iTunes 8.2 became available for anyone and everyone with a Mac, not just developers, late yesterday. A pre-release version of the update has been available to registered iPhone developers since the release of iPhone OS 3.0 beta 4 a few weeks ago, and is required for those hoping to run the 3.0 software on their Apple handheld devices. The release at this time strongly suggests that iPhone OS 3.0 will go live very soon, possibly immediately following the WWDC keynote speech taking place next week.

Aside from adding support for the upcoming firmware revision, the iTunes 8.2 update also brings the usual stability enhancements and bug fixes, including a security patch involving “itms:” links used to open iTunes locations from the web. Parsing the URLs could lead to a stack overflow or arbitrary code execution, which would allow an attacker to completely take over the iTunes process.

QuickTime 7.6.2, which became available alongside the iTunes update, also patches security flaws…10, in fact, all of which involve crashes or arbitrary code execution resulting from viewing malicious content.

A third update, GarageBand 5.0.2, improves the artist lesson purchasing experience, and allows access to installed jam packs in the loop browser. As with most Apple updates, it also includes various security fixes and bug squashes.

The iTunes update has arrived a little early, considering Apple has yet to release or announce the official release date of iPhone OS 3.0, but it’s probably just being smart about a major software update and spacing things out so that its servers can better handle the load when the millions of iPhone users rush to download the firmware revision at the same time. Hopefully, by staging releases, it will avoid the kind of frustrating experiences that accompanied the release of iPhone firmware 2.0 last year.

Some users are already reporting issues with the new updates, including odd behavior from iPhones running the latest firmware beta and iTunes 8.2 final, and a bug wherein a considerable number of songs went missing from one person’s library.

I actually have yet to install the iTunes 8.2 update. While the other updates show up for me without issue, I can’t get Software Update to find the iTunes update. I thought maybe this was because I had the latest pre-release version already installed, but others with the beta seem to have been able to install. My MacBook, which hasn’t been updated with the latest test build, detected and installed the new version without problem. Let us know if you’re having any issues with any of these updates.

GarageBand ’09, the updated version of Apple’s popular software used by millions to play and record music, now gives budding musicians a fun new way to learn to play piano and guitar.

Basic Lessons

Basic Lessons let you learn the fundamentals at your own pace with Apple instructors in beautiful HD video synchronized to animated instruments and notation. You’re able to practice either the piano or guitar, playing through nine different lessons which prepare you for playing an entire song. Speed and repetition can be controlled until you’ve perfected the stage.

When ready to play the entire song, GarageBand allows you to do so with the full backing band. The video shown in the Keynote presentation looked to be of excellent quality, though it was noted that the piano lessons appear somewhat easier to follow than the guitar counterparts.

Artist Lessons

Artist Lessons feature original artists showing how to play their hit songs with everything from finger positions and techniques to the story behind the song. Each artist explains in the video how the song was written and what inspired it. You’re able to choose from lessons by popular artists including:

• Sara Bareilles
• Colbie Caillat
• John Fogerty
• Ben Folds
• Norah Jones
• Sarah McLachlan
• Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump
• OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder
• Sting

I’m surprised that John Mayer wasn’t present in the list of artists taking part — he does usually seem to pop up wherever Apple has room for him. Artist Lessons will be sold separately at the new GarageBand Lesson Store for $4.99 a pop, available inside the GarageBand ’09 application.

You are able to fully control the mix and instrumentation, so it’s simple to break down a professional track into the various constituents and hear each part in isolation. As with Basic Lessons, speed can be controlled to make picking up the song easier. Previews of each artist can be found at the GarageBand site, and Apple noted that new artists will be added to the list shortly.

It will be interesting to see how this feature takes off; I think it’s a good concept, and if budding musicians don’t find the price to be a barrier I’d expect it to become very popular.

Other Features

Two other new features also grace GarageBand ‘09. The first is a new guitar amp with stomp-box effects, allowing you to re-create classic guitar rigs. Sounds include Brit Pop, Honky Tonk, Lowdown Blues, Seattle Sound, Stadium Solo, and Woodstock Fuzz. Different pedals can also be added and, in classic Apple style, a 3D recreation of your custom rig can be shown on screen.

