Gizmodo
Video By Richard Blakeley.
One new feature that came with the announcement of the iPod touch was the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. Aside from the limited interaction we had with it at the Apple event on September 5, we got our first real crack at it today. All in all, it's pretty great, but there are a few things that make us shake our head.
The Good:
Overall, this thing is great. The interface is responsive, songs download as fast as the normal iTunes store and the Wi-Fi store is designed in a clean and logical manner. It is easy to move through the interface and find what you're looking for. The store is organized into for basic categories—Featured, Top Tens, Search, and Downloads.
Featured has New Releases, What's Hot, and Genres as subcategory. The screens in each subcategory are simple to figure out. Two artists are prominently featured at the top (custom graphics), with 10 other artists/albums below. For albums that have them, the average score for user reviews is also displayed. Very Nice.
Top Tens stays pretty true to form and display the top ten songs and albums in various categories and genres. One nice feature here is that if you're unimpressed by a particular top ten category, you can click a link that keeps adding ten albums at a time to the list.
Search is a standout highlight of the Wi-Fi store. When you enter the search menu, the keyboard comes up and allows you to enter a search string. As you type, it narrows down your search in real time. At any point while typing you can scroll through the list of artists or albums or songs and find what you're looking for. I actually like this better than searching in the normal iTunes store.
Downloads are self-explanatory. When you elect to purchase an album, the songs appear here and keep you updated on its status. When the song finishes downloading, it is automatically transferred to your purchased folder. There is also a link on the download screen that will take you directly to your purchased songs playlist. Very nice.
Previewing songs is easy. Tapping on a song will automatically start the preview, and if you came upon it in a search, double tapping will bring up the album. This all is very responsive and fast, with little to no delay between your action and the store's response.
The Bad:
No iTunes Plus. Seriously, this is a major oversight. There is not a plus or $1.29 to be seen around the Wi-Fi store. If you're opposed to DRM, this makes the Wi-Fi store pretty much worthless aside from previewing tracks. We don't know what else to say about this, except that it is baffling (firmware update, plz!?). [Update: ITunes Plus is available via the Wi-Fi store. You have to have iTunes Plus activated on the computer you sync with (iTunes store>Account Info>Manage iTunes Plus). Once you turn it on and resync, iTunes Plus content appears in the Wi-Fi store. Thanks, Sir Crumpet.]
The Wi-Fi store lacks some of the cooler features of its full-fledged brethren. Free download of the week is absent, no celebrity/featured playlists, and no spotlights that break down an era/artist/genre in depth. It's certainly not a necessity, but going through these features is a good time killer, and would be nice if you needed to kill time away from your computer.
Lastly, when you hit the buy button to purchase a track, the confirmation box pops up in the same place. Though it won't happen often, it's not out of the realm of possibility to double tap by accident and download a song you don't want.
It would also be nice if the store allowed you to download your Wi-Fi purchases on your computer without syncing your iPod to it. Because there are those situations where...say...you're trying to install App Tapp for the iPhone on your iPod and it puts it in recovery mode and forces you to reformat the iPod before you can sync. We're just saying...
We could lament the lack of video downloads, but its understandable since the file sizes are not optimized for the iPod touch and would probably take up more space and time than people are willing to give. It was a fair decision, in our opinion.
Like we said in the beginning, the Wi-Fi store is pretty slick. If you don't mind the standard .m4p format the iTunes store spits out, We highly recommend the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store.
Comments
No one buys music from itunes. If apple would just put wireless utorrent and limewire on there it'd be 10 times easier for me.
I buy music from iTunes. I like to legally have my music. And millions of other people do too, apparently. :P
If you're a company that wants to make money and you made roughly three BILLION dollars in selling songs in the past five years....I wouldn't stop.
what is this legally purchased music you speak of? You mean like actually pay money for music, like Fred Flintstone used to do.
No iTunes Plus!!!???!!!
What the fuck. This was one of the main reason I bought the fucking Touch - DRM-less purchaces on the fly. God damn I am so pissed right now. Isn't this false advertisement?
Gizmodo,
please press Apple hard on this if you have the ability too. This is a huge oversite, and very unfair to the people that purchased the Touch for the itunes store.
@M. Schlabach: I hope one of the artists you get "free" music from steals your car.
ok, now i am starting to understand what a 'holla back girl is', cheer up biatches, why be so high maintenance?
Are podcasts supported?
i legally buy and own many songs i dont but them online i like something tangible like album cases
Car? You mean the one that has your feet running under it for power? The kind Fred Flinstone used to drive?
@ALEXNC: Shut up dude. The review isn't about whether the iTMS on the Touch has DRM-free songs or not - it's about using the store on the Touch.
