iTunes posts

A few readers have notified us that app ratings have disappeared entirely from the App Store in iTunes. The ratings still appear on the iOS App Stores and in browser previews of apps, but for the desktop iTunes view of the App Store, they are nowhere to be found.

iTunes Connect was apparently down for a little while last night, but it's been down before and ratings have never vanished from the iTunes App Store. More likely than not, the ratings and reviews will reappear in the iTunes App Store soon; it's just odd that Apple hasn't sent a note out to developers about this.

We still don't know what it's for, and it hasn't even officially opened yet, but multiple sources are claiming that Apple is already planning on doubling the size of its North Carolina data center. A local realtor informed Data Center Knowledge that "site work is being performed," which seems to confirm rumors from the Charlotte Business Journal and All Things Digital from last week.

Much speculation has surrounded Apple's intentions for the site since construction began in 2009. The most popular theory so far has been that Apple is planning on launching a streaming music service for iTunes, but with some music industry figures reluctant to even allow Apple to extend the length of its song previews, a subscription-based iTunes may still be far down the road. The data center should be opening soon (at least its first stage, by the sounds of things), so in theory, we should know what it's for fairly soon, too.

[via MacRumors]

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Steve Jobs invited Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to his house for dinner a few weeks ago. The dinner is presumed to have been a meeting about Ping and Facebook integration. Despite getting over one million users in 48 hours, Ping has yet to gain much traction in the social networking world.

Ping is designed to follow your friends and find what music they like. Right now, finding your friends is a bit of a pain, but if Ping users could find their friends via Facebook Connect it would do much to increase Ping membership and use.

When Ping first launched, Facebook Connect access was briefly implemented before being quickly blocked by Facebook. A few days later Steve Jobs told All Things Digital that Facebook had "onerous terms that we could not agree to" regarding Facebook friends connecting on Ping. But just two weeks ago Facebook CTO Bret Taylor told Silicon Alley Insider that he's "very confident" that the two companies could find common ground to work together.

The Times article interestingly points out that years ago Apple was Facebook's first big commercial sponsor through its Apple Students group. But, as we've learned from a certain movie, many of Facebook's original friends have become enemies. Let's hope the dinner has brought two of the biggest names in tech closer together (and come up with a Facebook iPad app in the process).

I'll admit it was a problem that I had created myself: I had moved my iTunes library from one computer to another. Then I tried syncing it across two computers. Add in a bunch of music from SXSW, along with other music given to me along the way, and before I knew it, my iTunes library was a 160GB mess. Worse, it was overwhelming. I never listened to any music because I knew that I was going to be frustrated by duplication and a bunch of songs that I didn't enjoy.

So, a few weeks ago, I declared iTunes bankruptcy. I moved my ~/Music/iTunes library to my Desktop. I launched iTunes while holding down the Option/Alt key on my Mac and created a new library. It was completely empty, and full of possibility.

Click "Read More" to see what I did to restore sanity to my iTunes database.

defaults write com.apple.iTunes hide-ping-dropdown -bool TRUE

As we reported earlier, Apple has updated the free Remote app for iPhone and iPad. It's about time. The new version looks fine on the iPad since it is not up-scaled. To pair the Remote software to your iTunes library, you must enter a 4-digit code* into iTunes on your Mac. From there, you are on the way. You only need to pair once.

Control over Wi-Fi is fast and responsive. The iPad makes a really nice remote for controlling media. Sonos will also soon offer an iPad remote (to join its popular iPhone app) for its whole house music system, and there are a few more solutions out there.

On the iPhone or iPod touch, the app looks quite nice, and it supports the Retina display if you have appropriate hardware. The new version supports the new Apple TV, but one doesn't adorn my media room, so I can't comment on how well it works.

While testing the app, the only thing that I felt is missing is the ability to stream from your iTunes library back to your iPhone or iPad. Plug in some headphones or powered speakers, and you have a really nice, well-stocked music system. Sure, there are other solutions to this problem, but it would be nice if Apple offered a direct one and not just AirPlay. Criticisms aside, it's nice to see this app updated after all these months.

*Several readers have pointed out that Home Share eliminates the need to enter the 4-digit code when pairing iTunes Library and the App. -Ed

Gallery: Apple Remote app