Apple had updated iTunes a couple of days ago and while they did fix a few bugs and also offer a few new features, there is a growing number of iTunes problems that are shared by fed up users. We say this because some of the issues that these users have been experiencing are ones that have been known to Apple for a while now.

We were contacted yesterday by one very unhappy iTunes user who said that the latest update, iTunes 11.0.2 had removed the ability to use drop box for his CD cover. This means that he is no longer able to scan a copy of his CD cover and then drop it into his playlist.

That’s not all what has gone, there was once four viewing options for the album cover, this has now been reduced to just one. We also have to agree; we have not liked the look of iTunes 11 since it was first released. Okay, so we know that things change, but we don’t have to be happy about it.

Personally I’m like many other iTunes users who are unhappy that Apple did away with Cover Flow, it’s as if they try to offer innovate features, but do not consider what the user wants. It would be nice to have the choice of sticking with some of the older features.

Looking on Apple Discussion we can see that several members were hoping that the recent iPod Classic sync issue was resolved, and while it was looking good, after a while the sync froze.

Thanks for the tip Colin.

What other issues have you experienced with iTunes 11.0.2?

If you are one of those who only use iTunes here and there, then chances are you would not even have known that there were several issues with the latest version. However, there were problems, which is why Apple felt the need to resolve them with 11.0.2 update. We’re told that this version will offer several enhancements along with several bug fixes as well.

With the previous version some users were complaining that it could not handle large playlists, so it was all too obvious that Apple needed to make that one of the features they needed to address. Don’t think that iTunes 11.0.2 update brings with it a multitude of new features, as this is just an incremental release, much like iOS 6.1.2, which we’ll discuss later today.

Another new feature is how there is a new Composer view for Music and in regards to those bug fixes we mentioned above, you can now see all purchases in iTunes. The size of this update is just 54.2MB, so will take no time at all.

While this is only a minor upgrade, there was hope that Apple would resolve the issue within iTunes Match, as some users are still complaining a huge number of their CDs are not being recognized in the UK. We’d love to know if this is an isolated issue or a more widespread one?

The first phone to get the new Samsung Music Hub is the Galaxy S3, and with these phones starting to reach consumers over the coming days and weeks, it might be a good time to brush up on what the Music Hub can do and how to use it.

If you’ve not seen the Samsung Galaxy S3 yet, where have you been living for the past month, you could take a quick look at the official TV commercial in the video below this article. In a nutshell the Music Hub gives users the ability to stream music directly to their Galaxy S3, and the selection is massive at around 19 million songs. This will cost the user £9.99 per month in the UK, although there is a free plan while you consider if you want to go premium or not.

This sounds a little like iTunes Match from Apple, which a walkthrough can be seen in the second video below, especially when you consider Samsung’s Music Hub will scan and match your entire music library, so it can be stored in the cloud. There will be an increasing amount of cloud music services over the next few years, in fact they are exploding right now, so you’ll have to find the service that works best for you. This might be given weight depending on the phone hardware and software you use, so in the case of the Samsung Galaxy S3 it’s Music Hub.

Samsung Music Hub will be everywhere – Samsung has stated that the Music Hub will not only come to more phone models in the coming months, but you should also expect it to appear on Samsung Connected TVs as well.

You can see a getting started screenshot above, which shows how you start with the Music Hub service, although for the full how to get started guide you should visit the official online portal found on samsung.com. Here you’ll find details for the discover menu, navigating through the Music Hub, using the search function, how to setup playlists, and much more.

Have you ordered a Samsung Galaxy S3, and are you looking forward to trying Music Hub on a range of devices in the future? You can see a Galaxy S3 video review, which runs for over 40 minutes via this article.

Your distant dreams of becoming a Jedi Knight just got that much closer, as using Flutter will allow to stop and start music tracks on the iTunes and Spotify programs. It’s just for Mac OS X computers at the moment, as the app utilizes the iSight front-camera contained on those systems and it’s actually remarkable that this idea didn’t happen sooner, or wasn’t an official feature from Apple labs.

At the moment Flutter is still in alpha format, which explains why there is limited functionality at the moment. However, just imagine the possibilities that this app has – i.e being able to change tracks with other gesture movements like a hand swipe for example.

According to the makers, Flutter also works with iTunes video playback, while your gesture movements with also work from a considerable distance away from the computer. If you ever wanted to pretend to your friends that you seemingly have the magic touch of The Force, perhaps this free app is just what you need.

Check out the brief introduction video below to see how this works. We would love to see some further functionality to this and who knows – Apple may decide that this is a stroke of genius and will make the developers at Bot Square a rather sizable offer.

If you have already tried Flutter, let us know your thoughts on it – very impressive right?

The iTunes Match subscription service was originally set for launch at the end of October, and allows users to scan their entire music library and replace tracks with higher quality ones from iTunes. These can then be streamed from the cloud. It will work on the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and PC devices.

This will allow users to either stream or download their music tracks anywhere without having to manually sync to iTunes. Trouble is CNN Money are reporting since the service went live this morning it quickly became oversubscribed. Visitors were being met with a message to come back and try again in an hour, but a day or two might be a better idea.

