iTunes news: 10.1 lands, Apple unveils Beatles offerings

Apple’s announcement this morning had nothing to do with cloud-based iTunes, as some of the rumors suggested, but the arrival of The Fab Four to the virtual shelves. The company not only held a special announcement about it, but also plastered its website and Apple Store homepage with the gents from Liverpool. If you’re crazy about ?The Beatles, then this is a special day indeed (and if you grab concert footage, singles, albums or box sets, you might be interested to know that you can grace the outside of your device with The Beatles, too, by picking a skin from here). Single tracks start at $1.29 a pop, and ?The Box Set is $149.00.

Of course, if you’re not a huge Beatles fan, then this news may come as a disappointment. Around the webs, the reaction has resembled this: “Seriously? That’s the reason for all the hype about a special announcement? Where is iOS 4.2??“

There were a few rumors about today being release day for this next version of iOS software, but that was quickly quelled. There are a few scattered ruminations that the real reason iOS 4.2 is being delayed is due to the Verizon iPhone. Somehow, the theory posits that the two will be announced together. (For the record, I don’t believe this one. If the masses have to wait until the ViPhone arrives to get their hands on 4.2 officially, there will be an uprising. Too many people want it, especially iPad owners, so it would be a PR nightmare to hold this up for months.)

But it’s not like there hasn’t been progress already made on the software front. Phase 2 of the new iOS roll-out has proceeded with the iTunes 10.1 launch, complete with iOS 4.2 and AirPlay support. This updated iTunes is the second component of the triumvirate of software updates —The first was Mac OS 10.6.5, which has already debuted, then this iTunes 10.1. The third will be iOS 4.2 itself.

We’re all set, Cupertino. All we need now is that last component. Bring it on.

.

UPDATE: By the way, if you’re going to grab The Beatles catalog on iTunes, be warned — the extras that come on there won’t work on your iOS device. It will only work on Macs and PCs.