Apple Doesn't Deliver Everything Promised for iTunes 8.1

— -- On the heels of Wednesday's new iPod Shuffle announcement, Apple released iTunes 8.1, an update to the ubiquitous media player and management software. iTunes 8.1 supports the third generation Shuffle and adds a few new features. According to Apple's original iTunes 8.1 release notes, the update includes Genius sidebar support for movies and television shows. This would certainly be a useful feature -- if it actually worked.

In 8.1, the Genius sidebar is visible when you're viewing your music collection, but not when you're viewing any other libraries. And if you attempt to use Genius on a purchased TV show or movie, you get a message that says "Genius sidebar only works with music. Select a song in your library to see related music." Apple has updated the iTunes 8.1 release notes to no longer include any information about a Genius sidebar for non-music content.

This isn't the first time Apple has promised something and didn't deliver. In fact, Apple announced that the Shuffle would be immediately available in stores. But after a few phone calls to flagship stores around the country, we learned that the Shuffle wasn't coming until later this week.

Despite this glitch, iTunes 8.1 has some interesting updates. For one, iTunes gets an overall speed boost so loading huge media libraries and syncing your device will be a lot faster. Party Shuffle, which first debuted in April 2004, is now called iTunes DJ. With iTunes DJ, iPhone users can use the Remote app to request songs on iTunes. Users can also vote to control when songs are played, which is a democratic way to prevent music hogs at parties.

iTunes is available as a free download on Apple's Web site. I expect Genius support for movies and television shows will come within the next few days by way of a server update.

Update: Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told our sister publication, Macworld, "The feature isn't live yet, but it will be in the coming days."