(click to enlarge)

How to install: Just download Silent Night for iTunes 10, extract the archive and go to “iTunes Skins” and run the self-extracting archive and choose your iTunes folder.

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The Apple app store recently had put up an update on their app store saying they are nearing 10 billion app downloads and the person to download the 10 billionth app would be rewarded with a $10,000 iTunes gift certificate. Well, they’ve surpassed the figure as expected and the 10 billionth app download was the Paper Glider app, which was downloaded by Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK. Paper Glider is a free game with the motive of throwing virtual paper planes and scoring points.

Apple have surpassed the mark of 10 billion app downloads in a period of 2 and a half years. With a whopping 7 billion app downloads happening last year alone, this is indeed a remarkable figure. Apple’s senior VP for Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller said – “The App Store has revolutionized how software is created, distributed, discovered and sold. While others try to copy the App Store, it continues to offer developers and customers the most innovative experience on the planet.” The app downloads have heavily increased after the iPad was launched and we can expect some more billion downloads in the coming future.

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The 88.5MB update is available via Software Update or direct download from Apple.

System Requirements are: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later, Windows Vista 64, Windows XP SP 2 or later, and Windows 7.

Palm and Apple have battled each other for months. As Palm tricked Apple into syncing Palm Pre with iTunes and Apple going a step further by disabling it.

Meanwhile take a look at the changelog:

iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.

iTunes 9 comes with many new features and improvements, including:

• An improved look and feel, including a new Column Browser for easily browsing your artists or albums, movies, TV shows, and more.

• iTunes Store has a brand new look, with improved navigation for quick and easy exploration.

• iTunes LP and iTunes Extras create unique experiences that feature exclusive interviews, videos, photos, and more — available with select album and movie purchases on the iTunes Store.

• Home Sharing helps you manage your family’s iTunes collection between computers in your home. iTunes can automatically transfer new purchases, or you can choose just the items you want.

• Genius Mixes are created for you by iTunes and play songs from your library that go great together.

• iPod and iPhone syncing now allows you to organize your iPhone and iPod touch home screens directly in iTunes. Syncing is now also more flexible, allowing you to sync individual artists, genres, or TV show and Podcast episodes.

• iTunes U items are now organized into their own section in your iTunes library.

• Sync with iPod nano (5th generation), iPod classic (Fall 2009), and iPod touch (Fall 2009).

• iTunes 9 also includes many other improvements, such as HE-AAC encoding and playback, more flexibility with Smart Playlists rules, simpler organization of your media files inside an iTunes Media folder, and more. 

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iPod Nano: The latest iPod nano has a built in video camera, mic and speaker. You can now shoot spontaneous video when you are listening to music, and view it later or transfer it to your computer. Another blessed new feature in the nano is the inclusion of a built-in FM tuner with Live Pause and iTunes Tagging. Live Pause lets you pause FM radio, while iTunes Tagging simply enables you to tag songs from Genius results in your nano, and then preview or purchase it using iTunes from your computer. iPod nano can keep track of your steps taken and calories burned using the built-in pedometer. In India, the new iPod Nano starts from Rs.9,400. Apple Store (link):

• 8GB: $149
• 16GB: $179

(Check out the teardown photos of 5^th generation iPod nano at ifixit.com)

iPod Touch: iPod Touch now comes in three sizes, 8GB, 32GB and 64GB. Except for the price and capacity, no new feature like a video camera (like rumored) has been added.
Multi-Touch user interface, 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a built-in accelerometer are standard. Apple Store (link):

• 8GB: $199
• 32GB: $299
• $399: 64GB

iPod Shuffle: The world’s smallest music player, iPod Shuffle, which comes in silver, black, pink, blue and green is available in 2GB and 4GB models. Apple Store (link):

• 2GB: $59
• 4GB: $79
  

iPod Classic: The good old iPod Classic which comes in 160GB, now supports Genius Mixes, which automatically creates up to 12 endless mixes of songs from your iTunes library that go great together. Apple Store (link): 160GB (black or silver): $249

iTunes 9: The shiny new iTunes 9 has been redesigned a little, but the most exciting feature is iTunes LP. Basically, iTunes LP is immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store with slick visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.

Home Sharing is another great feature which lets you share music, movies, TV shows, and more with up to five authorized computers in your house, import songs and automatically transfer purchased songs to other computers in your household. Home Sharing requires an iTunes account.

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Solution:

I came across a clever idea from Apple Forum, using which I was able to put all the broken song links into one playlist and mass delete them. Here’s how:

1. Create a smart playlist (shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+N) called "All Songs" with this rule: "Artist" is not "123456789? (or any random name from that matter, but make sure it won’t be in your library).

2. Now make a regular playlist (shortcut: Ctrl+N) called "All Live Songs".

3. Create a second smart playlist called "Missing Songs" with these rules: Match all of the following rules, Playlist is "All Songs", Playlist is not "All Live Songs"

4. Select everything from "All Songs" and drag them into "All Songs Files". The broken song links marked (!) will not be copies over to that playlist

5. All your broken songs will be in the "Missing Songs" playlist. Select all (shortcut: Ctrl+A) and delete them!

Note: Mac users have a simpler solution, using a script called Super Remove Dead Tracks.

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