Apple has made available iTunes 6.0.5 through the Software Update utility. The update weights 18.9MB and is described as below:

With iTunes 6, you can now preview, buy, and download music videos, short films, and hit TV programs on the iTunes Music Store and sync your music and purchased videos with iPod to enjoy on the go.

iTunes 6.0.5 allows you to sync your Nike + iPod workout data to nikeplus.com, where you can easily track your progress, set training goals, challenge others, and much more. Visit the Nike Sport Music area on the iTunes Music Store to download workout mixes, Athlete Inspiration playlists, Nike podcasts, and more.

Apple has made available a minor update for QuickTime through the Software Update utility. The update weights 51.4MB and brings QuickTime to version 7.1.2.

Here is the description provided by Apple:

QuickTime 7.1.2 addresses an issue previewing iDVD projects. This update is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

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Apple has made available Mac OS X 10.4.7 Update through the Software Update utility.

The update, which weights 39.8MB brings the following improvements:

The 10.4.7 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies. It includes fixes for:

- preventing AFP deadlocks and dropped connections
- saving Adobe and Quark documents to AFP mounted volumes
- Bluetooth file transfers, pairing and connecting to a Bluetooth mouse, and syncing to mobile phones
- audio playback in QuickTime, iTunes, Final Cut Pro, and Soundtrack applications

Apple has posted a press release today, announcing that Apple executives, including Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, Bertrand Serlet and Scott Forsall, will preview Mac OS X Leopard during the WWDC 2006 opening Keynote.

WWDC 2006 (World Wide Developers Conference) is an annual event dedicated to Apple developers. This year the five days event will take place in San Fransisco, Moscone West, on August 7.

Few information has filtered on the features of Apple's next generation operating system. However MacOSXRumors is one of the rare sources on information about forthcoming releases of Mac OS X. Much of the information that MacOSXRumors has gathered about Leopard can be found here: [1], [2], [3].

Here are some news we didn't cover this week:

AppleInsider believes that Apple might bring support for lossless encoding (FLAC) for its iTunes Music Store. It is not known yet if DRMs will be used in this format though.

According to a report, Apple may release a 12GB iPod nano this fall. The analyst claims that Apple can manufacture and release a 12GB iPod nano with the same pricing as the current 4GB model while keeping margins high enough.

Apple has released updates for Aperture and Pro Applications through its support web site.

Aperture is now in version 1.1.2 and brings improvements to overall reliability and performance.

Additionally, Apple has released Pro Application update 2006-01 brings the following improvements:

Apple has made available a new update for iPhoto through its Software Update utility. This new version, which weights 36.4MB and is numbered 6.0.4, brings the following improvements:

This update to iPhoto contains a variety of new Greeting Card and Postcard themes for use with Apple print services, including invite and thank you card designs for summer parties, weddings, birthdays, etc.

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Here's the news we didn't cover this week:

iTunes Video Store negotiations

Variety claims to have obtained information about ongoing negotiations between Apple and Hollywood majors. It's reported that Apple insists on a US$9.99 per movie model and that the majors are also negotiating with other players such as Amazon, MovieLink or BitTorrent.

50 Cent Mac?

According to Forbes, 50 Cent, the hip-hop singer is in talks with Apple in order to make a cheap line of Macs for inner-city residents.

Sources as well as many reports on the web indicate that the update to Mac OS X Tiger to version 10.4.7 in a matter of days, if not hours.

This new update will bring hundreds of bug fixes and improvements, especially in Safari, iChat, Mail and the Calculator.

AppleInsider reported earlier this week that a new version of iSync as well as audio fixes will be included in this update.

Apple has released three new TV ads for its "Get A Mac" campaign. You can see them on its web site.

The new ads are named "Out of the Box", "Touché" and "Work vs. Home". They seem to have replaced the initial ones. New Mac advantages are covered by these new ads: that Macs are ready to use out of the box, that they can run Windows and that they can do funny things.

Apple started "Get A Mac" ad campaign in early May with 6 TV spots focusing on the Mac.

Here is some pre-release information MacOSXRumors has obtained from three Mac developers.

Postino, the recently released RSS reader for Mac from Coladia, should be updated this week. The major features of this update will be the possibility to switch between two new view layouts as well as a built-in media player for direct podcast / videocast playback. It will run in both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs.

CSOdessa is planning to announce a major release of its professionnal diagramming tool, ConceptDraw 6.0. This new version will feature a spellchecker, export to svg and many enhancements to its objects libraries. ConceptDraw 6.0 is probably coming this week or the next.

Since Apple announced Leopard last year during WWDC, MacOSXRumors obtained reports on two major features in the next release of Mac OS X. The first is a redesigned Finder making extensive use of Spotlight and the second is the inclusion virtualization software. Recently sources have been indicating that Leopard will feature easy collaborative work throughout the OS.

Channelnewsasia.com reports that Apple has filed a second lawsuit and a complaint against Creative Corp.

In its latest lawsuit, Apple claims Creative is infringing three patents relating to using icons, and displaying and editing data.

Apple is seeking cash damages and is asking the International Trade Commission in Wahsington for an order to block imports of Creative’s digitial music players.

The two companies could not reach any agreement when Creative claimed to have a patent for the navigation user interface that is used on the iPod.

Apple has just released a new iPod U2 Special Edition, based on the 30GB version of the video-enabled iPod.

The new U2 iPod comes with an iTunes Music Store code allowing the customer to download "an exclusive 30-minute U2 video".

As the first did, the new U2 iPod is black with a red click-wheel and its back is autographed by the four mambers of the rock group U2.

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Digitimes reports that Apple has recently locked orders with Samsung and Hynix for a significant amount of Flash memory capacity, suggesting the company could upgrade its iPod nano storage capacity soon.

Apple is likely to debut a new version of its iPod with a larger memory capacity, probably with 8GB of NAND flash, according to industry sources. Industry sources hinted that both leading Korea-based chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor have both landed more orders from Apple.

The wireless giant, Research In Motion, makers of BlackBerry are rumoured to be preparing an iTunes compatible BlackBerry.

The two might jointly develop a new device: Apple could create a cellphone combining its iPod music device with RIM's wireless technology, or RIM might embed Apple's iTunes music into a future BlackBerry, he speculated.

Motorola is the only wireless devices maker allowed to use iTunes DRM technology to date. The partnership between Apple and Motorola initiated with the release of the ROKR mobile phone on September 2005, then was followed by SLVR and RAZR line-ups.

ThinkSecret claims that Apple is planning to release its Intel-based servers in June, while the Mac Pro (PowerMac's successor) should arrive in August.

The report says that the XServe will use Intel's forthcoming Woodcrest processor and that the Mac Pro will use the Intel Core 2 Duo chip, code-named Conroe.

Apple has not updated its XServe line-up for more than one year. Late 2005, the company released its Dual Core PowerMacs, based on the PowerPC G5 970MP processor which will be the last generation of PowerPC processor to be used in Macs.

Many Mac software related news came out this week, here is a brief catch-up:

SuperDrive Firmware Update v2.0:

Apple has updated the Firmware for a certain number of Macs, including Powerbook, iMac and Mac mini line-ups. The new version umbered 2.0 "fixes burning speeds when writing to certain recordable DVD media" and is available here.

QuickTime 7.1.1:

QuickTime has also been updated to version 7.1.1 it "addresses an issue with 3rd party start-up items on Intel Macs. This release also fixes an issue exporting Keynote presentations to iDVD." The update is available through the Software Update utility or Apple's support web site.