On Tuesday, a day after a management shake-up and a month after the botched release of its Maps app drew a rare public apology from its chief executive, Apple quietly delayed the release of its latest upgrade to iTunes, saying it needed more time to “get it right.â€
The new version of iTunes was announced last month with no more specific timing than “coming in Octoberâ€; on Tuesday, with two days left on the month, Apple revised that timing with an orange tab on its Web site that now says “coming in November.â€
The company issued no formal announcement about the change, but in a comment to the technology news site All Things Digital, a spokesman said: “The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right. We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November.â€
The new version is supposed to have a streamlined look and better integration with iCloud, its service for synching music and video collections. It is said to be the most significant upgrade to iTunes in the 11-year life of the program, which has grown from a simple music player to the most powerful retailer in the music business - and a force in the movie, television and e-books businesses - and, on Apple's PCs, the portal to its app store.
Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.