The second additional feature is “Magic GarageBand Jam,” letting you play along with a virtual band that you create. You can change the sound of each instrument in the band, arrange each part individually and then, when you’re happy with how the band sounds, jam along with your own instrument. This would appear to be an excellent way of moving away from simply recording a track through GarageBand, toward using it as a recreational and ‘jamming’ tool.

Of course, all the original functionality of GarageBand remains intact. It still provides the renowned functionality for layering tracks, recording, and providing a simple ‘plug and play’ setup process.

Pricing & Availability

iLife ’09 will be available this month for a suggested retail price of $79, and Artist Lessons will be available through the GarageBand Lesson Store for $4.99 each.

iLife ’09 will require Leopard and the GarageBand Artist Lessons will only be available in select countries.

If you own an iPhone and a Mac you can easily create ringtones within Garageband. I love music, but am not a music maker, so I don’t really use Garageband at all. Luckily, you don’t have to know much of anything about the program to easily create ringtones for your iPhone. Trust me. If I can do it, so can you, and I’ll show you how now.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, make sure the following are true: 

• You have the latest version of iTunes (from iLife ‘08) and it is currently patched. If you bought your Mac after about August of 2007 and keep your software up to date, then you’ll qualify. If you don’t have Garageband, check out this method for creating ringtones.
• You must use music that is not inhibited by DRM. If you have iTunes Plus music from iTunes, or MP3 files from Amazon.com or eMusic.com, or of course any files you’ve ripped from your own CDs, these all qualify. 

OK, with those out of the way let’s make a ringtone…

1. Launch Garageband

If you’ve never run Garageband before, tell it you want to make a new file and just take all the defaults for that file (you don’t really use them for the ringtone anyway).

Once opened, the screen will look like the picture below. Don’t worry about the Grand Piano there, you don’t need to do anything with it. 

2. Add a song

Click the Media button in the lower-right corner.

You’ll get a slide out window with which to navigate your entire iTunes library. Just find the song you want and drag it to the main GB window. Below you can see I chose the song Take Your Medicine.

Now that the song is in place, you can click the Media button again to hide it so you have more room to work. 

3. Select a song section

First, click the Cycle Region button to turn on the cycle feature.

You will see the yellow cycle region at the very top of the screen. (The region you create is what will become the ringtone). 

Now comes the fun part. Just drag the beginning and ending points of the cycle region to correspond to where you want the ringtone to begin and end. Hit the space bar and it will repeatedly play from the start of the region to the end. Continue adjusting the start/end points until you have the sound you want. Below you can see I’ve chosen a short section from the very end of the song.

Keep in mind there is a maximum of 40 seconds that can be used for a ringtone. Most of the time you’ll pick a section that will sound good when it repeats (i.e., rings multiple times on your phone), so the 40-second limit will not be an issue. However, if you’re picking a large section and are concerned that you may be butting up against the limit, you can determine the length using the Time display by clicking the up arrow at the bottom of GB.

By default (above) the display shows Measures. But click the arrow once and the display shows Time.

With the time displayed, physically drag the play head to the beginning of the yellow cycle region, and then to the end, noting the time in each case. You can determine the duration from that.

4. Create the ringtone

This is the easiest part. Once you like the section you’ve defined, just select Send Ringtone to iTunes from the Share menu.

GB will do all the work, and even open iTunes and play your newly created masterpiece.

In iTunes, the ringtone will be named “My Song” and the artist/album will be listed as your user name; you’ll probably want to change those as you would any other iTunes song, as I’ve done here.

5. Sync your iPhone

That’s it! Once synced, you can use your new ringtone. Meanwhile, quit GB. It’ll ask if you want to save the file, say no because the file has served its purpose. 

It’s easy. No, really.

While it may have taken a while to explain this, believe me it’s really very easy stuff. Do it once and you’ll have the hang of it, and want to create a boatload of ringtones.

About a year ago, I mentioned how eventually you could have GarageBand in your pocket thanks to the iPhone. Today, we’re one step closer with Beatmaker and Band, two new applications for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

There were some critics of this idea since the total capabilities of the iPhone were not fully known. Beatmaker is a sequencer that allows you to make beats on your iPhone. Apple featured Moo Cow Music’s Band application. According to Moo Cow Music, “Drums, bass, guitars, keyboards can all be played and recorded into one song from the same application.” I am very excited at this prospect and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I usually get music ideas while I’m traveling via train and this would actually allow me to work out an idea right on my phone. This application obviously could not replace a music studio, but it is a great way to work out demos during wasted time like traveling or standing in line.

