 10.4 With Full Screen Support, Updates iWork [News] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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View full post on MakeUseOf

iTunes is a free application for Mac and PC. It plays all your digital music and video. It syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

View full post on FileHippo.com

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0_evom.jpg" alt="export videos to itunes" />Anyone who is a fan of converting and watching videos on their iPad or other class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ios/">iOS device will understand that this can be difficult at times. There are a lot of programs out there capable of getting the job done for you. So many, in fact, that one could argue that there are actually too many, which can make it even more confusing trying to find the right one.

Once you do find the right tool, you still have to face the task of getting your newly converted files over to iTunes and syncing them to your devices, which can be more difficult than it sounds.

With class="vt-p" href="http://thelittleappfactory.com/evom/">Evom for Mac, however, this whole process is extremely easy. Evom is a lightweight video converter and transfer tool that will export converted videos directly to iTunes for you. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy…it’s high speed!

What Is Evom?

Evom, a product of the Little App Factory, enables you to drag-and-drop and convert videos quickly and easily. It lets you enjoy online content without being tethered to the web and, like I stated in the introduction, it was built for speed. It is designed to convert movie files and Flash videos quickly, taking advantage of your Mac’s multi-core processor, allowing you to get content off of the web and onto your favorite devices.

With Evom, you can drag folders, individual files, or links into the program’s window to start, and your items will be converted for you and exported directly into iTunes or – optionally – saved to your desktop. Once converted, your videos will be compatible with your iPods, iPhones, iPads, and many other devices.

How Do I Use Evom?

Although I gave you a rough idea of how Evom works above, let’s take a closer look at the actual process from start to finish. The first thing you’ll need to do if you want to take advantage of Evom’s power is head over to the website and class="vt-p" href="http://thelittleappfactory.com/evom/">download the app.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1_evom.png" alt="export videos to itunes" width="291" height="403" />

Once you’re ready to go with Evom, just drag or specify the video folder you would like to convert video from. If you leave the iTunes option selected, your videos will go straight to your iTunes folder after conversion to be synced with your iOS devices.

When you drop video files that you want to convert, a configuration box will pop up asking you to specify the output format, as well as the output folder, title, and quality of video.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2_evom.png" alt="how to add videos to itunes" width="448" height="434" />

If you don’t want Evom to convert videos for some specific device, you can always choose to convert video in a specific format. Evom supports the AVI, FLV, MP4, HTML5, MOV, MPG, and WMV formats. Also, you can extract audio out of a video file and convert it into OGG and MP3 format.

As a side note, Evom is also capable of converting selected videos directly to your Apple TV in a compatible format.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/3_evom.png" alt="export videos to itunes" width="289" height="402" />

Once you’ve made all of your selections and set up class="vt-p" href="http://thelittleappfactory.com/evom/">Evom just the way you want it, you can go ahead and click Convert to transform your files into watchable ones.

If you’re a fan of video conversion, I also recommend you check out class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rip-convert-movies-macx-dvd-ripper-video-converter-combo-mac/">MacX Video Converter and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-folders-convert-video-files-dropfolders-handbrake/">Handbrake too. Will you be using Evom to convert your videos?  Or do you have another favorite?

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/convert-videos-export-itunes-easily-evom-mac/">Convert Videos & Export Them To iTunes Easily With Evom [Mac] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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