Just because you don’t have HBO on your tube doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all the premiere programming HBO has to offer like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Entourage, Rome and The Wire.

HBO and Apple are teaming up to offer HBO shows for download on the iTunes Music Store in the UK. Each individual episode will only cost you around $3.37 but buying the entire season is also an option.  It’s exciting to see how the iTunes store is expanding everyday, but if they are going to sell HBO series’, why not do it in the USA?

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Everyone is going crazy over this new Genius feature. Even Kevin Rose of Digg is getting wet just thinking about making playlists related to his favorite artist, Jack Johnson.  Well, the wait is over, iTunes 8 is out. Hit the jump to take a peek at the highlighted features.

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We already told you most of the skinny on iTunes 8 thanks to a leak that Kevin Rose posted. Now TUAW is claiming that the “stunning new music visualizer” we’re supposed to see is none other than Magnetosphere. Magnetosphere is hands down the best iTunes visualizer I’ve ever used, which is why I hang onto a DMG file of an older version I got a long time ago.

Word is that Apple bought creator Robert Hodgin’s software and will be incorporating it into iTunes 8. Nothing is confirmed but we shall see later this month…

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That smug bastard from Digg, Kevin Rose, has shed some light on Apple’s upcoming revision of iTunes, version 8:

A new source comes forward w/this info: (this is consistent w/everything I’ve heard)

What’s new in iTunes 8

iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don’t already have.

With iTunes 8, browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (2nd generation), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.

I’m curious to see how well Apple does this “Genius” technology. I have over 105 GB of music. Get to work, Jobs.

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Know those arrows in iTunes that appear when you select a song? Yeah, the ones that take you to the iTunes Music Store when you’re trying to change tracks. Kill Apple’s dirty little secret and use this tip from TUAW to get your arrows to redirect to your iTunes Library. Instead of making impulse purchases on DRM-ridden tracks, you’ll end up discovering hidden gems from your favorite artists.

In a rush? Just rock this terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes invertStoreLinks -bool YES

BOOM.

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After that questionable business China pulled by blocking access to iTunes (due to a pro-Tibet album), their Great Firewall engineers discovered that they’re able to selectively block specific albums from users. That’s right, iTunes is now available in China…again.

COMING THIS SUMMER…

CHINA: PART 2

Say bye-bye to pro-Tibet albums and anything not communist and say hello to a strong friendship with Apple. Does China do this just for publicity or are they really just Mao Zedong worshiping commie nut jobs?

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China hates Tibet. No, China really hates Tibet. That’s why when some 40 Olympic athletes downloaded a pro-Tibet album three days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, China got pissed off and blocked iTunes behind it’s great firewall. Was it because the album featured 20 songs from artists including Sting, Moby, Damien Rice and Alanis Morissette? Well, sort of. The US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) pretty much advertised it’s free album, Songs for Tibet, to all the athletes at the Olympics.  They also encouraged people to listen to them during the games and, while they meant well, China took an aggressive notice.

“Certainly, we did intend the downloads to be a subtle form of protest for the athletes, as well as an act of solidarity for the Tibetan people.”

And that is why China no longer likes you. Apple will be lucky if China gives it the opportunity to open up more shops in their country after this deceitful act.  Personally, I think China needs to get the sand out of their vagina. Then again, this China-Tibet feud has been going on for so long, it’s way over my head.

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Dean Cheesman has spent the past two years perfecting his set of iTunes smart playlists. Fortunately for us Internet dwellers, he was kind enough to open up and share his technique of creating smart playlists and explains what it takes to make it extremely easy to play what you want to hear.  That means more Beatles and less death metal. Unless you’re Yanni.

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Well, how about this for a twist in the DVR tale. A new patent filing hints that Apple could be planning to bring a Live TV recording feature to their Apple TV.

Not only will Apple TV users be able to browse and record live TV programming, but they’ll be able to watch their downloaded movies and TV programs purchased from iTunes. TiVo betta’ watch themselves. Apple is ready for a telemedia revolution. — Andrew Dobrow

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After all of the trouble Radiohead went through on their DRM-free “name your own price” online retail of their newest (and one of their greatest) album “In Rainbows”, we never expected the band to be in talks with Apple on releasing their album on iTunes. That is exactly what seems to be happening.

Radiohead’s current representatives, Courtyard Management, is reportedly in talks with Apple to bring “In Rainbows” to the iTunes Store. We’re not sure exactly how it would work, since Radiohead has maintained their albums be bought as a whole for artistic purposes, yet Apple sells most tracks under 10 minutes in length on a track-by-track basis. Apple refuses to make any comments on the availability of “In Rainbows”, which would be the first full album of the band available from iTunes. — Andrew Dobrow

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