Apple has finally released iTunes 10.5.1 for both Windows and Mac to the public – the Cupertino company’s shrine for iDevices far and wide.
As was the case with iOS 5 leading up to end-user release, the iTunes 10.5.1 software was beta’d to death, and Apple is still updating and improving releases around the clock to provide a smooth and streamlined user experience for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users.
iTunes Match has finally arrived – albeit nearly a month behind schedule.. and is still in beta stage.. and US only.. and Mac only. But still, if you fall under than narrowed-down category, you can finally enjoy the beginning of Apple’s latest web-venture.
Although Apple managed to iron out most of the bugs persistent in the iTunes 10.5.x betas, it is clearly yet to be perfected, so don’t be surprised if we see yet another update to the iOS and iTunes coalition some time in the near future with hopefully worldwide support for iTunes Match.
iTunes Match allows you to store your music in the cloud, but if you own a dupe of something already contained in the iTunes Music Store, you can listen to the 256kbps AAC file – a very reasonable deal considering the amount of pirated music floating about. With iTunes boasting tens of millions of songs, you would have thought that most anybody’s music would be match-able.
Even at $24.99 a year, it seems more than reasonable, especially when compared to Spotify’s $9.99 a month music rental format.
You can download iTunes 10.5.1 for Windows and Mac right now from the official Apple site by following this link, or by simply opening iTunes and updating within the software.
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