The service will cost users $24.99 per year and will let you replace those tracks that may not be the best of quality depending on where they come from. If you have some tracks that may have been gained in a not so honest way, these will also be replaced. If iTunes doesn’t recognize a track out of its twenty million tracks, it will just upload the track.

It is not currently known when Apple will be launching the service globally, and if the demand in the US is anything to go by it may be a while yet. Have you signed up for iTunes Match?

For those that are unfamiliar with the software, it is an application from Apple that allows musicians (novice or experienced) and others interested in music to create their own great sounds and melodies. The software is reportedly so easy to use that even those who have never played an instrument or studied music before will be able to use it. It features Smart Instruments that allow users to select chords from a library offering a wide variety of choice.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of worldwide product marketing says ‘The innovative multi-touch interface combined with Smart Instruments makes it easy to create great sounding instruments.’ Users can also mix and record up to eight tracks which can also be shared with friends. When an electric guitar is plugged into any of the devices or another acoustic sound or voice is played through the microphone, it can be played and recorded with stompbox effects or through classic amps.

As PC World explains, for those that already own the app on the iPad, it can be downloaded to their other iOS devices for free, first time users will have to part with $4.99. Support for the app is offered by the fourth and third generation iPod Touch, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS as well as the iPad 2 and iPad. Will you be downloading this app to your iPhone or iPod Touch?

The iTunes Match service was expected to be released at the end of October in the US and a little later for those in Europe and other countries, but it seems that everyone is still waiting as the 10.5.1 version still hasn’t showed up. While no reason for a delay has been explained as of yet, Apple appear to still be testing the service as they have just released a beta 2 build.

According to BGR reports, the beta 2 went live yesterday, reportedly available to developers for testing on Apple TV, bringing several changes including important performance and stability improvements. iTunes Match allows users to store everything from their iTunes Library in iCloud so they can use the media from it not only on their Apple TV but their computer, iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone anytime, anywhere all for just $25 a year.

The iTunes 10.5 and iOS 5 updates have been receiving great reviews despite the mysterious iTunes Match. The changes include being able to sync any of their devices with iOS 5 to their iTunes account via Wi-Fi, iCloud which lets users store all their purchases in the cloud and being able to purchase an item from any iOS 5 device or computer and download it automatically. What do you think of the changes? Have you had any problems? When do you think the iTunes Match 10.5.1 update will become available?

The artist from The Who feels Apple should do more for musicians and said of the company “whose work it bleeds like a digital vampire Northern Rock”, according to an article on The Guardian. Townshend was talking at a radio industry lecture, and added Apple should take on some A&R executives to look for new talent.

He feels the company should then provide financial and creative support to emerging artists. He had strong words for those who partake in illegal downloading of music and said “If someone pretends that something I have created should be available to them free I wonder what has gone wrong with human morality and social justice.”

Townshend did say that iTunes was a “fantastic piece of software”, but said it only offers distribution and royalties to artists whose music it sold. Artists should be supported in other ways such as free computers and give advice to the 500 Apple felt merited it most. He said it could be like a record label but one that actually made money.

He came up with the idea for a feature on iTunes where artists could share music and make it like a local radio station. On Steve Jobs Townshend said he was “one of the coolest guys on the planet”. Do you think Pete Townshend has a point about iTunes?

If you’re a fan of the franchise there is no doubt you will the game however it has been adapted into a board game style strategy game as opposed to an RPG, so will bring a completely different experience which players of the series may find hard to get used to. The iOS version will be called Assassin’s Creed Recollection and is expected to be available at iTunes sometime in November.

The game features key locations and characters from the Assassin’s Creed franchise including Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed 2. Unfortunately there won’t be any characters from the fourth in the series, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. The gameplay is described as being board game with ‘political battle style’ and also features a multiplayer mode.

As Kotaku explains the game’s campaign is a lengthy 8 -10 hours long, which for an iOS game is pretty good value. Those who download the game will also get the Assassin’s Creed Embers short movie, which follows the life of Ezio Auditore in his last days. When it comes to an actual date and price for the download, it seems Ubisoft are yet to reveal these vital details. In the meantime check out the preview of the Embers short we have below.

Are you pleased to see the franchise make its way to the iOS devices? What are your thoughts on the change in gameplay?

According to AppleInsider Jeff Robbin who is Apple’s vice president and engineer who had also worked on the iPod, is leading the company’s work to release a connected TV that has integrated search functionality.

Sources are claiming that Robbin is heading Apple’s secretive HDTV project, and are attempting to integrate seamless content search features into the unit. This will mean instead of checking if a movie or other content is available through the likes of Netflix, it would all be integrated with the unit.

Robbin had been at Apple working as a software engineer during the 90s before going onto work on his own ideas. While working at Casady & Greene he helped develop SoundJam MP MP3 player software, before Apple bought the rights to this software in 2000. This brought Robbin back into Apple and was in charge of the software being changed into iTunes.

He also had a big part to play in the development of the iPod, and is listed among the inventors of a number of important iPod related patent fillings. Steve Jobs held Robbin in high regard and often kept his role at Apple under wraps. Currently Apple has its $99 set-top box that it often refers to as its little “hobby”.