Today Apple announced and updated a whole slew of products in both their hardware and software lines.

Updates include a new iMac, new keyboard, updated iWork, updated iLife, and more. It was certainly an exciting day and arguably more exciting than the past few major WWDC or Macworld events.

Check out the full details after the jump.

New iMac

The much rumored new aluminum iMac was indeed true. The overall new look is significantly more…”professional” (or Star Trek-ish, depending on who you ask).

• New glass screen enclosure
• Pricing starting at $1199
• 17″ model was trashed. Now only 20″ and 24″ models are available
• Up to 2.8 GHz Core 2 Extreme Processor
• Up to 4GB of memory
• Up to 1TB of storage space

New Keyboard(s)

Along with the new iMacs, Apple also released a new keyboard that fits in quite while with Apple’s line of “aluminum” covered products (Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and now the iMac).

The new keyboards are significantly thinner than previous keyboards by Apple, with the smaller wireless keyboard coming in at only 0.33 inches. No, that isn’t a typo.

The new keys are almost identical to those on the MacBooks with much better finger response.

iLife ‘08

It has been almost 2 years since iLife was updated with the last major version being iLife ‘06. Today Apple released a major revision to the iLife suite with iLife ‘08.

Every application received a pretty major overall with iMovie getting a complete rewrite.

Major points:
• iPhoto – Organizes photos by Event automatically
• iPhoto – New book and calendar printing
• iPhoto – Web gallery creation lets you creating extremely interactive photo galleries
• iMovie – Has a completely new interface that lets you create movies much more quickly and easily
• iMovie – .Mac web gallery and YouTube integration.
• iDVD – Better encoding and new themes
• GarageBand – New “Magic GarageBand” lets you create your own virtual band to jam with
• iWeb – Now you can upload to your own custom domain
• iWeb – Easier template and design creation

iWork ‘08

Along with the iLife update came an update to Apple’s business suite of applications, iWork ‘08.

The biggest thing to note with iWork ‘08 is the addition of Numbers, the much sought after spreadsheet application.

Numbers is described as “spreadsheets the Mac way,” which simply means this isn’t your normal “spreadsheet” app.

With Numbers you can create intelligent tables with multiple spreadsheets in a single document, easily create charts and graphs in the same document, and you can even import your Excel files.

Ultimately Numbers is a solid mix of boring tabular data and a desktop publishing application.

A few other iWork high points:
• Pages – Switch between “writing” and “layout” mode depending on task
• Pages – Change tracking to keep up with document revisions
• Pages – Many new design templates
• Keynote – Tons of new text and transition effects
• Keynote – Voice-over recording
• Keynote – Simple animation tools

.Mac Updated

For some time now, .Mac has been Apple’s evil little stepchild that everyone has been on the verge of kicking to the curb.

Updates here include:
• Increased storage and bandwidth going from 1GB to 10GB of storage and up to 100GB of bandwidth
• You can now associate an actual domain with your .Mac account

Mac mini Updates

It’s been over a year since Apple last updated the Mac mini. Many people were convinced it would be removed from Apple’s line up, but today Apple quietly upgraded the Mac mini.

The update isn’t much to get excited about, though. The main updates to it are really just a bit more speed and memory. Nothing to write home about.

So lets face it. Sometimes we all just need to kill a little time. It’s relaxing.

Whether you’re on your lunch break at work (or not) or if you are just bored one night and can’t sleep…this list should help you cure your boredom.

I’ve compiled 12 apps that do a fantastic job of killing time in just about every way you’d want to. This list includes everything from games to design modifications to monotonous tasks to widgets and more. So get reading and have fun!

CandyBar

URL: http://www.panic.com/candybar/
Amuse yourself for hours on end searching down cool icons to replace your boring default system icons.

CandyBar is the app that lets you easily switch out icons with practically no hassle. This method of time-killing will set you back $12.95.

Garage Band

URL: http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
Apple’s very own GarageBand comes on most new Macs…so there’s a pretty good chance you have it already.

Whether you’re musical or not, it’s a lot of fun to put together loops and then share them folks.)

