Will iTunes 8 be released today?

With all the speculation of a new iPod it is widely expected that a new version of iTunes will be released today as well. If the iPod is going to have coverflow and possibly Wi-Fi then an update will be needed. With the potential for so many new iPod features it would make sense to go to the next version of iTunes rather that just a small upgrade. Fingers crossed that is goes smoothly as iTunes updates in the past have been known to not go very smoothly which resulted in further updates coming out a few days later.

EMI to offer DRM free music with Apple

EMI will offer DRM free music via iTunes starting in early May.

"DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just 99 pence per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 20 pence a song."

”We are going to give iTunes customers a choice — the current versions of our songs for the same 79 pence price, or new DRM-free versions of the same songs with even higher audio quality and the security of interoperability for just 20 pence more”, said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think our customers are going to love this, and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year”.

This is great news, as it enables customers to use the downloaded tracks on other music players, other than the iPod.

Lionsgate Films on iTunes

Lionsgate studios are the latest company to allow their back catologue of films to be downloaded from iTunes.

The company responcible for distributing films like “Terminator 2″ and “The Blair Witch Project” will be available along with another 150 later this month.

“We’re delighted to offer these incredibly popular Lionsgate films on iTunes, and look forward to adding even more films in the future,” said Steve Beeks, president of Lionsgate. “iTunes lets users download these wonderful films to watch on their computer, TV or iPod, so movie fans can take their favorite Lionsgate films with them anywhere.”