iTunes 8.1 coming soon

Following the release of the new iPod shuffle, it appears iTunes 8.1 is on its way. It’s not going to be a big release, but as with the new desktop line, there will be a few small changes to enhance the application further.

iTunes 8.1 will respond quicker when syncing your iPod/iPhone, loading large libraries and when you’re browsing the iTunes Store. I personally hope this lives up to expectations, because syncing the iPhone can be quite painful with a lot of applications. It’s slowly been getting better, but a speed boost would certainly be great.

If you’re a fan of Genius, you’ll be glad to hear it’s coming to your movies and TV shows, too! I’ve only used it once or twice to create a few playlists, but I have been introduced to some great tracks through it, too. This is the part I’ll be looking forward to especially for TV shows.

If that isn’t enough for you, any music you import from CD will be a higher quality. 256-Kbps iTunes Plus (AAC) files to be precise. You will be able to change from the default, if you preferred MP3 files, but the 256Kbps AAC is the same encoding used for the iTunes Store, and is a brilliant quality for your music.