Photo Booth

URL: http://www.apple.com/imac/isight.html
On man…the fun that can be had with this little gem.

In the past two years or so since Apple began including built-in iSights with their iMac and Macbook(Pro) lines, they quietly began including a little application called Photo Booth that lets you take pictures from your built-in camera or iSight.

The key to good times here are the different effects tabs that let you take absurdly stupid pictures of yourself (like the one of me above). :)

Frenzic

URL: http://frenzic.com
Frenzic is a high-paced puzzle game that “takes minutes to learn and months to master,” according to The Iconfactory, the makers of the game.

The best way to describe it might be Tetris on steroids that just drank a bottle of Incredible Hulk juice.

What’s really great about this game is that it ties in to their high score system so you can see how you rank compared to all Frenzic players.

Price for this starts at $14.95. There is a free trial that is definitely worth your time…especially if you’re trying to kill it.

Moody

URL: http://www.crayonroom.com/moody.php
Covered before, Moody is a way to tag your tunes based on mood.

How does this help you waste your time? Well, you have to tag a large number of your tunes before it really creates a good mix of music. But trust me, it’s worth it…especially when it is completely free!

Last.fm

URL: http://www.last.fm
Sure it’s cool to see lots of stats like who you listened to the most in the past week, but what I really love about Last.fm is how you can find lots of really cool new tunes.

Last.fm creates personalized radio stations based on your listening habits and I’ve found it to be a great way to find new artists I haven’t heard of.

Finding new music is one of my favorite ways to kill time.

Twitterific

URL: http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific
I’m not really a Twitter fan, but it is certainly a fantastic way to waste time. In fact, with Twitter you would actually be twittering about how your twittering to waste time.

Twitterific allows you to conveniently twitter from the comfort of your operating system.

Sudoku Fun Widget

URL: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/sudokufunwidget.html
From the widget page, Sudoku Fun Widget is a “widget that lets you play this addictive, Japanese number-place logic puzzle on the Dashboard.”

There are plenty of people who can’t function without their daily dose of Sudoku, so if that’s your bag…you should check out this handy little widget.

Second Life

URL: http://secondlife.com
Second Life is the popular virtual reality world. Create your own character and walk around doing…pretty much anything you can imagine.

Reactive

URL: http://www.revaro.net/index.html?Reactive/index.html
What else could you possibly want to do with your time than be a 2-legged chameleon armed with 9 weapons and having a bad day?

Reactive is a 20+ level game that includes features such as network play, multi-player gaming, and fluid simulation.

It’s free to download and play but you’ll need to fork over $12 if you want access to all 20+ levels.

FunBooth

URL: http://thefunbooth.com
FunBooth is the close cousin of Photo Booth. Instead of altering the actual photos, FunBooth lets you attach all sorts of props from wigs to glasses to mustaches and more.

After disguising yourself in FunBooth, send your photos to friends and family to show them that you don’t do anything productive!

Flappie

URL: http://www.tastyapps.com
Flappie is basically a virtual pet for your Dashboard. Flappie needs food, play, and sleep. If you give him everything he needs, he’ll continue to grow and become something magnificent. If you don’t…he dies.

One thing that makes Flappie unique over your average virtual pet game is that it is affected by your local weather. So hopefully you life in a Flappie-friendly environment.

Let’s say you’re a budding musician or a podcaster who would like to have some music for your show but you don’t want to run into any potential copyright issues. I had this situation pop up when I had to get some music for my new vidcast, Complicate Life. Using someone else’s work is usually asking for trouble and if you make it big, you could be looking at more trouble in the years to come. The easy way to avoid this? Simply create your own music using GarageBand. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a superstar musician to put together something that you will like.

Step 1: Musical Typing

Open up GarageBand. Go to the Window menu option and click “Musical Typing.” You will now have the ability to play a keyboard using your regular computer keyboard (no special keyboards necessary). Mess around on the keyboard until you figure something out. I highly suggest recording this brainstorming session as you could accidentally come up with something you really like.

There’s no need to know how to play the keyboard. I’m a big fan of spelling words out and hearing what they sound like. You’ll be surprised that you can put together sentences and make some pretty decent music. For my new show, I messed around and came up with a simple progression:
a k j k
a l l k
a k j k
a ; l k j k j k l ;

I have included an MP3 of the track I created; try playing along so you can get used to musical typing.