It looks like it took him a long time just to get to the store, Hell even my helio ocean is faster(and i dont get that much coverage)
@Simpsons-Movie-ruled: and yes i kno it has 3g
@ortuno2k:
Actually, it was the first thing mentioned in the "Bad." So it is kind of about no iTunes Plus.
It's the only thing in the review that realy stood out to me (and the load time).
I like Apple Lossless encoding. So I'll keep buying and ripping CDs. I hope that those who pirate music are starving students, otherwise it is quite inexcusable. My 2 cents.
What I want is lyrics + karaoke on the iPod. When is that supposed to become available?
it really makes me wish they would do an all you can eat subscription for itunes... it would be sweet to have the whole store in an iphone
@Simpsons-Movie-ruled: i think thats just due to temporary server overload. its been pretty speedy at times.
@samcal: doesnt seem like its supported on the fly. obviously you can get them by syncing.
@ortuno2k:
I bought the Touch because I thought the new iPod iTunes store was great. I am also very against DRM, and love how the iTunes store is now selling DRM-less "Plus" songs. I thought I had finally found a legal way to enjoy purchasing songs online, but from Gizmodo's review, it sounds like this is not possible. So, now I am very pissed to say the least. This is one of the main reasons I bought the damn thing in the first place. So, you are saying I shouldn't be mad?
Did you just get a sneak preview, or it this feature up and running now ? I assume this will require an update on the iphone.
I doubt I'll ever use it, but I'd like to check it out.
@AlexNC: to be clear not all music is supported in the store YET. The wifi only has a mil or so of the normal iTunes stock.
I am sure this means the plus songs are included with this.
Apple has published a Knowledge Base document regarding the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. It addresses the iTunes Plus issue, but my iPhone is not showing this feature yet so I can not confirm it yet.
[docs.info.apple.com]
iTunes Plus content is displayed only if the computer you last sync'd your iPod touch or iPhone with is set to display this content. If you wish to see this content but do not see it (or vice versa), change this setting in iTunes on your computer and then sync iPod touch or iPhone with iTunes on your computer. Here's how to change this setting in iTunes on your computer:
1. Open iTunes.
2. From the Store menu choose View My Account.
3. Enter your password in the resulting dialog and click View Account.
4. On the Apple Account Information page, click the Manage iTunes Plus button.
5. Select or deselect the "Always show me iTunes Plus music and music videos when available." checkbox and click Save Changes.
Podcast support is the most important feature in my mind. It would be great to get the latest KATG while traveling...
How about actually showing how to buy a song? Maybe? I've seen it before from the Steve, but I just want to see how long it takes.
I'm curious like SAMCAL... can you get podcasts via iTunes WiFi Store?
On that same note, what about synching to your desktop via WiFi?
So now your HELIO can download from the WiFi music store as well... and faster? I guess I better return my iphone right away!
This got me really really excited, then I looked at my iTunes purchased playlist thing.... 1491 items, 112 GB... Plus all the music i bought at concerts I'm getting close to 9,000 songs and they are all legal... Maybe having easier access to the store aint a good thing...
Ah the money I love to waste. Not that music is a waste.
iTunes Plus content is available through the iTunes WiFi store on iPod touch. Log into the iTunes Store on your computer, make sure your iTunes Store account is configured to show you iTunes Plus content, and then sync your iPod touch.
Hold on...
From support documents:
"In order to view iTunes Plus content on the iPhone or iPod touch, the last computer with which it was synced needs to have the option enabled (To change this setting on your computer, choose "View My Account" from the "Store" menu, then go to the iTunes Plus section and select the option to show this content)."
Source: [docs.info.apple.com]
So which is it?
Third person to ask: Are podcasts available?
Downloading podcasts wirelessly is the reason I would buy this, so I simply must know! :)
Thanks!
DRM-free is great, but what about higher birates for non itunes plus music. 128 sounds like shit on a good system, this is why i dont purchase much from itunes.
I find this article to be very informative. As a long time user of apple and itunes products, I have been considering updating my older model iPod and the new iPod touch seems like a good purchase, especially with the included wireless iTunes. According to this, it seems just as easy to use as the normal iTunes account but using it anywhere seems really convenient.
According to this article it seems like this is a good idea. As a long time apple and iPod customer, I have been considering upgrading my older model iPod and have been waiting for something like this to come out. The iPod touch itself seems nice but the addition of a wireless iTunes store makes it a must have.
One of your cons is still incorrect - The iTunes Free Single of the Week can be found under the "Featured" Button, under "What's Hot" - It is the top right button.
This is on the Canadian Wifi Music Store.
Just thought you guys should know...
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