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In an undisclosed agreement, Apple Inc. purchased the Barbarian Group’s visualizer, Magnetosphere, for iTunes 8. The Barbarian Group, an interactive marketing group, had developed Magnetosphere as a plug-in for iTunes.

Although the Eva McCloskey, the Barbarian Group’s PR director, would not comment, their website reads, “We’re insanely, ridiculously proud to say that Magnetosphere now lives in iTunes… The Barbarian Group no longer maintains, develops or owns Magnetosphere.”

After a minute of using Magnetosphere, you can see why Apple Inc. included it in their newest version of iTunes. In one song, binary stars orbit each other and are joined by constellations, black holes, and dancing lights. In another, fireworks and party streamers are happily competing for your attention. The original visualizer was a spinning wall of color interrupted by jagged wavy lines. Compared to the new visualizer, the original seems less engaging.

Magnetosphere was released in May 2007 and pulled from the Barbarian Group’s website some time in February 2008, leading to speculation that it had been purchased by Apple Inc.