Some Apple rumors aren’t as sexy as others, such as the one currently making the rounds that Apple will increase the length of song samples in iTunes -- doubling it from the current 30 seconds to a full minute.
According to AppleInsider, among the media-centric announcements we can expect at Wednesday’s Apple event is making the song previews twice the length in iTunes. If you’ve ever been frustrated trying to buy a song in iTunes because it only gives you a 30-second preview, according to CNet’s Greg Sandoval, those previews will soon increase twofold, to 60 seconds.
Apple historically spends the bulk of their September media events on new iPods and a new version of iTunes, so the news that tweaks will be a “large part” of the September 1 event comes as no surprise. It’s already been widely rumored that iTunes will get a more social media bent with the new version, and doubling the song preview lengths is seen as a way to help users discover new music.
Sadly, CNet’s report concurs that a cloud-based iTunes is still not on the radar as yet. It goes without saying that Apple has such a service within its sights, but putting all the contractual ducks in a row is taking longer than expected.
"For those who are hoping Apple will finally launch the cloud music service that CNET and others have written so much about in recent months, you're likely going to have to keep waiting," Sandoval concluded.
Apple will hold the media event on Wednesday, September 1 at 10am PST at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, and MacLife.com will be liveblogging all the news as it happens.
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