Step 2: Timing

Now that you have a basic tune, it’s time to clean it up. Select your audio track and then click the Track Editor button (it looks like a pair of scissors with a wave form behind it). Now you can see your music one of two ways. One looks like standard sheet music, the other looks like rectangular blocks on a grid. You can use either one to edit your music. I use the rectangular blocks on a grid view because it was the default. Unless your timing is excellent, you may have made a few mistakes.

GarageBand can easily fix your timing woes. Click on the grid, then select all, then click the “Align to” button. You can align to different tempos (check that word) by using the slider to the left of that “Align to” button. Take a listen to your changed music project. If you like it, you’re one step closer to finished. If not, you can tweak your music project further.

Click on one of the black rectangles. It will turn green. You can slide it up and down the octaves or you could also lengthen or shorten the duration of the note (or both). You may discover a new tune by messing with these notes.

Step 3: Layering

Surely, you are not just going to have a single piano for your song. You are the ambitious type who wants a whole orchestra to sing your praises. Well, there’s plenty more you can do with GarageBand. To thicken out or lighten up your sound, you can easily “Select All” while in the Track Editor and then paste. You will have a new set of the music you just recorded. From there, you can drag the entire copy up and down octaves depending on what sound you are going for.

If you have a nice doubled up sound (or maybe even tripled up sound), you may want more. Perhaps you want a string accompaniment. You could try to craft a new part by trying the above methods again. However, if you just want to make your sound fuller, you could just copy your entire track and paste it into a new track. I suggest creating a new track and copying your work from your original instrument to this new one. Try adding strings to your piano sound. You’ll hear that your work sounds fuller and richer. Additionally, the interplay between the echos of the strings and the piano sometimes creates welcome surprises.

Step 4: Percussion

You may want to add percussion. You could easily do this as the first step, but I prefer the metronome so I don’t get distracted by a cool beat. I suggest just using the loops provided by Apple. Just click the “Loop Browser” (the icon with the eye on it next to the Track Editor). There you will be welcomed by hundreds of options. Pick drums and then listen to the loops.

It is easy to pick just one loop, but you could layer these loops easily by dragging and dropping them into your project area. Because the timing of these loops are excellent, it is very simple to layer several loops to create your own unique loop.

Step 5: Other Music

You can do much more with GarageBand if you can play an instrument. I can play guitar (not well, but well enough to put together something if necessary) so I usually will play guitar on top of music that needs guitar.

Also, you may find that you now have an abundance of tracks. You have three types of horns, two types of synths, two of something else — do not be afraid to pare down your symphony. Selectively mute some instruments and listen to your project. Does it sound better or worse if that Zanzibar Chords track is on or off? Once again, I mention that the combination of several instruments can change the overall sound.

Step 6: Balancing

GarageBand places every track you create in the middle. You may want to shift your track pan position using knob next to your track. Shifting your tracks to the left or right can make some instruments stand out or make them fade out if you want. Remember how your audience will listen to your music. If you’re doing a mono podcast, perhaps you should have some mono music to go with it. If you are doing a full blown music track, a stereo mix may fit better.

Conclusion

There is probably a million other things you could do using GarageBand or any other recording software. However, I hope this gives you an idea of how to start to create music even with little to no musical knowledge. Good luck.

Steve Jobs has claimed that the iPhone runs a true version of Mac OS X. Third party applications may be limited to web applications on Safari, but Apple can decide to put any program that works on OS X onto the iPhone. What Apple application would be a good candidate for a device like the iPhone?

I think GarageBand would be an excellent candidate for porting over to the iPhone. I suggest “porting over” instead of putting the full application onto the iPhone because of usability. The interface would require some tweaking for using the application on such a small screen and be easy to use.

GarageBand could easily act as a voice recorder for notes or for podcasting. A plethora of accessories are bound to be developed for the iPhone through its dock connector. A different microphone could easily be attached through the dock connector for more sensitive recording applications.

Additionally, if this device truly runs OS X, it should be able to support external USB devices. A dock connector to USB attachment is bound to be developed which would allow the use of hundreds of new devices with the iPhone. This could allow hooking up an iPhone to a USB mixing board or an external hard drive or adding additional flash memory for recording on the go. GarageBand on the iPhone, with the right peripherals, could be a music studio in your pockets.